There's a pivotal scene in the second episode of "The Eddy," the new music-centric Netflix show about a once-celebrated jazz pianist named Elliot Udo (André Holland) and his struggling Parisian jazz club, the titular The Eddy. In the sequence, Elliot's 16-year-old daughter Julie (Amandla Stenberg) steals a vodka bottle from the club and attempts to seduce one of the venue's bartenders inside her dad's office. 

As the scene turns solemn, the music shifts into a somber tone. The house band plays a series of dissonant notes—the piano burrows in the lower register, the trumpet blares muffled noise and the sax squeals nightmarish sounds—before launching into a dizzying jazz number. As the song spirals downward, so, too, does Julie, who soon gets mixed up with a bad crowd in the outskirts of Paris. It's a masterful pairing of music and image that largely defines the stylistically cool show. 

For Glen Ballard, the six-time GRAMMY-winning songwriter/producer and executive producer of "The Eddy," both the drama of the music and the show itself are inherently interlaced. So much so, the show's writer, the BAFTA Award winner ​Jack Thorne, wrote the performance scenes and music sections as integral elements of "The Eddy."

"Jack was so clear about how he wanted the music and passion that [the band] had for that actual music to be expressed, because he felt like if you didn't get that, you would be missing an essential link with these characters," Ballard tells the Recording Academy. "Jack called out every song, where he wanted it and what song they would be playing, so it's an intimate part of his writing process—there's no question."

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Set in the multicultural neighborhoods of modern-day Paris, "The Eddy" follows the life and drama of Elliot Udo as he juggles the everyday tribulations of his failing jazz club and struggling band, his broken relationship with his daughter and his battles with a group of thugs threatening his loved ones and his business.

The eight-episode limited series features two chapters directed by Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle, the former jazz-drummer-turned-director behind the jazz-centric films Whiplash (2014) and La La Land (2016). (The series is a collaboration between Alan Poul, who executive-produced the show and directed its final two episodes, Chazelle, Thorne and Ballard.)

"The Eddy" is just one of the latest music-driven projects for Ballard, who wrote and composed original songs and music for the series. (The show's official soundtrack features all original contemporary jazz songs written by Ballard and Randy Kerber, as well as covers by St. Vincent and Jorja Smith.) For his part, Ballard dug deep into his résumé, which includes songwriting, production and performance credits with Barbra Streisand, Katy Perry, Shakira, Chaka Khan and many others. Beyond music, he's also worked across stage ("GHOST the Musical," "Jagged Little Pill") and film (The Polar Express, A Christmas Carol, The Mummy Returns). 

"I think I spent the first 25 years of my career working with singer-songwriters, helping them tell their story. I loved it; it was fun and exhilarating. But I think now I can use songwriting to tell other stories," Ballard says of his jump to the screen and stage. "As a songwriter, I just felt a little limited, especially with just writing a three-minute pop song. As difficult as that is, I'm looking for the next level of storytelling and songwriting, so obviously musical theater is one place you can do that."

The Recording Academy chatted with Glen Ballard to discuss the music-first approach of "The Eddy" and his mission to take jazz into the mainstream.

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How did you first get involved with the show?

It's been this long-time dream of mine to have a jazz band in Paris and to write songs for it. Ever since I lived here in the '90s, it was obvious to me that Paris still hadn't given up on jazz. There were about 14 or 15 jazz clubs scattered out all around the city, and you could go in there any night and just hear people playing jazz. There's something about the intimacy of that. As we moved into the digital era, there was less intimacy in the presentation of music and certainly in the playing of music.

I've been quietly planning this for about 50 years. Growing up where I did, in Mississippi, near New Orleans, I was around a lot of jazz. But for me, it was always about looking forward and not looking back. I started writing songs for a project called "The Eddy" in 2008. I wrote the first iteration of the song "The Eddy." It was this sort of mythical club where a great band, great singer and an intimate audience find each other, and it becomes a kind of transcendent moment. I just feel like that's been missing a lot in music presentation, and it was just the desire to want to do that for real. That was the dream.

In 2013, I met with Alan Poul and I, at that point, had about 50 songs that we had done a demo [for]. He's a great TV producer [and] director, and he was [making] this whole thing happen because he loved the concept, loved the music, loved the idea of Paris [being] multicultural, but he didn't quite know who would be the person to execute that.

Then he called me a few months later and said, "I just met a young filmmaker named Damien Chazelle. I just saw a very short film called Whiplash; it's not even the complete film." But he said, "This guy gets jazz, he knows how to use the camera, he's a great director." Damien came down and listened to the music, he listened to the band that we had put together and he was in. That was almost six years ago. We planned on making the show in Paris … and that's how it got started … with me writing a bunch of songs.

So the first flickers of "The Eddy" started back in the late 2000s.

In 2008, I wrote the lyrics to it and I had some of the music. It was the concept of this place where you can be yourself, express yourself as a musician, find yourself as somewhat sitting in the audience and [listening] to a great singer. There's just something magical about that, something that I've always felt, even from when I was a child going into jazz clubs in New Orleans and hearing people that could really play. When the magic gets hit, it's a transcendent thing. 

I think too much of that has been missing, and the idea of getting close to that really appealed to me. Once we got Damien Chazelle involved and we were lucky enough to get Jack Thorne, who's a wonderful British writer—I think we gave him 39 original "Eddy" songs and he wrote eight episodes and used those songs throughout each episode as subtext, as counterpoint, but as part of the whole story. For me as a songwriter, to have Jack Thorne do that is one of the great gifts I've ever been given—believe me.

Your songwriting, production and performance credits in music are all over the place. You've worked with everyone from Alanis Morissette to Miley Cyrus. But are you a jazz guy at heart?

The first major song I had recorded in 1980 was from a jazz artist named George Benson and the producer was Quincy Jones. I kind of got started in that world, even though it was kind of a pop-jazz thing ... But then we got sidetracked. I worked with Quincy, did a bunch of the Michael Jackson records with him, I produced for him. Then I went off on my own. I've had an exceedingly diverse career, there can be no doubt. At whatever point people think they know what I do, I do something else ... I wanted to be like a Billy Strayhorn who could write great lyrics, great music and have a great band to express it.

I finally got that with "The Eddy." It just took me a while to get there. But I do have a great band. We do have this club in Paris, which is closed at the moment, but we hope to reopen it. Every bit of the music in the show, these musicians are playing live, and that never happens on episodic TV. For that fact alone, I feel like we're giving the audience a slice of real music performed by real musicians, and musicians who can really play and who are doing it not to be famous—they're doing it because they have to do it. If you want to call it a romantic portrait of the artist, yeah, probably it is. But the other side of that romance is how much it costs to get there and to stay there. To run a jazz club in Paris, you don't do that for money—you do it for love.

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The show dedicates a large amount of screen time just to the musicians and the performances. There are several extensive scenes showing only the musicians performing on their instruments—no dialogue, no drama, no anything in the background. Was that important to reflect in the show?

Personally, I'm deeply grateful for that, because so many times the music is treated in a perfunctory manner. But the way Jack wrote it, he wrote it in a jazz style. Like he said, "When the band's playing, I want to hear it. I want to take that journey with them." He felt like that was part of the narrative: how they interacted with each other and how they find and lose themselves when they're playing. I loved that we get to hear complete takes and they're playing a lot. But when they stop playing, there's not a lot of music. It's this great dichotomy between these long sequences of music, and then when they stop playing, there's no music.

In a lot of music-driven films or TV, the music itself is either secondary or the main focus. With "The Eddy," the music feels very much more in-synch with the story. It doesn't dominate the conversation, nor is it background fodder either. In your eyes and ears, what role did you see the music itself playing in "The Eddy"?

I just think, on every level, it is the juice that fuels [all these musicians]. I felt like the music and their passion for music and for playing it and for playing new songs together—that's their mission in life because they don't do anything else … You get people like the bass player, Damian Nueva Cortes ... he brings so much to the table, so just seeing someone like that perform, I think they deserve that screen time.

Jack was so clear about how he wanted the music and passion that they had for that actual music to be expressed, because he felt like if you didn't get that, you would be missing an essential link with these characters. But it's still character-driven because they all have their own distinct personalities, but we see how intimate they are with their instrument and how it's an extension of their personality. Jack called out every song, where he wanted it and what song they would be playing, so it's an intimate part of his writing process—there's no question.

The band in the show is made up of actual musicians and performers. Was that an important choice?

It was the only choice we could make. It was either we get people who can play this and play it beautifully, or we're just going to turn it into five actors who can't play and we're going to pretend like they can, and that was never interesting to any of us. But at the same time, it was a huge act of faith on the part of our producers, our network, our directors to take five musicians who had never acted, put them in a major Netflix drama and hope that they can do it. When we cast them, the first [question] was, "Can they play?" … It had to be real musicians.

If we were going to make this whole thing float, we had to show the audience people who were sweating it out onstage, a real drummer who can really play and [that] nobody's faking it. Jazz musicians are intrinsically interesting human beings. They had gone on their own journey from an early age, and if they're in jazz right now, they're doing it out of passion, they don't get famous from it. Just being able to show people who are that dedicated to something, and specifically this music, and that the music is good and they really can play it, that was an essential element. I'm just thrilled that we had the right team who always wanted it to be real. They didn't want anybody to be phoning it in. It was a challenge to all of us, but I'm really, really proud of the musicians because they all made their acting debuts, and I think they all held up beautifully.

Read: 'Bitches Brew' At 50: Why Miles Davis' Masterpiece Remains Impactful

How has the jazz community, whether the artists themselves or the fans and listeners, reacted to the show?

So far, it's been very, very positive … I expect the jazz community will like it, but it was intended to be new. As much as anything, I'm looking for a younger audience rather than an older audience. I think the older audience would appreciate this anyway because of the musicianship and the skill of writing, I think, is pretty obviously at a high level.

I'm just hoping that, as much as anything, we get a new audience, and I do believe that the traditional jazz audience will appreciate totally what we've done. It would thrill me to no end to get 20-year-olds involved through this and who are passionate about it and who actually want to go out and see some music, see real musicians play like "The Eddy." 

That's what this is about for me. It's about reminding people of that intimate experience with a great jazz ensemble and a great singer. There's nothing like it: to be in a room with somebody great like that, to be that close to it—it's just a beautiful thing. It's a celebration of that, and hopefully it's an invitation, especially [for] younger people, to go out to hear some jazz. Certainly when The Eddy comes, come listen to them.

Left to right: Jowee Omicil, Ludovic Louis, Joanna Kulig, Glen Ballard, Randy Kerber, Lada Obradovic, Damian Nueva Cortes, associate producer and music supervisor Angela Vicari | Photo: Lou Faulon

It's a tough time to be a jazz artist right now, isn't it?

It's a tough time to be a performing artist of any kind, but especially jazz. Jazz fell into this category of, like, it's always looking back, it's black-and-white photographs from the '50s, Miles Davis in Paris. That's all music that I love; it's in my DNA.

But this is not about that; it can't be. This can't be a quiz about what you know about jazz. It should just be about, "Do you like the show? Do you feel the music?" And maybe you'll go get it and understand a little bit better that these are very talented people who kind of live in the shadow now of music. There's not one song on the radio where people are playing music together—not one. If you look at the top 100 songs, they're all driven by a computer, most of the vocals are auto-tuned.

I'm not putting it down, but I'm just saying that it's a different thing. It's different from having five people onstage who can shred, who can play anything backwards, and having a singer that can kill it and having chromatic music and lyrics that really go to the next level. I just believe that the quality of what we're doing is what we're selling. There's not a machine up there driving it: It's the real drummer and she can change the beat at the drop of a hat. It's just a different deal. It's about people making music.

