If It's Too Loud...

Los Angeles' Black Nile continue their mission to bring jazz into the current century with their latest single. "Skyrim" was inspired by the iconic video game, and actually kind of sounds like video game music. Jazz and video game music have always been connected, but never quite like "Skyrim." It helps elevate video game music to the next level, and also makes an artform normally considered stodgy kind of fun. This one is completely different from the previous singles we've brought to you from Black Nile, but they all help make jazz more accessible to music fans overall. Lawrence Shaw says of his band's latest single: "We love video games. Me and Aaron have different sides of what we like and tend to gravitate to. I'm more fantasy MMORPG, so you can guess 'Skyrim' is me for sure. I grew up on RuneScape and World of Warcraft, and those play a part in my jazz upbringing, if you will, because again, I'm such an auditory listener. I lis...

Los Angeles brother jazz duo Black Nile have released a new single off their upcoming album. "Danielle" starts off as a slow, mellow traditional jazz number. Slowly the song morphs into more of a free or experimental track. It's an absolutely beautiful track, made even more so as it transitions between styles and sounds. From the two singles we've heard so far, Black Nile are masters of combining classic jazz with a more modern sound, and moving the genre into a new era. A song like "Danielle" might adapt elements of other musical styles, it still maintains its status as a pure jazz song. Songwriter Aaron Shaw says of his band's latest single: "'Danielle' is about the love of my life! I wrote this song and had this as an initial voice memo while I was going through chemo, and every time I thought about this melody, I thought about her. During the creation of this project, this melody circled around in my mind. This song means a lot to me. It...

Black Nile consists of brothers Aaron and Lawrence Shaw. The duo presents Los Angeles as a city of jazz and improvisation. Their new single, "Exposure," is a four minute song that shows off the traditional and improvisational sides of the genre. The project was created to bring jazz into a new century, and they have achieved just that. This is the kind of song that's going to appeal to traditional fans as well as experimental fans, as well as bringing in new fans to jazz. "Exposure" takes everything you know about the genre and celebrates it while also pushing forward. Black Nile have created something both familiar and unique, and any music fan owes it to themselves to check it out. You can listen to "Exposure" below. Indigo Garden is due out April 10 on MASS MoCA Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Black Nile, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook .