Alabaster DePlume's latest album, ‘Come With Fierce Grace,’ is a testament to how radical empathy can profoundly shape an artist's journey while also influencing those around them.

On an all-new episode of Discologist, we sit down with DePlume, aka Gus Fairbairn, to talk about his mission to make space for and facilitate joy, the beautiful chaos of his live shows, and much, much more.

Alabaster DePlume’s (aka Gus Fairbairn) To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1, was roundly praised as one of the best albums of 2020 and served as a balm for music fans of all types as they settled into a new, pandemic reality. Now he’s back with GOLD, an uplifting, quasi-spiritual journey towards understanding the value of self-worth in a world where it may no longer be valued. Part free-jazz, part primitive hymnal, GOLD builds on the strengths of DePlume’s earlier work to coalesce into his strongest statement on our shared humanity to date.

While the pandemic of 2020 affected just about every aspect of our lives, it was professional musicians who may have been hit the hardest. Without the possibility of tours or even an audience, artists who previously relied on performing their work for a living were forced to re-evaluate how they would get by. For many, this meant a shift to DIY streaming performances, which, while they have the potential to offer uniquely intimate connections to artists, have not proven to be a suitable replacement or method of output. Enter bassist Dezron Douglass and harpist Brandee Younger and their series of shows on Instagram.

What began as a simple way to connect to friends and fans over “brunch” became a bright spot to look forward to in the early days of the pandemic. Locked down in their apartment in New York City, the two interpreted an entire history of song revealing almost by accident that no matter what the circumstance, no matter how bleak it got, music and art would find a way.

Force Majeure, the resulting album of highlights from those performances, is many things, but above all, it is a gift. For all the darkness we ALL experienced this year, despite all the confusion and pain, Douglass and Younger’s spirit manages to illuminate the world and let the listener know how not alone they really are. A musical journey through our seemingly endless days so filled with beauty, humor, and, most of all, life, Force Majeure stuns, not by being flashy, but by being human.

On Heritage of the Invisible II, Aquiles Navarro (trumpet) and Tcheser Holmes (percussion) – one half of the mighty Irreversible Entanglements – are celebrating their Afro-Carribbean heritage in ecstatic fashion. The resulting album is less a collection of songs than an organic rendering their culture, friendship, and seemingly telepathic level of communication the duo shares.

PLUS! Discover a collection of gorgeous new songs about transformation and peace with Jennifer Castle’s Monarch Season.

Jazz has long been one of the most potent musical languages that we have, and on their second album, Irreversible Entanglements are wielding it like a righteous sword.

Who Sent You explores injustice and resistance with cacophonous horns, warped bass-lines, and the barely-contained rage of poet Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother). The album's greatest triumph though, lies in the revelation that there can be exaltation in struggle and grace to be found in our common humanity if we're willing to receive it.

Join us on an all-new episode of Discolgist as we dig into one of the most important albums of 2020 from one of the fiercest jazz outfits in history.

Saxophonist and poet Alabaster Deplume is a true man of the people. With a focus on human interaction and togetherness, Deplume’s music, both on record and in live performance, serves one purpose, and one purpose only: To bring us all together. We’re taking a look at this legend-in-the-making’s remarkable To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1, and uncovering some answers as to why music is such an essential force in our lives along the way.

PLUS: Percussionist Joe Westerlund’s Reveries In The Rift, uses jazz, folk, and more to create worlds for us to escape in a way that few albums can. Get lost with the rest of us and check out the single “Ituri Air” from this gorgeous, idiosyncratic gem.