Do you see shows like "The Eddy" or movies like Whiplash and La La Land as an invitation into the jazz community for your everyday person?

I'm trying to take it out of the very narrow confines of the jazz community and make it more mainstream. For me as a songwriter, I think that all these songs, I think every one of them has a hook, they're somewhat memorable and yet they're very densely musical. I think what's been missing from jazz is memorability. It's not about somebody taking a 15-minute solo; it's about having a melody that you can remember, and then maybe the solo is the variation of that melody. For me, it went back to the fundamentals of songwriting and using a jazz vocabulary, lyrically and musically, but still delivering songs that touch people.

For me, songwriting is the key to it all, and so I'm actually trying to expand the audience and not just knock on the door of the jazz audience because I expect that they will like it. They're a very tiny group. I love and respect them all, I'm part of that group. But I want a younger, broader audience. I think the show will help, if nothing else. It's probably the best way for people to feel it is to actually get to know these people, these characters ... The feedback I've been getting is people really loved the music, so, so far so good.

Read: Inside The 'Moulin Rouge' Broadway Cast Recording, With Baz Luhrmann, Matt Stine & More

Your professional background is very heavy on music-driven projects across film, television and theater. How and why did you start crossing over into those art forms?

I think I spent the first 25 years of my career working with singer-songwriters, helping them tell their story. I loved it; it was fun and exhilarating. But I think now I can use songwriting to tell other stories. As a songwriter, I just felt a little limited, especially with just writing a three-minute pop song. As difficult as that is, I'm looking for the next level of storytelling and songwriting, so obviously musical theater is one place you can do that.

I'm just a storyteller and I've been using my company, [Augury], to develop music-driven projects. This is the best way for me to do it now. It's been really exciting. We're a tiny company, but we have a lot of big projects going, so I'm really, really proud of it.

When you're creating these music-driven projects for TV, film and theater, how do you go about choosing those ideas? What are some of the elements that need to exist or need to stand out in order for you to commit to them?

[For] "The Eddy," it was me wanting to have a jazz club in Paris, so that was the high concept there. In terms of "Back To The Future" [Editor's Note: His production company, Augury, is co-producing a stage adaptation of the 1985 film, Back To The Future], clearly the concept is already there, but it was trying to figure out how to take this iconic movie and put it onstage. It's a different process, but it's all part of what we do, of trying to be able to figure out how to tell the story in whatever medium it is and to use songs to do that. 

With "Jagged Little Pill," that was just another lucky thing where [film and TV writer/producer/director] Diablo Cody took the album, Jagged Little Pill, and wrote a completely new story around all of the songs. Jack Thorne did the same thing with "The Eddy." He took all these songs and created a narrative. Sometimes I have the idea of a narrative, sometimes I just have the songs, or the high concept ... Every project has its own kind of magic to it, and if it has enough music and enough storytelling, I'm usually interested.

Jeff Goldblum On His Lifelong Passion For Jazz And His New Album 

"I only make records when I feel I have something to say," Sade Adu asserted in 2010 upon the highly anticipated release of Sade's GRAMMY-winning Soldier of Love album, which arrived after a 10-year hiatus. "I'm not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brand."

This lifetime of dedication toward achieving musical excellence helped Sade — vocalist Adu, bassist Paul S. Denman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman — gain prominence in the mid-80s, also garnering enormous respect from fans, critics, and peers alike. Formed in 1982, the English band is one of the few acts that can still be met with a hungry audience after disappearing from the spotlight for multiple years.

In an industry where churning out a new body of work is expected every couple of years, the four meticulous members of Sade move on their own time, putting out a mere six studio albums since 1984. Every project becomes more exquisite than the last, but it all began 40 years ago with Sade's illustrious debut album, Diamond Life. Ubiquitous hits like "Smooth Operator" and "Your Love Is King" appealed to listeners young and old — offering a unique blend of R&B, jazz, soul, funk, and pop that birthed a new sound and forced the industry to take notes from the jump.

As Sade's Diamond Life celebrates a milestone anniversary, here's a look at how the album helped push R&B forward, and why it's just as relevant today.

It Helped Set Off The "Quiet Storm" Craze

By mid-1984, Michael Jackson, was riding high off of winning the most GRAMMYs in a single night (including Album Of The Year) for his blockbuster album Thriller, Madonna celebrated her first top 10 hit with "Borderline," and Prince's Purple Rain was just days away from its theatrical release. Duran Duran, Culture Club, Billy Idol, and the Police were mainstays, while "blue-eyed soul" in particular had also hit an all-time high thanks to Hall and Oates, Wham, Simply Red, and others. What's more, many Black artists like Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston opted for more of a pop sound to appeal to broader audiences during MTV's golden era. 

Diamond Life was refreshing at the time, as it fully embraced soul and R&B. The album offered a chic sophistication amid the synth-heavy pop and rock music that ruled the charts.

Singles like "Your Love Is King" and "Smooth Operator" introduced jazz elements into mainstream radio. In turn, Sade helped usher in the "quiet storm" genre — R&B music at its core, with strong undertones of jazz for an ultra-smooth sound. Sade and Diamond Life also laid some of the groundwork for neo-soul, which saw a surge in the '90s à la Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, and Erykah Badu.

It Made GRAMMY History

In the 65-year history of the GRAMMYs, a small number of Nigerian artists, including Burna Boy and Tems, have won a golden gramophone. In 1986, a then 27-year-old Sade Adu made history as the first-ever Nigerian-born artist to win a GRAMMY when she and her band was crowned Best New Artist at the 29th GRAMMYs. Still, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg had to accept the award on Sade's behalf — signaling Adu's elusive nature as she rarely attends industry events or grants interviews.

Since then, Sade has gone on to earn three more GRAMMYs, including Best Pop Vocal Album in 2001 for their fifth studio album, Lovers Rock. The win signified their staying power in the new millennium.

