Ambient

RK Dawkins offers a pleasing escape from the burdens of reality for audiences.

Yelena Eckemoff’s quintet whips up a compilation of romantic ballads, lounging pastorals, and elegant improvisations.

The Cheap Ensemble's self-titled release is fraught with ambient soundscapes that lure listeners along a path of blissful swells.

These are instrumentals, ambient and ethereal, designed for the individual to savor and assess their meaning.

Mongelli and the Cape Jazz Crew take cool jazz principles into the second decade of the millennium.

Capturing the imagination is a prominent factor of Wytold's music. His recording has gorgeous soundscapes.

The bluesy vocal register of Wertz, intertwined with the light tremors of Cohen's keys, make for an ambient jazz repertoire.

These are in no particular order, except for this first one, my vote for song of 2016, at least for guitar. After listening to Joe Bonamassa's blistering, searing solo, you will not forget it anytime soon.

A new live collaborative album by Torrini and The Colorist Orchestra reimagines some of the Icelandic singer's songs in entirely new arrangements for an eight-piece Belgian ensemble led by Aarich Jespers and Kobe Proesmans. Her voice inhabits this new, more organic world just as comfortably as on her albums, and with a touch of live-performance warmth.

Here are my highlights in popular music from 2016. It includes records by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Bright Light Bright Light, David Bowie, Melanie C, Hikaru Utada, Beyoncé, and many more!