For New Jazz Underground, words matter. Starting with “Hoodies”, the title of their debut album, released on May 29 by Artwork Records. Literally referring to hooded sweatshirts, “hoodies” is a word that cannot be fully translated into Italian. The garment has become a generational symbol, but the word also contains “hood,” meaning neighborhood or community, evoking the brotherhood of young people who have grown up in the same places. And it carries the weight of that hood, which, when worn by a young Black man in America, can cost him his life. As happened to seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin, killed on February 26, 2012, in Sanford by a neighborhood watch volunteer who considered him suspicious. His death became a symbol for the African American community and the Black Lives Matter movement. Many people were familiar with New Jazz Underground, a trio of young musicians based in New York, long before this […]
