Tag: Zoh Amba

Death Don’t Have No Mercy: In Lieu of My Monthly List, Would You Care for My Mid-Year Francis Davis Memorial Jazz Critics Ballot?

My mother, Mary Jane Overeem, passed away from dementia in her assisted living facility early in the morning of Wednesday, June 18, 2025. I am sure it was a coincidence, but she left in the midst of 15-minute wind, lightning, thunder, and pouring rain storm that seemed to harness the furiousness of the battle between her physical determination to keep living and her spiritual will to be released–after months of begging to be. It was exceedingly difficult to witness. I had hoped to be there at her side when she finally passed, but I had to sleep. She might have been waiting for me to pass all the way out so she could slip away alone.

Once during her final four torturous days, the topic of music arose. One of her best friends in the community was an English octogenarian named Rita who happened to come by and check on her. My mom had mentioned to Rita that I kinda-sorta liked music, so she casually offered to tell me the story of her having seen the 1965 edition of The Rolling Stones in Coventry when she was 20. I have a very soft spot for the Jones-era Stones, so I was all ears—especially when she groused, “I was on the front row, and I tried to grab Mick’s balls but a cop grabbed me before I could get ‘em. I almost had his balls—I would have been on the cover of The Daily Mirror, you know?” I was doubled over, crying with laughter. She went on to mention that she’d only seen Gene Vincent three times (!!!) and Eddie Cochran once (!!!!). I will always treasure that pop-by, and when Rita rolled up to express her condolences after the funeral this past Sunday, I wanted to tell her, “I wish I could grab death by the balls,” but I settled for giving her a big hug, wetting her shoulder with tears, and whispering, “Sweet Gene Vincent.”

All of that is to say that I was not able to attend to a June new music inventory, though I will also say that passionate new records by the Irish folk legend Christy Moore, the fiery and spirited saxophone sprite Zoh Amba, and a heap of very inspired rock and rollers and zydeco masters paying tribute to Clifton Chenier will be crowned with four or five stars when I catch up, maybe this week or next.

What I can do is share the ballot I submitted to the Francis Davis Memorial Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, topped, naturally, by an album that came out in November of 2024 (that’s within the rules, since it barely had time to be distributed; also, see the video above). It’s a great year for jazz, and especially for piano records, four of which made my Top 10.

Enjoy yourself, and keep livin’….

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (ranked)

Organic Pulse Ensemble: Ad Hoc (Ultraaani Records)

Cosmic Ear: TRACES (We Jazz)

Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (Cantaloupe Music)

William Hooker: Jubilation (Org Music)

Steve Lehman: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings)

Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind (Red Hook Records)

Zoh Amba: Sun (Smalltown Supersound)

Blacks’ Myths Meets Pat Thomas: The Mythstory School (self-released)

Trio Glossia: Trio Glossia (Sonic Transmissions)

Rocio Gimenez Lopez: La Forma Del Sueno (Blue Art)

RARA AVIS

(ranked—these are older recordings come to the light of day)

Marco Eneidi Quartet: Wheat Fields of Kleylehof (Balance Point Acoustics)

William Hooker: A Time Within—Live at the New York Jazz Museum, January 14, 1977 (The Control Group / Valley of Search)

Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght 3rd August 1970 (Strut)

Masahiko Tagashi: Session in Paris, Volume 1—Song of the Soil (with Don Cherry and Charlie Haden) (We Want Sounds)

Michael Gregory Jackson: Frequency Equilibrium Koan (moved-by-sound)

Fetching Recordings from January 2025–For Month 1, Not Too Skimpy!

I am restless. As a teacher, I cannot teach the same lesson twice the same way (nor should anyone, but maybe I’m wrong). Last year, I tried to write more about the albums I loved on this blog but ended up very unsatisfied, plus it was a pain when it came to assembling a complete year-end list. So…I think this year, I’ll go back to my cumulative listing and let y’all follow the links and divine from those whether the records are worthy of your time…unless you just trust me. I wouldn’t. I am going to stick with closing with a Spotify playlist sampler, though I hate Spotify and, since I receive some review copies, songs from those might not yet be available–especially on this one.

New Releases:

Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta: Mapambazuko (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

Bad Bunny: DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment)

Booker T* & The Plasmic Bleeds: Ode To BC/LY… And Eye Know BO…. da Prez (Mahakala Music)

Benjamin Booker: Lower (Fire Next Time)

doseone & Steel Tipped Dove: All Portrait, No Chorus (BackwoodzStudios)

Ex-Void: In Love Again (Tapete Records)

Satoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra)*

Keiji Haino and Natsuki Tamura: what happened there? (Libra)

LOLO: LOLO (Black Sweat)

Mac Miller: Baloonerism (Warner Records)

Marek Pospieszalski Octet & Zoh Amba (see below): NOW! (Project financed by a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage “Młoda Polska” & Katowice City of Music UNESCO) Note: release date = November 29, 2024

Serengeti: Palookaville (serengetiraps / self-released) Note: release date = December 25, 2024

Omar Thomas: Griot Songs (Omar Thomas Music)

Simon Willson: Bet (Endectomorph Records) @

Jeong Lim Yang: Synchronicity (Fully Altered Media)

@Features Neta Raanan, a terrific young saxophonist whose debut last year was SHARP.

