Below you'll find my picks of the best
jazz recordings of 2016. A tad late, I'll concede, especially considering some
publications seem to think the year ends in November. Then again, even those of
us who write about music professionally come across gems that for whatever
reason had slipped us by way into the following year and beyond. I'll also once
again note that the past year was an eventful one for me personally speaking,
so I did not get to play as much music as I normally would and will have to play
catch-up on several notable and/or hyped releases for a while yet. Still, with
a good few 2017 recordings having been moved to the front of the listening
queue already, I felt this was as good a point as any to post a 2016 list. You
may also want to have a look at my NPR Jazz Critics Poll ballot, which I posted
in late December.
2016 may have been a rough year on several fronts, but musically there was a lot to be elated by, such as Steve Lehman's Sélébéyone, the powerful beyond jazz-and-hip hop meeting ground that more than any other project proved it is more fruitful to ignore boundaries than to build walls between them. Then there was veteran trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and his Golden Quintet who conjured up America's National parks in their vast expanse and minute details, with stirring bluesy undertones. Mary Halvorson took another step as a composer and set up intriguing interplay between her often angular guitar patterns with steel guitarist Susan Alcorn's gliding lines, plus long time compatriots John Hébert and Ches Smith returning by her side. And that's just three of the many intriguing jazz albums I heard last year. Here's the list (an asterisk denotes I've had a review of the recording published)
The 15 best, more or less in order of preference:
- Steve
Lehman & Sélébéyone: Sélbéyone (Pi Rcordings) *
- Wadada
Leo Smith Golden Quintet: America's National Parks (Cuneiform)
- Mary
Halvorson Octet: Away With You (Firehouse 12)
- Anna
Högberg Attack: Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott)
- Jane
Ira Bloom: Early Americans (Outline) *
- Roswell
Rudd, Jamie Saft, Trevor Dunn, Balázs Pándi: Strength & Power (RareNoise)
- Damana
(Dag Magnus Narvesen Octet): Cornua Copiae (Clean Feed)
- Steve
Swell Quintet: Soul Travelers (Rogue Art) *
- Michael
Formanek Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance (ECM) *
- James
Brandon Lewis Trio: No Filter (BNS Sessions)
- Allison
Miller's Boom Tic Boom: Otis Was a Polar Bear Roayl Potato
Family)
- Aruán
Ortiz Trio: Hidden Voices (Intakt Records) *
- Greg
Ward & Ten Tongues: Touch My Beloved's Thought (Greenleaf
Music) *
- Murray,
Allen, Carrington Power Trio: Perfection (Motema Music)
- Henry
Threadgill Ensemble Double Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi
Recordings)
15 more on heavy rotation:
- Peter
Brötzmann, William Parker, Hamid Drake: Song Sentimentale (CD
version, Otorku) *
- Eric
Revis Trio: Crowded Solitudes (Clean Feed) *
- Jason
Roebke Octet: Cineman Spiral (NoBusiness Records) *
- Rodrigo
Amado Motion Trio: Desire & Freedom (Not Two)
- Jasmine
Lovell-Smith's Towering Poppies: Yellow Red Blue (Paintbox)
- Cortex: Live
in New York (Clean Feed) *
- Marylin
Crispell, Gary Peacock, Richard Poole: In Motion (Intakt)
- Gutbucket: Dance (Gut
Records)
- Bennett
/ Johnston/ Mezzacappa / Rosaly: Shipwreck 4 (NoBusiness
Records) *
- Nick
Fraser Quartet: Starer (self-released)
- Moskus: Ulv
Ulv (Hubro) *
- Tyshawn
Sorey Double Trio: The Inner Spectrum of Variables (Pi
Recordings)
- Julie
Kjær 3: Dobbeltgænger (Clean Feed)
- Rich
Halley 5: The Outlier (Pine Eagle Recordings)
- Nate
Wooley, Hugo Antunes, Jorge Queijo, Mário Costa, Chris Corsano: Purple
Patio (NoBusiness Records)
Other notable recordings I thoroughly
enjoyed:
- Mark
Dresser Seven: Sedimental You (Clean Feed)
- JD
Allen: Americana (Savant Records)
- Eve
Risser White Desert Orchestra: Les Deux Versants Se
Regardent (Clean Feed)
- Harald
Lassen & LAB Trio: Rainbow Session (Hagen Recordings)
- I.P.A.: I
Just Did Say Something (Cuneiform) *
- Rønnings
Jazzmaskin: Jazzmaskin! (Losen Records)
- Rudy
Royston Trio: Rise of Orion (Greenleaf Music)
- Kenny
Barron Trio: Book of Intuition (Impulse/Universal) *
- Jonathan
Finlayson & Sicilian Defense: Moving Still (Pi
Recordings)
- Momentum: Momentum (Clean
Feed)
- Festen: Festen (Clean
Feed) *
- No
Project Trio: Vol. II (FMR Records)
- Darcy
James Argue's Secret Society: Real Enemies (New
Amsterdam)
- Jeff
Lederer's Brooklyn Blowhards: Brooklyn Blowhards (Little
(i) Music)
- Hanna
Paulsberg Quartet: Eastern Smiles (Odin) *
- Fail
Better: OWT (NoBusiness Records)
- Vijay
Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM)
*
- Nakama: Most
Intimate (Nakama Records)
- Thomas
Borgmann, Max Johnson, Willi Kellers: One For Cisco (NoBusiness
Records)
- Matt
Brewer: Unspoken (Criss Cross)
- Mats
Eilertsen: Rubicon (ECM)
- David
Helbock Trio: Into the Mystic (ACT)
- Monkey
Plot: Here I Sit, Knowing All of This (Hubro) *
- Protean
Reality: Protean Reality (Clean Feed) *
- Avishai Cohen: Into the Silence (ECM)
