Fave Jazz of 2017 and the 2017 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

The results of the 2017 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll, as usual conducted by Francis Davis, were posted on the 20th of December. The winner in what I thought would be a close race from a year with so much great jazz, but no clear consensus recording, turned out to be Vijay Iyer Sextet's Far From Over in something of a landslide. Further proof that Iyer is cementing a place as a universally respected artist. It was one of several excellent albums from what turned out to be a terrific year for jazz in the running for place on my ballot, losing out in the very last minute. Which is to say, on any other day it might have been included, as could a handful of others.

For me as I'm sure for many others, it makes little sense to set a top 10 in stone. Heck, a top 10 itself doesn't really make all that much sense. By the end of a given year, my fave list usually consists of a few -- most often three or four, sometimes less rarely more -- releases that have engaged, enthralled and moved me profoundly in ways that set them apart from all the other great music I might have heard that particular year. After that, there's a selection from a further pile of terrific albums that float in the zone just below. Picking the remaining releases from that stack to create a top 10 is a rather off the cuff exercise, the results depending on several, seemingly haphazard things such as day form, how recently I've heard a particular recording, and so on and so forth.

In any case, my ballot for the 2017 Jazz Critics Poll can be accessed via this link (more specifically on this page: scroll down or do a page search). But for my personal run down of my favorite jazz albums of the year, I'll instead go with the format I have used in recent years, and separate them into a three categories that makes more sense to me. Happy listening, and Happy Holidays!

MUSIC FOR THE AGES:

• William Parker Quartets: Meditation / Resurrection (AUM Fidelity) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen July 3., 2017] -- The New York eminence has achieved similar artistic heights previously, but the juxtaposition of his two celebrated quartets -- one groove focused and bop-tinged, the other more abstract and experimental, with Parker and drummer Hamid Drake's distinctive rhythmic interplay the beating heart of both -- mirrors two sides of Parker's qualities as composer, band leader and musician, providing a rich picture of a remarkable artist in the process. Few if any create avant-jazz this warm, engaging, energetic, burning and soulful as Willim Parker does.
• Angles 9: Disappeared Behind the Sun (Clean Feed) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Febrary 27., 2017] -- Angles 9 come at you as a boisterous, mini big band, with poignant melodies, similarly captivating rhythms and deceptively unruly music that mines the tension between sorrow and joy, with winning results.
• Harriet Tubman (feat. Wadada Leo Smith): Araminta (Sunnyside Records) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, March 6., 2017] -- Araminta is a onse the most unsettling yet uplifting and powerful collection of music Harriet Tubman have made yet, and one of this year's most gripping listening experiences.

ON HEAVY ROTATION:

• Trio 3 (Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman): Visiting Texture (Intakt Records) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 10., 2017]
• Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die (International Anthem) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 29., 2017]
• Eric Revis: Sing Me Some Cry (Clean Feed) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• AKMEE: Neptun (Nakama Records) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 19., 2017]
• Cortex: Avant-Garde Party Music (Clean Feed)[reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, October 16., 2017]
• Mike Reed, Flesh & Bone (482 Music) [reveiwed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 28., 2017]
• Aki Takase & David Murray: Cherry - Sakura (Intakt Records)
• Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace (Pi Recordings)
• Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity: Live In Europe (Clean Feed)
• Kate Gentile: Mannequins (Skirl Records) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far From Over (ECM) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 18., 2017]
• Nate Wooley: Knknighgh (Minimal Poetry for Aram Saroyan) (Clean Feed) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• Team Hegdal: Vol. 4 (Particular Recordings Collective)
• Alexander Hawkins: Unit[e] (self-released) 
• Hegge: Vi är ledsna men du får inte längre vara barn (Particular Recordings)
• Lisa Mezzacappa: avantNOIR (Clean Feed) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 20., 2017]
• Matthew Shipp Trio: Piano Song (Thirsty Ear) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 6., 2017]
• Pedro Melo Alves' Omniae Ensemble: Omniae Ensemble (Nischo)
• Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Fukushima (Libra Records) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, December 18., 2017]
• Large Unit: Fluku (PNL) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, December 18., 2017]

THOROUGHLY ENJOYED:

