Jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements came together in the wake of the killing of Akai Gurley by a police officer in 2015. Their sonic poetry, which echoes not only black struggle but also black beauty, feels as politically poignant now as it did then. Following a year in which not only America but the world came to a long-awaited reckoning with racial injustice, this group’s gripping music, which whisks together voices, hands, and instruments, perfectly soundtracks the much-needed conversation.
Photography by Bob Sweeney