Best of 2018 #36: Christian Balvig 6tet – “Music For Humans”

Just on the basis of its sheer beauty, Music for Humans gets a slot on the Best Of list.  Christian Balvig’s chamber jazz 2018 release is pure shot of harmonic joy.  But how his 6tet is able to seamlessly weave incisive melodic statements and an absorbing rhythmic conversation into the fabric of those harmonies is what elevates this album up to an entirely new plateau.  This is music you can just sink into and never come up for air or, instead, you can engage with it as if a contemplative chess match where there are no sides, only a graceful motion of pieces.

Released on AMP Music & Records.

Read more on Bird is the Worm.

Music from Oslo, Norway.

Available at: Amazon