The editors of JAZZIZ have the good fortune of being able to listen to new music before it’s officially released in stores and streaming platforms. And because we’re always listening to new tunes, we always know just what to recommend. That’s why we’ll bring you a roundup of ten songs each week, featuring music from our favorite new albums, singles and other tunes that may have flown under your radar.
Light in the Attic has shared a recently-unearthed Betty Davis single, “Crashin’ With Passion,” from the album of the same name, which captures the Queen of Funk’s final 1979 sessions and will finally be released on August 25, along with more reissues of essential titles from her trailblazing career. “M-Squad” is the latest single from The Count Basie Orchestra’s Late Night Basie, featuring a guest turn from Terence Blanchard. Dr. Javier Nero meditates on Kemet, the ancient Egyptian, highly-advanced Black civilization, on his new album, Kemet: The Black Land, which includes our selection, “Time.”
Vocal supergroup säje have released their rendition of “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” featuring Jacob Collier and included in their forthcoming debut album, due out on August 25. “Off the Ledge” is a track from Ambrose Akinmusire’s Beauty Is Enough, a solo trumpet recording with no overdubs of effects, released as an intentional surprise drop via his newly-established label, Origami Harvest. Contemporary jazz duo Axon Radio pay homage to the rich history of their hometown of Indianapolis on “Naptown Hustle.” “Unified Dakotas” is a new track by High Pulp, inspired by Miles Davis’ “Sketches of Spain” and featuring Jeff Parker.
Composer Daniel Hersog puts a fresh spin on beloved traditional songs and more on his big band album, Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined), much of the material of which originates from Hersog’s native Canada, including an ingenious reimagination of the Tragically Hip 1996 rock hit, “Ahead by a Century.” Guitar virtuoso Matteo Mancuso channels the jubilation of Rio de Janeiro during Carnival on “Samba Party,” the new single from his debut album, The Journey. Closing our playlist, Harold López-Nussa expresses bittersweet longing on “Mal Du Pays,” one of his ten new original compositions from his Blue Note debut, Timba a la Americana.
Listen to this week’s JAZZIZ Editors’ Choice playlist via the player below.
Featured photo courtesy of Outside In Music.
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