David Adler
Best of 2011
The JJA has started posting Best-Of lists for the year 2011 — my entry here.
Nicholas Payton and “jazz”
Inevitably, a firestorm erupted on Twitter and Facebook after trumpeter Nicholas Payton published this post, titled “On Why Jazz Isn’t Cool Anymore.” And then this follow-up, “An Open Letter To My Dissenters.” In the second post Payton writes, “‘Jazz’ is an oppressive colonialist slave term and I want no parts [sic] of it.” This sounds similar to Fred Ho’s assessment:
New York @ Night: December 2011
In the December 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record: — There was much to digest while watching Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society perform “Brooklyn Babylon,” an hourlong work programmed by BAM’s Next Wave Festival (Nov. 10). Danijel Zezelj, standing on a catwalk, painted haunting images in black and red, using a small roller on a wide and narrow canvas as
Six Picks: December 2011
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, December 2011: Rez Abbasi’s Invocation, Suno Suno (Enja) Greg Burk Trio, The Path Here (482 Music) Michael Cain, Solo (Native Drum) Kevin Hays, Variations (Pirouet) Dan Tepfer, Goldberg Variations/Variations (Sunnyside) Anthony Wilson, Seasons: Live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Goat Hill)
On Ben Allison, Sonny Rollins
In recent print issues of Stereophile magazine, my reviews of Ben Allison’s Action-Refraction and Sonny Rollins’s Road Shows, Vol. 2.
On Donny McCaslin, Nicholas Payton
I’ve just gotten around to posting PDFs of my JazzTimes features on Donny McCaslin and Nicholas Payton. In other news, looking forward to end of semester, when I hope to start posting more often on this blog.
Six Picks: November 2011
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in The New York City Jazz Record, November 2011: The Claudia Quintet + 1, What Is the Beautiful? (Cuneiform) Amir ElSaffar, Inana (Pi) Joel Frahm Quartet, Live at Smalls (Smalls Live) Brad Mehldau, Kevin Hays & Patrick Zimmerli, Modern Music (Nonesuch) Ted Rosenthal Trio, Out of This World (Playscape) Tony Malaby’s Novela (Clean Feed)
Home recordings, 2000
I made these tracks at home in 2000 and left them on the shelf. Since I’m happier with them than I thought I’d be, figured why not post ’em. “Lakes,” from Pat Metheny’s album Watercolors, and “Love Dance” by Ivan Lins. 03 Lakes 05 Love Dance