A friend of mine has recently started moaning that there is 'nothing but jazz on 6 Music these days...shite!' He is, of course, completely wrong - there is too much mind-numbing rap on 6 Music for it all to be jazz...but that is another article. I'll concede that there is more jazz being played and for me, that is a very good thing.
I got into jazz late, only a couple of years ago to be honest. I was writing reports in work and needed something on in the background to drown out the 'Wetherspoon's hum' that is rife in every open-plan office I've worked in. Unsure of what to choose I asked the internet and it suggested jazz, more specifically, 'Kind Of Blue' by Miles Davis. I'd never heard it before but gave it a crack and my mind was blown!
I had the album on repeat for days, it is amazing. It also opened me up to other great jazz musicians and albums and before long I had a jazz playlist that Harry Bosch would approve of (by the way, if you haven't watched Bosch on Amazon Prime Video, you are missing out, it is fabulous).
More recently I've had an interest in modern jazz artists and consumed the latest and greatest from the likes of Kamasi Washington, Ezra Collective, Greg Foat and Moses Boyd with relish.
The most recent object of my desire is the album 'The Source' by Nubya Garcia. Spoiler alert: it is fabulous.
Now I know every record I put on here I say is fabulous, but that is because the albums I feel less love for don't get a review. Why would I waste my time on something that underwhelms or needs more listening to before I get it - I'm looking at you Porridge Radio, we need to spend more time together or you are going on eBay.
If you are not into jazz or modern jazz then there is nothing I can say to convince you to listen to 'The Source'. If you do dabble in the improvisation arts then I urge you to give this a spin.
I find it difficult to talk about jazz records, I struggle to articulate how I feel about each track and this album is the same. I get immersed in albums of this genre, they are one big movement to me, I lose track of time as I listen to them and miss things I should be writing about. For example, I've only just realised there is a 12-minute long song on the album...12 minutes, since when? Always apparently.
I've had this album playing at least once a day for the last two weeks, each time I'm hearing new things (but not enough things to write a half-decent review it turns out). All I will say is; give it a go, let it wash over you, it is well worth a listen...if you are into that sort of thing.
Track to try: 'Pace' is a lively opener about the hectic life of a gigging musician in London apparently (I should have said that up there - whatever), 'Source' is the 12-minute epic I just mentioned which goes all dub reggae in the middle.
Comments