Tiny Desk Concert
Eddie Palmieri
Eduardo Palmieri (1936 – 2025) who passed away this month, was the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive. “Known as one of the finest pianists of the past 60 years, Eddie Palmieri was a bandleader, arranger and composer of salsa and Latin jazz. His plying skilfully fuses the rhythm of his Puerto Rican heritage with the complexity of his jazz influences: Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner as well as his older brother, Charlie Palmieri.”
NPR Music
yingtuitive blue – from the album Letters to Self
Hannah Chia
Born in Singpore and ooted in classical training yet shaped by Southeast Asian traditions and the pulse of UK club culture, Chia says this about her music: ”I wouldn’t really consider myself a singer, so it really surprised me that this track ended up taking such a vocal turn. Most of my music is never really written with an end goal in mind, it’s often a process of letting different ideas come together in building an ecosystem, that then ends up taking on a life of its own.”
Third Place
Boleros Psicodélicos I live at Grand Performances in Los Angeles
Adrian Quesada
Grammy-winning and Academy Award nominated producer Adrian Quesada is an adventurous musician best known as the co-founder of the 7-time Grammy-nominated psychedelic soul band Black Pumas. He grew up in the border town of Laredo, Texas and listened to punk, hip-hop and Text-Mex as a child, only becoming fully aware of thhis Latin roots in college.
Apple Music
Everybody laughs – from the album Who is the Sky?
David Byrne
The Scottish Amercian David Byrne recorded this studio album with Ghost Train Orchestra. Reflecting on his creative process, the founding member of Talking Heads, solo artist, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker said, “At my age, at least for me, there’s a ‘don’t give a shit about what people think’ attitude that kicks in. I can step outside my comfort zone with the knowledge that I kind of know who I am by now and sort of know what I’m doing.”
Matador Records
John Wilson with Festmusik of the City of Vienna
Onyx Brass
Founded in 1993, Onyx Brass has been a leader in cementing the place of the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music. The group has commissioned and performed the world premières of more than 200 new works with many more in the pipeline for performance and recording. Their new album combines pieces for the ensemble’s core quintet with works for extended brass forces, plus piano in the case of Florence Price’s Octet for Brasses and Piano. The majority of the pieces here receive their first commercial recording.
Transatlantic