*Fujii can’t stop, won’t stop–first album out of considerably over 100 (!!) with a string section.

*A terrific free jazz tenor last heard from about 40+ years ago who’s resurfaced.

Old Stuff I Happily Listened To:

Zoh Amba: Every album she’s released and appeared on. We saw her play live and it was a chicken-skin experience! Blazing and dynamically moody free jazz plus surprise acoustic guitar versions of new songs that both rended and expanded one’s heart. Check out the way she finishes out Myriam Gendron’s track on the playlist below!

Bob Dylan’s folk stuff: I was subbing the other day shortly after A Complete Unknown was released and I’d seen it—it sent be back to my favorites of his early period, especially the first album (what writer recently said he was electric from the first, because the electricity was in the way he sang those songs?) and “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” which I’ve always loved and repeat played to the point it was worming my ear all day)—and I casually sidled up to a table of 10th grade “advanced placement” dudes. Me: “Hey, have you guys heard of Bob Dylan?” Them (in tandem): “He’s dead, right?” I have some issues with the movie but it was entertaining and has a reason for being.

Culture and Burning Spear in the schools: Sometimes if I’m subbing for an old English-teaching comrade, they’ll let me write my own lesson and teach. A recent job was for a guy who teaches classical ideas and world religions and his students are currently studying Judaism; he asked if I could talk about Rastafarian reggae’s connections with Judaism and play some examples. They didn’t know dick about Rastafarianism or reggae, so it was a good call. We studied The Melodians’ “Rivers of Babylon,” sections of Culture’s Two Sevens Clash and aspects of Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey. I also pushed Safiya Sinclair’s memoir of wrasslin’ to liberate herself from the clutches of her Rasta dad, How to Say Babylon. I’ve listened to reggae every day since.

Sinead O’Connor: Nicole and I watched the SNL Music special ?Love put together (apparently he was ordered by Lorne to exclude any evidence of The Replacements’ TRANSCENDENT appearance, the petty bastard) and got chills revisiting Sinead’s appearance. Listened to her all of the next day (yesterday, as it were) and kept getting chills, though I found myself wondering how much more she could have accomplished without the after-effects of the backlash (as Al Franken said, “She was kind of right,” though I’d say “She was right.”).

Black Female Gospel Warriors All Day on January 20th. Folks? Put the whole of the armour on.

Happy Hour in Excelsior Springs: Not Feeling Tardy Delivering My Favorite Records of 2023, January 1 – September 1

Comin’ atcha from one of Al Capone’s old haunts! Nicole’s gettin’ a CBD massage in this haunted hotel’s famous spa, we got kicked out of the pool for some reserved loud wedding strutting, and I’m sippin’ Blue Moons to the tune of my $100 worth of Bandcamp Friday investments. School’s in for me, so with three freshman comp classes and tutoring, I haven’t even been able to read–man, when that happens, I’m like Antaeus without his feet on the ground. BUT…I made it, smellin’ like chlorine and all.

Suite Sweets:

*In 2009, at 75, Bobby Rush played a show at the school I taught at, to an audience composed mostly of our black students, their parents, and even grandparents. Though it fell into my lap, I still had to do some legwork; in the end, it’s one of my Top 3 greatest experiences as an educator. AT 89, Rush just delivered his best album since Live at Ground Zero and Folkfunk (if anyone’s keeping track)–a team-up with Willie awaits, and I am not joking. Their people need to think about it.

*I was starting to think Noname was too good to wax rap records, and that’s a statement of respect. I am glad to see her back in the game, elegant, concise, and powerful.

*The year’s most gorgeous jazz album might be Miguel Zenon’s second record of boleros.

*St. Louis’ best rock and roll band (Americana, if you prefer) is Money for Guns. They just released their very best record, so if you still recognize those two genres, you might wanna sniff it out. I must admit that their co-lead singer and songwriter substitute-taught at my school over a decade ago when he was a Frustrated Bachelor, but as sharp as he was, I figured he’d be teaching at this point. He wisely keep his shoulder to the musical wheel.*

*Those of you that are free jazz fans might still be processing all those Zoh Amba records from 2022. Her new one with Orcutt on guitar might be THE ONE you need if she hasn’t hooked you yet.

*I’ve been lucky enough to see Sonic Youth live at their peak (I’m calling that the Goo tour) and in their admirable, um, dotage (2002, maybe?). The new live-in-Brooklyn document is a lovely gift to us, and does it open with some painful honesty.

*Ember. Who the funk are they? Well, they just released the most fascinatingly responsive jazz record of the year. I need to do more research, but I played it out of obligation and ended up hypnotized.

*Steve Pick, my man! Thank you for pointing me to That Mexican OT. If you miss fun and outrageous rap, and maybe like Mexican wrestling, please don’t hesitate. Unless it’s to helmet-polish for a bit.

*It might set you back some, but The Village’s six-decade overview of the great Horace Tapscott’s musical world of Watts is well worth it. He is the most underrated figure in jazz history (mostly because he chose to devote his efforts to local musical work rather than pursuit of fame), and his accomplishment has never been better documented than on the Pan Afrikan Peoples Orchestra set.