It Birthed The Band's Signature Song…

While Diamond Life spawned timeless hits like "Your Love Is King" and "Hang On to Your Love," "Smooth Operator" became the album's highest-charting single — and remains the most iconic song in their catalog. The seductive track about a cunning two-timer propelled the band into international stardom: "Smooth Operator" skyrocketed to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Even non-Sade fans can identify "Smooth Operator" in an instant, from Adu's unmistakable vocals to that now-iconic instrumental saxophone solo. As of press time, it boasts over 400 million Spotify streams alone, and has remained a set list staple across every one of Sade's tours.

…And It Houses Underrated Gems

"Smooth Operator" may be Sade's commercial classic, but deep cuts like "Frankie's First Affair," "Cherry Pie," and "I Will Be Your Friend" are fan favorites that embody the band's heart and soul.

"Frankie's First Affair" offers a surprisingly enchanting take on infidelity: "Frankie, didn't I tell you, you've got the world in the palm of your hand/ Frankie, didn't I tell you they're running at your command." And, it's impossible to resist the funky groove that carries standout track "Cherry Pie," which served as a catalyst for some of Sade's later, more dance-oriented hits, including "Never As Good As the First Time" and "Paradise." Some of Sade's most poignant statements about lost love, including "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" from 2000's Lovers Rock, can be traced back to "Cherry Pie."

Diamond Life's penultimate song, "I Will Be Your Friend," offers both solace and companionship — another recurring theme throughout Sade's music, from 1988's "Keep Looking" to 2010's "In Another Time."

It Was The Best-Selling Debut Album By A British Female Singer For More Than Two Decades

Sade has sold tens of millions of albums worldwide, but Diamond Life remains the band's most commercially successful LP with over 7 million copies sold. Most of Sade's other platinum-selling LPs, including Diamond Life's follow-up, 1985's Promise, boast sales between four and six million copies.

The 7 million feat helped Sade set the record for best-selling debut album by a British female singer. She held the title for nearly 25 years until Leona Lewis' 2008 album Spirit, which has sold over 8 million copies globally.

It Introduced Sade Adu As A Style Icon

When we first met Adu, her signature aesthetic consisted of a long, slicked-back ponytail, red lip, and gold hoops. Sade's impeccable style is front and center in early videos like "When Am I Going to Make a Living," in which she sports an all-white ensemble paired with a pale gray, ankle-length trench coat and loafers.

Adu rocked the model off-duty style long before it became a trend. Her oversized blazers, classic trousers, and head-to-toe denim looks were as effortless as they were chic and runway-ready — proving that less was more amid the decade of excess.

"It's now so acceptable to be wacky and have hair that goes in 101 directions and has several colours, and trendy, wacky clothes have become so acceptable that they're… conventional," Adu, who briefly worked as a fashion designer and model before pursuing music, told Rolling Stone in 1985. "I don't like looking outrageous. I don't want to look like everybody else."

It Shined A Light On Larger Societal Issues

While most of Diamond Life leans into love's ebbs and flows, a handful of tunes deal with financial strife coupled with a dose of optimism, as evidenced by "When Am I Going to Make a Living" and "Sally." The latter song characterizes the Salvation Army as a young charitable woman: "So put your hands together for Sally/ She's the one who cared for him/ Put your hands together for Sally/ She was there when his luck was running thin."

Meanwhile, Adu, a then-starving artist, scribbled down portions of "When Am I Going to Make a Living" on the back of her cleaning ticket. The soul-stirring "We are hungry, but we won't give in" refrain emerges as a powerful mantra in the face of adversity and still holds relevance in 2024. Similar themes appear throughout Sade's later work, including unemployment ("Feel No Pain"), unwanted pregnancy ("Tar Baby"), survival ("Jezebel"), prejudice ("Immigrant"), and injustice ("Slave Song").

Diamond Life closer "Why Can't We Live Together" is a well-done cover of Timmy Thomas' 1972 hit about the staggering Vietnam War deaths. The band wisely doesn't veer too far from the original recording, but Adu's distinctive contralto voice brings a haunting quality that's reminiscent of Billie Holiday.

It Ignited The Public's Ongoing Fascination With Sade Adu

Since 1984, Sade has only released six studio albums, and a remarkable 14 years have passed since the group's last offering, 2010's Soldier of Love. Ironically, that scarcity — both in terms of music and access to the artist — has actually added to Adu's appeal. Case in point: Sade's sold-out Soldier of Love Tour grossed over $50 million in 2011, and the band still brings in close to 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Adu's striking beauty, mysterious persona, and knack for letting her music do all the talking has earned the admiration of her peers across genres and generations. Everyone from Beyoncé to Kanye West to Snoop Dogg have sung her praises. Drake even has two portrait-style tattoos of the singer on his torso. Prince reportedly described 1988's "Love Is Stronger Than Pride" as "one of the most beautiful songs ever." Metalheads Chino Moreno of the Deftones and Greg Puciato of the Dillinger Escape Plan have also cited Adu as inspiration — showing that her influence runs far and wide.

In 2022, reports circulated that Sade was recording new music at Miraval Studios in France. But upon Diamond Life's 40th anniversary, "Flower of the Universe" and "The Big Unknown" from the respective soundtracks to 2018 films A Wrinkle in Time and Widows stand as Sade's latest releases.

Whether fans get new music anytime soon remains to be seen, but the impressive repertoire of Adu, Denman, Hale, and Matthewman is one that aims to be truth-seeking and inspiring while exploring life's peaks and valleys. Diamond Life in particular holds up as one of the purest representations of the group's creative legacy, both commercially and musically. 

From quadruple platinum status to resonating with several generations, Diamond Life will forever stand as a remarkable debut — one that continues to influence music in a multitude of ways.

This year, April brings more than just showers to beget May flowers. Instead, there must be something in the stars: In the fourth month of 2024, four artists are releasing their fourth studio albums. These are pop-rock band X Ambassadors’ Townie, R&B singer Bryson Tiller’s Bryson Tiller, rapper PartyNextDoor’s P4, and Irish rockers Picture This’ Parked Car Conversations.

