Jon Gold takes us through instrumental jazz paradise with “Squirrel Samba”

Jon Gold is a composer that makes some of the most complex music accessible. I am no jazz instrumentalist, but the music Jon plays makes me feel in tune with the theme and the way the melodies flow. His latest album, Anahí, brings some incredible textures with compositions that sound simple but are layered to the brim. This is a song called Squirrel Samba from it. We’ll get to it in a moment, but I recommend wearing your dancing shoes first.

With a smooth percussive background, there is a light breeze that carries this song. It belongs to certain places, joyous memories and extensions of your life where there’s the dramatic, cinematic exploration of thrills. Jon Gold conducts an orchestra that experiences this music individually, composing it finally into a song that contains depth and levity at the same time. Squirrel Samba sounds mischievous yet appreciates the moment from which it passes to the one it goes to. It has virtuosos playing on it that bring it balance, yet have the spontaneity to bounce out of character ever so often.

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This 13-track album only has great, revitalising tunes that will get you in touch with your innocence. Jon Gold instructs an orchestra that understands playing to the cue rather than a thoroughly scripted piece that might feel restrictive. In their masterful approach, they bring a touch of human composition at a time we seem to be receding into the ease of composing via a machine that doesn’t feel. This carries all those feels.

I also suggest Chasing Echos and Teresinha from last year as collections to definitely dive through. Jon is an excellent composer, but he wants to bring the music as close to you as possible. In this case, enough distance to do the samba: