I can't tell if it's an unusually great year for jazz albums, or if I'm just making more of an effort to survey what's out there. Either way, I've heard some killer recorded jazz in 2010. Here are a few full-lengths I'm really feeling. Obviously we've got a few months to go before year-end-poll time, so just consider this as an informal "Don't sleep on these" list, in no particular order apart from the fact that No. 1 is a clear favorite. (One or two of these—the honorable-mentioned Sam Newsome, e.g.—may be late-2009 releases that didn't make their way to me till after the new year.)
Anything crucial that I'm missing?
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1. The Cookers Warriors (Jazz Legacy Productions)
2. Weasel Walter Invasion (ugEXPLODE)
3. Harris Eisenstadt Woodblock Prints (NoBusiness)
4. Jason Moran Ten (Blue Note)
5. Geri Allen Flying Toward the Sound (Motéma Music)
6. The Bad Plus Never Stop (E1 Music)
7. Mike Pride's From Bacteria to Boys Betweenwhile (Aum Fidelity)
8. Jon Irabagon Foxy (Hot Cup)
9. John Escreet Don't Fight the Inevitable (Mythology)
10. Mario Pavone Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po (Playscape)
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Honorable mention:
Jeff Davis We Sleep Outside (Loyal Label)
David Weiss and Point of Departure Snuck In (Sunnyside)
Vijay Iyer Solo (ACT Music)
Louis Sclavis–Craig Taborn–Tom Rainey Eldorado Trio (Clean Feed)
Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green Apex (Pi)
Paul Motian Trio with Jason Moran and Chris Potter Lost in a Dream (ECM)
Newman Taylor Baker Drum-Suite-Life (Innova)
Sam Newsome Blue Soliloquy (self-released)
James Moody 4B (IPO)
Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth Deluxe (Clean Feed)
Amir ElSaffar–Hafez Modirzadeh Radif Suite (Pi)
Rova and Nels Cline Singers The Celestial Septet (New World)
Stéphane Furic Leibovici with Chris Cheek and Lee Konitz Jugendstil II (ESP-Disk)
Mike Mainieri Crescent (NYC)
Kurt Rosenwinkel and OJM Our Secret World (Word of Mouth)
2 comments:
Great list. I'd only add Fred Hersch's Whirl. I enjoyed The Cookers at Tompkins Sq. Park a couple weeks ago. I'll have to check our their record.
Nice list, but what intrigues me is why a lot of Americans seem to be unaware of what's happening outside of the states - or maybe aware but don't mention it? I would add several albums to your list (from Europe) but well, I'm enjoying your best of anyhow.
* - I noticed the Louis Sclavis disc of course.
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