Alex Otey has long been a shape-shifter in the world of modern jazz, but Darwin AI: Survivor Choice might be his most ambitious statement yet. It’s a dazzling 37-minute set that redefines what jazz fusion can feel like in 2025. Known as an award-winning pianist, singer, trumpeter, and composer/arranger, Otey’s career has been threaded with collaborations alongside giants like Grover Washington Jr. and Richie Cole, as well as GRAMMY®-nominated and winning projects. This record distills that pedigree into something simultaneously reverent and refreshing.

Across seven tightly woven tracks, Otey blends the harmonic sophistication of classic jazz with the sleek accessibility of pop, creating an atmosphere that feels both intricate and effortlessly inviting. The album’s foundation is Otey’s virtuosity, notably his trumpet playing crackles with warmth and precision, while his piano and keyboard work bring an intoxicating mix of groove and lyricism. The basslines, always alive, always inventive, lay down rhythms that keep the record in constant forward motion. It’s modern jazz at its finest, splashed with radiant pop flourishes that never water down its depth.