NUBYA GARCIA | TERRACE MARTIN | MIKA POHJOLA + YUSUKE YAMAMOTO | TIGRAN HAMASYAN | RUN THE JEWELS

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of Future Jazz.

The big news not just of the last week but of the last several weeks has been the death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. It’s a topic I haven’t written about until now as my intention in these introductory pieces is to bring a bit of mirth and fun.

The events of the last few weeks, however, is a topic I can find no joy in. And so I have remained silent.

However, this week two releases – both with jazz credentials – stood out as being so much more important and so much more moving than anything else and so I felt I had to cover them. Accordingly, I must also address the issue.

Like you all, I am sickened by the video I witnessed. I am sickened by the actions of not one but all four of the police officers involved. And I am sickened by the fact that this is not new.

I have vivid memories of being reduced to tears at the sight of D’Angelo and his band wearing ‘I Can’t Breathe’ T-shirts while at a concert in London only months after the death of Eric Garner. That was in 2015.

This blog champions jazz music – a genre that owes so much to Black musicians.

It also heroes those who rip up the rule book, who let their passion overrule their poise and who inspire us to believe in ourselves rather than to believe what others say about us.

Who we are. What we can and can’t do. How we should live. When we should die.

At times like these it’s important that we all stand with the Black community and lend our voices to the cause of change and of peaceful resolution.

If anything good can be said to come from a senseless loss of life, let it be this.

The tracks I’ve already referenced are Terrace Martin’s Pig Feet and Run the Jewels’ a few words for the firing squad (radiation) and I urge you to read, listen and reflect on them in particular this week.

Separately, there are new releases from Nubya Garcia, Tigran Hamasyan and the duo of Mika Pohjola and Yusuke Yamamoto – all exciting and impressive releases in and of themselves.

And so, my friends, please hear more here…

NUBYA GARCIA: PACE
TERRACE MARTIN: PIG FEET
MIKA POHJOLA + YUSUKE YAMAMOTO: EAST BERIMBAU
TIGRAN HAMASYAN: LEVITATION 21
RUN THE JEWELS: A FEW WORDS FOR THE FIRING SQUAD (RADIATION)

THE OUTRO

And so we reach a cease-fire for this week.

You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the Future Jazz Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

Until next time, love and noise.

– SV –