Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Ambrose Akinmusire’s second Nonesuch release, Honey From a Winter Stone, continues the trumpeter’s ongoing exploration of Black American experience with a rousing concoction of modernist strings, freestyle wordplay and contemporary modern jazz. The music’s wellspring is personal and culturally rooted — a near-death experience for the first track and the complexities of African-American daily life for most of the set. But artful juxtapositions and Akinmusire’s emotive playing offer universal truths that relate to everyone.Akinmusire’s key concerns first surfaced on his 2011 Blue Note debut When the Heart Emerges Glistening, an acoustic jazz set with drummer Justin Brown. Seven years on, Origami Harvest, recorded with the Mivos Quartet, introduced classical influences alongside jazz and rap. This latest recording is inspired by the late American composer Julius Eastman’s idea of “organic music”, a compositional approach that involves gradually adding and removing musical elements to create layers that develop over time. It uses a mix of frequent collaborators and new faces to take the concept further. The result is a series of freewheeling soundscapes awash with detail and depth.The album opens with pensive trumpet, ruminating Sam Harris piano and an anxious mood. Drums enter with a rumble and a splash, high trumpet notes are closely controlled and then, three minutes in, a bass drum pulse cues ethereal synth, jagged strings and the vocals of “Muffled Screams”. The initial stanzas, written by Akinmusire after his brush with death, are dramatic, but vocalist Kokayi then expands their potency with an improvised mix of rap, poetics and spoken word.Later, the instrumental “Bloomed (the Ongoing Processional of Nighas in the Hoodies)” follows stirring strings with spiky trumpet modernism and “MYanx” uses gritty beats to support free-form rap. Here, Kokayi spins lyrical magic from a single syllable, “anx”. In contrast, “Owled” twists through gentle quartet voicings, hip-hop and piano romance to showcase Colombian musician Chiquitamagic’s atmospheric microtonal synth. The final track, “s-/Kinfolks”, conjures a kaleidoscope of textures and maintains its grip for nearly half an hour. Akinmusire’s magisterial trumpet, the band’s close-knit playing, and Kokayi’s vocal trickery are a perfect match.★★★★★‘Honey From a Winter Stone’ is released by Nonesuch
