JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Miles Davis.
Tag: jazz
Throwback: R.I.P. Sonny Rollins
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of the legendary Sonny Rollins.
Throwback: Happy 112th Birthday, Sun Ra!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 112th anniversary of the birth of Sun Ra.
New Audio: Joey Alexander Tackles a Beloved Jazz Standard
22 year-old, Balinese-born, Grammy Award-nominated composer and pianist Joey Alexander has spent more than a decade establishing himself as one of jazz’s most celebrated young artists, with his career starting in earnest back in 2013 when Wynton Marsalis invited him to play at Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala. Since then, Alexander has played with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding at the Obama White House, and he has been the subject of profiles on 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and a list of others.
Alexander’s third album, the Jason Olaine-produced Celestial Keeper is slated for a July 17, 2026 through Mack Avenue Records. Celestial Keeper sees the rising, young composer and pianist reflecting on creativity, faith, gratitude and personal transformation. Inspired by what Alexander describes as his “celestial keeper” — a spiritual force akin to a muse or guardian angel — the album explores the challenge of overcoming doubt and artist’s block. “There’s a spiritual force that reminds me of the gift of music that God has bestowed upon me,” Alexander explains. “That voice prompts me to keep the lamp burning or the music playing.”
The album comes during a pivotal chapter in the rising young artist’s life, following his family’s recent move back to his native Bali after spending years in New York and Baltimore. Immersing himself in Indonesia’s nature and rhythms — again — deeply shaped the album’s aura of beauty and wonder, “I live by the mountains, which are a constant reminder of the beauty of nature and the gift of life,” he says.
Celestial Keeper also sees the debut of Alexander’s latest trio: Kris Funn (bass) returns from 2023’s applauded Continuance and Jonathan Barber (drums), recording with the Balinese-born composer and pianist for the first time, after two years of touring. The trio is joined by Philadelphia-born Jaleel Shaw (saxophone) for three tracks. Alexander added vocals to the nix for the first time on the album, collaborating with with rising singer/songwriter Alita Moses on a new original “Whispers of Love” and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Lisa Fischer on a rendition of the beloved standard “My Funny Valentine.” And in a full circle moment, the album was produced by Jason Olaine, who produced Alexander’s 2015 debut, My Favorite Things.
Celestial Keeper’s first single, sees the Grammy Award-nominated composer and pianist, tackling the beloved standard, “Stella By Starlight.” Channeling Alexander’s lifelong love of Miles Davis and Bill Evans, the young Balinese delivers a vibrant and soulful take that showcases his ability to breathe new, youthful life into an oft-covered standard.
Throwback: Happy 89th Birthday, Ron Carter!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Ron Carter’s 89th birthday.
New Audio: SHOLTO Teams Up with Phoebe Coco on Brooding and Atmospheric “Everything is Stolen Anyway”
Initially known as being one-half of indie outfit Sunglasses for Jaws, the rising London-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Oscar “Sholto” Robertson grew up with with a deep and abiding love of jazz, soul, krautrock and soundtracks from the 60s and 70s. As a producer, Robertson honed his production skills under the guidance and tutelage of Allah-Las‘ Nick Waterhouse and Inflo.
A handful of years ago, Roberston stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with his recording project, SHOLTO. And with SHOLTO, the rising London-based multi-instrumentalist has firmly cemented a cinematic take on instrumental, psychedelic soul.
Now, as you may recall Roberton’s sophomore SHOLTO album, last year’s 12-song The Sirens was recorded at the JOVM mainstay’s Hackney-based SJF Studio, and the album saw him continuing an ongoing collaboration with a familiar cast of musicians, including Syd Kemp (bass), Clementine Brown (strings) and Rachel Horton Kitchlew (harp) to craft an album that’s emotionally unflinching and explores themes of duality temptation and emotional dissociation, “blurring grief with groove, seduction and surrender,” as Robertson says.
Sonically, The Sirens saw Robertson building upon the groove-driven, string-soaked soundscapes and ethereal textures that have won him attention in the UK and beyond but while evoking a haunting, uneasy fever dream.
