The Color Of Rain

2023年のデビュー作がグラミー賞「最優秀スポークン・ワード・ポエトリー・アルバム」にノミネートされた期待のシンガー。詩とライブ演奏、即興を融合させ、レジスタンス(抵抗)、愛、喜びといったテーマをアンサンブル主体のコラボレーションを通して探求している。バンドリーダーとしても世界各地をツアーし、Newport Jazz Festival、North Sea Jazz Festival、Montreal Jazz Festival、グッゲンハイム美術館、リンカーン・センター、バービカン・センター、フリーマントル・ビエンナーレなどに出演。また、女性や少女に対する暴力の終結を目指す国際的ムーブメントV-Dayのアーティスティック・クリエイティブ・ディレクターも務めている。

When the Poems Do What They Do, the 2023 debut album from Aja Monet, earned a spoken-word Grammy nomination for the activist, author, and poet. Where that double-length recording saw Monet work with Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah as her main co-producer, Meshell Ndegeocello and Justin Brown fill that role on this hour-long follow-up, a likewise jazz-based set involving a mostly different group of players. Monet identifies herself as a surrealist blues poet, a description that couldnt have been reaffirmed any stronger than with this sets lead single. "Hollyweird" throws the listener into a chaotic scene with Monet delivering an urgent bulletin over Browns tumbling drums and Daniel Mintseris jolting synthesizer. She observes "an arsonists wet dream rolling down Runyon Canyon" before bearing sardonic witness: "The feel-good volunteers did Reiki before they dropped off outfits for people with no events to attend." Much more than ecological disaster and superficial volunteerism are covered in those five minutes, with Monet calmly if passionately noting the absurdity of likening the L.A. shoreline to Gaza, the persistence of racism and greed, and the effects of fascism and digital narcissism, among other connected ills. In "For the Congo," all racing percussion, she wonders "How many children died for the sake of my comfort today?" and laments her helplessness against inhumane governments while also demanding, through gritted teeth, to "Talk about the blood." Escapism most certainly is not on offer. "Elsewhere" alludes to space travel and marvels at a "carnival of flowers sprouting from closed fists," but Monet makes even those visions -- threaded throughout a loping funk jam featuring the voices of Ndegeocello, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Novena Carmel, plus Ambrose Akinmusire on skyward trumpet -- feel very real. Monet also provides solace, as on "To Sister," a dulcet and loving address supported by the caress of Brandee Youngers harp and Ganavyas feathery, trumpet-like vocalizations. Monet adoringly honors righteous "Working Class Musicians," advocates for "Melting Clocks" (with Vic Mensa and Mick Jenkins), exhaustedly ruminates on "Every Media Minute," and much more here. "I want a god who loves," a statement made on the latter song, hits as hard as any of her layered turns of phrase and could just as easily be an apt title for this anguished, inspired, and exceptional album. ~ Andy Kellman