Ten New and Upcoming Releases I Think You'll Enjoy
The latest installment in 'Listening Sessions'' ongoing series on new and upcoming music
Welcome music lovers!
For this edition of ‘Listening Sessions,’ I have written my third roundup of new and upcoming releases that I have enjoyed listening to over the past few months. My first two roundups focused solely on jazz and while jazz is the focus here too, I have branched out this time into indie and classic rock as well.
What new music have you been enjoying recently? Let me know by sharing a comment below.
Later this month, I will be sharing an essay on Jerry Reed as well as my second piece on Laura Nyro focusing on music that was inspired by her that came out in the late sixties and early seventies. As well, I will be sharing my first post for my paid subscribers which will include a round-up of most of the great music I heard while I was in New York two weeks ago. You won’t want to miss out on it!
Until next time, may good listening be with you all!
It’s a question that imparts some urgency: where to go to find new music? A few weeks ago,
of decided to provide some answers and listed 13 ways to get the word on what’s new and, cutting to the case, what’s good. Included in Chris’ piece were college radio, your local record shop, publications both legacy (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork et al) and indie (Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan et al) as well as here, Substack.I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the most interesting, innovative and eclectic music writing and criticism is here. Whether it be classical or polka or punk or anything in between, someone is writing about it here and writing about it well. Out of these individual pursuits of sharing the music that moves and rocks one’s foundation does come responsibility. A recent comment on Substack Notes articulated this idea:
“The Classic Rock Nostalgia boon of the late-1980s and most of the 90s stole away most of the cultural bandwidth afforded to contemporary Rock music before that time, fencing it off for their owned properties only.
There are still many media today that will not admit any music made after 1980, and they still hold the majority of power in their sectors of the industry.” - Shaggy Snodgrass
I think this comment illustrates the tendency to often write about music that has been written about before. There is an appeal to this and I should know. Almost all of the work I’ve done here has been to write about an artist or an album or a group from the increasingly distant past. I have tried to focus my writing about artists, albums or groups that have not been subject to significant long-form criticism before. And even when I have written about music that has not escaped many a critic’s pen, I have tried to find new angles and new things to say. But still, that’s not enough.
Until earlier this year, I rarely sought out new music consciously—in all honesty, simply getting up to speed on the sounds of the fifties and sixties into the seventies (long my primary area of interest) took enough of my time. It’s turning out to be a lifelong project. But, if I wish to write about music, staying as current as possible on what’s going on today is something I needed to start doing.
I’ve been at it since mid-March thanks in large part to the tireless and passionate publicists who keep feeding me new and interesting music. Twice before (read here and here), I shared which among these recordings have moved me. It’s time to share another set of albums that I’ve dug over the past few months that I think you will like too.
To call Kurt Elling a versatile jazz singer is abundantly true but seems almost trite to say. It’s more I think that Elling can sing just about anything and make it sound authentic. A project he is currently undertaking is not only continuing to confirm that he can do it all, it’s also a reflection of how the creation and distribution of music can happen instantaneously, making the whole process as immediate as a TikTok video but thankfully far more substantive.
You see, he’s in the middle of recording a series of “spontaneous” albums and quickly making them available for purchase and streaming. Wildflowers Vol. 1 (Edition Records) came out at the end of August after he teamed up with pianist Sullivan Fortner and, on one track, with vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, only days before without any plan on what to record, letting creativity do its thing.
The album opens with ‘Paper Doll’ and I’ll admit, that was enough for me to take notice, having been raised, in part, on the music of the Mills Brothers, who made the song—an analogue and far less disturbing portrait of what today would be an AI-generated girlfriend—one of their signature pieces. Elling glides through it with élan and is met at every moment with Fortner, who often dances along on the keyboard. Through his long-standing partnership with McLorin Salvant, he knows exactly how to accompany a vocalist.
Elling has the affect of a supreme hipster but the key is that it is not at the expense of sincerity. So, while he channels the late, great Jon Hendricks on Hendricks’ lyric treatment of Mercer Ellington’s ‘Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,’ Elling stops time on his and Michiel Borstlap’s ‘A Moment of Enchantment’ as well as on his transcendent duet with McLorin Salvant on Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone’s ‘A Wish (Valentine).’
