Amoeba Music

Robert Glasper delivers another career-high album with Black Radio III. The talented pianist conjures up multi-faceted moods, with a sense of yearning and hope emerging from his assured, elegant keys. Glasper's brought some heavy hitters to the proceedings, too, with Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., and BJ the Chicago Kid appearing on the brilliant "Black Superhero." H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello appear on the addictive, achingly beautiful "Better Than I Imagined." Elsewhere on the album, Q-Tip, Common, Ty Dolla Sign, Esperanza Spalding, Jennifer Hudson, Yebba, and Ant Clemons make excellent contributions. Black Radio III is straight up fantastic and will probably land on many year end "best of" lists.

Live a Little is the haunting, ethereal, accidental new LP from Sam Gendel & Antonia Cytrynowicz. Why accidental? The recording sessions started out as a lark, with multi-instrumentalist Sam Gendel jamming out with his creative and life partner Marcella’s then-eleven-year-old sister, Antonia Cytrynowicz. Fully improvised and recorded in one session, the songs feature Antonia’s fairy-like, youthful vocals and Gendel’s experimental jazz. The collaboration brings to mind the work of Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland in its folkloric strangeness, gentleness, and ephemeral beauty. Dreamy and lovely, Live a Little feels like the court music of another, enchanted realm.

Could We Be More forecasts big things for London’s Kokoroko. Out via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, the band’s debut album delivers joyful, substantive tracks created from Afrobeat, soul, funk, jazz, and highlife influences. The eight-piece grew up in the British West African and Caribbean communities and there’s an intense joie de vivre, a celebration of the highs and lows of life, powering each of these fifteen top-notch tracks. Could We Be More feels like the best summer day of your life, no matter what season you’re listening to it. Discover why Kokoroko is heating up the UK music press—this is a band that deserves a massive global audience.