Numerology aside, April will also contemplate exciting new works from pop masters Taylor Swift, whose The Tortured Poets Department drops mid-month, and St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming, country star ERNEST’s Nashville, Tennessee, jazz master Kenny Garrett and electronic producer Svoy’s What Killed AI?, and — allegedly — the second part of Future and Metro Boomin’s first joint-effort, We Don’t Trust You.

There’s music for all tastes ready to fill your playlists for the rest of the year. Read on for 15 of the most exciting albums dropping in April 2024.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER - minisode 3: TOMORROW 

Release date: April 1

Luckily, fans of the K-pop quintet TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) rarely have to wait for new music. Six months after releasing their third studio album, The Name Chapter: Freefall, the group is gearing up to release minisode 3: TOMORROW.

The seven-song EP is fronted by upcoming lead single "Deja Vu," which is said to mix trap, rage, and emo rock into their signature emotional intensity, as per a press release. The other tracks continue to expand the group’s versatility, experimenting with pop rock, house, and acoustic guitars. 

As usual, the concept of the album is connected to TXT’s overarching lore, and features several references to their past works — track "- --- -- --- ·-· ·-· --- ·–," for example, evokes their debut era where Morse Code was used in teasers and in the single "Crown."

TXT will embark on their Act: Promise World Tour starting May 3-5 in Seoul, South Korea, and then head to the U.S. for 11 shows across the country, including two dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Conan Gray - Found Heaven

Release date: April 5

Gen Z popstar Conan Gray has Found Heaven. After 2022’s Superache, his upcoming third album was co-produced by legendaries Max Martin, Greg Kurstin, and Shawn Everett, among others.

Gray had been teasing the 13-track record since last year with a slew of buoyant, '80s-tinged singles ("Never Ending Song," "Killing Me" and "Lonely Dancers") and poignant, Elton John-esque ballads ("Winner," "Alley Rose"). "When I was making the album, I was really obsessively listening to music of that era," he explained to NME. "I think also, because it was a deeply emotional time, I was almost hiding from reality. I didn’t listen to a song from the 2020s during the making of this album."

To celebrate this new, holy era, Gray will be touring Australia in July, North America in September and October, and Europe and the UK in November. "I want people to know that I was having fun and goofing around, and I want you to smile and I want you to feel like you can just be yourself," he added. "I just want the album to be a reminder to people that you can be so many things all at once."

Sinkane - We Belong 

Release date: April 5

Ahmed Gallab, the Sudanese American multi-instrumentalist behind Sinkane, has built his discography resisting musical genres. We Belong, his upcoming eighth studio album, is no different: it combines pop, funk, electronic, afrobeats, disco, and more into "a love letter to Black music," per a press release.

Sinkane’s first album since 2019’s Dépaysé, We Belong features 10 tracks and participations by Bilal, Money Mark, STOUT, and others. Each song tells the story of a different era in Black music and history, laced with love and hope for the future: the disco groove of "Come Together," the gospel choirs of "Everything Is Everything," the funky bassline of "How Sweet is Your Love."

Along with live band the Message, Sinkane has announced a select 10-city tour in the U.S., starting May 3 in New York City and wrapping up on June 9 in Pioneertown, California.

X Ambassadors - Townie

Release date: April 5

**Pop rock trio X Ambassadors dive deep into nostalgia for Townie, their fourth studio album. The record was inspired by their experience of growing up in the small city of Ithaca, New York, and how it shaped who they are.**

"As a grown man, I’ve fallen back in love with upstate NY, and I oddly feel blessed to have had something to rally so hard against/fight to escape from as a kid," vocalist Sam Harris said in a statement. "No Strings," the first single off the project, is an anthem for that restless feeling, and anchors their concept in a haunting, propulsive melody. "Your Town" and "Half-Life" continue the journey, although taking more melancholy tones.

X Ambassadors first set off their Townie tour in Europe and the UK during February and March. On the day of the release, they will begin the North American leg of the tour in Vancouver, Canada.

Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us 

Release date: April 5

Five years after releasing their latest record, 2019’s Father of the Bride, indie band Vampire Weekend will drop their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us.

According to a press release, frontman Ezra Koenig wrote most of the songs in 2019-2020, and spent the last five years refining them with bandmates Chris Baio and Chris Tomson. The result is a collection of 10 "direct yet complex" tracks, "showing the band at once at its grittiest, and also at its most beautiful and melodic," as seen in singles "CAprilicorn," "Gen-X Cops," and "Classical."

In addition to a sold out performance in Austin, Texas that will coincide with the total eclipse on April 8 and a headline show at Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Vampire Weekend has announced an extensive North American tour throughout summer and fall.

Bryson Tiller - Bryson Tiller

Release date: April 5

Grab your tickets to Bryson Tiller’s upcoming tour while you can: he might go on a hiatus right after. That’s what the R&B singer and rapper told Complex, alleging that his number one passion is actually video games. "I've been designing a game for the past three years; been looking into internships for different companies. That's what I want to prioritize after this album comes out."

The album Tiller refers to is his eponymous fourth LP, a 19-track collection that includes a feature by Victoria Monét, and is described as "seamlessly blending R&B, dancehall, pop, drill, trapsoul, neo-soul, and hip hop" in a press release. "Bryson Tiller is not just an album; it's a declaration of artistic independence and a tribute to the relentless pursuit of greatness."

The project’s three alluring singles ("Outside," "Whatever She Wants," and "CALYPSO") exemplify how Tiller pushed the boundaries of R&B even more, and solidified his identity as one of music’s most singular artists. "My No. 1 goal with this album is just for everybody on Earth to hear it one time," Tiller also told Complex. "My guarantee is that they'll love [at least] one song."

Tori Kelly - TORI.

Release date: April 5

"You think you know who Tori Kelly is, but this album will prove that maybe you didn’t," said the YouTube-star-turned-singer in a NME interview about her fifth studio album, TORI. "I feel like I’m stepping into my power and owning my craft."