*I am standing firm on my feeling that Anohni’s My Back was a Bridge for You to Cross is the most powerful (and therefore best) record of the year. I’ve been told the vibrato is too much (tell that to the ghost of Sarah Vaughan) and that the quality tails (I think it simply shifts in kind of quality), but it still haunts me, and I know I am not alone.

BONUS TIP: If you happen to love balls-out drums (especially drums)-and-guit Devotion-like wailing…check out Spiritual Drum Kingship. Sometimes you just need your ass kicked by surging plugged-in improv.

(Bolded items are new to the list)

  1. Anohni: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (Secretly Canadian)
  2. Gina Burch: I Play My Bass Loud (Third Man)
  3. 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs (Dog Show/Atlantic)
  4. boygenius:the record (Interscope)
  5. Bettye LaVette: LaVette! (Jay-Vee)
  6. Buck 65: Super Dope (self-released?)
  7. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (Universal)
  8. Noname: Sundial (AWAL Recordings America)
  9. billy woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (Backwoodz Studios)
  10. Liv.e: Girl in The Half Pearl (Real Life / AWAL)
  11. Kelela: Raven (Warp)
  12. Big Freedia: Central City (Queen Diva)
  13. National Information Society: Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
  14. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (ESP-Disk)
  15. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer—A Tribute to Don Cherry (Spiritmuse)
  16. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes Records)
  17. London Brew: London Brew (Concord)
  18. Fire! Orchestra: Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
  19. Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations (Kabell)
  20. The Mark Lomax II Trio: Tapestry (CFG Multimedia)
  21. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah & Chief Adjuah: Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
  22. Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure (Bad Boy)
  23. Dropkick Murphys: Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck Music)
  24. Isach Skeidsvoll: Dance to Summon (Ultraani Records)
  25. Miguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo: El Arte del Bolero, Volume 2 (ArcArtists)
  26. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 3—If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? (New Amsterdam)
  27. Parannoul: After the Magic (Poclanos/Top Shelf)
  28. Yaeji: With a Hammer (XL Recordings)
  29. The Urban Art Ensemble: “Ho’opomopono” (CFG Multimedia 16-minute single)
  30. Felo Le Tee & Mellow & Sleazy: The Ill Wise Men (New Money Gang)
  31. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark (Warner)
  32. Rodrigo Campos: Pagode Novo (YB Music)
  33. The Necks: Travel (Northern Spy)
  34. Kali Uchis: Red Moon in Venus (Geffen)
  35. Bobby Rush: All My Love for You (Deep Rush / Thirty Tigers)
  36. Marina Sena: Vicio Inerente (Sony)
  37. Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
  38. Willie Nelson: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love—The Songs of Harlan Howard (Legacy)
  39. Peso Pluma: GENESIS (Double P)
  40. Ice Cold Bishop: Generational Curse (Ice Cold Entertainment)
  41. Allen Lowe and The Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America—The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk)
  42. Tyshawn Sorey:Continuing (Pi Recordings)
  43. Nourished by Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 (Scenic Route)
  44. Walter Daniels: “From Death to Texas” / “Seems Like a Dream” (Spacecase Records 45)
  45. Tyler Keith & The Apostles: Hell to Pay (Black & Wyatt)
  46. Algiers: Shook (Matador)
  47. KAYTRAMINE: KAYTRAMIUNE, Amine, & KAYTRANADA (CLBN)
  48. Withered Hand: How to Love (Reveal)
  49. Lori McKenna: 1988 (CN Records / Thirty Tigers)
  50. ensemble 0: Jojoni(Crammed Discs)
  51. Henry Threadgill: The Other One(Pi)
  52. Kari Faux: REAL BITCHES DON’T DIE (drunk sum wtr records)
  53. Zoh Amba & Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt: The Flower School (Palilalia)
  54. Lewis Capaldi: Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (Vertigo Berline)
  55. aja monet: when the poems do what they do (drink sum wtr)
  56. Knoel Scott (featuring Marshall Allen): Celestial (Night Dreamer)
  57. Ember: August in March (Imani)
  58. Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note)
  59. Taj Mahal: Savoy (Cheraw S.C.)
  60. corook: serious person (part 1) (Atlantic)
  61. Haviah Mighty: Crying Crystals (Mighty Gang)
  62. Rome Streetz: Wasn’t Built in a Day (Big Ghost)
  63. Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem)
  64. Kiko El Crazy: Pila’e Teteo (Rimas)
  65. Islandman (featuring Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoglu: Direct-to-Disc Sessions (Night Dreamer)
  66. Edward Simon: Femeninas (ArtistShare)
  67. Kill Bill—The Rapper: Fullmetal Kaiju (EXO)
  68. Money for Guns: All the Darkness That’s in Your Head (CD Baby)
  69. Rough Image: Rough Image (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  70. Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic)
  71. Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra: LightningDreamers (International Anthem)
  72. Kaze & Ikue Mori: Crustal Movement (Circum/Libra)
  73. DJ Black Low: Impumelelo (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
  74. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers  (Matador)
  75. Satoko Fujii & Otomo Yoshihide: Perpetual Motion (Ayler Records)
  76. feeble little horse: Girl with Fish (Saddle Creek)
  77. Rocket 88: House of Jackpots (12XU)
  78. Taiko Saito: Tears of a Cloud (Trouble in the East)
  79. JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (self-released)
  80. Water from Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed (Matador)
  81. Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
  82. Amaarae: Fountain Baby (Golden Angel/Interscope)
  83. Blondshell: Blondshell (Partisan)
  84. Satoko Fujii: Torrent (Libra Records)
  85. Javon Jackson: “With Peter Bradley”—Soundtrack and Original Score (Solid Jackson)
  86. YMA & Jadsa: Zelena (Matraca)
  87. Palehound: Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
  88. J Hus: Beautiful and Brutal Yard (Black Butter)
  89. Das Kondensat: Anderen Planeten (Why Play Jazz)
  90. Iris DeMent: Workin’ On a World (FlariElla)
  91. David Mirarchi: Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam(Unbroken Sounds) (coming soon….)
  92. Baaba Maal: Being (Atelier Live/Marathon Artists)
  93. Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom (Columbia)
  94. Lana Del Rey: Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Polydor)
  95. Romulo Froes & Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (YB Music)
  96. Buselli – Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: The Gennett Suite (Patois Records)
  97. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #9—Targeted (Hammer Recordings)
  98. James Brandon Lewis: Eye of I (Anti-)
  99. Sexyy Red: Hood Hottest Princess (Open Shift)
  100. Joanna Sternberg: I’ve Got Me (Fat Possum)
  101. Tracey Nelson: Life Don’t Miss Nobody (BMG)
  102. Etran De L’Air: Live in Seattle (EP) (Sahel Sounds)
  103. Everything But the Girl: Fuse (Buzzin’ Fly)
  104. Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March On (self-released EP—coming in March)
  105. Ice Spice: Like…? (10K Projects / Capitol Records EP)
  106. otay:onii: Dream Hacker (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  107. Sylvie Courvoisier & Cory Smythe: The Rite of Spring—Spectre d’un songe (Pyroclastic)
  108. Itamar Borochov: Arba (Greenleaf)
  109. Nakimbembe Embaire Group: Nakimbembe Embaire Group (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  110. Shirley Collins: Archangel Hill (Domino)
  111. Karol G: Manana Sera Bonito (Universal Music Latino)
  112. Hollie Cook: Happy Hour in Dub (Merge)
  113. Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion (Intakt)
  114. Kate Gentile: b i o m e i.i (Obliquity)
  115. Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)
  116. Open Mike Eagle: another triumph of ghetto engineering (AutoReverse)
  117. Yonic South: Devo Challenge Cup (Wild Honey)
  118. Rudy Royston: Day (Greenleaf Music)
  119. Basher: Doubles (Sinking City)
  120. That Mexican OT: Lonestar Luchador (Good Talk)
  121. Staples Jr. Singers: Tell Heaven (EP) (Luaka Bop) Note: the vinyl gets you more great minutes of testifying.
  122. Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (Impulse!)
  123. Babe, Terror: Teghnojoyg
  124. Heinali: Kyiv Eternal (Injazero)
  125. Tri-County Liquidators: “Flies” / “Weep Then Whisper” / “Bitter” (self-released)
  126. Vinny Golia Quartet: No Refunds (Unbroken Sounds)
  127. Kresten Osgood / Bob Moses / Tisziji Munoz: Spiritual Drum Kingship (Gotta Let It Out)
  128. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: From Paris to Paris (Rogue Art)
  129. Clarence “Bluesman” Davis: Shake It For Me (Music Maker Foundation)
  130. The War and The Treaty: Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville)
  131. Aroof Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad, Ismaily: Love in Exile (Verve)
  132. Asher Gamedze: Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem)
  133. Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  134. Natural Child: Be M’Guest (Natural Child Music)
  135. Tanya Tucker: Sweet Western Sound (Fantasy)

