To engage with the sprawling, twenty-eight-track behemoth that is Rellyo Bambini’s "Cloned & Upgraded, Insert Soul Here (Rebirth Edition)" is to willingly plug your neural pathways into a mainframe that is rapidly overheating. Most artists treat albums like curated dinner parties; Bambini has thrown a rave in a server farm where the dress code is 'Cyberpunk Baroque' and the appetizers are flavored like anxious...

To understand the profound depth of Amana Melome's new album, "Recalibration", one must first appreciate the legacy she carries. As the granddaughter of Jimmy Woode, the legendary bassist who was the youngest member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and who performed alongside icons like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Melome' is heir to a monumental tradition in American music. Her latest work is not a simple continuation...