2019 was a great year for jazz. I spent a fortune on tunes.

Right before everything went to shit with COVID, Kassa Overall released his Go Get Ice Cream and Listen To Jazz LP. This really spoke to me, as it was only a year or so after I'd quite drinking, and had filled the void with ice cream (frequently shovelled down whilst listening to jazz).

I'd eagerly anticipated his next proper album, Animals, which came out in 2023, and it arrived in the post on the day I came down with my first blast of the virus. It sat in the kitchen table, unplayed, for months.

I'd lost the ability to enjoy music.

Now, I'd been obsessed with music my whole life, and it had gone. I stopped playing records, I stopped buying records. For about a year - nothing. It was like the virus had erased that part of my brain. (In the spirit of every cloud having a silver lining, it saved me a fortune).

It's only been recently that it's started creeping back into my life, and this process of documenting my listens is now part of that.

I'm glad it's back and I'm glad I've finally been able to wrap my ears around this excellent blend of jazz, hip hop and electronica. Overall is an original and very creative drummer, and I envy his chops greatly.

His Tiny Desk Concert is worth a watch
m.youtube.com/watch?v=0kKct_AK…

#KassaOverall
#Animals