A touching reminder of Ukraine’s beauty and cultural legacy; a historic Ella Fitzgerald concert released for the first time; a virtuosic celebration of two bebop trailblazers. All this and more in our list of ten albums released this month (June 2022) that you need to know about.
Kresten Osgood, Kresten Osgood Plays The Organ For You (April)
Release date: June 3
Kresten Osgood, one of Denmark’s most prolific drummers, puts aside his sticks to deliver his first album as a Hammond player. Described as a 25-years-in-the-making project, Kresten Osgood Plays The Organ For You is an eclectic mix of organ-trio classics, Latin-tinged jazz standards, Danish pop songs and American folk/rock classics over bubbling funk grooves and playful improvisation.
Lettuce, Unify (Round Hill)
Release date: June 3
Unify captures the raw energy of a prolific post-lockdown reunion by explosive funk sextet Lettuce. Featuring wildly funky instrumentals and plenty of surprises, including a Bootsy Collins guest spot, this brand new 16-track recording also finds Lettuce, arguably, at its tightest ever, completing a loose trilogy of records that kicked off with 2019’s Elevate and continued with 2020’s Resonate.
Julius Rodriguez, Let Sound Tell All (Verve)
Release date: June 10
Let Sound Tell All is the debut album of multi-instrumentalist Julius Rodriguez, noted member of NYC group Onyx Collective, offering a fresh and idiosyncratic sound stirring a cauldron of gospel, jazz, classical and R&B. A full-length statement of impressive experimentation and production, described via a press release as “a thoughtful realignment of tradition by a generation who hears disparate things fitting together in a way their elders can not.”
Troy Roberts, NU-JIVE: Nations United (Toy Robot)
Release date: June 10
Nations United is the new album by saxophonist Troy Roberts with his NU-JIVE group, the multi-national ensemble that he formed in 2009, described as the convening of five soulful musicians, taking the listeners on a creative journey. Together, they perform a set of hard-grooving tunes, offering a kaleidoscopic fusion drawing from a wide range of musical cultures and speaking to the universality of music at large.
Bennie Maupin and Adam Rudolph, Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef (Strut)
Release date: June 17
Bennie Maupin and Adam Rudolph weave a magical, meditative path across five movements on their collaborative suite honoring the legacy of the late, great Yusef Lateef. Released via Strut, Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef was originally commissioned by the Angel City Jazz Festival to mark the trailblazing multi-instrumentalist’s 100th birthday in 2020.
Binker Golding, Dream Like a Dogwood Wild Boy (Gearbox)
Release date: June 17
Dream Like a Dogwood Wild Boy is the second solo full-length by saxophonist/composer Binker Golding, best known as the co-leader of seminal sax-and-drums UK jazz duo Binker & Moses. Exploring themes of manhood and beyond, its songs also find Golding moving towards a new sound, incorporating elements of blues, heartland rock and Americana while remaining firmly rooted in the jazz idiom.
Pasquale Grasso, Be-Bop! (Sony Masterworks)
Release date: June 17
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie are the two jazz legends honored by acclaimed Italian-born guitar virtuoso Pasquale Grasso on his latest album. Be-Bop!, his sixth release for Sony Masterworks, finds him backed by his working trio of bassist Ari Roland and drummer Keith Balla, and with special guest vocalist Samara Joy appearing on the jivey mid-tempo swinger, “I’m a Mess.”
Vadim Neselovskyi, Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City (Sunnyside)
Release date: June 17
Ukrainian pianist/composer Vadim Neselovskyi reminds people of the beauty and cultural legacy of his native country via his new solo recording. Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City blends autobiography and actuality, each track telling a story and offering a musical portrait of Odesa, his Ukrainian hometown on the Black Sea. (All album revenue will benefit Ukraine’s humanitarian efforts.)
Charles Lloyd, Trios: Chapel (Blue Note)
Release date: June 24
Charles Lloyd releases this month the first in a three-part series of albums featuring the NEA Jazz Master in different trio settings. The first of these Trio of Trios albums, Trios: Chapel, features the saxophonist in a drummerless trio alongside guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan, and is named after the group’s inaugural performance in December 2018 at Coates Chapel in San Antonio.
Ella Fitzgerald, The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook (Verve)
Release date: June 24
Verve releases a previously-unissued Ella Fitzgerald concert, featuring live performances of 15 songs from her now-classic album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook, at The Hollywood Bowl on August 16, 1958. This concert marked the only time The First Lady of Song performed Paul Weston’s iconic arrangements from the seminal album live with a full orchestra.
Featured photo by D. Carr.