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There’s a healthy, ongoing debate on how much should musicians continue to lean into the bedrock of the jazz repertoire, both the originals from multiple generations ago and the tunes that comprise the Great American Songbook. Ethan Iverson and Phil Freeman, two of the best music writers here on Substack, have had a healthy dialogue about this with Iverson on one side and Freeman resolutely on the other (read more here). As for me, I’m inclined to believe that these compositions continue to be interpreted because they are durable and deeply sturdy pieces—Dave Brubeck’s ‘In Your Own Sweet Way’ being just of many examples.
I was thinking about this when I was contacted by vocalist Kalya Ramu (that musicians seek me out to pitch me their music is the most persuasive proof I have that the Substack model of writing and publishing is the way of the future) about her upcoming third album, Trio (self-released), to be released on November 29, an intimate affair of nine songs on which Ramu is joined by guitarist Julien Bradley-Combs and bassist Duncan Hopkins. All but two of the songs: ‘When the Moon is High,’ written by Ramu herself and ‘Hayalda Hachi Yafah Bagan,’ with music composed by Yoni Rechter and lyrics by Yehonatan Geffen, have long been canonized. That one is motivated to put his or her stamp on them is not surprising. They are a proving ground.
Ramu’s frames of references here are Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Anita O’Day, legends all who each had a unique approach. Ramu divines a sincerity in her interpretations, treating these songs as late-night companions to cozy up to. In particular, her reading of ‘You Go to My Head,’ which concludes the album, gets very deep into the words—I’m thinking here of the light flutter as she sings “get a hold of yourself”—that both renews appreciation of the song and makes it seem as if Ramu is singing it for the first time as well as that we are hearing it for the first time too.
Ramu is based in Toronto and will be celebrating the release of her new record with a show on December 8 at Burdock Music Hall. Also out of TO is Paloma Sky, a quintet led by trumpeter and the group’s primary composer Marie Goudy and also with lead vocalist Jocelyn Barth, pianist Stu Harrison, bassise Nick Arseneau and drummer Andrew Scott. Their first album, Hold On to Me (self-released), has been out since mid-September and is an intriguing amalgam of jazz and pop. Goudy’s writing is guided by Kenny Wheeler, Maria Schneider and Stevie Wonder. ‘Her Glory,’ with its two-part structure alternating between a kind of Horace Silver-like tango and a declaratory, slightly murky chant, is a stand-out from the recording.
Goudy and the rest of Paloma Sky are onto something. I’m excited to hear more from them.
When a copy of guitarist Jocelyn Gould’s new album, Portrait of Right Now (self-released) came in the mail a few weeks ago in advance of its release on October 25, I was glad to have had the chance to give it a sneak peek. Gould is continuing the tradition of small-group, guitar-driven jazz and extending it with her clean lyricism and an after-hours feel that is cool—that notion that good jazz is something shared by those in the know.
Her latest prioritizes her compositions. The title track is a particular delight. The two times Gould delves into the work of others are both inspired choices. ‘Jingles,’ a giddy-up-and-go line by Wes Montgomery, has her firing off a solo bursting with ideas and rhythmic asides. ‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered’ is one of several features by Gould as a vocalist. Her voice is warm. She has a classic and pleasing pop sound.
Brett Hansen, a guitarist and composer in Edmonton, got in touch at the end of September about his debut recording, Confluence (self-released). I’m glad he did. Hearing Hansen play, with his clear tone and fleet way of constructing single-line runs, brings to mind John Abercrombie who possessed one of the purest sounds on the six-string.
Confluence casts a kind of ambient, chill mood that is sustained for just over an hour. That’s not to suggest that there isn’t a bite to Hansen’s music, all of which is composed by him. There is. But it’s undeniable that the album’s soundscape is the key to its appeal and it’s achieved through twinning Hansen’s guitar with the lithe voice of vocalist Mallory Chipman, who also co-produced the album with Hansen and Paul Johnston. Standout tracks include ‘DWKE,’ ‘Heading North’ (for which Chipman wrote lyrics) and ‘Where Have You Gone?’ Confluence has been out since the beginning of October.
Viewfinder (American Dreams), a sprawling double album by New York guitarist, composer and poet Wendy Eisenberg was released in the middle of September. Inspired by their experience of getting laser-eye surgery, Viewfinder is a startling listen. It begins with ‘Lasik,’ a quivering table setter in which Eisenberg sings, “got my eyes fixed up / I stayed awake and watched my eyes grow stronger / watched everything clearer.” It has an indie-rock feel: a vocal that circles around tonality and a guitar part that implies rather than imposes harmony. Soon, a trombone (played by Zekereyya el-Magharbel), bass (played by Tyrone Allen II), drums (played by Booker Stardrum) and electronic effects are overlaid, taking the music far beyond indie-rock conventions.