Excavations and Reissues

  1. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: Music Inferno—The Indestructible Beat Tour 1988-89 (Umsakazo Records)
  2. Kashmere Stage Band: Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (Now-Again)
  3. Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (New Land Records)
  4. Walter Bishop, Jr.: Bish at the Bank—Live in Baltimore (Cellar Live)
  5. Various Artists: Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid’s Dying Years (BBE)
  6. Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: 60 Years (The Village)
  7. Nina Simone: You’ve Got to Learn (Verve)
  8. William S. Burroughs: Nothing Here But the Recordings (Dais Records)
  9. Balka Sound: Balka Sound (Strut)
  10. Sonic Youth: Live in Brooklyn (Silver Current)
  11. John Coltrane: Evenings at The Village Gate (Impulse!)
  12. Various Artists: Playing for The Man at The Door (Smithsonian Folkways)
  13. Hiatus Kaiyote: Choose Your Weapon (Flying Buddha / Sony Masterworks)
  14. Dream Dolphin: Gaia—Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996 – 2003) (Music from Memory)
  15. Eddie & Ernie: Time Waits for No One (Mississippi Records)
  16. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 1 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  17. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 2 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  18. The Southern University Jazz Ensemble: Goes to Africa with Love (Now-Again)
  19. Sonny Rollins: Live at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki 1972 (Svart)
  20. Various Artists: The Best of Revelation Records 1959-1962 (NarroWay)
  21. Shizuka: Heavenly Persona (Black Editions)
  22. Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom: Daytime Viewing (Unseen Worlds)
  23. Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind Stripped Naked (Columbia)
  24. Various Artists: Blacklips Bar—Androgyns and Deviants / Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels 1992-1995 (Anthology Recordings)
  25. Various Artists: Ecuatoriana (Analog Africa)
  26. RP Boo: Legacy Volume 2 (Planet Mu)
  27. Les Raillizes Denudes: ’77 Live (Temporal Drift)
  28. Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Shirley Scott: Cookin’ With Jaws and The Queen (Craft)
  29. Professor James Benson:The Gow-Dow Experience (Jazzman Records)
  30. Little Bob and The Lollipops: Nobody But You (Mississippi Records)