Robertson’s latest single, “Everything is Stolen Anyway” sees the JOVM mainstay diving deeper into his long-held trip-hop influences with a brooding, jazz groove-driven arrangement that seemingly channels Portishead, Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp and No Angel-era Dido among others.. The song also features frequent collaborator Phoebe Coco‘s mesmerizing, whiskey and longing soaked vocal.
“Everything Is Stolen Anyway” is rooted in two central concepts: the comfort in repetition and that nothing we feel or think is entirely new. “Moments of love, loss, wonder and the quiet awe of the sea’s tide arrive to us as if they’re ours alone, yet they’ve all been lived before. Borrowed feelings, borrowed time,” the two collaborators say.
“’Everything is Stolen Anyway’ leans into the thought that art works the same way; every melody, every painting, every idea carries echoes of something earlier,” Robertson and Coco continue. “Songs are fragments passed forward, reshaped, reframed, and retold through new hands and new voices. In that sense, nothing is truly original. But the first time you hear or feel something, it becomes new again.”
Throwback: Happy 127th Birthday, Duke Ellington!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 127th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington.
Throwback: Happy 109th Birthday, Ella Fitzgerald!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 109th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald.
Throwback: Happy 104th Birthday, Charles Mingus!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 104th anniversary of the birth of Charles Mingus.
Throwback: Happy 118th Birthday, Lionel Hampton!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 118th anniversary of the birth of Lionel Hampton.
New Audio: JOVM Mainstay The Offline Teams Up with Koralle on a Vibey and Laid-Back Remix of “Enfin, la paix”
Hamburg-born and-based photographer, composer Felix Müller is the creative mastermind of the JOVM mainstay cinematic soul project The Offline. The Offline was deeply inspired and informed by Müller’s travels along the Atlantic coastline of southern France with an analog camera, capturing beach life. Upon his return to Hamburg, he started writing compositions as the sonic counterpart to his visuals.
The German-born artist’s full-length debut, 2023’s Timor Litzenberg co-produced La couleur de la mer was inspired by the work of Francois de Roubaix, and saw him creating a soundtrack to an imaginary film with themes and atypical song structures. Morning from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism, the album’s material incorporated elements of psychedelia, retro soul and hip-hop — inspired by his extensive record collection.
2024’s Les Cigales saw the German-born JOVM mainstay building upon the head-nodding blend of hip-hop and 70s soul jazz that he developed on his debut with the effort’s material taking sonic cues from 1960s and 1970s film and TV scores, while nodding at Francois de Rouabix, David Axelrod, Surprise Chef and Robohands.
Last year, saw Müller release the live EP, The Offline In Session, which featured live renditions of some of his previously released work including “Théme de la couleur de la mer,” and “Cap Camarat.”
Interestingly, his forthcoming effort, Révisé is reportedly a look back into his growing catalog — but this time with the hip-hop and beatmaker ramped up. The effort will feature contributions from highly sought-after producers across the global, lo-fi hip-hop scene including, Koralle, Knowsum, Jake Milliner and 53 Keys, as well as rising underground emcees like SANITY, Summer Sons‘ TURT and Physical Graffiti.
“One of my main motivations for The Offline project was to create a modern version of television and film music from the 60s and 70s, with an analog touch reminiscent of the old funk and jazz albums that hip-hop artists used to sample,” Müller explains. “After releasing several albums an [sic] EPs, the idea arose to change perspective and look at the music from the point of view of hip-hop artists and beatmakers, leading to the remix project Révisé.”
Révisé‘s lead single, sees Müller team up with Italian producer Koralle on a remix of Le couleur de la mer album track, “Enfin, la paix.” The Koralle remix adds anecdotes a laid-back, lounge/headphone hip-hop feel with congo, boom bap beats and dub-inspired textures paired with the original’s twinkling and reverb-soaked Rhodes, Müller’s soulful and psychedelic guitar lines and sun soaked vibes. The remix is perfect for that Chill Out/Make Out/Daydream playlist you’re thinking of.
