Vibing with Joel Ross

Joel Ross has amassed a dedicated following by creating music you have to lean into. That doesn’t make it any less palatable, but across the vibraphonist’s recorded output — 2019’s KingMaker, 2020’s Who Are You?, and 2022’s The Parable of the Poet — the compositions were somewhat complex, and ushered the virtuosity of his band’s live performance to a studio setting. For nublues, his remarkable fourth release as a leader for Blue Note, Ross challenged himself to create an album with a greater degree of accessibility — still intricate and adventurous, but with a strong emphasis on melody, ballads, and the blues. On purpose, nublues feels familiar, like you’ve already heard these songs in Greenwich Village somewhere. Though there are covers on this LP (John Coltrane’s “equinox” and “central park west”; Thelonious Monk’s “evidence”), this collection of newly written material exemplifies the bandleader’s evolution. 

“A lot of my music has been more musician-focused with a lot of time and tempo manipulations, which may not always translate to easy listening for your everyday listener,” he explains. As a result, nublues finds Ross attempting to adhere to his musical ideologies while putting his own interpretation on traditional jazz. 

The genesis of nublues dates back to 2020 when, during the Covid pandemic as live performances were shut down, Ross went back to the New School to finish his degree. One of his classes was taught by the alto saxophonist Darius Jones, who nudged students to dig into the history of the blues. That led Ross down a rabbit hole of what the blues can be; it isn’t just a 12-bar form. He realized it was a feeling. “Sort of a spirit or an energy,” Ross says. “It’s emotion, it’s expression. But I also want to stay true to the rhythmic ideations that we’ve already been developing.” 

The blues also had a literal meaning in the creation of this album. The melancholy of isolation made its way to the arrangements; one can hear the uncertainty of time clashing with the optimism of brighter days. Partially inspired by his partner, the flutist Gabrielle Garo, he would have conversations with her family about what creative accessibility looks like in modern music. “It’s this idea of not exactly changing who we are or how we want to play, but still trying to remain inviting to people,” Ross says. “So I took it as a personal challenge to figure out how I can write music that is accessible, that people can follow, and we don’t have to feel like we can’t be ourselves.” The arrangements collected for this album incorporate singable melodies that retain the spirit of the blues — evocative jazz through a modern lens.