The Guardian 05 October 2024

Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson’s new album, Cloudward, is due January 19, 2024 on Nonesuch Records. The album features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis; the improvisatory band that performed on her critically praised 2022 albums Amaryllis and Belladonna comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet). Labelmate Laurie Anderson also is featured on the album track “Incarnadine.” The dual 2022 releases’ acclaim included being named Jazz Album of the Year in DownBeat’s annual Critics Poll.

Ohio Players is the twelfth studio album by American rock duo the Black Keys. It was released on April 5, 2024, by Easy Eye Sound and Nonesuch Records. The album currently has a Metacritic score of 76 indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Rolling Stone stated the presence of guest musicians such as Beck and Noel Gallagher made Ohio Players "one of their best LPs". Several reviews positively noted the Black Keys' ability to reinvent their sound while remaining in touch with their garage rock and blues roots. A positive review from Pitchfork called the album "lively, fresh and colorful." A mixed review from Slant Magazine felt the guest musicians caused The Black Keys to be lost in their own album, and criticized the song "Beautiful People (Stay High)" for sounding as if it was AI generated and trying hard to appeal to "lifestyle brands".

The album Elles by Youn Sun Nah was released by Warner Music International. This captivating collection of songs showcases the extraordinary talent and versatility of Korean jazz vocalist Youn Sun Nah.

Recorded in 1985 after a break from recording and time spent living in Barbados and Liberia, Nina’s Back features a rejuvenated Nina Simone reaching out to a wider musical audience. Featuring a number of memorable Simone compositions, the band includes horns and backup singers for a unique recording in Nina’s catalog.

Bert At the BBC is a comprehensive collection of Jansch’s appearances at the BBC, featuring over eight hours of rare and unreleased recordings, including live-on-air spots, studio sessions and full concerts straight from the BBC vaults, delving further into this legendary performer’s canon. Bert Jansch was the very essence of folk music, providing inspiration for everyone from Paul Simon and Neil Young to Led Zeppelin and countless folk revivalists.

Galician piper Carlos Núñez is one of the world’s main exponents of Celtic music, a genre that he defends and has studied at great depth. For 30 years he has collaborated with The Chieftains (Ireland), Alan Stivell (Brittany), Capercaillie, Phil Cunningham, Julie Fowlis (Scotland)… but also Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder (USA), Milton Nascimento (Brazil), Gustavo Santaolalla (Argentina), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Japan), Jordi Savall (Catalonia), Bryn Terfel (Wales), or even Julio Iglesias.

At the age of 27, Elida Almeida already stands out, with her honeyed smile and solar energy, as youthful as she is mature, as the muse of Cape Verde's new musical generation. She deploys this status like a banner and inscribes it on the front of her new album, entitled Gerasonobu ('New Generation' in Cape Verdean Creole). Together with other fellow musicians, the young woman, whose roots lie on the island of Santiago, is helping to explode the codes of Cape Verdean music: a tradition illuminated by the guardian figure of Cesaria Evora, jealously watched over by so-called 'experts', who grumble as soon as one takes a (dance) step outside the norm. But Elida is not satisfied: 'Even Cesaria's creations are different from 'traditional' pieces.