Who the fuck named a band Dinner Time. It turns out the group is made up some of the most innovative musicians today including multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, and pianist Robert Glasper. For a group of superstar artists, the music on Enigmatic Society is super spare. Its style is a fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B. I prefer the instrumental recordings such as “Watts Renaissance” and “The Lower East Side” over the vocal recordings. It’s a pretty chill album nevertheless.

Lauren Henderson is a sultry jazz singer with an ear for interpretation. Her reimagination of “That Old Black Magic” in a bossa-nova groove is just intoxicating with the help excellent accompanists including Joel Ross on vibes, Sean Mason on piano, Eric Wheeler on bass and Joe Dyson on drums. Other featuring instrumentalists including Gabe Schneider and Nick Tannura on guitar and John Chin on piano. In addition to covering standards, Henderson pens her own lyrics such as the title track. It’s a beautiful tune. The ten tracks on Conjuring are perfect for relaxation after a long, exhausting day.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mammal Hands’ Gift From the Trees on a beautiful morning. The album is relaxing but also exciting thanks to the hip-hop backbeat Jesse Barrett. His rhythmic work on “Labyrinth” is riveting. Nick Smart’s keyboard and Jordan Smart’s sax duo reminded me of Dave Brubeck’s and Paul Desmond’s on the classic “Blue Rondo à la Turk.” In contrast, “Deep Within Mountains” is so fine and mellow. Of course, Nick Smart’s ostinato is catching as hell on “Spinner.” A perfect album to release your stress early in the morning with coffee our late at night with cocktail.

With a subscription to Amazon Music, I have been listening to new jazz and hip-hop albums and discovering artists I haven’t known before. For instance, I have been pumping Young Nudy’s Gumbo in my Sienna. The title of his songs filled with meats and vegetables including “Brussel Sprout,” “Portabella,” “Shrimp,” “Duck Meat,” and “M.R.E.,” which, my oldest son told me, stands for “Meals Ready to Eat.” I am not sure if Nudy’s lyrics have anything to do with food since all I can hear are “pussies” and “bitches.” He sounds high as fuck on all of the tracks, but the beats are just infectious. The melodic string plucked against the pounding bass line makes “McChicken,” produced by Coupe, chilling and hypnotizing at the same time. The hook and the rhymes are just too damn misogynistic and too trigger happy to quote on here. That’s what hip-hop is all about. You have to separate the art from the content. I enjoyed Gumbo even though I have not heard of Young Nudy before.

Samara Joy is a young singer with an old soul. Ms. Joy sounds so much like the jazz legend Sarah Vaughan—no crime in that. Just like Ms. Vaughan, Ms. Joy can swing (“Sweet Pumpkin”) and can croon (“Lust Life”) as well. Linger Awhile, an Amazon original deluxe edition, is an album I can just kick back, relax, and enjoy for an hour and twenty minutes after a long day at work.

I spent my beautiful morning commute with the Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins. The clarity and dexterity from his tenor backed up by the crisp drumming from Shelly Manne and the bass thumbing from Ray Brown brightened my day on the opening “I’m an Old Cowhand.” The following track, his emotional reinterpretation of “Solitude” almost made me weep. The vibe continued throughout the box-set collection.

Macklemore’s latest release kicks off with three happy-go-lucky tracks. “Chant” has an infectious Latin groove. “No Bad Days” features Collett’s sun-shine hook. Even the word “bullshit” sounds so damn cute. Then Macklemore parties like it is “1984.” The album, however, busts a sharp turn on “Maniac,” in which Macklemore talks about his drug addiction. The album turns darker on issues such as social media, depression, and death, and yet, the beats never turn grime. Macklemore is a lyricist on his own right.

Bassist Christian McBride is still at his Prime. McBride charges right off the opening “Head Bedlam” with his New Jawn—trumpeter Josh Evans, saxophonist & bass clarinetist Marcus Strickland, and drummer Nasheet Waits. “Obsequious” harks back to the hard-pop era with Evans and Strickland improvising like Clifford Brown and Sonny Rollins. My personal favorite has to be “The Lurkers.” It’s a dark beauty with McBride bows broodingly on his bass. The whole album is a masterpiece with four exceptional players joined together.

My wife discovered Nguyễn Thùy Linh’s The Beatles In Jazz and passed it on to me. If I didn’t read her name, I wouldn’t have known that she’s Vietnamese. Her English is flawless and her voice is sultry. Her interpretation of The Beatles is pop-jazz at best. “All My Love” gets a straight-swing rhythm. “And I Love Her” gets a Latin flavor. “Imagine” gets a reggae groove. With “Yesterday” she pronounces through for though: “Now it looks as though they’re here to stay.” It is still an enjoyable album nevertheless.

Cecile McLorin Salvant is a rare jazz singer who has the the vocals and the chops. What makes Salvant a fascinating artist, however, has been her brilliant song choices—particularly her attention to the lyrics. With Mélusine, I just have to enjoy the music and the singing since the entire album is in French, with the exception for half of the title track in English. Since French is Salvant’s first language, her phrasings and annunciations are just sensational. I liked the up-tempo songs like “Il m’a vue nue” and “Doudou” as well as the mysterious slow-burning tracks like “Est-ce ainsi que les hommes vivent?” and “Petite musique terrienne.” Yet I loved the weirder sounds like “Wedo” and “D’un feu secret.” I enjoyed this album immensely.