Kultured Child Favorites of 2022

What’s a year without reflection? Or a million best-of lists?

As we close out another 365 days, I hope that this list of a few of my favorite things brings you some joy and discovery. Best wishes for a gracious 2023 and I’ll see you soon.

Albums

Ghost Song
Cecile McLorin Salvant
Nonesuch Records

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I was about ¼ of the way through Cécile McLorin Salvant’s Ghost Song when I realized this was easily going to be one of my favorite albums of 2022… and it just kept blowing me away as it unfolded. It’s less of an album and more of an experience in the ways Sgt Pepper’s or What’s Going On conjured. Salvant’s expanding further into the fullness of her artistry through such an astonishing project almost took my breath away. Her songwriting resonates as instantly preeminent; her covers of Kate Bush, Sting, and Gregory Porter are rapturous; and its production with creative collaborator Sullivan Fortner, fresh and flawless. Salvant can go seemingly anywhere as a vocalist, raconteur and producer. It’s an eerie, effervescent, addictive, delicious offering. It is as if Salvant has pulled back the curtain to show the world that the immense gifts that already had her audiences spellbound for the last decade were only the tip of the iceberg, which is almost scary to comprehend and equally glorious to experience.
Review found here.

ADDITIONAL 2022 FAVORITES

Books

DILLA TIME
Dan Charnas
MCD Publishing

Music journalist and hip hop historian Dan Charnas has set a new standard for memoir meets musicology with his sensational Dilla Time book. The magnitude of Dilla as an innovator cannot be overstated, but more than any artist in hip hop, Dilla’s is a legacy we couldn’t afford to get wrong. Dilla Time exceeds expectations with a deeply researched and beautifully told story of one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century. And by the end of the book, it’s clear why it is so.

ADDITIONAL 2022 FAVORITES

Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston | Gerrick Kennedy
Griot: Examining the lives of Jazz’s Great Storytellers, Volume II | Jeremy Pelt

Film & Television

Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes

Ron Carter is the most recorded bassist in history. But this is only one of the elements of this bass titan’s historic legacy. Ron Carter is a masterful and innovative musician whose influence is immeasurable. Finding the Right Notes seeks to help audiences absorb the gravity of Carter by offering a personal look at the life of an icon’s triumphs, challenges and philosophy through personal narrative; archival and present day footage of Carter spanning the last 6 years; and star-studded interviews, including those from Jon Batiste, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Poogie Bell, Christian McBride and Sonny Rollins.

ADDITIONAL 2022 FAVORITES

Soul of a Nation Presents: X/onerated – The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice
Aftershock
Janet Jackson
Jackie Robinson: Get to the Bag
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches
Biography: Bobby Brown
The Inspection
Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Beauty

Box Sets 2022

Patrice Rushen | Feels So Real (The Complete Elektra Recordings 1978-1984)
The Beatles | Revolver: Super Deluxe Vinyl Edition Box Set

Favorite Milestones of 2022

Malcolm X (Spike Lee) | 30th Anniversary
A Different World | 35th Anniversary

For in-depth conversations about milestones for the music and culture during landmark years, be sure to tune in to the Milestones: Celebrating the Culture podcast for a brand new Season 2, beginning January 2023!