There is a before and an after 1986 for Marcus Miller. That year, the bassist was 27 years old and composed and produced Miles Davis’ famous Tutu. Since then, the career of this four-string virtuoso has expanded with stunning albums for others (over 500!) and for himself (more than twenty), as well as multiple collaborations… Like often with Marcus Miller, the borders between jazz, funk, soul and blues are magnificently blurred. And it is once again the case with this Laid Black. After Afrodeezia, which he designed like a musical journey through his personal history, retracing the path of his ancestors, Laid Black falls within present time with a cocktail of all the urban sounds he loves: hip-hop, trap, soul, funk, R&B and, of course, jazz. In fact, this kind of 180° overview is the man’s trademark. Shuffling between various currents of African-American music. And even inserting a few clever references when he covers Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) popularised by Doris Day, but using Sly Stone’s arrangement from 1973 Fresh… For this 2018 opus, Marcus Miller has called upon a few sharp shooters such as Trombone Shorty, Kirk Whalum, Take Six, Jonathan Butler and the young Belgian soul sister Selah Sue. Groove galore and precise yet never sickening pyrotechnics are at the core of an album that only its author knows how to make. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Functioning as a complementary mixtape of sorts to her joyous fourth album Manana Será Bonito, Manana Será Bonito: Bichota Season sees Karol G embrace her “bichota” persona for a more hedonistic, club-centric set of tracks. Coming in at just ten tracks -- two of which are remixes -- Karol uses this deluxe-style LP to source new collaborations, remix her recent material, and debut some of the ideas that might not have suited the original LP. Funnily enough, however, the highlights here run closest to the style of the original album: the slick “S91” is like a darker, fiercer counterpart to the brilliant “Provenza,” Kali Uchis adds her nectar-like signature sound to “Me Tengo Que Ir,” and “Una Noche en Medellín [Remix]” sees Karol bolster Cris MJ and Ryan Castro’s summer smash with her own flair. Long-awaited collaborations with Latin music’s newest stars arrive in the bright, Peso Pluma-assisted “Qlona” and Young Miko’s stalwart “Dispo,” while Puerto Rico’s Dei V adds a sharper edge to the fired-up “Gatita Gangster.” It’s a simple but welcome addition to the MSB era, a smattering of singles and remixes that will comfortably slot into playlists and set lists.© David Crone /TiVo

Fresh expands and brightens the slow grooves of There's a Riot Goin' On, turning them, for the most part, into friendly, welcoming rhythms. There are still traces of the narcotic haze of Riot, particularly on the brilliant, crawling inversion of "Que Sera, Sera," yet this never feels like an invitation into a junkie's lair. Still, this isn't necessarily lighter than Riot -- in fact, his social commentary is more explicit, and while the music doesn't telegraph his resignation the way Riot did, it comes from the same source. So, Fresh winds up more varied, musically and lyrically, which may not make it as unified, but it does result in more traditional funk that certainly is appealing in its own right. Besides, this isn't conventional funk -- it's eccentric, where even concise catchy tunes like "If You Want Me to Stay" seem as elastic as the opener, "In Time." That's the album's ultimate charm -- it finds Sly precisely at the point where he's balancing funk and pop, about to fall into the brink, but creating an utterly individual album that wound up being his last masterwork and one of the great funk albums of its era.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Holly Cole explores a number of styles on her second album, Don't Smoke in Bed, without overreaching her grasp. Adding pop, blues, country, and a French ballad to her standard, low-key jazz, Cole demonstrates that not only does she have impeccable taste, but she has the talent to make all of the material sound convincing.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

