This is a hard time of year for me. My dad passed away the Sunday before Thanksgiving last year and my wife and I lost our dog to cancer unexpectedly earlier this Fall. So this week, leading into the holidays, I needed something that would be guaranteed to put a smile on my face and put my mind at ease. So I compiled an hour-long* list of some of my absolute favorites.
Starting things off is Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions, is it jazz? Is it rock? You decide. Then we’ve got the Gotts Street Park and Olive Jones with an absolute banger that sounds like it could be straight out of Mo-town, a hypnotic harp track from Amanda Whiting, a Gary Bartz tune that brings the wisdom and the woodwinds, plus more!
*If you are going to be in the kitchen preparing meals this holiday season, my playlist can also double as one-hour timer. All my playlists are exactly an hour so far, not 59-minutes or an hour and 1 minute (except #02 which is exactly 90 min). I’m aware this is not neurotypical behavior, not sure if I’ll continue to be so strict moving forward.
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Track List
“Farewell to Earth”
Ilhan Ersahin, Dave Harrington, Alp Ersönmez, İzzet Kızıl, Turgut Alp Bekoğlu, Brandon Lewis | Istanbul Sessions: Solar Plexus | September 28, 2018
Perfect to start things off, this track features a driving drum beat and funky little baseline before adding in the saxophone of Ersahin. At one point the music evokes a feeling of weightless-ness before blasting off and leaving Earth behind.
“Strange times everywhere and life seem faster then ever. Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions suggests you to not get stuck with the “past” and do not over-worry about the “future” and offers you the “music of now”. Speaking of the power of creativity, it’s in full effect on their new album “Solar Plexus” which despite its creative daring and occasional spaciness remains surprisingly accessible and engaging. The “cinematic” qualities of the music are not restricted to the song titles which are all inspired by the likes of 2001 and Blade Runner, but they amount to a movie for the mind in which the listener’s ears are the screen upon which (or into which) it’s all being projected.
- Excerpt from Istanbul Sessions: Solar Plexus album description on Bandcamp
“Tell Me Why”
Gotts Street Park, Olive Jones | On The Inside | October 13, 2023
This track is about to be stuck in your head all day. It’s funky, groovy, and soulful in all the right ways. Get ready for goosebumps when Olive Jones sings the line, “I can’t explain why.”
The 12-track musical project is a big deal for them, as they explore genre-defying territory, blending vintage soul with alt-R&B synths. The last track teasing the album, “Tell Me Why,” is a collaboration with the trio’s long-time collaborator, Olivia Jones, and has a close-to-home feeling. “[She is] a good friend of ours who we met in Leeds over a decade ago! She’s been singing in our live show for the past year or so, and we wanted to have her featured on the album.” Commenting further, they add, “This tune seemed the perfect fit for her voice and style to shine – we had the instrumental tracked out a few years ago, and she jumped on recently and gave it a new lease of life.”
- Excerpt from Wonderland Magazine: Gotts Street Park Photo Diary
Give the rest of On The Inside a listen and check out the Olive Jones’ debut EP Three More Nights
“Facing the Sun”
Amanda Whiting | The Liminality of Her | March 22, 2024
I didn’t know harp jazz could go this hard. The track “Facing the Sun” is one of my favorite tracks from this album. The sound engineering on this album is phenomenal, the balance of harp, bass, and drums makes this piece so incredibly hypnotic. I was listening to this song while cleaning the other day and I was so entranced, I scrubbed the bathtub rhythmically until I was out of breath.
Amanda describes the theme of this project as "liminality... that place in between, the transition from one place to another. No longer what it was, yet not what it's going to be.
The harp always presents itself at these moments. It's a sound that causes an emotion. My instrument chose me. It's been with me through every chapter of life. It's how I speak, especially when there are no words.
This album is a rite of passage for "her". A feeling of alchemy, a feeling of liberation. Moments of inner searching, intertwined, waiting but moving forward. Never looking back.
'The Liminality of Her' encompasses the highs and the lows. The nomadic love of freedom and spirituality. It's all so much bigger than you or I…"
- Excerpt from The Liminality of Her album description on Bandcamp
This might just be my favorite album of 2024.
