music

A lot of great recs in here, but I want to recommend some more modern jazz. First up is Chief Adjuah, an absolutely phenomenal "jazz" (he hates the word because it's been colonised by white academics, so he uses stretch music) musician who has invented multiple instruments and takes influences from all around the world, most prominently trap beats and other electronic beats. The Emancipation Procrastination is a great place to start; his latest album Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning is electric as well. Cannot recommend him enough.

The London jazz scene is superb as well, they're taking a lot of Afrobeat influences and folding them back into jazz. Sons of Kemet are extremely powerful, fast and hard hitting. Their album Your Queen Is a Reptile (yes, about Queen Lizzy) is a wonderful joyride or Afrobeat inspired jazz. Some other recs are Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, Ezra Collective, Alfa Mist.

Worldwide, I love this Pakistani jazz group called Jaubi. Their 2021 Nafs at Peace combines Pakistani instrumentation with Western jazz concepts and it really really works. Hiromi is a Japanese jazz pianist who is perhaps the best pianist in the world, seen her live a few times and she's a true force of nature. Insane playing, you can see her Tiny Desk here. There's this Iranian jazz album I love called It's Still Autumn that has such a serene vibe, I recommend it. Tinariwen skirts between jazz and rock, but they're a Taureg guitar group out of Mali that absolutely slaps, everything they put out is great. They also did a Tiny Desk concert.

I have a ton of other recommendations, both contemporary and 20th century stuff (and I didn't even get into the expansive world of Japanese jazz!) so if any of the above really excites you I can provide more.