Thundercat - Drunk [2017]

Thundercat has been involved in some great music lately - the latest Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington albums, his The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam, and now Drunk. He is musically a descendant of George Duke - an artist he covered, to great effect, on his self titled debut album. Like the music of George Duke, there is clearly a jazz sensibility here, but at the same time, with the soul and even electronic features that Thundercat brings to his music, it's hard to put him firmly in one box. That said, once one is familiar with Thundercat, he has a pretty unique and easily identifiable bass tone and vocal style. He is a fantastic bassist, but his airy falsetto vocals are also a key asset to his music, providing a fantastic compliment to the groovy, occasionally mellow and dark production style he brings to his solo projects.

Elucid - Valley of Grace [2017]

"Black Joy Matters"

Elucid, who released the fantastic Save Yourself just last year, is back again with Valley Of Grace. This project continues in the same vein of Save Yourself: it's dark, industrial, socially aware and pro-black abstract hip hop music. Elucid has great wordplay - his firm delivery and grim voice mixes extremely well with the production style and the subject matter here. The album opens with an instrumental with a fantastic title that is ridiculously relevant in these horrible times politically - especially for people of color - "self care is a revolutionary act", which consists of a dark instrumental with a sample that states "I'm taking time away to dream". Although it is arguably not a highlight musically, despite being quite good, it sticks out based on it's message alone. Just as Solange's "Borderline (An Ode To Self Care)" did last year, "self care is a revolutionary act" reminds marginalized people that sometimes it's ok - and arguably necessary for your mental health - to just tune out from all the horrible news.

Mary Halvorson - Meltframe [2015]

Meltframe, Mary Halvorson's first solo record, features the guitarist applying her unconventional style to both classic compositions by jazz greats and modern compositions by her contemporaries. What is immediately apparent, even from a cursory listen, is the range of the sonic palette of this record. Halvorson sometimes opts for an extremely aggressive and distorted hard-rock ready approach, like the first half of "Cascades" (Oliver Nelson), but also knows when delicacy is key, as shown in the subtle echo of the guitar in "Solitude" (Duke Ellington). Despite the fact that many of her fans may think of terms like "angular" and "cerebral" when looking for ways to describe Halvorson's approach to guitar, the solo setting seems to have freed her up to be just as expressive emotionally as she is impressive technically.

Mary Halvorson - Away With You [2016]

Mary Halvorson is an idiosyncratic guitarist who first burst onto the scene as leader with Dragon's Head, a well put together trio record. Since the release of Dragon's Head, Halvorson has continued to collaborate with fellow musicians, in and outside of jazz, while also recording more albums as a leader and adding more members to her original core trio with John Hébert (bass) and Ches Smith (drums). Taught by fellow rule-breaker, the avant-garde saxophonist Anthony Braxton, Halvorson's unique way of attacking guitar playing often features very angular playing and arrangements, complete with unexpected shifts in rhythm and tone that are undoubtedly influenced by free improvisation. Due to her difficult to classify style and knack to push boundaries, throughout the years she has become well known in the more eccentric side of the jazz scene of New York City. On Away With You, Halvorson presents the listener with her biggest band yet, an Octet which, in addition to the core trio, includes Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jon Irabagon (alto sax), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax), Jacob Garchik (trombone) and Susan Alcorn (pedal steel guitar).