Breath of Air–The Best Records of 2022, January 1 – August 1

As I mentioned last post, I am enjoying fewer free hours to just blast new stuff. My sweetie’s home for the summer, and I feel like I’ve been taking two rigorous classes from Will Friedwald in the history of pop-jazz vocals and music that’s moved from the stage to the American Songbook. Thus, while I’m taking a deep dive into post-Trio Nat King Cole, I feel like I’ve been ignoring many explosions happening in the (not to say pop) music world. Funnily, however, it was while 98.7% engaged in the story of “Mack the Knife” (from Friedwald’s fab Stardust Memories) that I happened to try to be also listening to black midi’s Hellfire and its surging, stop-and-go, nattering power that I heard a kinship between the song, Brecht-Weill’s Threepenny Opera, and that herky-jerky, angry and complicated new album. More amusing, I am currently spending some time with my mom in her senior apartment (my brother and I just sold our parents’ house–my dad died suddenly in June 2020), and, as I am trying to get down to my teaching weight (210ish) and as I arise three hours before she does, I’ve been taking long (3.5 mile) walks and catching up with the new things. Since during the day I have been trying to finish Friedwald’s excellent but FUCKING METICULOUS Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole, and one can only listen to certain (i.e., not NEW) music while plowing through it, and since I have company and won’t put headphones on as a result, the walks are the only time I can really blast some stuff. I know you’ve been waiting for what’s that amusing: though I had intended to wait until stellar songwriting vet Tommy Womack’s new album I Thought I Was Fine arrived in CD form so I could enjoy it that way, I decided to queue it up on my first walk. Well…not only is it really damn great (especially if you’re an old, aching, regretful rock and roll filled with longing), but…yes…wait some more for it…Womack closes down the album with a couple of AMERICAN SONGBOOK NUGGETS (!!!!), “That Lucky Old Sun” and “Miss Otis Regrets”! Friedwald would approve, and Womack does not trip over his effects boxes interpreting them. It seems like a vast world, but one keeps being reminded it’s pretty small.

Couple more things:

Beyonce’s Renaissance just kicked my ass on the same walk as the Womack, and 2/3rds of the way through I thought it her best, but then it kinda lost momentum. What she’s trying to do is no easy thing: a tribute to straight-up dance music that bangs top to bottom. That’s a lot of tracks, Bey.

If you’re receptive to free jazz, you need your ears on Kentuckian Zoh Amba, who can blow and wail to bring Ayler’s ghost a smile.

I am very susceptible to jazz violin. Billy Bang, Leroy Jenkins, Claude Fiddler Williams, Ray Nance–the GREAT Stuff Smith? I listen to at least one of them heavily every month, especially Stuff. Charlie Burnham fiddled on Blood Ulmer’s Odyssey records, and he’s doing some pretty amazing things in his new band, Breath of Air.

I bet some of you have bought multiple mixes of Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers’ LAMF. Is this new “found mixes” yet another stab? No, it’s the thing.

Can a dude make music with a curled-up leaf? Don’t trust me when I say, “Oh yeah”–check out Biluka’s Leaf-Playing in Quito (1960-1965) and find yourself marveling, “That’s a leaf?”