Her first LP since 2020’s A Tori Kelly Christmas, TORI. took inspiration from '90s and early aughts R&B and pop, as heard on singles "Missin U" and "Cut." "I was trying to create this world of nostalgia, but also there’s that balance with [TORI.] feeling fresh and new," she said. Comprising 15 tracks, it also includes participations by Ayra Starr in "Unbelievable," LE SSERAFIM’s Kim Chae-won on "Spruce," and Jon Bellion — who co-wrote and produced the album — on "Young Gun."

During the creation process, Kelly told Bellion that her guidelines were to be able to "belt out [songs] in the car" and "dance" to them, like one can do in the powerful "High Water." As far as it goes, it looks like they accomplished their mission.

Kelly will kick off her Purple Skies North American tour on April 12 in Ventura, California, and conclude it on May 3 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Future & Metro Boomin - TBA / We Still Don’t Trust You 

Release date: April 12

Rap titans Future and Metro Boomin have been personal friends and work peers for over a decade, but their first collaborative album is only coming out now. We Don’t Trust You, the first installment of a double album, dropped on March 22, while the second part — titled yet to be announced — is slated to release on April 12.

In We Don’t Trust You, the duo showcased their flawless chemistry with grandiose tracks, haunting trap beats, and star-studded features, such as "Like That" with Kendrick Lamar, "Young Metro" with The Weeknd, and "Type S—" with Travis Scott and Playboi Carti. As Metro defined in an interview with Complex, "it’s the classic Future and Metro, but just updated."

So far, no further details have been shared about the second album, but expectations remain high for the duo to outdo the first effort.

girl in red - I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!

Release date: April 12

"I wanted to sincerely apologize for the events that happened directly after the release of my second album, I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!" prefaced Norwegian singer girl in red — real name Marie Ulven — on a solemn social media video last month. But while viewers caught their breaths, she revealed it was all a witty joke: the album will only come out on Aprilil 12.

"This is a big year for me. 2024 is, like, my year," she added in the video. I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! follows Ulven’s 2021 debut If I Could Make It Go Quiet, but feels "more fun and more playful, and a little bit more confident," as she told Billboard. Lead track "Too Much" brings that novelty heads on, while singles "Doing It Again Baby" and "You Need Me Now?" with Sabrina Carpenter prove that Ulven’s powerful pop is only getting better.

Ulven will kick off her Doing It Again tour from April 16-June 2 in North America, and from Aug.27-Oct. 5 in Europe.

Kenny Garrett & Svoy - Who Killed AI?  

Release date: April 12

For his first electronic foray, NEA Jazz Master and GRAMMY-winning saxophonist Kenny Garrett enlisted the acclaimed producer-musician Svoy. The result is Who Killed AI?, a seven-track daring exploration of jazz and pop culture.

"The first two songs are really reminiscent of Miles [Davis]," Garrett shared in a statement. "The way I’m stretching the melody — that’s how I played with Miles." The opener and lead single "Ascendence" is a strong preview of what’s to come: distorted synths and drum and bass beats fused with Garrett’s fun and brilliant lines, a compelling portrait of what the future of music can be.

Later in the year, Garrett plans to take the album on a live tour. "I think my fans will find this interesting," Garrett shared in a statement. "Some people forget that my teacher was Miles Davis. So for me, it’s not that I have to do something different. It is just something that I do. All you have to do is present the music and let them take the journey." 

ERNEST - Nashville, Tennessee 

Release date: April 12

Early in March, singer/songwriter ERNEST announced on social media that he would be running for mayor in order to "legalize country music." Of course, fans started to get their hopes up for new music — and they were right. The plot was just part of his promotion for the newly announced Nashville, Tennessee, out April 12.

A tour de force with 26 tracks, the record features a bevy of guest stars: from Jelly Roll ("I Went To College, I Went To Jail"), to Lainey Wilson ("Would If I Could"), and ERNEST's two-year-old son, Ryman Saint. It also includes a bluegrass cover of Radiohead’s "Creep" with HARDY, and a cover of John Mayer’s "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room."

In addition to "I Went To College, I Went To Jail," four other advance tracks have been shared: "Why Dallas" with Lukas Nelson, "Ain’t As Easy," "Ain’t Too Late," and "How’d We Get Here."

Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department 

Release date: April 19

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On the same night that she won her  lucky 13th GRAMMY for Best Pop Vocal Album with 2022’s Midnights, Taylor Swift also announced her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Coming out April 19, the record will feature 16 tracks and collaborations by Florence + the Machine on "Florida!!!" and Post Malone on "Fortnight."

"I needed to make it, it was really a lifeline for me, it sort of reminded me why songwriting gets me through life," Swift said during her The Eras Tour show in Melbourne. "I've never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets."

Along with the statement, Swift also shared an alternate cover for the physical album, titled after and including bonus track "The Bolter." Later on, three other versions named "The Manuscript," "The Albatross," and "The Black Dog" — all including an eponymous bonus track —  were also made available for purchase.

For the rest of the year, Swift will be touring through Europe and North America. As usual with the singer, more surprises are likely to come soon.

PartyNextDoor - PartyNextDoor 4 (P4)

Release date: April 26

**Canadian hitmaker and singer PartyNextDoor will make his long-awaited return this month. PartyNextDoor 4, also dubbed P4, is his first full-length work since 2020’s Partymobile, and continues his eponymous albums series after 2016’s P3.**

"This is the hardest I’ve ever worked on an album. This is the proudest I’ve felt," Party told Billboard for his March cover story. "I’m excited to grind even more for the next [one]. I’m in love with how hard you should work for it." 

He also explained that love is the reason why he takes so long to release new stuff. "I get into relationships and then music becomes second," he said. "I think I’m going to take a break from relationships, a long break, and just get back to making music."

In support of the release, Party shared moody, intimate singles "Resentment" and "Real Woman" — inspired by the same relationships that kept him off stage.

