“Small Things,” the collaboration from Brooklyn artist Nick Hakim and veteran saxophonist and composer Roy Nathanson, is not your grandpa’s jazz record. The pair create a strikingly contemporary jazz record by blending Nathanson’s jazz background and Hakim’s neo-soul style. Deeper, more soulful vocals and music are accented with Nathanson’s twinkling saxophone notes. The pair end up nodding more to contemporary soul masters like Thundercat and Moses Sumney rather than historical jazz musicians, making for an album that’s rich and surprising.

By Emma Chekroun