Jazz music isn’t typically associated with the new and modern, but there are plenty of fresh tracks to listen to. KCRW DJ LeRoy Downs shares the latest highlights.
A.K. Toney — “Our Greatness”
A.K. Toney is a Leimert Park-based poet and musician. His track “Our Greatness” is a blend of jazz and spoken word.
“It's a dreamy, trance-like, look-into-yourself [track]. Spoken word with music — that poetry sears into your soul. And jazz is the perfect backdrop for that. … There are all these vibrations when you play this marching beat, these drums. … You get lost in the mystic of that, and the music is opening up your body.”
Steve Lehman — “39”
This piece comes from Steve Lehman’s latest album Ex Machina. Lehman performs alongside France’s Orchestre National de Jazz, and the song is written by composer Frédéric Maurin.
“These guys, they're an adventure in sound, an amalgamation of tones centered on this groove. And Steve Lehman really puts it down so much. You can hear him there on alto saxophone. And you can tell that his voice on alto, it's a language.
And this word ‘jazz’ is interesting because nobody really has a direct definition of what it is. But one of my desires is to express to people how open this music is. Don’t put it in a box.”
Linda May Han Oh — “Chimera”
Fresh off a performance at last month’s Monterey Jazz Festival, Linda May Han Oh is a bass player and a professor at the Berklee College of Music. “Chimera” is featured on her latest album The Glass Hours.
“Linda is so melodic and proficient. Some of her compositions are really fantastic. And Linda's repertoire of work is incredible. She's just one of the diligent creative people, and we truly respect her spirit.”
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson — “Eudaimonia”
This track is part of LA native Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s first official album, Les Jardins Mystiques Vol.1, which includes more than 50 songs and spans three and a half hours. Atwood-Ferguson is best known for collaborating with other artists, including Flying Lotus and Thundercat.
“This is not music that you just play a tune and say, ‘Oh.’ No, you sit down and you experience this music. The song is called ‘Eudaimonia,’ and that's a Greek word literally translating into a state or condition of good spirit. And this is pretty much how he lives his life as a very spiritual person, as a very happy person. And you can hear all this love coming through his music.”
Samora Pinderhughes — “Kingly”
Pianist and composer Samora Pinderhughes’ “Kingly” comes from his 2022 album Grief. Much of his work is inspired by social justice and politics.
“‘Kingly’ is about how we look at these oligarchies. We look at these people and we put them up on pedestals, and we want to be close to them. … These kings, these political people will do anything they can say to get on their good side, yet they continue to lie to us. They continue to make all of the money, and even though you think you're gonna have an opportunity to be in that same status as those folks, you never are. It's basically saying that, ‘You guys are still in love with the king. Be in love with yourself.’”