The Best American Travel Writing 2015

Following up her standards-focused 2017 debut A Social Call, Dallas-born, New York-based singer Jazzmeia Horn offers mainly originals on Love and Liberation, boldly stepping ahead as an artist. Along with her deep and effortless vocal expression and turn-on-a-dime scat solos, she proves herself an engaging writer with a lot to say at any tempo or feel. The breakneck bebop number “Searchin’” and the luxuriant ballad “Legs and Arms” are among the highlights. Pianist Victor Gould, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer Jamison Ross provide stellar backing, with Ross delivering strong vocals in tandem with Horn on the George Duke/Rachelle Ferrell cover “Reflections of My Heart” (and the intriguing spoken-word “Only You,” which directly precedes it). Tenor saxophonist Stacy Dillard and trumpeter Josh Evans add spice along the way, while pianist Sullivan Fortner, brimming with old-school stylistic wisdom, lends his brilliant touch on four tracks.

Kerry James Marshall is a contemporary painter whose work explores the complex effects of the Civil Rights movement on the everyday life on African Americans. Through narrative scenes that draw both from history and the artist’s own life, Marshall delves into obscure moments and objects important to contemporary and past black culture. His work is likewise concerned with the tradition of Western painting, and the notion of mastery, authorship, and the erasure of black bodies throughout art history. …