The music on Viewfinder often organically evolves, starting in one mood and then shifting into something else entirely so that, as on ‘Two Times Water,’ what begins as a rubato ballad turns into a post-bop workout. ‘If An Artist’ begins as a stark electric-folk song that ends with a psychedelic collage of electronics. It’s a breathtaking album—easily one of the best I’ve heard all year.
I get a similar feeling of daring exhilaration when listening to singer-songwriter Anna McClellan’s new album, Electric Bouquet (Father/Daughter), released on October 25. Here, the feeling is off-kilter. There’s a fearlessness to McClellan’s voice, especially when it goes for broke on something like ‘I’m Lyin,’ going well beyond her range. There’s also an admirable resolve to avoid easy resolutions in any of the songs or for any one melodic line to move in the way that is expected or most easily resolved. Music that revels in the unconventional like this is invigorating. More please.
Also invigorating is the debut release by tenor saxophonist Neta Raanan, Unforeseen Blossom (Giant Step Arts), which has been out since late August and has flown under the radar. The LP was recorded live over two nights at Bar Bayeux in Brooklyn as Raanan, who counts giants like Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young as her primary influences, wanted her first record to exude the energy of live jazz in a club setting. She succeeds here mightily.
Her primary foil is the deeply inventive vibraphonist Joel Ross and the combination of the two musicians calls to mind the adventurous spirit of Bobby Hutcherson’s classic Blue Note sessions. What excites me most about Unforeseen Blossom is the twisting nature of Raanan’s compositions and how they inspire lengthy, cerebral improvisations from the band. In addition to Raanan and Ross are bassist Simón Willson and drummer Kayvon Gordon.
New music also means old music newly released and there remains a steady stream of previously unreleased material finally seeing the light of day. Arguably the most exciting archival release coming out soon is Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs, a live recording from 1966 with McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Henry Grimes and Jack DeJohnette. There’s also been a new volume of Joni Mitchell’s Archives series covering the Asylum years from 1976 to 1980, and volume 8 of Miles Davis’ Bootleg Series is coming out on November 8.
Just last week (October 25), a recording of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from the Fillmore East in September 1969 came out. Live at the Fillmore 1969 (Rhino) captures the cooperative at its giddy apex—the wonderment of the blend of these four masters with Greg Reeves on bass and Dallas Taylor on drums on the electric portion of the show was still very new.
The opening acoustic set is startling in its intimacy. The listener can almost see Stephen Stills picking the beginning of the opener, ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,’ and marvel anew at the organic flow of his triumphant ode to Judy Collins. The set also emphasizes the clarity of the group’s harmonies, heard best on their gorgeous arrangement of the Beatles’ ‘Blackbird,’ David Crosby’s mysterious ‘Guinnevere’ and one of Graham Nash’s odes to Joni Mitchell, ‘Lady of the Island.’ The concluding electric set has turbocharged versions of ‘Wooden Ships’ and ‘Lone Time Gone’ as well as a very long yet very satisfying workout on Neil Young’s ‘Down by the River.’ Any historical release that can inject new enthusiasm into its subject is a sign of its worth. Live at the Fillmore 1969 pulls this feat off easily.
The second Record Store Day of the year is coming on November 29 and it will include at least a few recordings that I expect will meet this criterion as well, including collections featuring Emily Remler, Bill Evans, B.B. King and Sun Ra. All are through, at least in part, the continued dogged work of Zev Feldman. Cory Weeds, another dedicated archivist, is to thank for the release on Record Store Day of Live at the Captain’s Cabin (Reel to Real) featuring trumpeter Charles Tolliver live in Edmonton from 1973 with this Music Inc. group at the time of pianist John Hicks, bassist Clint Houston and drummer Cliff Barbaro.
Over just over 80 minutes of music, Tolliver leads his group through a collection of intense, mostly modal workouts that capture a strain of jazz: resistant to 4/4 swing, flirting with rock rhythms, full of pedal points and long solos, that was an undercurrent of the music at the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies. Tolliver’s sound hits a sweet spot between the snark of Woody Shaw and the power of Freddie Hubbard. It’s tart, bold, in your face. It’s exciting to hear it at length on this soon-to-be-released collection.
Where to go to find new music? Just follow your ears and you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Whats the best spots for punk and hip hop?
Thanks for this rich selection of new and upcoming titles, Robert. Several artists in this post are entirely new to me. I enjoyed getting to know them through this excellent post and the links you’ve included.