Sep. 3, 2026
I was already working on this post when I heard the news that the wonderful jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson left this world yesterday. This one really hurts. There are plenty of tributes to be found on the internet, so I’ll not add much in the way of words and simply invite you to listen to a thing of deep beauty. Light a candle for her.
In a way, Cassandra’s work exemplifies the title of this post (as did James Blood Ulmer’s, who we also lost recently). I nicked the title from my friend Tom Baker, who organized a festival by that name for several years here at the Chapel. It was intended to question just what qualifies as “jazz,” and to gently needle the purists who take offense with many of the adventurous developments in the music that have evolved since the 1960s.
I’ve been posting these quarterly listening journals for a while now, but this quarter is only two thirds over and my list of picks is already so long that it’s feeling rather unwieldy. I noticed that quite a few things on my list are coming out of the jazz world, but overlap into other areas that are likely to ruffle the feathers of the jazz orthodoxy. So I thought I’d give those selections their own space here, to not only showcase them but also to lighten the load of the post that will come at the end of this month. As always, titles link to the album and names in bold are, or were, associated with the Pacific Northwest.
Marshall Allen - 101: An Audio Odyssey
The 102-year-old saxophonist reigning patriarch of the Sun Ra Arkestra is still a force of nature. Here he's joined by bassist/producer Jamaaladeen Tacuma and a killer band that includes guitarist Nels Cline. The songs are often grounded in Tacuma's funky bass grooves, while Cline adds atmospheric filigrees around Allen's flights of fancy. A perfect balance of earth and space, beauty and weirdness.
Lorena Alvarez & Alejandro Palacios (Chile) - Jardín Giratorio
"Dusty horns trace smoke rings over daydream keys, seesawing strings, and whispery wah guitar...Theirs is a hushed, tactile chemistry, roving the peripheries of low-lit ambient and narcoleptic jazz, unrushed and unspooling from turning gardens of the mind’s eye."
James Emery & Anthony Braxton - Articulations
I'm embarrassed to say that guitarist James Emery is someone I've heard of but not actually heard until now. And he's pretty damn great. This archival live recording from 1992 pairs him with Braxton on multiple reeds for a lively game of tag, the two chasing each other around like a couple of playful dogs frolicking in the park.
Endless Season – A Different Sway o' da Weep
The veteran free jazzer Daniel Carter teams up again with young saxophonist/producer Ayumi Ishito for a second album that "moves freely between electronic composition, improvisation, ambient drift, and rhythmic pulse." It's inspiring to see older jazz musicians crossing generations and genres to embrace new ideas and sounds beyond their expected comfort zones.
Hegramatics - Gefühlswallung 6/1
Three stalwart Seattle improvisers (Heather Bentley, Greg Campbell, Amy Denio) pay tribute to a fourth, the recently departed and much beloved local harpist Carol Levin, who is heard here playing with them on two overdubbed tracks.
Nils Petter Molvær (Norway) - Be Quiet
A series of lyrical duets, each recorded in a different city with different partners from different musical backgrounds - some I'm familiar with (John Paul Jones, Miki Yui, Imogen Heap, Alvo Noto) and some new to me. Molvær's trumpet sounds less like Jon Hassell here than usual, and the overall vibe is subdued, spacious, and unabashedly beautiful.
Vincent Yuen Ruiz (Switzerland/Denmark) - Trio
"...an elegant and pensive suite of late-night, wide-eyed ambient jazz works centred on piano, double bass and percussion...the group's language sits at the crossroads of contemporary jazz, improvised music, and experimental sound practice...spacious and informed by minimalism as much as ECM chamber styles..."
Salin (Thailand/Canada) - Rammana
Released over a year ago, but I missed this until now. "...a groundbreaking album that merges afro-jazz, funk and indigenous Thai instruments - in which we coined this genre, Afro Isaan Soul... As the only female drummer, producer, and composer promoting this genre, Salin stands out as an innovative voice, and a pioneer of this genre in the world and jazz music scenes."
The Sky Is a Suitcase - El Jardín
I've been enjoying hearing recent releases by some of the younger players in Seattle's jazz community, and here's another one. "...expansive melodies accompanied by hypnotic mirage-like grooves and tumbling group meditations and improvisations."
Various - Peace Anthems
"The record brings together thirteen exceptional musicians spanning generations and disciplines, each contributing original works that approach peace as both subject and sonic practice." The amazing line-up includes Moor Mother, Wadada Leo Smith, Amina Claudine Myers, Qasim Naqvi, Taylor Deupree, Kalia Vandever, Andrew Cyrille, and many others.
Ben Wendel - BaRcoDe
The saxophonist is accompanied only by four percussionists playing various mallet instruments (vibraphone, marimba, balaphon, etc.) with occasional electronic enhancements. "Across intricate compositions and immersive sound design, BaRcoDe blurs the line between chamber music, modern jazz, and electronic experimentation..."