Bolded items are new to the list

New Music 

  1. 75 Dollar Bill: Social Music at Troost, Volume 3–Other People’s Music (Black Editions Group)
  2. Rosalia: MOTOMAMI (Columbia)
  3. Billy Woods: Aethiopes (Backwoodz Studios)
  4. Tanya Tagaq: Tongues (Six Shooter) 
  5. Ricky Ford: The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford—Paul’s Scene (Whaling City Sounds)
  6. Stro Elliot & James Brown: Black & Loud—James Brown Reimagined (Polydor)
  7. Miranda Lambert: Palomino (Vanner)
  8. Willie Nelson: A Beautiful Time (Sony)
  9. Tommy Womack: I Thought I Was Fine (Schoolkids Records)
  10. Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets (TUM)
  11. Superchunk: Wild Loneliness (Merge)
  12. Gonora Sounds: Hard Times Never Kill (Phantom Limb)
  13. Wet Leg: Wet Leg (Domino)
  14. Beyoncé: Renaissance (Parkwood Entertainment)
  15. Amber Mark:Three Dimensions Deep (PMR / Interscope) 
  16. Etran de L’Air: Agadez (Sahel Sounds)
  17. Morgan Wade: Reckless (Deluxe) (Ladylike) 
  18. Lady Wray: Piece of Me (Big Crown)
  19. Bob Vylan: Bob Vylan Presents The Price of Life (Ghost Theatre)
  20. Moor Mother: Jazz Codes (Anti-)
  21. Mark Lomax II: Prismatic Refractions, Volume I (self-released)
  22. Horace Andy: Midnight Rocker (On-U Sound)
  23. black midi: Hellfire (Rough Trade)
  24. ensemble 0: Music Nuvulosa (Sub Rosa)
  25. Anna von Hausswoolff: Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival (Southern Lord) 
  26. Various Artists: Lespri Ka—New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe (Time Capsule Sounds) 
  27. Ches Smith: Interpret It Well (Pyroclastic)
  28. Mark Lomax Trio: Plays Mingus (CFG Multimedia)
  29. 700 Bliss: Nothing to Declare (Hyperdub)
  30. Heroes Are Gang Leaders: LeAutoRoiGraphy (577 Records)
  31. Jinx Lennon: Pet Rent (Septic Tiger)
  32. Freakons: Freakons (Fluff & Gravy)
  33. Daniel Villareal: Panama ’77 (International Anthem)
  34. Mary Gauthier: Dark Enough to See the Stars (Thirty Tigers)
  35. Ama Gogela: Phelimuncasi (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  36. Joy Guidry:Radical Acceptance (Whited Sepulchre)
  37. Kehlani: blue water road (TSNMI/Atlantic)
  38. Zoh Amba: O, Sun (Tzadik)
  39. Felipe Salles: Tiyo’s Songs of Life (Tapestry)
  40. Nancy Mounir: Nozhet El Nofous (Terrorbird)
  41. Javon Jackson & Nikki Giovanni: The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni (Solid Jackson) 
  42. Oumou Sangare: Timbuktu (World Circuit Limited)
  43. Various Artists: Hidden Waters—Strange and Sublime Sounds from Rio de Janiero (Sounds and Colours)
  44. Nduduzo Makhathini: In the Spirit of Ntu (Universal)
  45. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity: Elastic Wave (ECM)
  46. Miguel Zeñon: Musica de las Americas (Miel Music)
  47. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: Lift Every Voice (Division 81 Records)
  48. Priscilla Block: Welcome to the Block Party (InDent)
  49. Anitta: Versions of Me (Warner)
  50. Serengeti: Kaleidoscope III (Audiocon)
  51. Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers(pgLang/Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope)
  52. OGJB: Ode to O (TUM) (Note: Band name – O = Oliver Lake, G = Graham Haynes, J = Joe Fonda, B = Barry Altschul / Title – O = Ornette) 
  53. Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, and Enrico Rava: Two Blues for Cecil (TUM) 
  54. Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio: The Bottom(Cuneiform) 
  55. Tyler Mitchell: Dancing Shadows (featuring Marshall Allen) (Mahakala Music)
  56. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 2—Joy Boy (New Amsterdam)
  57. Carl Stone: Wat Dong Moon Lek (Unseen Worlds)
  58. Mitski: Laurel Hell (Dead Oceans)
  59. Breath of Air: Breath of Air (Burning Ambulance Music)
  60. Immanuel Wilkins: The 7th Hand (Blue Note) 
  61. David Murray Brave New World Trio: Seriana Promethea (Intakt)
  62. Fulu Miziki: Ngbaka (EP)
  63. David Virelles: Nuna (Pi / El Tivoli)
  64. Steve Lehman: Xaybu—The Unseen (Pi Recordings)
  65. Tom Zé: Lingua Brasiliera (Selo Sesc)
  66. Leikeli47: Shape Up (Hardcover/RCA)
  67. Hurray for The Riff Raff: Life on Earth (Nonesuch)
  68. Rokia Koné and Jacknife Lee: Bamanan (3DFamily)
  69. Tomas Fujiwara: Triple Double (Firehouse 12)
  70. DJ Black Low: Uwami (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
  71. Ibibio Sound Machine: Electricity (Merge)
  72. Zoh Amba: O Life, O Light, Volume 1 (577 Records)
  73. Burton/McPherson Trio: The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village (Giant Step Arts)
  74. Kahil El’Zabar Quartet: A Time for Healing (Spirit Muse)
  75. Pastor Champion: I Just Want to Be a Good Man (Luaka Bop)
  76. Nduduzo Makhathini: In the Spirit of Ntu (Blue Note)
  77. Pusha T: It’s Almost Dry (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
  78. Elza Soares: Elza Ao Vivo No Municipal (Deck)
  79. Nilufer Yanya: Painless (ATO)
  80. Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda: Thread of Light (Fundacja Słuchaj)
  81. Charli XCX: Crash (Atlantic)
  82. Pete Malinverni: On the Town—Pete Malinverni Plays Leonard Bernstein(Planet Arts) 
  83. David Friend & Jerome Begin: Post- (New Amsterdam)
  84. Dedicated Men of Zion: The Devil Don’t Like It (Bible & Tire)
  85. Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Mesmerism (Pi Recordings)
  86. Space Afrika: Honest Labour (Dais)
  87. Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer (DeeWee)
  88. Earl Sweatshirt: Sick! (Tan Cressida / Warner) 
  89. Belle & Sebastian: A Bit of Previous (Matador)
  90. Big Thief: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (4AD)
  91. Jeff Arnal and Curt Cloninger: Drum Major Instinct (Mahakala Music)
  92. Tee Grizzley: Half Tee Half Beast (self-released)
  93. Hoodoo Gurus: Chariot of The Gods (Big Time Photographic Recordings)
  94. Natsuki Tamura: Summer Tree (Libra)
  95. (D)ivo: Perelman, Berne, Malaby, Carter (Mahakala Music)
  96. Daniel Carter et al.: Telepatica (577 Records)
  97. Ghais Guevara: There Will Be No Super-Slave (self-released)
  98. Spoon:Lucifer on the Sofa (Matador)
  99. Pierre Kwenders: Jose Louis and the Paradox of Love (Arts & Crafts)
  100. Manel Fortia: Despertar (Segell Microscopi/Altafonte)
  101. Ray Wylie Hubbard: Co-Starring Too (Big Machine)
  102. Various Artists: if you fart make it sound good (WA Records)
  103. Marta Sanchez: SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) (Whirlwind)
  104. Earthgang: Ghetto Gods (Dreamville/Interscope)
  105. Mavis Staples & Levon Helm: Carry Me Home (Anti-)

