Last month, we posted a list by Jawbox’s J. Robbins of his favorite albums, live shows & more of 2024, and now we’re posting a list of Jawbox drummer Zach Barocas‘ favorite albums of 2024. Zach stayed busy in 2024 with the release of his chamber music group Zach Barocas New Freedom Sound’s new album Two Freedoms, which J plays piano on. Check out his list with commentary on each pick, below.
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Zach Barocas’ Favorite Albums of 2024
Prayer for Peace, Sergey Akhunov
I know little about Akhunov except that from my first listen, these pieces have struck me with significant force. I’m not sure these are religious works as much as they are inspired with feeling frequently reserved for religious or sacred music.
TANGK, IDLES
If we’re in the midst of an authenticity revival, IDLES is the vanguard.
The Carnegie Hall Concert, Alice Coltrane
I’m partial to this sort of ensemble playing: clear leadership, driving rhythm section, aggressive soloing, claims of spiritual intention. By and large Mrs. Coltrane assumed this mantle from her husband, but her version of it is less self-conscious than his, less urgent, and in this way more contemplative and conventionally beautiful.
Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, Shabaka
For this album Shabaka Hutchings left his last name and his saxophones behind. For many listeners, this was the other flute record, not Andre 3000’s, but I think that misses the point. Andre 3000 made his record to learn more about his instrument which was new to him at the time of recording. Shabaka, on the other hand, knows the instrument(s) intimately and seeks to find his voice within them. This is deep flute music. Heed the album’s title.
gratitude, by Cassie Kinoshi, seed.
Kinoshi is a spirited and focused composer and saxophonist from the UK. She’s part of a group of British musicians, including Tom Skinner, Bex Burch, and Alabaster DePlume, who have released music through Chicago-based label, International Anthem. Her ensemble, seed., is first-rate, and these works are as complex and informative as any jazz or jazz-adjacent music I heard this year. Beautiful music. The first six tracks make up the titular piece.
All Life Long, Kali Malone
I don’t remember how I came across this record but its impact has kept it in regular rotation. Decidedly spiritual in its vocabulary if not always its intention, this album purports various sounds of a church — choral music, pipe organ — and draws them out into new versions of themselves. 2022’s The Sacrificial Code is also worth a listen.
Y’Y, Amaro Freitas
I first heard Freitas on WNYC’s New Sounds, a performance worth seeking out. He is the second artist I found this year from the coastal city of Recife, the first was filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho, which seems irrelevant but probably is not. In any case, Y’Y (pronounced: eey-eh, eey-eh according to the Bandcamp page) is the music of Freitas’s journey from his home to the Amazon Basin. Ancestry, nature, and all they provide is the the raw material of this music, which features performances from Hamid Drake, Shabaka (Hutchings), Jeff Parker, and others.