• Craig Taborn: Daylight Ghosts (ECM) 
• Liza Mezzacappa: Glorious Ravage (self-released)
• David S. Ware Trio: Live in New York 2010 (AUM Fidelity) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo: Peace (Libra Records)
• Pereservation Hall Jazz Band: So It Is (Legacy)
• Wadada Leo Smith: Najwa (TUM) [reviewed for Jazznytt #245]
• CP Unit: Before the Heat Deadth (Clean Feed)
• Tyshawn Sorey: Versimilitude (Pi Recordings) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 21., 2017]
• Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition: Agrima (self-released) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 20., 2017]
• Roswell Rudd-Fay Victor-Lafayette Harris-Ken Filiano: Embrace (RareNoise) [reviewed for Jazznytt #245]
• FCT (Francesco Cusa Trio meets Carlo Atti): From Sun Ra to Donald Trump (Clean Feed)
• Eivind Opsvik Overseas: Overseas V (Loyal Label) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, March 20., 2017)]
• Kirk Knuffke: Cherryco (SteepleChase)
• Atomic: Six Easy Pieces (Odin) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Febrary 27., 2017]
• Nicole Mitchell and Haki Madhubuti: Liberation Narratives (Black Earth Music)
• JD Allen: Radio Flyer (Savant) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• Goncalo Almeida-Rodrigo Amado-Marco Franco: The Attic (NoBusiness)
• Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse: Morphogenesis (Pi Recordings) 
• Miguel Zenón: Típico (Miel Music) 
• Nicole Mitchell: Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds (FPE Records) 
• Max Johnson: In the West (Clean Feed) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• Jonas Sjøvåg, Karl Seglem, Sigurd Hole: West Wind Drift (Shipwreckords)
• Angelica Sanchez Trio: Float the Edge (Clean Feed) [reviewed for Jazznytt #243]
• Harris Eisenstadt Canada Day Quartet: On Parade in Parede (Clean Feed) 
• Billy Meier: Introducing... Billy Meier (Just For the Records)
• The Mess (Brandon Lopez, Chris Corsano, Sam Yulsman): Holy Holy (Tombed Vision Records)
• Brandon Seabrook: Die Trommel Fatale (New Atlantis)
• The Necks: Unfold (Ideologic Organ)
• Trespass Trio: The Spirit of Pitesti (Clean Feed) 
• John Pål Inderberg Trio: Linjedalsleiken (Ponca Jazz Records)
• Jane Ira Bloom: Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson (Outline) 
• Roligheten: Homegrown (Clean Feed)
• The Microscopic Septet: Been Up So Long it Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues (Cuneiform Records) 
• Amor Amok: We Know Not What We Do (Intakt Records) 
• Roots Magic: Last Kind Words (Clean Feed)
• Led Bib: Umbrella Weather (RareNoise Records)
• Mind Games: Ephemera Obscura (Slean Feed)
• Tim Berne's Snakeoil, Incidentals (ECM) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 18., 2017]
• Wadada Leo Smith: Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk (TUM) [reviewed for Jazznytt #245]
• Scheen Jazzorkester & Audun Kleive: Politur Passiarer (Losen)
• Ross Hammond: Follow Your Heart (Prescott Recordings)
• Jeremy Pelt: Make Noise (High Note)
• Julia Ulehla & Aram Bajakian/Dálava: The Book of Transfigurations (Songlines Recordings)  
• 1982: Chromola (Hubro)
• Noah Perminger: Meditations on Freedom (self released)
• Ahmad Jamal: Marseille (Jazz Village) 
• Friends & Neighbors: What's Wrong (Clean Feed)
• Ben Allison: Layers of the City (Sonic Camera Recordings) [reviewed for Jazznytt #244]
• Jeremy Pelt: Make Noise! (HighNote)

Reissues and vault music:

• Dave Holland: Conference of the Birds (ECM) 
• Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Karyobin (Emanem)
• Thelonious Monk: Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1960) (Sam Records) [reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 8., 2017)
• Winston Mankunku Ngozi Quartet: Yakhal' Inkomo (Jazzman Holy Grail Series)

Listening Booth: Fave music a bit past the half way point, published reviews April through July 3rd, Geri Allen RIP & more

This post should have been posted a month ago, but events has prevented me from finishing it. Since July is a quiet month for me in terms of writing, I don't feel too bad posting it at the end of the summer break.

The few months prior to the summer break were difficult ones. Not only did my dad die in May, just before that and in the weeks following, so did Chris Cornell, Geri Allen, Prodigy, and then Khelan Phil Cohran, all of them musicians who have made an impact on me at least to some extent over the years. Following their respective deaths, I've found solace, power and courage in the music they made, in particular in the case of Cornell and Allen. And as for my dad, some of the music he loved. But life goes on, and additionally, there has been so much great new music released so far this year (and much more just over the horizon) to keep me occupied and to lift my spirits.

None more so than William Parker's terrific, riveting and uplifting Meditation / Resurrection double album, which showcases two of his quartets -- the actual William Parker Quartet as well as In Order to Survive. It's a truly wonderful release. Parker has hit similar heights on record previously, but part of what makes this one so interesting is how the two albums both contrast and mirror each of the two groups, both among the best jazz ensembles of the past few decades, and in doing so revealing the breadth of Parker's work in the quartet format as well as how his singular voice as a musician and composer permeates the music of both, with the unparalleled rhythmic power duo of Parker and Hamid Drake at their respective cores. As I wrote in the conclusion of my review for Musikkmagasinet, whether the music swings hard or moves in more abstract, exploratory patterns, absorbing melodies and impelling grooves never too far away, and few if anyone today makes avant-jazz this warm, energetic, soulful, fiery and engaging quite like Parker and his trusted cohorts.

A couple of words, too, for Geri Allen. I was a tad late to Allen's music, admittedly, not really digging into her discography until I re-listened to and was subsequently captivated by her trio recording Printmakers (Minor Music), featuring Andrew Cyrille on drums and Anthony Cox on double bass, for the 1984 project I started almost 10 years ago. Geri Allen was a terrific pianist and a talented composer whose artistic practice followed its own path. Much has been made of Allen's ability to operate on either side of the trad./mainstream and the avant-garde so-called divide, but to me she rendered such a division pointless, and thus paved the way for how great musicians such as the bassist Eric Revis (who also has a new, really good album out) seem to think and work today. It was as if she ripped away the wires of a dividing fence and danced between the posts with grace and vivacity.

Printmakers remains a fave, but there are many other great recordings with Allen, both as a sidewoman and as a leader and co-leader. From her work with Oliver Lake, Steve Coleman, and Wallace Roney, to the trio recordings with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian and later Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, up to the very recent group she had with David Murray and Terri Lyne Carrington, and many others, including an album with Ornette Coleman. She'll be sorely missed.

Published reviews, April through July 3rd.

• Trio 3: Visiting Texture (Intakt Records) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 10., 2017. Original grade 5 out of 6. A

• Thelonious Monk: Liaisons Dangereuses (1960) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 8., 2017. [Link to online version] Not graded (part of an article). A

• Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die (International Anthem) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 29., 2017. [Original grade 5 out of 6. A-

• Akmee: Neptun (Nakama Records) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen,June 19., 2017. Original grade 5 out of 6. A-

• William Parker Quartets: Meditation / Resurrection (AUM Fidelity) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, July 3., 2017. Original grade 6 out of 6. A+

• Linda May Han Oh: Walk Against Wind (Biophilia Records) Reviewed for Jazznytt #243, Summer 2017. Not graded. B+

• The Angelica Sanchez Trio: Float the Edge (Clean Feed) Reviewed for Jazznytt #243, Summer 2017. Not graded. A-

Additional published writing: "Opp med Shipp-farten", on Matthew Shipp, Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 3., 2017 and Chris Cornell obit, Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 22., 2017.

Fave new releases, January through the first week of July 2017:

For the ages:

• William Parker Quartets: Meditation / Resurrection (AUM Fidelity)
• Angles 9: Disappeared Behind the Sun (Clean Feed)
• Harriet Tubman feat. Wadada Leo Smith: Araminta (Sunnyside Records)

Heavy rotation:

• IDLES: Brutalism (Balley Records)
• Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now (Secretly Canadian)
• Trio 3 (Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman): Visiting Texture (Intakt Records)
• Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die (International Anthem)
• Arto Lindsey:  Cuidado Madame (Northern Spy Records)
• Khalid: American Teen (Right Hand Music)
• Akmee: Neptun (Nakama Records)
• Alexander Hawkins: Unit[e] (self-released)
• Lisa Mezzacappa: avantNOIR (Clean Feed)
• Matthew Shipp Trio: Piano Song (Thirsty Ear)
• Craig Taborn: Daylight Ghosts (ECM) 
• David S. Ware Trio: Live in New York 2010 (AUM Fidelity) 
• Emperor X: Oversleepers International (Tiny Engines)

Thoroughly enjoyed:

• Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo: Peace (Libra Records)
• CP Unit: Before the Heat Deadth (Clean Feed)
• Eivind Opsvik Overseas: Overseas V (Loyal Label)
• Atomic: Six Easy Pieces (Odin)
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band: So It Is (Legacy Recordings)
• Lithics: Borrowed Floors (Water Wing Records, 2016)
• Orchestra Baobab: Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng (World Circut Records) 
• Wire: Silver/Lead (pinkflag)
• The Mountain Goats: Goths (Merge Records)
• Goncalo Almeida-Rodrigo Amado-Marco Franco: The Attic (NoBusiness) 
• Priests: Nothing Feels Natural (Dischord Records)
• Steve Coleman: Morphogenesis (Pi Recordings) 
• Saint Etienne: Sound of Water Heavenly Recordings)
• Miguel Zenón: Típico (Miel Music) 
• Nicole Mitchell: Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds (FPE Records)
• Angelica Sanchez Trio: Float the Edge (Clean Feed) 
• JD Allen: Radio Flyer (Savant Records) 
• Oumou Sangare: Mogoya (No Format)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: The Nashville Sound (Southeastern)
• Spoon: Hot Thoughts (Matador)
• Harris Eisenstadt Canada Day Quartet: On Parade in Parede (Clean Feed)
• Brandon Seabrook: Die Trommel Fatale (New Atlantis)
• Bardo Pond: Under the Pines (Fire Records)
• Sunny Sweeney: Trophy (Aunt Daddy Records)
• Tresspass Trio: The Spirit of Pitesti (Clean Feed)
• The Microscopic Septet: Been Up So Long it Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues (Cuneiform Records) 
• Diet Cig: Swear I'm Good at This (Frenchkiss Records)
• Syd: Fin (Columbia)
• Amor Amok: We Know Not What We Do (Intakt Records) 
• Led Bib: Umbrella Weather (RareNoise Records)
• Nnamdi Ogbonnaya: DROOL (Father/Daughter Records) 
• Brandon Seabrook: Die Trommel Fatale (New Atlantis Records) 
• The Necks: Unfold (Ideologic Organ) 
• Low Cut Connie: Dirty Pictures (Part 1) (Contender) 
• Omar Souleyman: To Syria, With Love (Mad Decent)
• Ross Hammond: Follow Your Heart (Prescott Recordings)
• Jeremy Pelt: Make Noise (High Note)
• Julia Ulehla & Aram Bajakian/Dálava: The Book of Transfigurations (Songlines Recordings) 
• Noah Perminger: Meditations on Freedom (self released)
• Benjamin Brooker: Witness (Rough Trade)
• Cloud Nothings: Life Without Sound (Carpark Records)

Reissues and vault music:

• Dave Holland: Conference of the Birds (ECM)
• Thelonious Monk: Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1960) (Sam Records) 
• Prince: Purple Rain (Deluxe, Expanded Edition) (NPG Records/Warner)
• Soundgarden: Ultramega OK (Sub Pop)

 

Listening Booth: Published reviews and fave music of 1st quarter, January through March, 2017

Not too many albums covered here, partly because I did not write for the latest issue of Jazznytt, but worth the update nonetheless, not least because among these are some terrific albums. Below, 20 of the most notable new albums I heard form January through March (listed 20 because I had to stop somewhere. Albums to be released have not been included).

• Steve Swell Quintet: Soul Travelers (Rogue Art, released 2016) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Januray 16., 2017. Original grade 5 out of 6. -- A-

•  The XX: I See You (Young Turks) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Januray 16., 2017. Originally graded 5 out of 6. -- B+

• The Modern Times: This is the Modern Times (Drabant) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Januray 30., 2017. Originally graded 4,5 out of 6. -- B+

• Matthew Shipp: Piano Song (Thirsty Ear) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 6., 2017. Originally graded 5 out of 6. -- A-

•  Liza Mezzacappa: avantNOIR (Clean Feed) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 20., 2017. Originally graded 5 out of 6. -- A-

•  Angles 9: Disappeared Behind the Sun (Clean Feed) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 27., 2017. Originally graded 5,5 out of 6. -- A

• Atomic: Six Easy Pieces (Odin/Grappa) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Feruary 27., 2017. Originally graded 5 out of 6. -- A-

•  Harriet Tubman (feat. Wadada Leo Smith): Araminta (Sunnyside Records) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, March 6., 2017. Originally graded 5,5 out of 6. -- A

•  Eivind Opsvik: Overseas V (Loyal Label) Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, March 20., 2017. Originally graded 5 out of 6. -- A-

20 engrossing and enjoyable albums, January 1st. - March 31st.:

• Angles 9: Disappeared Behind the Sun (Clean Feed)
• Harriet Tubman (feat. Wadada Leo Smith): Araminta (Sunnyside Records)
• IDLES: Brutalism (Balley Records)
• Trio 3 (Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman): Visiting Texture (Intakt Records)
• Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now (Secretly Canadian)
• Lisa Mezzacappa: avantNOIR (Clean Feed)
• Matthew Shipp Trio: Piano Song (Thirsty Ear)
• CP Unit: Before the Heat Death (Clean Feed)
• Eivind Opsvik Overseas: Overseas V (Loyal Label)
• Atomic: Six Easy Pieces (Odin)
• Lithics: Borrowed Floors (Water Wing Records, 2016)
• Orchestra Baobab: Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng (World Circut Records) 
• Led Bib: Umbrella Weather (RareNoise Records) 
• Priests: Nothing Feels Natural (Dischord Records)
• Miguel Zenón: Típico (Miel Music)
• Spoon: Hot Thoughts (Matador)
• Bardo Pond: Under the Pines (Fire Records)
• Sunny Sweeney: Trophy (Aunt Daddy Records)
• The Microscopic Septet: Been Up So Long it Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues (Cuneiform Records)
• Syd: Fin (Columbia)

Fave Jazz Recordings of 2016

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)

The 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

The results for the 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll have just been posted online, won by Henry Threadgill's fascinating Ensemble Double Up album Old Locks and Irregular Verbs. A typically strong recording masterminded by an incomparable old master but one I nevertheless enjoyed a bit less than his Pulitzer Prizer winner In For a Penny, In For a Pound, and so it did not make my ballot. Still, out of the ten albums I voted for, four made the top 10, with a fifth in the top 15. None of the rest made the top 50. Individual ballots can be accessed here, but I've also put my own ballot is below. I will post more on these as well as a more comprehensive "jazz of 2016" list soon.

