Tag: Spiritual Jazz
New York-based pianist, keyboardist and composer Surya Botofasina has recently released his debut album , titled Everyone’s Children on the always excellent label, Spiritmuse Records. Raised at the Sai Anantam Ashram in the Southern Californian hills, Surya was taught by the legendary Alice Coltrane, who’s both music and religious practices are foundational elements in his life.
London keyboardist and pianist Charlie Stacey has been making waves over the past few years, performing with Yussef Dayes and fellow Tomorrow Warriors alumni such as Moses Boyd and The Ezra Collective. He sets out on his own, releasing his highly-anticipated debut as a leader, titled The Light Beyond Time on UK’s Night Dreamer label.
For the latest release of the fantastic Jazz Is Dead series, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad team up with two iconic legends in trombonist Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison, founders of the 70’s Detroit-based independent label and collective, Tribe Records.
Over the past 20 years, Nostalgia 77 has been the eclectic work of UK producer Ben Lamdin, exploring the forward-thinking sounds of jazz, soul, and electronic music. Lamdin reunites with longtime collaborator and arranger Riaan Vosloo to release arguably the project’s best album to date in The Loneliest Flower In The Village.
In what can already be considered a front-runner for album of the year, UK-based drummer, producer and vocalist Andy Hay returns with a 2xLP spiritual jazz masterpiece, titled Children Of The Sun.
When it comes to seamlessly blurring the sounds of jazz, house, and Afro-Latin music, Italian composer and producer Gerardo Frisina has set the standard, releasing six highly acclaimed full-length albums and numerous essential EPs, 12inch singles, remixes and more over a two decade span. As a follow-up to last year’s superb Soul Drum EP, the modern-day jazz dancefloor pioneer has returned with a brilliant new 2xLP on Schema Records, titled Joyful Sound.
Happy New Year! Before we turn the page and look ahead to 2023, let’s spend one more moment in celebrating some of the best music from the past twelve months and dive into some of the best tracks of 2022.
As with new releases, 2022 was a remarkable year for reissues and previously unreleased recordings. It feels like with every great new release or artists that breaks through on the scene, there are still so many records from the past to still discover, or make more readily available again. I also feel that with each year that goes by, the quality of reissues get’s better and better. The care and work that goes into many of these releases is astonishing.
It’s that time again (hard to believe), where we revisit some of the best releases of the year. In regards of new music, 2022 was one of the best in recent memory. It was admittedly extremely challenging pulling together a top 30 list, as many their were many additional favorites that unfortunately didn’t make the list. If there is time before the month is up, I might go back and extend the list to 40 or 50 releases. As always, I’m sure I missed a few that were just not fully on my radar.
Following the stellar 2021 release The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises, UK saxophonist Tony Burkill returns with his large ensemble Work Money Death for another absolutely remarkable new recording on ATA Records, titled Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction.
