The EJ team lives for jazz, and we also live all over the world, so, to celebrate our collective loves and eclectic tastes, we’ve pulled together some of our favourite albums.

If you’re not sure if you ‘get’ jazz, listen to this record, if you’re not sure that you care much about music that isn’t jazz, listen to this record. Bassist and vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello doesn’t waste her energy thinking about genre boundaries, instead she’s created an album so deeply driven by groove and atmosphere that it just fits whatever you need it to be. Oh, and it also happens to feature some of the hottest names in jazz right now.

Read more… Meshell Ndegeocello Doesn’t Play Jazz, She Writes Black American Music

Here’s a tip: put on “This I Dig of You” – from hard boppin’ tenor man Hank Mobley’s “Soul Station” – right before you have to do something you don’t want to. It will make your Monday morning feel like freewheeling with the wind in your hair. Despite a troubled life, Mobley was on top form when he assembled Art Blakey on drums, pianist Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers on bass to record this effortlessly hip, bluesy slice of hard swinging joy.

The ECM legacy is unquestionable, but the label actually still releases some of the best jazz music of our time. Just listen to this album from February, the second recording session of this trio – gorgeous, lyrical, creative jazz that never resorts to becoming lowbrow lean-back music, but transports a deeply spiritual message. The perfect balance between technique and expression.

Read more…Compassion – Album Story

I was in high school when I first heard this record, and it still sounds like the future to me. If you’re into discovering wild, free, and adventurous sounds – this album is for you. Recently I saw a guy at a concert wearing a hat that said “Free Jazz From Slavery”. I believe Sun Ra would have loved that.

During lockdown in 2020, I went down a Lee Morgan rabbit hole of discovery. After devouring his first couple of Blue Note albums, I stumbled across his “Search For The New Land” and the title track blew my mind. It opens with a ponderous, mystical quality – almost symphonic like in sound, before returning to a classic hard bop rhythm. Just extraordinary, and an album I never tire of hearing.

Read more…Search for the New Land – Album Story

In 2017 I attended Australia’s famous Bluesfest Festival in Byron Bay. I was there to see a few of my favourite artists play and by accident came across Trombone Shorty in the middle of his set. The way he managed to galvanise his crowd with his magnetic stage presence and high-spirited, big band performance I’ll never forget. From that day, I was a fan for life. 

This wasn’t an album I had expected to like but listened to because of the rave reviews from my EJ colleagues. But there’s something about the chaotic energy that drew me in on my first listening and has kept dragging me back. It’s not something I can put on all the time, but tracks like Our Land Back, with its mixture of styles and spoken word have something captivating about them.

One of my favourite jazz albums that makes me wish I’d continued learning the piano. It’s an album I put on in the rare moments I have an hour spare for some proper listening, zoning out to the complex rhythms and freewheeling piano in tracks like F.T.B, luxuriating in the classic melody in Maiden Voyage and then sitting up and taking notice at the spoken word in Tribute. To me this is a great album for someone who likes their classic jazz piano but with something modern, extra and unexpected layered on top.

Read more…Robert Glasper & Madlib – Return of the Slick

Blue Note Re:imagined II digs the depths of some of the jazz scenes best up-and-comers. Featuring artists like Nubiyan Twist, who I saw playing a Fela Kuti cover (which is brave!) in the South Bank Centre in London for free many years ago, to Theon Cross who was the powerhouse bass provider for Sons Of Kemet. There’s plenty to enjoy about artists on the absolute forefront of modern jazz looking back at legendary recordings and making them their own.

What’s not to love about a Hammond B-3 organ? Jimmy Smith is one of the greatest of all time, and this is my favourite of his albums. The title track is arguably one of the grooviest out there and guarantees a sneaky jazz stank face, and what follows is pure big-band woodwind blasting goodness.

