The latest album from Josh Johnson — who produced Meshell Ndegeocello's The Omnichord Real Book, the talk of the town after winning Best Alternative Jazz Album at the 2024 Grammys — is out on CD!! Here is the answer to jazz's future from an artist the whole world is watching.

Josh Johnson's solo debut Freedom Exercise won listeners over slowly but surely. He gets to the essence of things at his own unhurried pace. Arriving while he was in the spotlight for producing Meshell Ndegeocello's Grammy-winning The Omnichord Real Book, this record hones his composing and playing to reveal an even purer musicality. Every saxophone line and electronic sound etched here proves unmistakably to be his own. Ambient jazz — you can't help but want to call it that — delicate, beautiful and original: the birth of what will surely stand as his defining album. (Masaaki Hara, rings producer)