Kalia Vandever‘s striking ambient jazz compositions make Mana a life-force of sound within her evolving and diverse catalogue.
Release date: June 12, 2026 | International Anthem | Bandcamp | Instagram
The conceptualization of jazz from outside listeners has always been the view of a world in pandemonium. People talk about the genre’s chaotic movement and lack of structure through an endless parade of notes like it’s an apocalypse of music, folding in on itself and void of any emotional thought. While I have always disagreed with this notion for jazz, and for any genre for that matter, people tend to hold onto the intense musicianship and might view it as a rite of passage for developing skill over a genre meant to be enjoyed. It is also a narrow view as it has always embraced modernity, and especially now with the growing number of artists crafting music with ambience at the forefront of its development.
Kalia Vandever is one of those artists approaching jazz in a more minimal sense, though not all of her music was focused on this corner of the genre. She has performed and recorded music with full bands as well as just her trombone, some effects pedals, and her voice to explore both the macro and micro. This diversity in sound makes anticipating Vandever’s next release as exciting as the music, unsure of what turns she might take moving forward. Mana is her next album, and it’s stripped back to her solo trombone, now with the addition of a sole piano to heighten the intimacy.
“Hubbard Road” serves as an introduction to this interplay of sound between the two instruments, entwined in music and spirit as many of the intangibles in life come to dance between our world and the world beyond. It might be hard to find the spiritual connection in the screen-driven, pre-apocalyptic world we face these days, but the music begs you to close your eyes and let yourself feel what the music is saying. If you look closely enough, a few audience members in the video above are doing just that, removing sensation to feel more where it’s intended.
The vocals throughout Mana are another key aspect to its sound and highlight the textural nature artists like Grouper or Maria BC utilize their vocals within the landscape of ambient. Vandever’s vocals are sparse, dashing in and out between melodies and between the songs themselves. My favorite vocal passage is in “Your Fault” which is a crucial examination of an abusive relationship and how it affects the abused. ‘It’s your fault that I’m like this’ rings loudly, and it is chanted over and over as if it’s a bleeding out of her mental spiral over plain lyricism. The lyrics then cut out the fat and become ‘Your fault/like this’ that evoke the theme of the album once more, making use of a smaller scope to deliver a bigger picture.
Mana was developed through audience reception first and foremost, noting that Vandever’s various opening acts on tours lent her music to more and more ears outside of the traditional jazz environments she would typically play amongst. This acceptance plays into the album’s varying nature, with songs like “In The Folds” with its pure intent on the droning undertones of deep trombone, whereas “Waiting” eclipses six minutes with the second half focused on mystifying vocal delivery. The album is surprisingly dense with different means to explore the limited sounds at her disposal, but it is made all the more enriching from it.
By the end of the album, the record begins a cyclical process of reprising earlier motifs and melodies that I find fascinating. Mana itself pulls from the Hawaiian heritage and culture that shaped Vandever’s upbringing and eventual musical background. She states that ‘in modern culture, mana can be felt, cultivated, and strengthened as you grow closer to your inner self, native land, and ancestral power.’ To me, the motifs are yet another layer of mana being a character in the music. We are all constantly rediscovering ourselves and through subtle changes evolving and growing, and the music takes shape in the same way here. We revisit the areas we grew up in, noting the sameness but also the change within the land and within us. This album captivates me in all of these ways, both on the surface level and through the deep philosophy Vandever drew from to create this record.
Mana is an immediate favorite of mine within ambient jazz, but also another impressive release from an artist branching out in every subsequent album. Kalia Vandever is building a catalogue that represents the antidote to anyone who might not gel with traditional jazz norms by embracing a world less defined. Even then, tradition and ancestry is still embraced here, breaking free of the physical boundaries of our world into the deeper layers in which we cannot articulate with words. It is felt and shared amongst us all, and I truly believe this album offers the mana that our world so very needs.
Artist photo by Isabel Gonzalez
