Following sessions with Francisco Mela and William Parker for the Brooklyn-based jazz bastion 577 Records, the Tennessee transplant Zoh Amba turns closer to home on her searing and searching solo album Bhakti. Twisting her tenor through windswept songs of devotion alongside Micah Thomas on the piano, Tyshawn Sorey on drums, and finally Matt Hollenberg on the guitar, in a profile published this week in The New York Times the saxophonist describes the record as her definitive statement to date, with Sorey dubbing her a ‘fearless’ improviser as influences like Frank Wright, David S. Ware, and Albert Ayler bubble under over three drops for the aggressively beautiful Hot Springs label Mahakala Music.
Eri Yamamoto finds her voice through the tumult of disguise and evasion as the pianist dons a purple wig and discusses her lived experience as an Asian woman during pandemic times in New York City. The percussionist Günter Baby Sommer, staunch veteran of the European free jazz scene, and the alto and soprano saxophonist Raymond MacDonald linger like old friends as Sounds, Songs & Other Noises abounds in beguiling rhythms with a roving pastoral charm. And from melancholy Wrocław, squeezed between serfdom and wild capitalism, the producer and journalist Naphta continues to dig into folk idioms and traditional forms as oberek blends with dubstep on the upcoming full-length Żałość, which features the Vienna-based singer Mala Herba on three tracks.
Gaining momentum following the long-form rhythmic workouts of Quixotism and Hubris, the indomitable guitarist Oren Ambarchi bands together with Joe Talia, Sam Dunscombe, B. J. Cole, Johan Berthling, Chris Abrahams, Julia Reidy, and Jim O’Rourke for the billowing tones and reticulated melodies of Shebang, which summons such disparate references as Albert Marcœur, early Pat Metheny, and Henry Kaiser’s wistful and rollicking It’s A Wonderful Life. Drew Daniel as The Soft Pink Truth practices joy in the face of death, swapping dark mirrors and dank forests for the silvery flush of the disco ball as Jamie Stewart recites the words of Georges Bataille while the luscious strings of Ulaş Kurugüllü tease to resemble those of The Love Unlimited Orchestra.
Slip into the arms of Michael J. Blood and Rat Heart on the cherubic opener to Nite Mode Vol. 1. The deejays Scriby, Mariio, and Skothan offer coiled through-lines and brisk snapshots of deepest Durban, hurtling through the recent past by way of The Gqom Trilogy on Hakuna Kulala. Fresh from the panoramic vision of Aethiopes, the rapper Billy Woods bears down through the smoke clouds of faith, fate, and memory in the company of the longtime Armand Hammer collaborator Messiah Musik, while Valentina Magaletti returns for a second session behind Yves Chaudouët’s porcelain drum kit La Batterie Fragile. And as Burna Boy devotes all of his days to enjoyment, while away the rest of your time with Novelty Act, Cole Pulice, Haru Nemuri, and Klein who complete the latest roundup of best new tracks.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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Günter Baby Sommer & Raymond MacDonald – ‘Song of a Homesick Donkey’
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Naphta – ‘Pąk’ (feat. Mala Herba)
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Michael J. Blood & Rat Heart – ‘Waitin”
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The Soft Pink Truth – ‘La Joie Devant La Mort’
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春ねむり Haru Nemuri – ‘春火燎原 / Shunka Ryougen’
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Zoh Amba – ‘The Drop And The Sea’
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Valentina Magaletti & Yves Chaudouët – ‘Batterie Fragile (Side A)’
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Eri Yamamoto Trio – ‘A Woman With A Purple Wig’
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Burna Boy – ‘It’s Plenty’
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billy woods & Messiah Musik – ‘Pollo Rico’
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