With 850,000 volumes, 120,000 old books and a collection of 7,500 newspapers, the Municipal Library of the Archiginnasio of Bologna is a place steeped in history. It was here, in early 2021, that Paolo Fresu decided to celebrate his own history. For his 60th birthday, the Sardinian trumpet player gathered a handful of relatives for an exceptional concert, obviously without an audience. Together with bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura, pianist Dino Rubino, double bassist Marco Bardoscia and the Alborada Quartet, he wandered through various rooms in this magnificent library performing pieces in his own style. A colourful and hybrid jazz, European at heart and always strolling around. Without ever being a birthday retrospective with the feel of a funeral, Musica da Lettura shows above all the extent of Fresu's genius: an avid researcher and passer-by, capable of drawing on popular musical traditions from cinema, literature, classical or folk music and, of course, jazz... The repertoire of this album (available exclusively on Qobuz) mixes popular songs and themes speckled with electronic effects, to underline the distance between the history of the venue and the contemporaneity of the sounds. On El Ciego, the European tradition intertwines with Latin America. On Notte a San Stino, an almost new age composition that he performs alone, Fresu interweaves several takes of his instrument. And to further extend the field of possibilities, he draws his inspiration from Strauss' Metamorphoses, which he bathes in a solemnity inherited from Rossini. Chamber music or futuristic, nostalgic or groovy, meditative or dreamy, nothing is missing from this fiesta between friends... But the essence of this magnificent album lies in the organic and human character of the music. Despite the literary references and multiple influences, Paolo Fresu's trumpet remains a simple and beautiful language that speaks to the heart. A language brought alive by the bond he enjoys with his fellow musicians, all in tune with this anniversary that one would dream of endlessly... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Chief conductor of Les Siècles symphony orchestra, François-Xavier Roth has been revisiting French music from the beginning of the 20th century for several years now, taking care to honour both the original instruments and to find melodies that favour even greater clarity of timbre and attack. After his incredible recordings of Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky’s first work (special mention to the superb complete version of L’Oiseau de feu), everyone naturally expected the conductor to perform Pelléas et Mélisande, the opera he conducted at the very beginning of his career which is particularly close to his heart.This new version of Debussy’s masterpiece was recorded on the 20th and 21st of March 2021 at the Opéra de Lille. As one might expect, the orchestra, which is present throughout the score (it conveys emotion and feeling in the style of Wagner and Mussorgsky) is given pride of place by François-Xavier Roth, who transforms this strange opera into some sort of secular oratorio.As for the singers, it’s a real treat to hear French voices in the two main roles. Vannina Santoni’s portrayal of Mélisande is refreshing, and she makes the character less naïve than previous interpretations have done. She asserts herself in the forest scene at the beginning of the piece and later, in the final scene, she confidently declares to Pelléas "I only lie to your brother!". Pelléas is personified by a tenor voice and not by a light baritone as intended by Debussy (in fact, he sounds much like Eric Tappy in Armin Jordan’s beautiful version of Erato). Thanks to Julien Behr’s stellar performance, the character comes across as fragile and overwhelmed by his ill-fated destiny. Alexandre Duhamel’s touching portrayal of Golaud reveals a gritty character who is undeniably relatable, despite being consumed by an ardent jealousy that ultimately causes him to murder his younger brother and, indirectly, Mélisande. Jean Teitgen is a less dogmatic Arkel than usual. Literally and figuratively blind, it’s as though he has no understanding of what’s happening within the castle and is unable to escape the confines of his own, outdated idealism. Marie-Ange Todorovitch does a good job playing the difficult and often overlooked role of Geneviève, whose appearances, though infrequent, are pivotal.Finally, it should be noted that François-Xavier Roth uses the definitive and complete version of the opera, which includes the few bars that fell victim to censorship in 1902. As such, viewers can rediscover the confronting dialogue between Golaud and his son Yniold, whom he uses to spy on Mélisande when she’s in her bedroom. “What about the bed? Are they close to the bed?” asks Golaud in the height of his jealousy. Thanks to its poetic dimension and fantastic cast, this new version easily rivals those by Désormière, Inghelbrecht, Ansermet, Armin Jordan, Karajan and Abbado. © François Hudry/Qobuz

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Much like the reunion of artists from Bahia under the Tropicalia movement (Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé and Os Mutantes) at the end of the sixties, the Clube da Esquina united the main popular music creative forces from the state of Minas Gerais in 1972. Next to Milton Nascimento, his lifelong friends, brothers Lô and Marcio Borgès, and arrangers Eumir Deodato and Wagner Tiso, redefined the frontiers of Brazilian expression. Lamentations with accents of pop, inspirations from regional traditions, nods to flamenco and jazz-rock experiments − no path is left unexplored to express the boiling creative energy of these young talents with vastly dissimilar destinies. Clube da Esquina had a lasting impact on its country’s music. And while the Borgès brothers’ careers remained limited to Brazil for the most part, Nascimento marked his era as much in jazz as in pop. Far from an anecdotal initiative, Clube da Esquina is one of the most tangible proof of his immense talent. © BM/Qobuz

20 Años is an album from prolific Mexican superstar Luis Miguel. Just 20 years old when it was released in 1990, the album represents Miguel’s successful transition from teen idol to full-on pop star, and sold over 600,000 in the first week of its release.© Gregory Heaney /TiVo