Albums of the Year 2023: Bokanté - History

Is it just me, or has the task of getting hold of basic information so that we as writers can tell colourful and reliable stories about music – rather than being dutiful recyclers of marketing blurb – become increasingly difficult in 2023?

The five-star review I wrote of Bokante’s History (Real Word, now Grammy-nominated) back in July was a happy exception to that trend. It was based on a lot of listening to the album, which I loved, but also on a cup of tea with the band’s remarkable lead singer/co-composer Malika Tirolien, also a songwriter and producer, in the Verdun district of Montreal. She told me the story of her life in music, the decisions which propelled her from her native Guadeloupe to North America, with a flow, logic, energy and clarity which were as inspiring as her music. 

That whole experience left its mark, and I contrast it with far too many occasions of frustration attempting to crow-bar set lists or band personnel lists from promoters, or to prise “label copy” from record companies. In every other art form, I see a high standard of story-telling which is improving and deepening all the time. What is so different about music, then? Surely there has to be more to latch on to than that an album is contextlessly “dropping”... or that we should be setting our clocks for the moment when another stadium tour goes on sale? Rant over, back to the topic.

In this awful year of inhumanity and war, my best experiences have tended to be at the quieter end of the spectrum. The poignant, poetic duo album A Short Diary from Kit Downes and Seb Rochford (ECM) was a delight. And Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo’s El Arte Del Bolero, Vol.2 (Miel Music) is just a series of perfect takes. Bolero is music that most people know – without actually being aware that they do – from Buena Vista Social Club. And I find myself going back to the live album Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles (Nonesuch), an experience deepened by reading the first volume of the pianist’s autobiography. And as I write this I have the constantly mesmerising Lados B from Daniel Villarreal with Jeff Parker and Anna Butterss (International Anthem) playing. 

More Essential Albums of 2023

Sebastian Rochford, Kit Downes - A Short Diary (ECM)
Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles (Nonesuch)
Christine Jensen – Day Moon (Justin Time)

Musical Experience of the Year

Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir – both “at home”, their base is in the courtyard of St James’s Piccadilly, and at their Barbican Hall debut

Track of the Year

“Motivos” by Italo Pizzolante from Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo – El Arte Del Bolero, Vol.2 (Miel Music)

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