A playlist featuring these songs and albums can be found here on Spotify

This past year offered a lot of great new music but I missed most of it because my listening was heavily biased to the 1970’s, a decade that seems to be my natural musical habitat. Nevertheless, there were some great new albums, including one from my favourite recording artist, Incognito. Yussef Dayes also impressed with Black Classical Music, which in my opinion is one of the most ambitious and expansive jazz albums since Kamasi Washington’s The Epic.

Album Art Mosaic generated @ https://xsaardo.github.io/Album-Art-Collage–Creator/

Songs

  1. Nothing Makes Me Feel Better, Incognito (Splash Blue)
  2. Self, Cleo Sol (Forever Living Originals)
  3. Paradise, Terrace Martin & Alex Isley (Sounds of Crenshaw)
  4. Oropendola, John Carroll Kirby (Stones Throw Records)
  5. So We Won’t Forget, Khruangbin (Dead OceansLive at Radio Music City Hall)
  6. Bad Company, Yazmin Lacey (Own Your Own Records)
  7. Return to Centaurus, Mildlife (Heavenly Recordings)
  8. Windy City Theme, AC Soul Symphony & Dave Lee (Z Records)
  9. Wait A Little Longer, Snoh Aalegra (Atrium Recordings LLC)
  10. Numb, Stellar Echo (3441917 Records DK)
  11. Natural Child, Jimpster & Crackazat (Freerange Records)
  12. Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long, Jose James (Rainbow Blonde Records)

Albums

  1. Into You, Incognito (Splash Blue)
  2. Yussef Dayes, Classical Black Music (Brownswood Recordings)
  3. Gold, Cleo Sol (Forever Living Originals)
  4. Voice Notes, Yazmin Lacey (Own Your Own Records)
  5. The Shores of Infinity, Menagerie (Freestyle Records)
  6. Point of No Return, Malcolm Strachan (Haggis Records)
  7. I Left My Heart in Ladera, Terrace Martin & Alex Isley (Sounds of Crenshaw)
  8. Music for Your Soul, Maysa (Blue Velvet Soul Records)
  9. City of Blue, Stellar Echo (3441917 Records DK)
  10. Intergalactic Rhodemap, Orpheus a.k.a. Jarrod Lawson (iNViSiOn Records)
  11. Late Again, Sven Wunder (Piano Piano)

New to me (Re)disovered

So much of the music I listened to this past year was from the 1970’s. I plundered the catalogues of some of my favourites like Azymuth, George Benson, and Weather Report but also dove to greater depths from artists like Azar Lawrence, Art Farmer, Hi-Tension, and Cal Tjader. Having recently inherited a derelict turntable and taken up what I would humbly call “minor league crate-digging”, I recently procured some Hi-Tension, Cal Tjader, and George Benson vintage vinyl.

A particular sound I was enamoured with this past year was the CTI and Kudu record label sound from the seventies. I created this CTI/Kudu playlist featuring many of those artists and the signature sound that came from Creed Taylor’s production style and the incredible talent on those labels – Bob James, Grover Washington Jr., and Idris Muhammad to name a few.

That Hi-Tension record also sent me down a Brit Funk rabbit hole. I loved the revival of that sound in the Str4ta recordings from the Brownswood label and wanted to learn more about that era, especially since one of its pioneers was Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick, co-founder of Incognito. I was fascinated to learn that Hi-Tension’s use of rhythm guitar, saxophone, and driving beats formed a template for eighties bands like Spandau Ballet and Haircut 100. I created this BritFunk playlist to explore that movement from the late-seventies and early-eighties.

Passings

We said goodbye to some absolute legends this past year. Ahmad Jamal, who I called the “patient pianist” was a unique stylist and produced an astounding body of work in his 70+ years as a recording artist and performer.

Wayne Shorter was a contemporary of Jamal’s and came to fame as a member of Miles Davis’ second great quintet. Shorter quickly rose to jazz greatness as a band leader and co-founder of Weather Report. A three-part documentary entitled Zero Gravity was released this year around the time of his passing. The film is remarkable for the mood it creates, the way it tells Shorter’s story, and how it resonates with his philosophy of music and life.

Other greats who passed this year were Brazilian legend Joao Donato and R&B/Soul singer/songwriter, Bobby Caldwell.

Ahmad Jamal (1930-2023)
[Photo: REMY GABALDA/AFP via Getty Images]

Anticipating in 2024

The British R&B/Soul collective Sault has created a new wave of raw and beautiful music these past few years, their most recent album being 11 (Forever Living Originals, 2022). Rumors of a new album are not confirmed but the group has announced a limited international tour that kicked-off in London last month.