Best Tracks: Now (Forever Momentary Space)
Genre: Post Jazz, Sound Collage
Year: 2021

Much like Red Burns, NOW is a record I’ve had to sit with for years before I could even articulate what I loved about it. The first time I heard it, I felt it was a rather unassuming jazz/hip hop record. For some reason though, it wasn’t forgettable. I kept revisiting it to try and form an opinion, and each time, something new would jump out and make me rethink how I felt about it.

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Best Tracks: Move Over and Let Me Dance, Pt. 1
Genre: Funk, Psychedelia
Year: 1971

Released in 1971, In the Beginning… was definitely designed to capitalise on Hendrix’s death. The record comprises of 26 minutes of old recordings from The Isley Brothers with Jimi Hendrix. It’s a shame Hendrix and the Isley Brothers never did a full album together, because this sounds incredible! This short-lived band featured the ‘greatest guitarist ever’ with some of the greatest singers ever. Even a cash-grab release like this is going to sound great.

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Best Tracks: The whole thing
Genre: Post Jazz, Experimental
Year: 2017

The most intricate album I’ve ever heard. Red Burns is structured like a continuous story, fading between tracks like scenes of a documentary. The story feels like the account of an American folklorist exploring New York. Red Burns visits a wide variety of African and Latin American genres to paint a picture of the African Diaspora living in New York today. The album is led by a rotating cast of musicians, artists, and poets. Red Burns comes together as a collage of the personal histories and cultural identities of each of its artists.

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