Summoning spectres to light the present, on the crackling centrepiece to her new album Jazz Codes the songwriter and spoken word poet Moor Mother reaches back beyond the birth of the form to the Fisk Jubilee Singers or to misters Tambo and Bones, under the limelights of Broadway or out there on the Mississippi River, broaching the devious and complex history of the minstrel show. From the cakewalk and the two-step to Scott Joplin or Buddy Bolden with his cornet, brass band, and blues, Moor Mother rekindles the fires of jazz and lays the template for a future rag alongside the dramatic soprano Alya Al-Sultani and trumpeter Aquiles Navarro.
MB Jones and Rey Sapienz throw Detroit rhythms, kalimba patterns, and the screech of boda boda motorcycles from the streets of Kampala into the mixer and prepare for takeoff on Hakuna Kulala, as the duo don the name Troposphere 7 and dedicate their album Grey Parrots to the enigmatic and far-flung Congolese space program. The quintet of Daniel Carter, Patrick Holmes, Matthew Putman, Hilliard Greene, and Federico Ughi are at their extemporaneous best on 577 Records as the freely imaginative in-house Telepathic Band. Dan Snaith dispels dark clouds with a return to his euphoric dance monicker Daphni, while Jeremy Cunningham and Dustin Laurenzi welcome the Los Angeles bassist Paul Bryan to the Windy City as the trio unburden their better ghosts.
The South London music community Touching Bass presents a landmark compilation, featuring 22 original songs by the likes of Keiyaa, Molinaro, Nala Sinephro, and Ego Ella May. Meanwhile the footwork mavericks Jana Rush, Sirr Tmo, Heavee, and DJ Tre head things up for Teklife Records with the third curved installment of On Life. Sierra Ferrell sets the years rolling on Easy Eye Sound’s all-star tribute to the country legend John Anderson. Medhane treads gingerly, Two Shell trade in vocal snips and techno reveries, Naomi Alligator gets buried alive, and Son Little, Daniel Villarreal, and Joey Badass complete the roundup of best new tracks.
Playlists: Spotify Ā· Apple Music Ā· YouTube
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Troposphere 7 – ‘Butu Na Moyi’
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Daniel Villarreal – ’18th & Morgan’
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Moor Mother – ‘MEDITATION RAG’ (feat. Aquiles Navarro & Alya Al Sultani)
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Jeremy Cunningham, Dustin Laurenzi, and Paul Bryan – ‘Worlds Turn’
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Naomi Alligator – ‘Don’t Get It’
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Joey Bada$$ – ‘Where I Belong’
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Medhane – ‘ginger’
