My mind feels paralyzed; at least my ears are working. Also, I am behind due to being distracted by non-new musical explorations, as you will see. Unsurprisingly, the best of those songs led me to research the albums from which they came via two excellent out-of-print reggae guides, one by Lloyd Bradley, the other by Randall Grass, both acknowledged genre adepts.
This is the life of a music fanatic folks! This was a tough month. I hope you all are not having the same struggles. But I bet you are having some of them. Thomas, while not exactly Ruth Brown or Etta Jones—those are high bars—gives it her boisterous all. Mine at least at the time of my posting them are at the end—they change daily, if not hourly. Inside — Bo Burnham. The Greatest Showman — Various Artists. Cowboy Carter — Beyonce. Claire McLewin. Demidevil — Ashnikko.
Tragic Kingdom — No Doubt. Gemini Rights — Steve Lacy. Willow — Willow. Montero — Lil Nas X. Izzy Portillo. Happier Than Ever — Billie Eilish. My Lists of course I had to make two! My five favorite albums when I was 19 :. My five favorite albums at 62 these change from day to day—I have thousands of them :. Beyonce: Cowboy Carter Parkwood Entertainment.
Split System: Volume 2 Legless. Various Artists: Congo Funk! I will again try to comment meaningfully on each of the following alphabetically-ordered new release in single complete sentences.
Two introductory notes, though:. James Carter: UN J. Recordings —J. Bob Vylan: Humble as the Sun Ghost Theater —A youngster for our times, though, compared to his last two records, this one seems almost autumnal, as if the pure revolutionary fire he regularly lights has prematurely aged him—but these times can do that, too. Art Tatum: Jewels In the Treasure Box Resonance —Mainly, you need to know this Tatum is in trio mode, which naturally cuts into his usual carnival of pianistics but also allows guitarist Everett Barksdale and legendary bassist Slam Stewart to show their scintillating stuff.
