By the early 1980s, the electric organ had started to infiltrate the iconic hotel bands that defined the Addis Ababa music scene of the previous decade. And so keys player, arranger and producer Teodros Makonnen took the leap. Using nothing but a double-manual Yamaha (with a built-in drum sequencer), he made this album of instrumental versions of classic Ethiopian songs.
Originally released on cassettes in the ’80s, it was all recorded in a single take under the shadow of curfews – and, in doing so, mapped out his version of the future of Ethiopian music. It’s a vibe: pop melodies with deep roots in Ethiopian folk music, dreamy runs doused in hazy reverb, and minimalist waltz rhythms shuffling from the tinny drum machine. Some tracks are…
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Saxophone phenom 
Flutist and singer Elena Pinderhughes conjures deep, soulful jazz textures on her debut album, 2026’s I Hope You Can Feel It Too. A Bay Area native, Pinderhughes is best known for her contributions to trumpeter Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah’s albums, having been introduced on 2015’s Stretch Music. She has also worked with a cross-genre mix of artists, from jazz legend Herbie Hancock to rappers Future and Metro Boomin to contemporary luminaries like Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper. She brings all of this experience to bear here, embracing a harmonically nuanced crossover sound that touches upon electronic fusion, global rhythms, and alt-R&B. Throughout, her flute is often dipped in a sonic effects shimmer, and on cuts like…
Vocalist Samara Joy owns the spotlight with swinging charisma on 2026’s Live at the Blue Note L.A. Recorded at the West Coast club, the EP finds the Grammy-winning singer leading her small big band during her April 2026 run of shows. Here, she dives into a set of well-chosen standards that nicely showcase the golden, resonant warmth of her vocals and her lithe phrasing. It’s a vibe she captured on her studio albums, but which takes on a dynamic immediacy in these live performances. She opens in bold manner with Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight,” emerging with a moll’s swagger from her band’s screaming noir-ish fanfare. These are not easy songs, but sophisticated statements of artistic purpose. Her Latin-infused rendition of “Yesterdays” has a burnished…
If the name 
Mike Reed’s Separatist Party sophomore effort and Thrill Jockey debut 
“How did all these people get in my room?” Frank Sinatra quipped when he strode onstage at The Sands’ Copa Room in January 1966 for his sold-out concerts, but, in truth, there was no doubt that it was Sinatra’s room. Las Vegas was his kind of town. Supported by Count Basie and His Orchestra under the baton of arranger-conductor Quincy Jones, the Chairman of the Board – who had recently turned 50 years old and entered the September of his years, was in his element. His electrifying shows were preserved on his very first live album, 
The Australian quintet Surprise Chef have made a batch of records that combine slinky nocturnal jazz, rubbery funk, head-nodding hip hop, echoing dub, and library music charm; on 2026’s 
…features four never-before-heard demos alongside rare B-sides, alternate studio takes, and a previously unreleased live set recorded on the Back to Black tour in Amsterdam in 2007.
French soprano saxophonist 
His profile elevated for the world to see and hear as Brian Eno’s creative partner on 
25-year-old German saxophonist 
Tears may well up for those with endearing memories of organ master 
Chicago has always been one of the prime movers as far as all things jazz are concerned, from all the ‘classic’ jazz forms to those that border on other musical genres or go in any experimental direction you can imagine.
Illustrious Italian trumpeter 
Flatlands is a new John Zorn project for rock power trio, in the tradition of Simulacrum, Naked City and