“Celestial Blues”
Gary Bartz Ntu Troop | Harlem Bush Music - Uhuru | January 1, 1971
The other night I went to an after-hours event at my local science museum. They were serving wine and discussing fermentation science, but what caught my eye was the “Laser Jazz Fantasia” event in the planetarium. What a let down. I was expecting music like this cosmically-inspired Gary Bartz number, but what I got was a Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller sandwich before Elton John wrapped thing up with “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.” Since it was in a planetarium “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” might have been more fitting, but I digress.
In the 1960s, after graduating from Juilliard, he joined the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln Group and the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop. In the 1970s, he played with Miles Davis and founded the Ntu Troop, which united avante-garde jazz with African folk, funk, soul and other genres. (Those recordings are often mined for samples by contemporary hip hop artists.) Bartz, who's been a professor of jazz saxophone at Oberlin College for nearly a quarter century, has released more than 40 solo albums, and he's appeared on more than 200 as a guest artist.
- Excerpt from NPR article: National Endowment for the Arts announces 2024 Jazz Master
I didn’t know having Gary Bartz as a college professor was an option, I want a do-over.
“Between Us”
Okvsho | A place between us | March 7, 2024
Okvsho (pronounced: Okusho) consistently brings the funk. Traphouse Jazz, Kamala’s Danz, Orange Wine, and now A place between us are all must-listens from these beat-making brothers.
Okvsho is back with their fourth project “A place between us”. Georg and Christoph Kiss, the two brothers behind Okvsho, are showcasing a project that is more intimate and bolder than ever, offering an insight into their thoughts, feelings, and experiences during the last two years. The unique style Okvsho has become known for in recent years has once again evolved, combining organic and electronic elements with beautiful harmonies and expressive rhythms.
- Excerpt from A place between us album description on Bandcamp
“Fly Vision”
Echoes of Zoo | Fly Vision (Single) | May 13, 2024
Nathan Daems, also of Black Flower and Trance Plantations, heads up this electric quartet that describes itself as “Jazz rock for psych heads.” I saw an Instagram post from Roadburn Festival 2024 that talked a bit about Daems, and how he grew up near a zoo. The various animal noises he could hear in his youth was the inspiration for Echoes of Zoo and that can really be heard in their albums Breakout and Speech of Species.
"Messages are constantly being transmitted in the animal world by adopting body poses: there are more than 2,000 different poses or "words" in certain lizard species, by dancing in the most ingenious ways, by changing colours from geometric patterns (certain species of squids and chameleons do this), by causing vibrations in the ground, by smells, even by giving light and so on. How can we be so blind to that and say that animals cannot speak?"
Language and music sometimes coincide completely. Changes of melody or rhythm are generally used by many animal species to make a specific statement, and this is what Echoes of Zoo also tries to do through their compositions. But music can also be purely instrumental, with no fixed meaning. In this, Nathan again sees a parallel with the animal world: "Surprisingly, it appears that many songbirds sing much more frequently than is necessary to communicate. That would indicate that they enjoy making melodies."
- Excerpt from Speech of Species Album description on Bandcamp
Here’s another fun note from the band’s Instagram related to this track
Thriving on a 9/8 Balkan rhythm (also known as ‘karsilama’), the track is inspired by traditional Bulgarian Roma music as well as Turkish psychedelia. The electric guitar and saxophone sounds intertwine deeply offering a multi-layered auditory experience, just like the multifaceted vision of a fly does.
“Le Temps”
Michel Roques | Chorus (reissue) | March 15, 2019
This is a fun one. The spoken word intro over the drum beat before the sax bursts through has my head nodding, my toes tapping, and I’m “oui oui”-ing along and getting lost in the groove.
Although his albums are full of the same qualities as those of many other star saxophonists/flutists playing spiritual jazz, Frenchman Michel Roques is often classed as a "supporting artist" or a "musicians’ musician", forever in the background, and often left out of the reference books. Adding to this lack of recognition is the fact that Michel Roques was seriously under-recorded: five albums as leader in a career of almost twenty years does not amount to much! Thankfully, in 1972, Pierre Barouh, boss of Saravah, records made up for the injustice by offering him the opportunity to record ‘’Chorus’’ in studio…
- Excerpt from Chorus album description from Souffle Continu Records
“Mystic Relaxation”
Charlie Hunter, Pound For Pound | Return Of The Candyman | January 1, 1998
Vibraphonist Stefon Harris steals the show in this Blue Note release from ‘98. Clocking in at just a minute and seven seconds you’ll wish this jam would never end.
