Release Day Picks: September 29 New Album Highlights

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by David Crosby, Primus, Jason Crosby and Kamasi Washington. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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David Crosby – Sky Trails

The Scoop: Veteran singer-songwriter David Crosby waited 43 to issue Croz the follow-up to his 1971 debut solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name. With Sky Trails, the quick follow-up to 2016’s Lighthouse, Crosby marks three solo albums in as many years. For this release Croz employed his son James Raymond as producer who also contributed to the record’s songwriting along with Michael McDonald, Mai Egan and Becca Stevens. The 10-song effort includes an jazzy arrangement of a Joni Mitchell’s “Amelia.” Here’s the single “Curved Air”:

Label: BMG

Producer: James Raymond

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 50:18

Guest Musicians: James Raymond

Tracklist:

1. She’s Got To Be Somewhere
2. Sky Trails
3. Sell Me A Diamond
4. Before Tomorrow Falls On Love
5. Here It’s Almost Sunset
6. Capitol
7. Amelia
8. Somebody Home
9. Curved Air
10. Home Free

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Primus – The Desaturating Seven

The Scoop: Today, Primus unveils The Desaturating Seven, the trio’s first album of original material since 2011’s Green Naugahyde. Primus’s new LP is also the first of original material to feature drummer Tim Alexander since 1995’s Tales From The Punchbowl. The album is said to be loosely based on The Rainbow Goblins, a children’s book penned by Italian author Ul de Rico. Claypool explained he used to read the tome to his children and always thought the story could serve as the basis for a musical project. Listen to “The Scheme” off the new LP:

Label: ATO/Prawn Song

Producer: Les Claypool

Number Of Tracks: 7

Running Time: 34:38

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. The Valley
2. The Seven
3. The Trek
4. The Scheme
5. The Dream
6. The Storm
7. The Ends?

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Jason Crosby – Cryptologic

The Scoop: Multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby has spent the bulk of his career backing other musicians such as Phil Lesh and Jimmy Herring, but Crosby is quite a writer, vocalist and band leader in his own right. Jason shows off these skills on Cryptologic, a 10-track effort produced by Karl Derfler. Cryptologic was recorded during two very different sets of sessions. At first, Crosby played all the instruments himself. Later, a second session found Jason backed by The Mother Hips performing songs he wrote with Tim Bluhm. Cryptologic ends with a beautiful cover of Burt Bacharach’s “What The World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love.” Stream the record’s lead track “Final Step”:

Label: Blue Rose Music

Producer: Karl Derfler

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 34:09

Guest Musicians: The Mother Hips, Elliott Peck

Tracklist:

1. Final Step
2. Below Horizons
3. Suffered A Fool
4. Roads Are Torn
5. Was I Ever There
6. One Of Those Places
7. Umbrella
8. Gamblers Conceit
9. Goodbye, My Friend
10. What The World Needs Now

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Kamasi Washington – Harmony Of Difference

The Scoop: Two years after Kamasi Washington issued his impressive, sprawling, debut triple LP The Epic, the talented saxophonist follows with a comparatively sparse six-track EP Harmony Of Difference. Made up entirely of a six-part suite presented in five distinct movements that are fused together on the EP’s final track, Washington stated the original composition served to explore counterpoint, which he calls “the art of balancing similarity and difference to create harmony between separate melodies.” Original artwork by Kamasi Washington’s sister, Amani Washington, and a film directed by A.G. Rojas were prepared in conjunction with Harmony Of Difference. Kamasi’s frequent collaborators Terrace Martin, Thundercat and his father Rickey Washington are among the musicians contributing to the EP. Watch the Rojas-directed video for the EP’s cumulative closing track “Truth”:

Label: Young Turks

Producer: Kamasi Washington

Number Of Tracks: 6

Running Time: 31:54

Guest Musicians: Miles Mosely, Ronald Bruner Jr., Tony Austin, Brandon Coleman, Cameron Graves, Ryan Porter, Dontae Winslow, Terrace Martin, Artyom Manukyan, Peter Jacobson, Doctor Dawn Norfleet, Dexter Story, Dustin Warren, Jimetta Rose Smith, Mashica Winslow, Patrice Quinn, Steven Wayne, Taylor Graves, Thalma De Freitas, Thundercat, Rickey Washington, Matt Haze, Nick Mancini, Andrea Whitt, Molly Rogers, Chris Woods, Jen Simone, Paul Cartwright, Tylana Renga

Tracklist:

1. Desire
2. Humility
3. Knowledge
4. Perspective
5. Integrity
6. Truth

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.