Stereogum's 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2023

Musical worlds converge in these dark, celestial dreamscapes featuring Urdu-language vocalist Arooj Aftab with the acclaimed Vijay Iyer (piano, Rhodes, electronics) and Shahzad Ismaily (bass, Moog bass). All three have a complex connection to the South Asian diaspora: Iyer and Ismaily were born in the States to Indian and Pakistani parents, respectively; Aftab grew up in Lahore, came to study at Berklee, and settled in New York, charting a course that led to a historic Grammy for Best Global Music Performance in 2022 (the first Grammy for a Pakistani artist). Ismaily played synth on the winning track, “Mohabbat,” from Aftab’s celebrated *Vulture Prince*. Here, he parlays with Aftab at album length, joining a kindred spirit in Iyer, a fellow member of Greg Tate’s experimental big band Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber back in the 2000s. The extended pieces on *Love in Exile* have Aftab’s haunting yet inwardly calm voice at the fore, floating atop a sustaining low end of Ismaily’s raw electric basslines and Moog drones and Iyer’s spacious electroacoustic environments. Even without the input of a drummer, there’s often a very present sense of pulse, akin to a beating and soulful heart.

PERSONNEL Lakecia Benjamin - saxophone/vocals/synths/sound design Victor Gould - piano, organ, rhodes EJ Strickland - drums Ivan Taylor - double bass, electric bass Josh Evans - trumpet (1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 13) Wallace Roney Jr - trumpet (7) Anastassiya Petrova - rhodes, organ (5) Orange Rodriguez - synths (1, 3) Nêgah Santos - percussion (5) Jahmal Nichols - double bass (2) Josée Klein, Laura Epling - violin (4) Nicole Neely - viola (4) Cremaine Booker - cello (4) With special guests: Georgia Anne Muldrow - vocals/synths (3) Patrice Rushen - piano (5) Dianne Reeves - vocals (4) Sonia Sanchez - poet (6, 7) Angela Davis - spoken word (1, 13) Wayne Shorter- spoken word (11) ALBUM CREDITS Recorded at The Bunker Studios, NY, & Sear Sound Studio B, NY (June 2nd/3rd, 2022) String Engineer - Joshua Keith Tracking Engineer - Nolan Thies Editing Engineers - Dean Albak, Jeremy Loucas Mixing Engineer - Jeremy Loucas Mastering Engineer - Dan Millice Produced by Terri Lynn Carrington, Lakecia Benjamin Executive Producer - Michael Janisch Photography Elizabeth Lietzell Design - Rebecca Meek Make Up Artist - Miyako Johnson