“Speak About Destruction”
Bandcamp Fridays will run again this year starting next month, but first up is a Friday event where Bandcamp will send 100% of their proceeds to MusiCares to help out people in the Los Angeles area who lost their homes in the recent fires.
There’s several benefit albums being put together quickly, I want to highlight Staying: Leaving Records Air to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires. This is a 2-LP/3-cassette collection with some of the most community minded musicians around, including Laraaji, Photay, Surya Botofasina, Julia Holter, and André 3000. The digital download that comes with the physical media (or available on its own), total 98 tracks.
Best New and Upcoming Releases
Carl Allen, Tippin’ (Cellar Music Group): Drummer Allen leads a trio with Chris Potter and Christian McBride, straight-ahead modern jazz of the highest level. Full of energy and superb taste, this is one of the rare long-duration jazz albums without a weak second, and could even be longer. Already a contender for best jazz album 2025.
Sasha Berliner, “UMMG” (Outside In Music): This is the first track released from Berliner’s upcoming Fantome (March 28). She’s one of the top young vibes players, with a few album credits already, and this one is her best and I’m confident will be one of the top jazz releases of the year.
Larum, The Music of Hildegard von Bingen Part II (Puremagnetik): Full disclosure; I wrote the press release for this album, which is officially release April 11. This is the wind/electronics duo of Chet Doxas and Micah Frank, and they do marvelous things with von Bingen’s material, helped out here by Bill Orcutt and Okkyung Lee.
Circuit des Yeux, Halo on the Inside (Matador Records): If you know Haley Fohr, you don’t need me to tell you anything. If you don’t, then listen to this track.
Steve Lehman, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings): Steve Lehman is one of several musicians who lost their home in the fires, and he’s also one of the most talented, thoughtful, and inventive jazz musicians on the scene, and this is a hell of an album.
Jeong Lim Yang, Synchronicity (Sunnyside): A skillful, stylish, and expressively elusive album, a manner I would love to hear more of in jazz.
The Young Mothers, Better if You Let It (Sonic Transmissions Records): Lean, tough, funky, and just aggressive enough return for this supergroup that sits in the middle of jazz, rock, punk, and hip hop.
Dromedaries & Alexoteric, The Burning Bright Light (Karl Records): Meaty and wild mashup of cutting edge modern jazz and cutting edge Afrofuturist text.
But Wait!
Merch too! Shepard Fairey designed this fine t-shirt for Bandcamp’s wildfire relief drive, anther item where the proceeds go to the cause.
Limited edition of 2500, so get it now.
Good listening to all, and let’s try and look out for each other.