My, this album from German trumpeter/ vocalist Till Brönner and US keyboard maestro Bob James, now in his ninth decade, is so the opposite of the angsty spirit of 2020. Which is a good thing, IMO. On Vacation is the sound of two great jazzers getting you in the mood for a languorous summer break – perhaps in the South of France, where they recorded it (at La Fabrique).

So, is the album—recorded in the south of France during 2019—or the theme behind it a vestige of another time, simply tone deaf or another thing entirely: a well-played slice of fantastical escapism?Maybe it’s all three.