New releases

 1.  Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone: Sélbéyone (Pi Rcordings)

 2.  Wadada Leo Smith Golden Quintet: America's National Parks (Cuneiform)

 3.  Mary Halvorson Octet: Away With You (Firehouse 12)

 4.  Anna Högberg Attack: Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott)

 5.  Jane Ira Bloom: Early Americans (Outline)

 6.  Roswell Rudd, Jamie Saft, Trevor Dunn, Balázs Pándi: Strength & Power (RareNoise)

 7.  Damana (Dag Magnus Narvesen Octet): Cornua Copiae (Clean Feed)

 8.  Steve Swell Quintet: Soul Travelers (Rogue Art)

 9.  Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance (ECM)

10. James Brandon Lewis Trio: No Filter (BNS Sessions)

Reissues / historical albums:

1.  Peter Brötzmann, Fred Hopkins, Rashied Ali: Songlines (Trost)

2.  Arthur Blythe: In the Tradition / Lennox Avenue Breakdown / Illusions / Blythe Spirit (BGO)

3.  Tom Prehn Quartet: Axiom (Rune Grammofon)

Vocal album:

· Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone: Sélbéyone (Pi Rcordings)

Debut album:

· Anna Högberg Attack: Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott)

Latin album:

· (no pick)

Listening Booth: belated round-up of published reviews, mid April through November, 2016

I'm smack in the middle of paternity leave, which has left and still leaves little to no time for writing. Add to that, I had a very busy summer -- much of it on the road -- and as for the rest, between doing renovation work on the house as well as my professional writing gigs I've not been able to update the blog much at all this year. Still, I thought I had to do something and for now, posting the usual list of music I've reviewed during this period (well, up until I entered the leave period at least) will have to do.

• Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 11., 2016. Originally graded 4 out of 6.
• The Coathangers: Nosebleed Weekend (Suicide Squeeze) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 18., 2016. Originally graded 5 out of 6.
• Eric Revis Trio: Crowded Solitudes (Clean Feed) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 25., 2016. Originally graded 5 out of 6.
• Kenny Barron Trio: Book of Intuition (Impulse!) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 25., 2016. Originally graded 4,5 out of 6.
• Beyoncé: Lemonade (Parkwood/Columbia) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 2., 2016. Originally graded 5 out of 6.
• Snarky Puppy: Culcha Vulcha (GroundUP Music/Decca) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 30., 2016. Originally graded 3 out of 6.
• Jane Ira Bloom: Early Americans (Outline Records) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 13., 2016. Originally graded 5 out of 6.
• Festen: Festen (Clean Feed) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 20., 2016. originally graded 4,5 out of 6.
• Cortex: Live In New York (Clean Feed) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 8., 2016. Originally graded 5 out of 6.
• Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone: Sélébéyone (Pi Recordings) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 29., 2016. Originally graded 6 out of 6.
• Peter Brötzmann, William Parker, Hamid Drake: Song Sentimentale (CD version, Otoroku) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 19., 2016. Originally graded 5 out of 6.
• Drive-By Truckers: American Band (ATO Records) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, October 3., 2016. Originally graded 5,5 out of 6.

• Bennett, Johnston, Mezzacappa, Rosaly: Shipwreck 4 (NoBusiness) -- Reviewed for Jazznytt, #240
• I.P.A.: I Just Did Say Something (Cuneiform Records) -- Reviewed for Jazznytt, #240
• Jason Roebke Octet: Cinema Spiral (NoBusiness Records) -- Reviewed for Jazznytt, #240
• Greg Ward & Ten Tongues: Touch my Beloved's Thought (Greenleaf Records) -- Reviewed for Jazznytt, #240

Additional published writing:

• "Nasjonale natur-verk": interview with Wadada Leo Smith, published in Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, October 17., 2016.

As we're entering poll and year-end lists season, I'm currently revisiting a good deal of the music that has caught my attention throughout this past year, as well as stuff that for various reasons I have not had the time or opportunity to dig into at all. I hope to add a list of some of the most notable of these releases in the coming week, possibly with a comment or two on at least a couple of them.

