Joel Ross Good Vibes

Vibraphone virtuoso presents his latest Blue Note album.

Joel Ross is among the most distinctive jazz voices of his generation. The vibraphonist and composer previously won the DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star vibraphone category and built his reputation with a series of Blue Note albums, each with its own character: from the compositional complexity of KingMaker (2019) and Who Are You? (2020) to the more accessible melodic world of nublues (2024), where pieces like Equinox by John Coltrane and Evidence by Thelonious Monk merge with new work.

His fifth Blue Note album Gospel Music is his most personal work to date: a musical exploration of faith, hope, and love, inspired by biblical stories. Ross returns to the complexity of his early albums but retains the directness that made nublues so accessible. He brings his band Good Vibes in a sextet formation: Josh Johnson on alto sax, Maria Grand on tenor sax, Jeremy Corren on piano, Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, and Jeremy Dutton on drums.

Joel Ross vibraphone, Josh Johnson alto sax, Maria Grand tenor sax, Jeremy Corren piano, Kanoa Mendenhall double bass, Jeremy Dutton drums