Saxophonist Tamar Osborn and her crew have released something uniquely beautiful with Continuation (2020). Combining elements of spiritual jazz, Indian music, north African influences, and more, yet ultimately transcending genres, these pieces are immensely satisfying on an emotional level. It’s an album of catharsis, a means of processing experiences both personal and universal. In that respect it is always timely, though it seems more so at this moment of global distress. Opener “Deep Peace” and the title track that follows are darkly mesmerizing, almost prayerful. “Pause” picks up the pace, building up to the eruption of “The Angry One”. “Lost and Found” covers a lot of ground; it’s almost like a suite. The final number sums things up, an act of acceptance perhaps, either of the past or of an uncertain future. Continuation is without question one of the best albums of this shell-shocked year.