Steph Richards - Take The Neon Lights [2019]

Published on NextBop

Although trumpeter Steph Richards hails from Canada, she has a deep connection with New York City. Like many modern jazz musicians, Richards' has built a name for herself in New York City, having worked with a wide range of artists that includes indie-pop stalwarts such as St. Vincent and accomplished jazz experimentalists like Sylvie Courvoisier. Richards' sophomore album as a bandleader, Take The Neon Lights, is an adventurous work dedicated to her musical home. Throughout the album's 44 minutes, Richards, accompanied by James Carney (piano), Sam Minaie (bass) and Andrew Munsey (drums) play a unique collection of compositions with a healthy balance between the subtle and the frenetic.

Solange - When I Get Home [2019]

After her commercial breakthrough with the fantastic A Seat At The Table, Solange is back with another great record. Like its predecessor, When I Get Home has a strong focus on the mellow instead of the bombastic, however, this time around the structure is quite different. Although A Seat At The Table was a strong project lyrically and musically, it was an album defined by the power of Solange's words, which were at the forefront of its conversation. Conversely, on When I Get Home, the lyrics are much less pointed and there is a significantly less amount of them. While there are moments like the wittily rapped "Binz" that offer instantly quotable soundbites ("dollars never show up on CP time"), this record finds its power in the fruitful marriage between the impressive instrumentation and the mantras of Solange's lovely voice. When I Get Home features Solange's compositional style diving even further into the funk-and-jazz-tinged Neo-Soul rabbit hole that previous tracks like "Weary" and "Junie" hinted at.