Wadada Leo Smith interview teaser

This past summer, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with legendary trumpeter, composer and band leader Wadada Leo Smith. Our conversation covered among many other topics his experience with the AACM, his thoughts collaboration and some of the particulars around his writing and creative process, the blues, his then upcoming album America's National Parks (out today on Cuneiform), politics, and nature.

The resulting piece will be published in the Norwegian weekly music supplement Musikkmagasinet, but here's an audio teaser, with mr. Smith discussing the blues as free music, and including excerpts from to tracks off his new album, respectively "New Orleans: The National Culture Park USA 1718" and "The Mississippi River: Dark and Deep Dreams Flow the River - a National Memorial Park c.5000 BC."

Have a listen here!

RIP Prince Rogers Nelson

Listening Booth: Reviews and noteworthy releases, 1st quarter 2016

Below is a list of my published reviews from January of this year through to, and counting, the first week of April. Additionally, 30 noteworthy releases from the year so far, ordered alphabetically. It's not much, I'll grant, but the number will likely improve as I catch up with recent and upcoming releases, and revisit others during the 2nd quarter.

• Aruán Ortiz Trio: Hidden Voices (Intakt Records) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 1st, 2016. Original grade 5 out of 6.
• Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance (ECM Records) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 29th, 2016. Original grade 5,5 out of 6.
• Hanna Paulsberg Concept: Eastern Smiles (ODIN) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 29th, 2016. Original grade 4,5 out of 6.
• Moskus: Ulv Ulv (Hubro) -- Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 4th, 2016. Original grade 5 out of 6.
• Bathysphere: Bathysphere (Driff Records) -- Reviewed for Jaznytt #238, 2016. Originally not graded.
• Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Make the Magic Happen EP and Bring Their 'A' Game EP (Hot Cup Records) -- Reviewed for Jazznytt #238, 2016. Originally not graded.
• Protean Reality: Protean Reality (Clean Feed) -- Reviewed for Jazznytt #238, 2016. Originally not graded.

Aditional published material:

• "Pianistenes Pianist," my Paul Bley obitiuary for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 11th, 2016.
• "Et jazza omland," highlights from Jazzland Records' output on the occasion of its 20 year anniversary, for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen March 14th, 2016.

Heavy Rotation, 1st quarter 2016:

• Kenny Barron: Book of Intuition (Impulse)
• Bent Shapes: Wolves of Want (Slumberland Records)
• Big Ups: Before a Million Universes (Tough Love Records)
• BJ the Chicago Kid: In My Mind (Universal)
• Bombino: Azel (Partisan Records)
• Thomas Borgmann, Max Johnson, Willis Kellers: One For Cisco (NoBusiness)
• Cobalt: Slow Forever (Profound Lore)
• Empirical: Connections (Cuneiform Records)
• Field Music: Commontime (Memphis Industries)
• Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance (ECM Records)
• Robbie Fulks: Upland Stories (Bloodshot Records)
• Charles Gayle Trio: Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz (Jazzwerkstatt)
• Gutbucket: Dance (Gut Records) 
• William Hooker: LIGHT. The Early Years 1975-1989 (NoBusiness)
• Anna Högberg Attack: Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott)
• Kamaiyah: A Good Night in the Ghetto (self released)
• Julie Kjær 3: Dobbeltgænger (Clean Feed)
• Large Unit: Ana (PNL)
• Jeff Lederer Brooklyn Blowhards: Brooklyn Blowhards (little(i)music)
• Moskus: Ulv Ulv (Hubro)
• Bob Mould: Patch the Sky (Merge)
• Willie Nelson: Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (Columbia/Legacy)
• Aruán Ortiz Trio: Hidden Voices (Intakt Records)
• Parquet Courts: Human Performance (Rough Trade)
• Hanna Paulsberg Concept: Eastern Smiles (ODIN) 
• Roswell Rudd, Jamie Saft, Trevor Dunn, Balasc Pandi: Strength & Power (RareNoiseRecords)
• Rønnings Jazzmaskin: Jazzmaskin! (Losen Records)
• Henry Threadgill Ensembel Double Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi Recordings) 
• White Denim: Stiff (Downtown Records)
• Wussy: Forever Sounds (Damnably) 

More fave jazz albums of 2015

There's a Norwegian Christmas song that proclaims Christmas lasts until Easter. Although that silly ditty refutes said rather ludicrous claim in the following line, I'm going to run with it and use it as an excuse to post a woefully belated follow-up to my 10 fave jazz albums of 2015. Blame the delay on me recently becoming a father; the preparations for that seismic event in my life more or less turned my daily schedule upside down, leading in turn to me lagging somewhat behind on several releases from the year that was. Some of these, particularly the exciting debuts from Chris Pitsiokos Trio and Tomeka Reid Quartet, might even have affected my votes in the npr Jazz Critics Poll and El Intruso's international critics poll.