St. Vincent - All Born Screaming

Release date: April 26

In an interview with Mojo, St. Vincent — also known as Annie Clark — defined her upcoming seventh album, All Born Screaming, as "post-plague pop." Since its creation started right after the release of 2021’s Daddy’s Home, the years of seclusion and adjustment due to the COVID pandemic were a prominent influence in her new work.

"That kind of isolation breeds paranoia and loneliness, and loneliness can breed violence," she said. "It’s been a time of loss collectively and personally. [But] loss and death are very clarifying things, they make everything that doesn’t f—ng matter go away."

Comprising 10 tracks and features from Dave Grohl, Cate Le Bon, and Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa, All Born Screaming is St. Vincent’s first entirely self-produced set, and an attempt at showcasing what does matter. "This record is darker and harder and more close to the bone. I’d say it’s my least funny record yet. There’s nothing cute about it," she added.

Clark released two singles off the album, "Broken Man" and "Flea," and is gearing up for a North American tour starting May 22.

Picture This - Parked Car Conversations

Release date: April 26

"Parked Car Conversations is by far the most personal album we have ever created," said vocalist and lyricist Ryan Hennessy in a press release about Picture This’s upcoming album. "It is an album about everything involved with being human. Love and loss and hurt and euphoria and all of those other complex emotions that flutter in between."

The album consists of 15 songs, but a third of it can be previewed through bittersweet, soaring singles "Get On My Love," "Song To Myself," "Leftover Love," "Call It Love," and "Act Of Innocence." Overall, Parked Car Conversations is a soundtrack "not to a movie, but to life," and aims to convey "the ups and downs of living" through ballads and anthems alike, according to Hennessy. 

Coming almost three years since the Irish band’s last release, 2021’s Life in Colour, the new record will be celebrated in high spirits with an Europe and U.K. tour, starting April 21 in München, Germany.

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Meshell Ndegeocello won the first-ever GRAMMY for Best Alternative Jazz Album at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

The album bested Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily's Love in Exile; Louis Cole's Quality Over Opinion; Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter and SuperBlue's SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree; and Cory Henry's Live at the Piano.

In her acceptance speech, the two-time GRAMMY winner and 12-time nominee thanked Don Was, the president of Blue Note Records, as well as other colleagues and loved ones — including her two sons. “I hope I haven’t forgotten anybody,” Ndegeocello graciously said at the end, and invoked an elder of the music: “Oliver Lake, this is for you.”

Keep watching this space for more information about the 2024 GRAMMYs!

A Year In Alternative Jazz: 10 Albums To Understand The New GRAMMYs Category

What, exactly, is "alternative jazz"? After that new category was announced ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs nominations, inquiring minds wanted to know. The "alternative" descriptor is usually tied to rock, pop or dance — not typically jazz, which gets qualifiers like "out" or "avant-garde."

However, the introduction of the Best Alternative Jazz Album category does shoehorn anything into the lexicon. Rather, it commensurately clarifies and expands the boundaries of this global artform.

According to the Recording Academy, alternative jazz "may be defined as a genre-blending, envelope-pushing hybrid that mixes jazz (improvisation, interaction, harmony, rhythm, arrangements, composition, and style) with other genres… it may also include the contemporary production techniques/instrumentation associated with other genres."

And the 2024 GRAMMY nominees for Best Alternative Jazz Album live up to this dictum: Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily's Love in Exile; Louis Cole's Quality Over Opinion; Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter and SuperBlue's SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree; Cory Henry's Live at the Piano; and Meshell Ndegeocello's The Omnichord Real Book.

Sure, these were the standard bearers of alternative jazz over the past year and change — as far as Recording Academy Membership is concerned. But these are only five albums; they amount to a cross section. With that in mind, read on for 10 additional albums from 2023 that fall under the umbrella of alternative jazz.

Allison Miller - Rivers in Our Veins

The supple and innovative drummer and composer Allison Miller often works in highly cerebral, conceptual spaces. After all, her last suite, Rivers in Our Veins, involves a jazz band, three dancers and video projections.

Therein, Miller chose one of the most universal themes out there: how rivers shape our lives and communities, and how we must act as their stewards. Featuring violinist Jenny Scheinman, trumpeter Jason Palmer, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, keyboardist and accordionist Carmen Staff, and upright bassist Todd Sickafoose — Rivers in Our Veins homes in on the James, Delaware, Potomac, Hudson, and Susquehanna.

And just as these eastern U.S. waterways serve all walks of life, Rivers in Our Veins defies category. And it also blurs two crucial aspects of Miller's life and career.

"I get to marry my environmentalism and my activism with music," she told District Fray. "And it's still growing!

M.E.B. - That You Not Dare To Forget

The Prince of Darkness may have slipped away 32 years ago, but he's felt eerily omnipresent in the evolution of this music ever since.

In M.E.B. or "Miles Electric Band," an ensemble of Davis alumni and disciples underscore his unyielding spirit with That You Not Dare to Forget. The lineup is staggering: bassists Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, and Stanley Clarke; saxophonist Donald Harrison, guitarist John Scofield, a host of others.

How does That You Not Dare To Forget satisfy the definition of alternative jazz? Because like Davis' abstracted masterpieces, like Bitches Brew, On the Corner and the like, the music is amoebic, resistant to pigeonholing.

Indeed, tunes like "Hail to the Real Chief" and "Bitches are Back" function as scratchy funk or psychedelic soul as much as they do the J-word, which Davis hated vociferously.

And above all, they're idiosyncratic to the bone — just as the big guy was, every second of his life and career.

Art Ensemble of Chicago - Sixth Decade - from Paris to Paris

The nuances and multiplicities of the Art Ensemble of Chicago cannot be summed up in a blurb: that's where books like Message to Our Folks and A Power Stronger Than Itself — about the AACM — come in.

But if you want an entryway into this bastion of creative improvisational music — that, unlike The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles boxed set, isn't 18-plus hours long — Sixth Decade - from Paris to Paris will do in a pinch.