The epitome of successful genre fusing and a perfect thumping Friday night album to kick off your jazz weekend. Code, in particular, is a track that feels just as at home in a two thousand capacity club as in your speakers. Not a party goer? Fear not! Quieter, reflective moments are offered in Lucid Dreamer and Aftermath. Either way, you (like me) will be sure to want to move

Join Dorothy Ashby on a mystical journey from Detroit through the East. This eclectic album sometimes feels like a call to prayer, other times like the soundtrack of your favourite late-night jazz bar and then the closing scene of a Bond film. The harp takes centre stage, but Ashby’s use of the Japanese koto is especially impressive. An excellent travel companion: close your eyes, feel the warmth of the sun, and let it sink in.

I’m a big fan of Arooj Aftab and was very much looking forward to this new album. It didn’t disappoint. Her smoky voice and Eastern vibe are very alluring, conjuring her love of the night perfectly here.  The collaborations fit fantastically – my favourite is the hypnotic “Bola Na,” with Irreversible Entanglements, Moor Mother (could listen to her all night!) and the ethereal sounds of Joel Ross’ vibraphone. Lots of great melodic and moody tracks on this album – get yourself a whisky and dig in!

I picked this album because I absolutely LOVE it! For me, it has every element of Nina Simone’s monumental talents – vast waves of melody, anguish, tenderness and above all that special force that is Nina Simone. You feel the growing pain in the stories of “Four Women” and the need for escape in “Lilac Wine.”  She is a masterful commentator, poet, wrapping that all in amazing music. Wild is the Wind is both wild and gentle and it all fits effortlessly together.

Read more…The Soul of Miss Simone

When EJ was ready to be launched, and I had the honour of ordering the very first LP, I knew what it would be: Moanin’, by the aptly monikered Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. In the long hours building the EJ site, I streamed hours of astonishing new sounds, but it was the indelible opening piano-to-band back and forth that stuck uppermost, and led me unsuspecting into the delights of hard bop played by an ensemble at the top of their game. If you don’t know where to start, let Blakey bring you the message.

Read more…Joining The Bops – Hard Bop

I love video closely edited to the rhythms of music -and a fantastic recent example is Julius Rodriguez’s Momentum, which brings the thrill of jazz to life with gloriously frenetic imagery from the manga Blue Giant. Recently adapted as an anime, Japanese musician Hiromi Uehara was given the daunting task of composing the soundtrack for a movie all about an obsessive young sax player. She rises to the challenge magnificently, employing a deft array of styles. I still haven’t seen the film – with this wonderful soundtrack and the Momentum video, my expectations are high!

A classic that doesn’t get old. This is always on rotation in the summer…ideally paired with a view of the water and a cold drink, if possible. Top track: “Samba Dees Days”

My favourite collection from Lage’s recent prolific output. Short and sweet, and a beautiful mix of electric and acoustic guitar. Top track: “This World”

The concept of KARPEH, is based on the three life stages of Cautious Clay (Joshua Karpeh); The Past Explained, The Honeymoon of Exploration and a Bitter & Sweet Solitude. I can feel his musical influences and personal reflections throughout those periods of his life, and it’s such a privilege to hear his voice and music tell his story. It contains spoken word interludes, like a soulful Broadway musical, featuring elements of soul, hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary music slanting from his existence. There are also some amazing musicians on here collaborating with Clay, including Julian Lage, Arooj Aftab, Immanuel Wilkins, and Ambrose Akinmusire. Highly recommended.

Read more…Cautious Clay Seeks to Redefine What Jazz Can Entail

Jazz Big Band albums should never be overlooked, and this is a real nugget (originally released on the Pacific Jazz label). The music, arrangements and band members work so well together, giving each enough space to showcase the soloists, but when they’re all in it at the same time – WOW!! The opening track “Viva Tirado,” made famous by 1970’s Latin-soul-rock band El Chicano is a perfect start to the album. Gerald Wilson’s C.V. is distinguished, and this showcases his jazz pedigree where he refined his craft with Ellington, Basie, Gillespie, Dolphy and many others over the decades. Once the needle drops, nothing stops.

READ ON…Collection – On Sale Now