I did not post any Listening Booth/"records reviewed" updates during the latter half of 2015 nor during the first months of this year, but a few of the records that would've been included in one of those posts are listed below, with the relevant outlet listed in parentheses. I'm certain there still are a few 2015 releases that might deserve another spin or two, to be fair, and still a couple more I haven't really gotten to yet (notably Allen Lowe's In the Diaspora of the Diaspora releases). However, I'm confident in saying that the records below, in addition to my previously posted top ten (see link above), represent the cream of the crop of the new jazz albums that caught my ear over the past 12 plus months. Which, lest I be misunderstood, doesn't mean I think there weren't other noteworthy releases in 2015. Although these are listed roughly in order of, eh..., preference, I've decided to sort them into three tiers rather than making any attempt to properly rank them. I've also added 5 significant reissues/vault releases from the year that was below.

Heavy rotation:

• Almeida / van Duynhoven / Klein: Vibrate in Sympathy (Clean Feed, reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Nov. 2nd 2015)
• Rodrigo Amado: This Is Our Language (NotTwo Records)
• Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity: Firehouse (Clean Feed)
• Team Hegdal: Vol. 3 (Particular Recordings)
• Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook-Up: After All Is Said (482 Music, reviewed for Jazznytt #236 2015) 
• Chris Pitsiokos Trio: Gordian Twine (New Atlantis)
• Made to Break: Before the Code (Trost)
• Mikko Innanen with William Parker and Andrew Cyrille: Song For a New Decade (TUM Records)
• Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra: Galactic Parables: Volume 1 (Cuniform Records)
• Sant'Anna Arresi Quintet by Evan Parker: Filu 'E Ferru (self-released)

Thoroughly enjoyed:

• Lionel Loueke: GAÏA (Blue Note)
• Ben Goldberg: Orphic Machine (Royal Potato Family)
• Steve Coleman & the Council of Balance: Synovial Joints (Pi Recordings)
• Satoko Fujii Tobira: Yamiyo Ni Karasau (Libra)
• Tomeka Reid Quartet: Tomeka Reid Quartet (Thirsty Ear)
• Jeremy Pelt: Tales, Musings and Other Reveries (High Note)
• Steel Bridge Trio: Different Clocks (Relay Recordings) 
• Rempis Percussion Quartet: Cash and Carry (Aerophonic Records) 
• Susana Santos Silva: Impermanence (Carimba Porta-Jazz)
• Snik: Metasediment Rock (Clean Feed, reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Sept. 28th 2015)
• Mario Pavone: Blue Dialect (Clean Feed, reviewed for Jazznytt #235 2015) 
• Rich Halley 4: Creating Structure (Pine Eagle Records, reviewed for Jazznytt #235 2015)
• Nate Wooley Quintet: (Dance to) the Early Music (Clean Feed, reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Dec. 14th 2015)
• Jackson / Berman / Strøm / Østvang: Southern Sun (Stone Floor Records)
• Barry Altschul & 3dom Factor: Tales of the Unforseen (TUM)
• Dave Douglas Quintet: Brazen Heart (Greenleaf Music)
• Mark Lomax II and Eddie Bayard: #BLACKLIVESMATTER (self-released, reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen ...) 
• Ran Blake: Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell (A-side Records)
• William Parker: For Those Who Are, Still (3CD box set, AUM Fidelity)
• Jacob Garchik: Ye Olde (Yestereve Records)

A further 20 notable recordings: 

• Jónsson & More: No Way Out (Sunny Sky Records)
• Bathysphere: Bathysphere (Driff Records, reviewed for Jazznytt #238 2016)
• Wooley/Rempis/Niggenkemper/Corsano: From Wolves to Whales (Aerophonic Records, reviewed for Jazznytt #234 2015)
• Matthew Shipp Quartet Declared Enemy: Our Lady of the Flowers (RogueArt)
• ObLik: order disorder (Ormo Records. originally released in 2014, reviewed for Jazznytt #234 2015) 
• Myra Melford: Snowy Egret (Enja) 
• Will Mason Ensemble: Beams of the Huge Night (Amsterdam)
• Mette Henriette: Mette Henriette (ECM) 
• Adegoke Steve Colson: Tones For
• Makaya McCraven: In the Moment (International Anthem)
• Michael McNeill Trio: Flight (self-released)
• Erik Friedlander: Oscalypso (Skipstone Records)
• J.D. Allen Trio: Graffiti (Savant Records)
• Matt Mitchell: Vista Accumulation (Pi Recordings) 
• Ghost Train Orchestra:Hot Town (Accurate Records)
• Michael Oien: And Now (Fresh Sound New Talent)
• Amir ElSaffar: Crisis (Pi Recordings)
• Matthew Shipp Trio: To Duke (RogueArt)
• Devin Gray: RelativE ResonancE (Skirl)
• The Turbine!: Entropy/Enthalpy (RougueArt)