“Wedgehead Gets Lucky”
Stonephace | Stonephace | April 20, 2009
Saxphonist Larry Stabbins leads Stonephace, who released their self-titled album back in 2009. If you’ve never heard Stonephace before you are in for a treat. The first time I heard this track, “Wedgehead Gets Lucky” I was walking outside with headphones on and was stopped in my tracks around the 1:04 mark.
Featuring Portishead’s Adrian Utley on guitar and Jim Barr on bass, plus a guest appearance from virtuoso trumpeter Guy Barker as you’ve never heard him before, Stonephace creates a unique universe where electronics, free jazz and Afro-tinged beats collide. Imagine a mix of Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, Pharaoh Sanders and early Soft Machine produced by Jay Dee and you might be getting close.
- Excerpt from Stonephace artist biography via Tru Thoughts Record Label
“Figure Numatic”
Nubiyan Twist | Nubiyan Twist | February 13, 2015
There must be something in the water in Leeds, because so much amazing music is originating out of the English city. This track is off their fantastic self-titled debut album, but they have since released the albums Jungle Run (2019), Freedom Fables (2021) and Finding Your Flame (2024).
I usually don’t refer to specific timestamps in songs, but at the 3:38 mark of this track if you aren’t nodding along and dancing, you may want to consult a physician.
Since forming in 2011 at the Leeds College of Music, Nubiyan Twist have risen to become one of the leading groups in the fertile UK music scene. Known for their eclectic blend of styles and powerful sound, the virtuosic nine-piece band’s thrilling exploration of tight musicianship and infectious grooves have consistently mesmerised audiences.
- Excerpt from Nubiyan Twist’s about page via nubiyantwist.co.uk
“Destination Danger”
Laurent Bardainne, Tigre d’Eau Douce | Hymne au soleil | January 28, 2022
I hope if you’ve found this playlist near the holidays the title of this track isn’t descriptive of your trip to the in-laws. Even if it is this jam will be sure to put a smile on your face and wiggle in your hips.
Laurent Bardainne will release his new album in 2022 "Hymne au Soleil". Sizzles with Arnaud Roulin’s Hammond organ licks, in-the-pocket bass work from Sylvain Daniel, and shuffling drum and percussion interplay from Philippe Gleizes and legendary Guadeloupean musician Roger Raspail, who has played with the likes of Kassav’, Cesaria Evora and Meshell Ndegeocello. Together they pin Bardainne’s soaring saxophone lines to the mast like a flag in the wind.
The album is further coloured by wistful choral refrains that drift in and out of view, providing a crepuscular soft-focus glow and dynamic counterpoint to Bardainne’s more ferocious sun-worship blowing.
Also check out Eden Beach Club (2024).
“17 Days - Piano & A Microphone 1983 Version”
Prince | Piano & A Microphone 1983 | September 14, 2018
So far while writing Chaotic Good Jazz, I’ve liked to end my playlists on a jazz-adjacent note. This Prince track might actually be too jazzy to call jazz-adjacent, but I don’t think you’ll mind. In fact this whole album has a improvised/jam session feel that feels like you’re listening in on something special that wasn’t meant for commercial success or mass appeal, just an amazing musician, a piano, and a microphone.
Piano & a Microphone 1983 is the first posthumous album culled entirely from Prince’s vault. Instead of piecing together one of the many projects he envisioned and abandoned, the executors found a session from Prince’s home studio, recorded to cassette in a single take; now and then you can hear him sniffling. Alone with his piano, Prince sounds unusually relaxed, mindful of the contradictions that always seized him yet willing to imagine their reconciliation.
- Excerpt from Pitchfork review of Piano & A Microphone 1983
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the next Bandcamp Friday sale on December 6th, 2024 and check out isitbandcampfriday.com for more information.
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