at dusk🎷 // a heavy doom jazz playlist

‘at dusk’ is a heavy doom jazz playlist that I’ve been maintaining for a while now. I first put this together in 2018, and it has evolved into a new tone as of late.

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In the beginning…

When I first made this playlist, I was simply focusing on making an up-tempo but dark jazz playlist. Over time, it just kept getting heavier and heavier, to the point where a solid chunk of it almost has a metal vibe. The tempo ebbs a bit and I have kept this playlist somewhat varied, but my focus has been on keeping it heavy and keeping it moody.

Honestly, I don’t know anything about jazzy subgenres. I don’t think this is just ‘dark jazz’ or ‘noir jazz’. I don’t even rightly think it’s ‘doom jazz'(not even sure what that is?) but this seems very doomy to me. So I take calling it a heavy doom jazz playlist.

…it starts a bit more restrained

The first few tracks on it are kind of restrained. I mean, they still kick fairly hard but I definitely worked on ramping up this playlist. I’ve long had the track by Blood Quartet on there. The track from Trouble seemed like it HAS to be on here. This contains David Lynch’s son and was featured on Twin Peaks The Return.

While I have another playlist more definitely inspired by Twin Peaks, that mood is obviously present here.

Picking up the tempo

Once a few tracks in, I pick up the tempo to where it almost flat out rock. Merkabah, Albatre and Last Exit are blisteringly heavy.

Last Exit is a jazz supergroup featuring Sonny Sharrock, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Peter Brötzmann, and Bill Laswell. Last Exit was mostly active in the 1980s. A few of these guys have gone on to some other amazing projects.

A few of the tracks are more modern. Ghoul Whispers is by Sly & The Family Drone collaborating with Dead Neanderthals. This steers towards sludge but maintains the jazziness and heaviness.

Häxan // Witchcraft Through the Ages

Anyone familiar with Häxan & Witchcraft Through the Ages knows by now I took that as a huge inspiration for this playlist.

Häxan was a silent film made in 1922 which is… wild. The imagery of devils, rituals and possession is intense.

In the ’60s, a cut of Häxan was turned into a shorter version called Witchcraft Through the Ages that had narration by William Burroughs and a jazzy score by Daniel Humair. If you haven’t seen it, you absolutely should. It’s as wild as you’d imagine.

The jazz score is frantic. The whole vibe there set me off on putting this together.