Singles are not the usual fare on Musically Speaking, but when you get two remarkable and quite different songs from two remarkable New Mexican artists, you need to share. Dust City Opera’s “Stars” ventures into dark territory, and Rooster Blackspur’s “Big Dipper” takes place in the dark of night.
In the right hands, music can be shamanistic, a tool that alters one’s consciousness, keying open the door to deep interior spaces. The shamans Dino Saluzzi, Trio Tapestry, and Shai Maestro and company all have the right hands for the job.
Virtuoso trumpeter/composer Gabriel Alegría’s latest release with his Afro-Peruvian Sextet, Social Distancing, chronicles a raging pandemic and the justified rage over racial injustice, and it offers uplift without ignoring the harsh reality of these difficult times.
Pianist Russ Lossing’s astonishing quartet brings his idiosyncratic compositions to life on Metamorphism, with adventurous, expressive jazz that feeds the brain and the heart.
If you’re in a romantic mood or wish to be, you’re well advised to put on the new release from alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo, El Arte del Bolero, turn down the lights, and . . . Well, you know what to do, right?