New Audio: Blue Earth Sound Shares Meditative and Hypnotic “Chartreuse”
Blue Earth County, Minnesota-born, Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and composer James Weir is the creative mastermind behind the instrumental project Blue Earth Sound. Named after his birthplace, Blue Earth Sound sees Weir blending cinematic jazz, soul and psychedelic textures into rich, atmospheric soundscapes that reflect a sense of place and his collaborative approach to creating music.
Weir’s Blue Earth Sound debut, last year’s Cicero Nights was released by Root Records to praise from Clash Magazine and airplay from BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music and KEXP. The album consisted of eight, immersive compositions inspired by late-night city wanderings, and recorded with a cast of Chicago-based players including International Anthem engineer Dave Vettraino and Resavoir‘s Will Miller (trumpet).
Weir’s forthcoming The St. Louis Sessions EP will feature a collection of recordings documenting a spontaneous creative moment shared between friends and collaborators in the newly built, St. Louis-based home studio of drummer and long-time collaborator Austin LeMoine.
Weir brought a handful of demos to LeMoine’s home studio to experiment and workshop. “Austin was hip to the some local brass players, Jawaad Spaan and Josiah Burton, from the St. Louis scene that we invited over for experimental session tracked in his living room. After bonding over shared taste [sic] and drinks, we recorded the horn takes live together over my demos,” the Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist explains.
As it turns out, the relaxed but inspired sessions unfolded with the recordings capturing the warmth and spontaneity of musicians sharing a room, following their instincts and balancing hypnotic grooves, dusty Wurlitzer tones and soul-tinged arrangements with moments of late-night reflection. And as a result, the EP is a more intimate snapshot of the project in motion, with material moving fluidity between improvisation and carefully curated post-production.
The St. Louis Sessions EP‘s lead single “Chartreuse,” is a meditative tune, anchored around a hazy, trance-inducing groove, some soulful and expressive brass that seemingly channels Kind of Blue-era Miles Davis and Giant Steps-era Coltrane but with a subtly modern sensibility. Interestingly, the composition emerged as the group of musicians were learning the ins-and-outs of the new studio set up and captures the uncanny simpatico of musicians in a room jamming together and creating something new.
New Audio: Jerk Returns with Funky and Soulful “alarmed”
Prolific Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Joni Kinney is the creative mastermind behind, the rising recording project Jerk. And with Jerk, Kinney has released five albums and several EPs that feature a sound that draws from J. Dilla, Madlib, Patrice Rushen, Earth, Wind & Fire, Louis Cole, Knower, and Roller Trio. Never content with just music as a creative output, Kinney is also an avid writer and video essayist.
Late last year, the Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist released the first part of a two EP narrative cycle, as night falls. The two EP cycle sees Kinney using the project’s sound into new territories, taking listeners on a journey through a fusion of electronic influences, midnight funk and forward-thinking jazz.
as day breaks, the second EP of the narrative cycle is slated for a May 15, 2026 release through DeepMatter Records. as day breaks EP will see a limited vinyl release, alongside last year’s as night falls.
While the first EP of the cycle explored the darker side of human nature through a blend of midnight funk and electronic-tinged jazz, as day breaks, which was created with long-time friend and collaborator Martine Wade, is a journey through daylight anchored around uplifting, soulful, instrumentals paired with house grooves, breakbeats, bird song and the sounds of NYC. “This joint album project is the essence of Jerk — neither day nor night, but something more ethereal,” Kinney explains.
as day breaks EP will include the swaggering, funky “steppin’ out,” the slow-burning and meditative “wait,” and the EP’s final pre-release single “alarmed.” “alarmed is a Bob James-like bit of jazz funk that opens with a intro that evokes the beginning of the day with a bop-like strutting opening before morphing into a free-flowing improvisational section with a soulful and explosive sax solo from Kinney.
“The track is made up of two distinct sections, with an A section meant to evoke those first moments of consciousness, as well as a B section meant to evoke the baggage we all carry day to day,” Kinney says of the new single.