It’s a rough estimate but I’ve listened to some 700 CDs this year. I’ve attended nearly 200 live performances. Again I’ll point you toward my top-ten list at the JJA website (other members’ lists here), and my cumulative Six Picks for the year. But I’m taking this opportunity to add additional titles, list my top shows and throw in other things that come to mind.
Biggest regret: Not seeing Stevie Wonder at the Wachovia Center on November 8. I’m told it was nonstop greatest hits, with a killing band. From Craig D. Lindsey’s writeup in Philadelphia Weekly: “After his opening remarks, [Wonder] hit the piano for ‘Love’s in Need of Love Today’ … With [his] caramel, cascading voice (aged but still seasoned) surfing through the notes of this still-beautiful song, I wondered to myself: Might I break down and cry this evening?”
Next biggest regret: Not hearing the Philadelphia Orchestra play Varèse’s “Ameriques” earlier this month. Apparently it was the first Philly performance since Stokowski conducted the U.S. premiere here 81 years ago.
Shows of the year, in chronological order:
Jacky Terrasson with Ugonna Okegwo, Leon Parker @ Iridium Jan. 17
Frank Zappa “Composer Portrait” @ Miller Theatre Feb. 2
Stefano Bollani solo piano @ Italian Academy Feb. 6
Edward Simon with John Patitucci, Brian Blade @ Iridium [date uncertain]
Kenny Werner with C. Potter, N. Payton, Hans Glawischnig, Brian Blade @ Dizzy’s Mar. 8
Andy Biskin’s Stephen Foster project @ Symphony Space Mar. 23
Joel Harrison’s Paul Motian strings project @ Cornelia Street Mar. 23
Nels Cline’s Andrew Hill project @ Jazz Standard Mar. 29
Anthony Braxton Ensemble @ Iridium Mar. 29
Buffalo Collision (Iverson, King, Maneri, Berne) @ Rose Recital Hall, Penn Apr. 24
Ari Hoenig with Joel Frahm, G. Hekselman, Orlando La Fleming @ Chris’s Apr. 28
Steely Dan @ Tower Theater May 24
Tortoise @ World Café Live July 6
Dan Blacksberg with Jon Barrios, Mike Szekely @ Tritone July 23
Exploding Star Orchestra Quintet @ International House Sept. 11
Sonny Rollins @ Carnegie Hall Sept. 18
John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet @ Philadelphia Art Alliance Oct. 12
David Binney Big Band @ Jazz Gallery Nov. 9
Pat Metheny Trio @ Grand Opera House, Wilmington Nov. 11
Tiger Okoshi @ Kimmel Center Nov. 17
Dave Douglas (w. Orrin Evans, D. McCaslin, Eric Revis, C. Penn) @ Village Vanguard Dec. 6
Rock covers of the year: Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” by Lizz Wright (from The Orchard); Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” by Tony Scherr (from Twist in the Wind).
Most overstated case: That apprenticeship is dead in the jazz world. There’s a new class of mentors hiring and grooming young musicians, and we need to recognize them: people like Tom Harrell, Tiger Okoshi and Bobby Zankel.
Most prolific musician: Satoko Fujii. There seems to be a new CD every couple of months. I really like her work, but it’s impossible to digest it all.
Top solo recordings, in no particular order:
Stefano Bollani, Piano Solo (ECM)
Bireli Lagrene, To Bi or Not to Bi (Dreyfus)
Andy Milne, Dreams and False Alarms (Songlines)
Jozef van Wissem, Stations of the Cross (Incunabulum)
Paul Bley, Solo in Mondsee (ECM)
Muhal Richard Abrams, Vision Towards Essence (Pi Recordings)
Erik Friedlander, Black Ice & Propane (Skipstone)
Guillaume de Chassy, Piano Solo (BEE Jazz)
Sam Newsome, Monk Abstractions (ind. release)
Frank Kimbrough, Air (Palmetto)
Jacky Terrasson, Mirror (Blue Note)
Top duo recordings, in no particular order:
Javier Vercher & Ferenc Nemeth, Where Everything Is Music (Fresh Sound)
Carla Kihlstedt & Satoko Fujii, Minamo (Henceforth)
Marty Ehrlich & Myra Melford, Spark! (Palmetto)
Wycliffe Gordon & Eric Reed, We 2 (WJ3)
Jessica Pavone & Mary Halvorson, On and Off (Skirl)
Jason Kao Hwang & Sang Won Park, Local Lingo (Euonymous)
Lars Danielsson & Leszek Mozdzer, Pasodoble (ACT)
Andy Milne & Gregoire Maret, Scenarios (ObliqSound)
Anthony Braxton & Joe Fonda, Duets 1995 (Clean Feed)
Chick Corea & Bela Fleck, The Enchantment (Concord)
Joelle Leandre & Pascal Contet, Freeway (Clean Feed)
Guy Klucevsek & Alan Bern, Note Falls (Winter & Winter)
Bucky & John Pizzarelli, Generations (Arbors)
Ben Monder & Theo Bleckmann, At Night (Songlines)
Dino Saluzzi & Anja Lechner, Ojos Negros (ECM)
Myra Melford & Tanya Kalmanovitch, Heart Mountain (Perspicacity)
Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura, In Krakow In November (Not Two)
John Lindberg & Karl Berger, Duets 1 (Between the Lines/Challenge)
Michael Marcus & Ted Daniel, Duology (Boxholder)
Taylor Ho Bynum & Tomas Fujiwara, True Events (482 Music)
Wycliffe Gordon & Jay Leonhart, This Rhythm on My Mind (Bluesback)
Wolfgang Muthspiel & Brian Blade, Friendly Travelers (Material)
Albrecht Maurer & Norbert Rodenkirchen, Hidden Fresco (NEMU)
Debuts not on my JJA list but deserving of applause:
Jamie Fox, When I Get Home (ind. release)
Robert MacGregor, Refraction of Light (Black Tri)
Logan Richardson, Cerebral Flow (Fresh Sound)
Alain Pérez, En el Aire (AYVA Music)
Richie Barshay, Homework (AYVA Music)
Alvin Fielder Trio, A Measure of Vision (Clean Feed)
Frank LoCrasto, When You’re There (MaxJazz)
Ryan Keberle, Double Quartet (Alternate Side) [liner notes by me]
Zaid Nasser, Escape from New York (Smalls)
Amir ElSaffar, Two Rivers (Pi)
Gil Coggins, Better Late Than Never (Smalls)
Normal Love (High Two)
Tim Collins, Valcour (Arabesque)
Antonio Sanchez, Migration (Cam Jazz)
Peter Evans, The Peter Evans Quartet (Firehouse 12)
Beyond jazz:
[Due to a system error in my brain, I omitted the top two titles when I voted in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop and Idolator polls]
Wilco, Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch)
Deerhoof, Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars)
Björk, Volta (Atlantic)
Radiohead, In Rainbows (Radiohead)
Sigur Rós, Hvarf – Heim (XL)
Balkan Beat Box, Nu Med (JDub)
Cinematic Orchestra, Ma Fleur (Ninja Tune)
Feist, The Reminder (Cherry Tree/Interscope)
The Bird and the Bee (Metro Blue)
Arcade Fire, Neon Bible (Merge Records)
Aesop Rock, None Shall Pass (Definitive Jux)
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