Archival Digs:

  1. Los Golden Boys: Cumbia de Juventud (Mississippi Records)
  2. Albert Ayler: Revelations—The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings(Elemental)
  3. Cecil Taylor:The Complete Legendary Live Return Concert at the Town Hall (Oblivion)
  4. Various Artists: Lovers Rock—The Soulful Sound of Romantic Reggae (Trojan)
  5. The Heartbreakers: LAMF—The ’77 Found Mixes (Jungle)
  6. Albert Ayler: La Cave Live 1966 (Ezz-Thetics) 
  7. Various Artists: Cumbia Sabrosa—Tropical Sound System Bangers From The Discos Fuentes Vaults 1961-1981 (Rocafort Records)
  8. Biluka y Los Canibales: Leaf-Playing in Quito (1960-1965) (Honest Jon’s)
  9. Various Artists: A Chat About the Beauty of the Moon at Night–Hawaiian Steel Guitar Masters 1913-1921 (Magnificent Sounds)
  10. The Rolling Stones: Live at the El Mocambo (Interscope)
  11. Son House: Forever on My Mind (Easy Eye Sound)
  12. Lavender Country:Blackberry Rose and Other Songs & Sorrows (Don Giovanni)
  13. Horace Tapscott Quintet: Legacies for Our Grandchildren (Dark Tree)
  14. Various Artists: The D-Vine Spirituals—Sacred Soul (Bible & Tire)
  15. Kabaka International Guitar Band: Kabaka International Guitar Band (Palenque Records)
  16. The Pyramids: AOMAWA—The 1970s Recordings (Strut)
  17. Hermeto Pascoal: Hermeto (Far Out Recordings)
  18. Sun Ra: Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt (Strut)
  19. Asha Puthi: The Essential Asha Puthi (Mr. Bongo)
  20. Malik’s Emerging Force Art Trio: Time and Condition (moved-by-sound)
  21. Volta Jazz: Air Volta (Numero)
  22. Various Artists: From Lion Mountain—Traditional Music of Yeha, Ethiopia (Dust-to-Digital)
  23. Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come is Now (ESP-Disk)
  24. Cecil Taylor: Respiration (Fundacja Stuchaj)
  25. Norma Tanega: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964-1971 (Anthology)
  26. Irma Thomas: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976 (Good Time)
  27. Afrika Negra: Antologia, Volume 1 (Bongo Joe)
  28. Various Artists: Summer of Soul (Legacy)
  29. Ann Peebles and the Hi Rhythm Section: Live in Memphis (Memphis International)
  30. Neil Young: Carnegie Hall 1970 (Reprise)

O Life, O Light–O Death, O Dark: Best Records of This Riven Year, January 1st to May 29th

Odds and Ends:

  1. So long, rock and roller.

2. So long, wild chanteuse.

3. Keep on growin’ and goin’, Hillbilly Dalai Lama.

4. Look out, Brother Ayler.

5. Miranda Maestra.

Extra Credit: Match this TV theme song with the album below on which it appears.

New Music 
(bolded items are new to the list):

