#4578, John Schaefer's Completely Opinionated Top Ten of 2021

For this New Sounds, John Schaefer presents his annual highly-opinionated top 10 list of notable new music releases from 2021. Hear music that breaks up time from a poet and stutterer, an East African travelogue-inspired album, lyrical lap-tapping guitar wizardry, a grand collaboration where a legendary sax player meets a producer, dj, and composer, and surging and propulsive music by a woodwind-led, tuba-anchored, and double-drummer-lifted London quartet.

Listen to prepared Sardinian guitar by composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli from his inventive album, Jar’a, along with music by Virginia-based lap-tapping guitar virtuoso, Yasmin Williams (another one-person band) from her lyrical album, Urban Driftwood.  

Also on Schaefer’s list is the album by Barcelona-based Cuban pianist Omar Sosa’s latest, An East African Journey, a collection of collaborative music-making from some 10 years of East African travels. Then, there’s the album by New York-based sax player, electronic musician and poet JJJJJerome Ellis, The Clearing, where Ellis recasts stuttering as a way of changing and breaking up the linear experience of time. Plus, music from the song cycle/theatre piece by English composer and violist Jocelyn Pook called "Drawing Life, Remembering Terezín." 

Many albums featuring collaborations have also made it to this year’s top ten list, among them, a record of poetry by Ross Gay enhanced with music, called Dilate Your Heart; the adventurous and mesmerizing album of original work, Inner Symphonies by Polish duo of pianist Hania Rani and cellist Dobrawa Czocher; and Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, by Caroline Shaw and So Percussion. This album sits firmly in no category at all, but perches near pop, classical music, roots music, and the playful and experimental. Plus, the album-length piece, Promises, by the legendary sax player Pharoah Sanders and electronic musician Floating Points, which also includes the London Symphony Orchestra.

In the top spot, there’s the stunning record by London quartet Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future, which features collaborations with rappers, poets, and spoken word artists, together with the irresistible and electrifying blend of jazz, Afrofuturism, electronic music, hip hop and Caribbean rhythms. (Ed. Note: The NSAPA is so relieved that there won’t have to be a fight with John Schaefer this year about his top choice.) Sons of Kemet is woodwind player and composer Shabaka Hutchings, tuba player Theon Cross, and the two drummers - Tom Skinner and Edward Wakili Hicks, who are all excellent and omnivorous movers, shakers, and collaborators in London’s vibrant musical ecosystem. Sons of Kemet for the win! – Caryn Havlik

Program #4578, John Schaefer's Completely Opionated Top Ten of 2021 (First Aired 1/06/2022)

10. ARTIST: Paolo Angeli
WORK: Sùlu [4:37 ]
RECORDING: Jar'a
SOURCE: ReR Megacorp 
INFO: angelimanucheproductions.bandcamp.com

9. ARTIST: Omar Sosa and Rajery     
WORK: Veloma E [3:23]
RECORDING: An East African Journey
SOURCE: Otá Records
INFO: melodia.com

8.ARTIST: Yasmin Williams
WORK: Jarabi [1:00]
RECORDING: Urban Driftwood
SOURCE: Spinster Sounds
INFO: yasminwilliams.bandcamp.com 

7. ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook, Melanie Pappenheim, Lorin Sklamberg, et al.
WORK: Birdsong [6:16]
RECORDING: Drawing Life: Remembering Terezin
SOURCE: musicglue.com/jocelyn-pook
INFO: jmi.org.uk

6. ARTIST: Hania Rani, Dobrawa Czocher
WORK: Dunkel [4:57]
RECORDING: Inner Symphonies
SOURCE: Deutsche Grammophon 4860600
INFO: deutschegrammophon.com

5. ARTIST: JJJJJerome Ellis
WORK: Loops of Retreat [10:32] 
RECORDING: The Clearing
SOURCE: NNA Tapes
INFO: nnatapes.com | jeromeellis.bandcamp.com

4. ARTIST: Ross Gay/Mary Lattimore       
WORK: Burial [4:49]
RECORDING: Dilate Your Heart
SOURCE: Jagjaguwar
INFO: https://rossgay.ffm.to/dilate-your-heart

3. ARTIST: Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, London Symphony Orchestra
WORK: Promises, Movement 5 [4:25]
RECORDING: Promises
SOURCE: Luaka Bop
INFO: luakabop.com

2. ARTIST: Caroline Shaw and So Percussion
WORK: To the Sky [4:00]
RECORDING: Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records 
INFO: http://smarturl.it/letthesoil

1. ARTIST: Sons of Kemet, ft. Kojey Radical
WORK: Hustle [5:18]
RECORDING: Black to the Future
SOURCE: Impulse!
INFO: https://sonsofkemet.lnk.to/blacktothefutureIB