Inside RECALIBRATED: How Amana Melome’ Built a Jazz Homecoming Out of Space Age Mama Jama
Jimmy Woode’s Granddaughter Closes the RECALIBRATION Chapter with House, Dub and Jazz Remixes
Space Age Mama Jama was the first song Amana Melome’ ever cut for an album. Four albums and many years later, she decided to go back to it. On RECALIBRATED, the remix album she released on 25 September 2026, pianist Deron Johnson gives that song a new jazz arrangement. It becomes the emotional centre of the record.
Amana Melome’ brings RECALIBRATION to the jazz playlist below, and the singer’s coverage across the network sits on the Amana Melome’ profile. RECALIBRATION to RECALIBRATED – The Remixes reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Press play on the title track, then keep reading for how RECALIBRATED grew out of it.
The Moment Amana Melome’ Returned to Space Age Mama Jama, Her First Recorded Song, with Deron Johnson
The decision makes more sense once you know where the song started. Space Age Mama Jama first arrived in 2009 as a whole album of versions. The original track sat among a dozen remixes. So, when Melome’ returned to it in 2026, she revisited a song that has always lived in several shapes.
This time she built it around a piano. Space Age Mama Jama RECALIBRATED is track nine on the new album. Deron Johnson arranged it, and his touring credits include Miles Davis and Alanis Morissette. In fact, Johnson was already part of this chapter of her work. He plays on several songs from RECALIBRATION, the album the remixes grew out of.
The result reminds listeners of how deep her jazz roots go. Her vocal is strong, but also sultry and playful, and the arrangement gives the old song a fearless, jazzy turn. The very next track keeps the idea going, with a further remix of the same song by Saverio ‘SAGE’ Principini.
Those roots are not a figure of speech. Melome’ is the granddaughter of the bassist Jimmy Woode, who played in Duke Ellington’s orchestra. He also recorded with musicians including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Miles Davis. Returning to her first song with a jazz pianist at the keys reads, in that light, like a homecoming.
RECALIBRATED Hands a Healing Album to International Producers for Deep House, Dub and Disco Versions
To understand the remix album, it helps to start with the record behind it. RECALIBRATION, released on 17 February 2026, was her first full-length album in several years. She recorded it between Los Angeles and Spain after stepping away to focus on motherhood. The album moves from the slow, piano-led CON C.ALMA to TOMORROW IS ON IT’S WAY, a big band swing number. Alongside Johnson, it credits Saverio Principini, Enrico Mianulli, Don Brown, Riley Tanner, Jordan DeTiege, Nick Recktenwald, Ivan Malespin and Colm Fitzpatrick.
Even the titles carry ideas. Con calma means “with calm” in Spanish. With the dot placed before ALMA, however, the title also reads as “with soul.” Johnson recorded his piano in Los Angeles while Melome’ worked in Spain. Even so, the song still sounds close.
RECALIBRATED takes that material somewhere brighter. After a 16-second opening, LET’S GLOW, the album properly begins with SO DONE. It is an up-tempo deep soul house track from RECALIBRATION that was never released as a single, here remixed by Cee ElAssaad and Joel Holmes. From there, it moves through versions by Somos Animales, Opolopo, Eli Anai, Godblesscomputers and Principini, covering house, dub, disco and jazz.
The album closes with 11:11, featuring the artist Sky. The cover tells the same story. It uses the same photograph as RECALIBRATION, with two completely different energies.
What RECALIBRATED and Space Age Mama Jama Answer After a Record About Processing and Starting Again
RECALIBRATION was the record of working things through. RECALIBRATED is what comes after that work is done. Melome’ describes it as a celebration of one’s own fire and magic. In her own words, “this album is a permission slip to take up space and shine unapologetically!”
That answer fits a life that has rarely stayed in one place. Melome’ grew up across continents, from Florence to New York and Los Angeles, and is now based in Spain. Her heritage is Euro, Caribbean and American. Her catalogue reaches back to Indigo Red in 2008, which her own site notes was the first album ever distributed by Whole Foods Market.
The response to RECALIBRATION came from outlets that heard the same mix of legacy and renewal. Music Arena GH wrote about the album’s release. Meanwhile, Project Timbre described it as the point where legacy and healing meet. RECALIBRATED now gives that story its final chapter.
NewMusic.News’s curator team: “RECALIBRATED works because it is generous. Melome’ hands her songs to producers from house, dub and disco, then keeps the most personal moment for herself. That moment is her very first song, rebuilt at the piano with Deron Johnson.”
Stream RECALIBRATED on Spotify or Apple Music, go back to RECALIBRATION on Spotify, and follow Amana Melome’ on Apple Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Her official website tells the rest of the story.
