I had promised myself I would attend at least one cultural event every month this year. January life happened. February filled my life with joy. March starts in a few days, and I’m ready for it.

Music is time travel. It moves across generations like a quiet secret passed from hand to hand. Young listeners discover jazz not anymore in conservatories or vinyl shops, but through Spotify playlists. Culture folding into itself, expanding again.

In 2025, I walked the streets of Tana, Buja, Grenada, Paris and Port-Louis. Thanks to FIP, different rhythms moved my days from D’Angelo to Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. I’m planning fewer trips for 2026… or maybe not. I started 2025 with nothing but Mantasoa in my Google Calendar, and look how that unfolded.

In 1936, Duke Ellington releases “Caravan.” Atmosphere. Pulse. Movement.

In 1955, Thelonious Monk reshapes it in his own language. He lets space breathe. Same composition. Different era. Still alive.

In 2026, A$AP Rocky carries Monk’s version into “Robbery”. The jazz texture remains supporting a modern narrative, with Doechii and Jon Batiste woven into the track

Ninety years of continuity.

Pixar and Questlove’s Soul is where I discovered Jon Batiste. What stays with me is his joy. The way he plays feels aligned with life — curious, luminous, fully present. He makes you feel that music is not separate from living.

I already knew Questlove, and I once shared a lift with The Roots at the Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile on Sherbrooke Street. I was too shy for an authograph even though I went to their show the same evening. Music has a way of placing you exactly where you are meant to stand.

And then there is “Luther” by SZA and Kendrick Lamar. A song that understands restraint. It leans into soul tradition while speaking in a contemporary vibes. SZA’s voice floats with vulnerability and control, Kendrick answers with introspection it feels intentional, almost architectural.

Travel shifts. Calendars evolve. The sound keeps moving forward, carrying memory and possibility at the same time.

Let’s wait and see what 2026 has to offer.