  1. 75 Dollar Bill: Social Music at Troost, Volume 3–Other People’s Music(Black Editions Group)
  2. Rosalia: MOTOMAMI(Columbia)
  3. Tanya Tagaq: Tongues (Six Shooter) 
  4. Ricky Ford: The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford—Paul’s Scene (Whaling City Sounds)
  5. Stro Elliot & James Brown: Black & Loud—James Brown Reimagined(Polydor)
  6. Miranda Lambert: Palomino (Vanner)
  7. Willie Nelson: A Beautiful Time (Sony)
  8. Superchunk: Wild Loneliness(Merge)
  9. Gonora Sounds: Hard Times Never Kill(Phantom Limb)
  10. Wet Leg: Wet Leg(Domino)
  11. Amber Mark:Three Dimensions Deep(PMR / Interscope) 
  12. Etran de L’Air: Agadez(Sahel Sounds)
  13. Billy Woods: Aethiopes (Backwoodz Studios)
  14. Morgan Wade: Reckless (Deluxe) (Ladylike) 
  15. Lady Wray: Piece of Me(Big Crown)
  16. Bob Vylan: Bob Vylan Presents The Price of Life(Ghost Theatre)
  17. Mark Lomax II: Prismatic Refractions, Volume I(self-released)
  18. ensemble 0: Music Nuvulosa (Sub Rosa)
  19. Anna von Hausswoolff: Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival (Southern Lord) 
  20. Various Artists: Lespri Ka—New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe(Time Capsule Sounds) 
  21. Ches Smith: Interpret It Well(Pyroclastic)
  22. Jinx Lennon: Pet Rent(Septic Tiger)
  23. Freakons: Freakons(Fluff & Gravy)
  24. Daniel Villareal: Panama ’77 (International Anthem)
  25. Joy Guidry:Radical Acceptance (Whited Sepulchre)
  26. Kehlani: blue water road (TSNMI/Atlantic)
  27. Javon Jackson & Nikki Giovanni: The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni(Solid Jackson) 
  28. Oumou Sangare: Timbuktu (World Circuit Limited)
  29. Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (pgLang/Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope)
  30. OGJB: Ode to O(TUM) (Note: Band name – O = Oliver Lake, G = Graham Haynes, J = Joe Fonda, B = Barry Altschul / Title – O = Ornette) 
  31. Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, and Enrico Rava: Two Blues for Cecil (TUM) 
  32. Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio: The Bottom (Cuneiform) 
  33. Tyler Mitchell: Dancing Shadows (featuring Marshall Allen) (Mahakala Music)
  34. Nduduzo Makhathini: In the Spirit of Ntu (Universal)
  35. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: Lift Every Voice (Division 81 Records)
  36. Priscilla Block: Welcome to the Block Party(InDent)
  37. Anitta: Versions of Me (Warner)
  38. Carl Stone: Wat Dong Moon Lek (Unseen Worlds)
  39. Mitski: Laurel Hell(Dead Oceans)
  40. Immanuel Wilkins: The 7th Hand (Blue Note) 
  41. David Murray Brave New World Trio: Seriana Promethea (Intakt)
  42. Fulu Miziki: Ngbaka (EP)
  43. Leikeli47: Shape Up (Hardcover/RCA)
  44. Hurray for The Riff Raff: Life on Earth(Nonesuch)
  45. Rokia Koné and Jacknife Lee: Bamanan (3D Family)
  46. Tomas Fujiwara: Triple Double (Firehouse 12)
  47. Ibibio Sound Machine: Electricity (Merge)
  48. Zoh Amba: O Life, O Light, Volume 1 (577 Records)
  49. Kahil El’Zabar Quartet: A Time for Healing (Spirit Muse)
  50. Pastor Champion: I Just Want to Be a Good Man(Luaka Bop)
  51. Pusha T:It’s Almost Dry (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
  52. Elza Soares: Elza Ao Vivo No Municipal (Deck)
  53. SAULT: AIR (Forever Living Originals)
  54. Nilufer Yanya: Painless (ATO)
  55. Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda: Thread of Light(Fundacja Słuchaj)
  56. Charli XCX: Crash(Atlantic)
  57. Pete Malinverni:  On the Town—Pete Malinverni Plays Leonard Bernstein (Planet Arts) 
  58. David Friend & Jerome Begin: Post-(New Amsterdam)
  59. Dedicated Men of Zion: The Devil Don’t Like It(Bible & Tire)
  60. Space Afrika: Honest Labour(Dais)
  61. Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer (DeeWee)
  62. Earl Sweatshirt: Sick! (Tan Cressida / Warner) 
  63. Belle & Sebastian: A Bit of Previous (Matador)
  64. Big Thief: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You(4AD)
  65. Tee Grizzley: Half Tee Half Beast(self-released)
  66. Hoodoo Gurus: Chariot of The Gods(Big Time Photographic Recordings)
  67. Natsuki Tamura: Summer Tree(Libra)
  68. (D)ivo: Perelman, Berne, Malaby, Carter(Mahakala Music)
  69. Spoon:Lucifer on the Sofa(Matador)
  70. Manel Fortia: Despertar(Segell Microscopi/Altafonte)
  71. Ray Wylie Hubbard: Co-Starring Too(Big Machine)
  72. Keith Oxman: This One’s for Joey (Capri)
  73. Marta Sanchez: SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) (Whirlwind)
  74. Earthgang: Ghetto Gods (Dreamville/Interscope)
  75. Mavis Staples & Levon Helm: Carry Me Home (Anti-)

Archival Digs:

  1. Los Golden Boys: Cumbia de Juventud (Mississippi Records)
  2. Albert Ayler: Revelations—The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings(Elemental)
  3. Albert Ayler: La Cave Live 1966 (Ezz-Thetics) 
  4. Various Artists: Cumbia Sabrosa—Tropical Sound System Bangers From The Discos Fuentes Vaults 1961-1981 (Rocafort Records)
  5. Son House: Forever on My Mind (Easy Eye Sound)
  6. Lavender Country:Blackberry Rose and Other Songs & Sorrows (Don Giovanni)
  7. Hermeto Pascoal: Hermeto (Far Out Recordings)
  8. Sun Ra: Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt(Strut)
  9. Cecil Taylor:The Complete Legendary Live Return Concert at the Town Hall (Oblivion)
  10. Norma Tanega: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964-1971 (Anthology)
  11. Irma Thomas: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976 (Good Time)
  12. Afrika Negra: Antologia, Volume 1 (Bongo Joe)
  13. Various Artists:Summer of Soul(Legacy)
  14. Ann Peebles and the Hi Rhythm Section: Live in Memphis (Memphis International)
  15. Neil Young: Carnegie Hall 1970 (Reprise)