Recorded just a month before the pandemic struck, The Sixth Decade is a captivating looking-glass into this collective as it stands, with fearless co-founder Roscoe Mitchell flanked by younger leading lights, like Nicole Mitchell and Moor Mother.

Potent and urgent, engaging the heart as much as the cerebrum, this music sees the Art Ensemble still charting their course into the outer reaches. Here's to their next six decades.

Theo Croker - By The Way

By The Way may not be an album proper, but it's still an exemplar of alternative jazz.

The five-track EP finds outstanding trumpeter, vocalist, producer, and composer Croker revisiting tunes from across his discography, with UK singer/songwriter Ego Ella May weaving the proceedings with her supple, enveloping vocals.

Compositions like "Slowly" and "If I Could I Would" seem to hang just outside the reaches of jazz; it pulls on strings of neo soul and silky, progressive R&B.

Even the music video for "Slowly" is quietly innovative: in AI's breakthrough year, machine learning made beautifully, cosmically odd visuals for that percolating highlight.

Michael Blake - Dance of the Mystic Bliss

Even a cursory examination of Dance of the Mystic Bliss reveals it to be Pandora's box.

First off: revered tenor and soprano saxophonist Michael Blake's CV runs deep, from his lasting impression in New York's downtown scene to his legacy in John Lurie's Lounge Lizards.

And his new album is steeped in the long and storied history of jazz and strings, as well as Brazilian music and the sting of grief — Blake's mother's 2018 passing looms heavy in tunes like "Merle the Pearl." 

"Sure, for me, it's all about my mom, and there will be some things that were triggered. But when you're listening to it, you're going to have a completely different experience," Blake told LondonJazz in 2023.

"That's what I love about instrumental music," he continued. "That's what's so great about how jazz can transcend to this unbelievable spiritual level." Indeed, Dance of the Mystic Bliss can be communed with, with or without context, going in familiar or cold.

And that tends to be the instrumental music that truly lasts — the kind that gives you a cornucopia of references and sensations, either way.

Dinner Party - Enigmatic Society

Dinner Party's self-titled debut EP, from 2020 — and its attendant remix that year, Dinner Party: Dessert — introduced a mightily enticing supergroup to the world: Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and 9th Wonder.

While the magnitude of talent there is unquestionable, the quartet were still finding their footing; when mixing potent Black American genres in a stew, sometimes the strong flavors can cancel each other out.

Enigmatic Society, their debut album, is a relaxed and concise triumph; each man has figured out how he can act as a quadrant for the whole.

And just as guests like Herbie Hancock and Snoop Dogg elevated Dinner Party: Dessert, colleagues like Phoelix and Ant Clemons ride this wave without disturbing its flow.

Wadada Leo Smith & Orange Wave Electric - Fire Illuminations

The octogenarian tumpeter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Wadada Leo Smith is a standard-bearer of the subset of jazz we call "creative music." And by the weighty, teeming sound of Fire Illuminations, it's clear he's not through surprising us.

Therein, Smith debuts his nine-piece Orange Wave Electric ensemble, which features three guitarists (Nels Cline, Brandon Ross, Lamar Smith) and two electric bassists (Bill Laswell and Melvin Gibbs).

In characteristically sagelike fashion, Smith described Fire Illuminations as "a ceremonial space where one's hearts and conscious can embrace for a brief period of unconditioned love where the artist and their music with the active observer becomes united."

And if you zoom in from that beatific view, you get a majestic slab of psychedelic hard rock — with dancing rhythms, guitar fireworks and Smith zigzagging across the canvas like Miles. 

Henry Threadgill - The Other One

Saxophonist, flutist and composer Henry Threadgill composed The Other One for the late, great Milfred Graves, the percussionist with a 360 degree vantage of the pulse of his instrument and how it related to heart, breath and hands.

If that sounds like a mouthful, this is a cerebral, sprawling and multifarious space: The Other One itself consists of one three-movement piece (titled Of Valence) and is part of a larger multimedia work.

To risk oversimplification, though, The Other One is a terrific example of where "jazz" and "classical" melt as helpful descriptors, and flow into each other like molten gold.

If you're skeptical of the limits and constraints of these hegemonic worlds, let Threadgill and his creative-music cohorts throughout history bulldoze them before your ears.

Linda May Han Oh - The Glass Hours

Jazz has an ocean of history with spoken word, but this fusion must be executed judiciously: again, these bold flavors can overwhelm each other. Except when they're in the hands of an artist as keen as Linda May Han Oh.

"I didn't want it to be an album with a lot of spoken word," the Malaysian Australian bassist and composer told LondonJazz, explaining that "Antiquity" is the only track on The Glass Hours to feature a recitation from the great vocalist Sara Serpa. "I just felt it was necessary for that particular piece, to explain a bit of the narrative more."

Elsewhere, Serpa's crystalline, wordless vocals are but one color swirling with the rest: tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Fabian Almazan, and drummer and electronicist Obed Calvaire.

Themed after "the fragility of time and life; exploring paradoxes seeded within our individual and societal values," The Glass Hours is Oh's most satisfying and well-rounded offering to date, ensconced in an iridescent atmosphere.

Charles Lloyd - Trios: Sacred Thread

You can't get too deep into jazz without bumping into the art of the trio — and the primacy of it. 

At 85, saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd is currently smoking every younger iteration of himself on the horn; his exploratory fires are undimmed. So, for his latest project, he opted not just to just release a trio album, but a trio of trios.

Trios: Chapel features guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan; Trios: Ocean is augmented by guitarist Anthony Wilson and pianist Gerald Clayton; the final, Trios: Sacred Thread, contains guitarists Julian Lage and percussionist Zakir Hussain.

These are wildly different contexts for Lloyd, but they all meet at a meditative nexus. Drink it in as the curtains close on 2023, as you consider where all these virtuosic, forward-thinking musicians will venture to next — "alternative" or not.

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