Vibraphonist Joel Ross imbues his jazz with spiritual passion on his heady fifth album, 2026’s Gospel Music. The follow-up to 2024’s Nublues, Gospel Music finds Ross drawing inspiration from his Christian faith; he grew up playing in a Baptist church where his father was choir director. Here, he crafts songs that explore Biblical themes of creation, the fall, and salvation, but with a focus on loving God and goodwill toward others. Lending him warm support is his Good Vibes sextet, featuring Josh Johnson on alto saxophone, Maria Grand on tenor saxophone, Jeremy Corren on piano, Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, and Jeremy Dutton on drums. While there are certainly actual gospel sounds at play in Ross’ music, he doesn’t abandon the atmospheric…

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