Listen To Joel Ross’ New Single, ‘Gato’s Gift’
The rising jazz star’s new album, ‘Who Are You?’ is set for release through Blue Note Records on October 23.
Joel Ross has released “Gato’s Gift,” a melodic new single from the vibraphonist’s highly anticipated sophomore album Who Are You?, due out October 23 on Blue Note Records.
“Gato’s Gift” features Ross’ band Good Vibes with Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone, Jeremy Corren on piano, Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, Jeremy Dutton on drums, and special guest Brandee Younger on harp. You can check it out below.
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“This record is a culmination of our maturing – as people, as a band, within the music – it’s about figuring out who we are,” Ross says of Who Are You? The vibraphonist nurtures his artistry in a continuum. He lets melodies inform improvisation, and collective spontaneity inspire written composition. “I don’t believe in coming into anything with expectations,” he says. “As musicians, we’re just expressing ourselves.”
Inspired by communication through storytelling – a method he absorbed, in part, working with such creative forces as Ambrose Akinmusire, Marquis Hill and Makaya McCraven – and with input from producer Walter Smith III, Ross assembled the album’s narrative in halves. Tracks 1-7 provide setting, as well as character introductions; tracks 8-15, plot twists. Each artist advances the spirit of risk-taking, while maintaining Ross’ vision for story structure.
Who Are You? is the follow-up to Ross’ heralded 2019 debut KingMaker, which made year-end lists in The New York Times (“Joel Ross is already widely known as contemporary jazz’s top prospect. KingMaker shows that he has what it takes to build something vital”), NPR Music (“KingMaker announces Joel Ross as a crown prince of jazz… the sort of musician who seems to summon the full sweep of the post-bop tradition while tilting decisively toward the future”), and Rolling Stone (“KingMaker, the debut from young vibraphone marvel Joel Ross, featured thrilling back-and-forth improv… But just as striking was the leader’s remarkably assured compositional vision”). Pitchfork wrote that Ross “shines on his debut album, with an approach that feels sly and mysterious… KingMaker is a marvel.”
Who Are You? is out on October 23 and can be pre-ordered here.