 Vault/reissues:

• Sonny Sharrock: Ask the Ages (M.O.D. Technologies) 
• Detail: First Detail (Rune Grammofon, reviewed for Jazz #234 2015)
• John Carter & Bobby Bradford: Self Determination Music (Flying Dutchman/BNG)
• Ornette Coleman: Science Fiction (Columbia/ORG)
• Anthony Braxton: Trio & Duet (Delmark/Sackville)

Ten fave jazz albums of 2015 (with promises of more to come)

2015 turned out to be a very eventful and busy year. So much so that I felt it necessary to cut down on many tasks and assignments I have previously performed with at least some sort of regularity, such as posting Listening Notes review updates on this site. It also means that my usual "fave jazz of the year" post is a tad late. Still, I thought what I could was post my ballot -- still more or less my ten favorite jazz albums of the year that was -- for NPR's Jazz Critics Poll, the results of which were announced earlier this December. I hope of following this up with a more comprehensive list early in the new year.

While such rankings may seem like a final judgement of sorts, they are at least in my case far more arbitrary. What differs a number 5 from a number 7, say. Often, very little if anything at all. Still, there was no way to look past the fact that the album in my top spot -- held by the wonderful Welcome Back, a duet record between the pianist Irene Schweizer and drummer Han Bennink in which the two veterans converse with such joy, wit, effortlessness and knowledge through European and American jazz idioms and beyond, with tasteful splashes of South-African melodies and rhythms -- was an album I enjoyed and played more than any other this past year. As for those ranked below, they are all excellent records in their own rights, as are many of those that didn't make the cut this time around (and that I hope to cover in the aforementioned future follow-up post). I don't really have the time to post any further comments on any of these at present, but all save the albums ranked at 9 and 10 have been previously reviewed by me in either Musikkmagasinet or Jazznytt. Though none of them have been translated at present, excerpts and/or pdf-files of the relevant reviews can be made available upon request. Until next year.

1. Irene Schweizer & Han Bennink, Welcome Back (Intakt)
2. Kirk Knuffke, Arms & Hands (Royal Potato Family)
3. Chris Lightcap, Epicenter (Clean Feed)
4. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bird Calls (ACT)
5. Max Johnson, Something Familiar (Fresh Sound New Talent)
6. Darius Jones, Le Bebe de Brigitte (AUM Fidelity)
7. Henry Threadgill, In for a Penny, In for a Pound (Pi)
8. Mike Reed, A New Kind of Dance (482 Music)
9. Gebhard Ullmann, Hat and Shoes (Between the Lines)
10. James Brandon Lewis, Days of FreeMan (OKeh)

Fave Jazz of 2015, Jan. through June

While there are still many new 2015 releases in my "inbox" that I'm yet to thoroughly digest, or even get to at all (notably some Intakt releases), plus the fact that I'm just starting to sort through to advance copies of music about to be released (from Pi, NoBusiness, Clean Feed and RogueArt, among others), I thought it might be worhtwhile to stop and take a look at the records that have made the strongest impressions from January through June. Below is a list of 30 or so of my fave new jazz (in all its many, various guises) albums released in 2015 thus far. Reissues or music that has otherwise been previously available is not included.

• Rudresh Mahanthappa: Bird Calls (ACT)
• Kirk Knuffke: Arms and Hands (Royal Potato Family)
• Max Johnson Trio: Something Familiar (Fresh Sound New Talent)
• Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter (Clean Feed)
• Detail: First Detail (Rune Grammofon)
• Henry Threadgill Zooid: In For a Penny, In For a Pound (Pi Recordings)
• Gebhard Ullman's Basement Reearch: Hat and Shoes (Between the Lines)
• Mikko Innanen with William Parker and Andrew Cyrille: Song For a New Decade (TUM Records)
• Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity: Firehouse (Clean Feed)
• Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook-Up:After All Is Said (482 Music)
• Team Hegdal: Vol. 3 (Particular Recordings)
• Mario Pavone: Blue Dialect (Clean Feed)
• Rich Halley 4: Creating Structure (Pine Eagle Records)
• Devin Grey and RelativE ResonancE: RelativE ResonancE (Skirl)
• Ben Goldberg: Orphic Machine (Royal Potato Family)
• Myra Melford: Snowy Egret (Enja)
• Jack DeJohnette Made In Chicago: Made In Chicago - Live at the Chicago Jazz Festival (ECM)
• Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Jeremiah (Hot Cup)
• ObLik: order disorder (2014, Ormo Records)
• Jeremy Pelt: Tales, Musings and other Reveries (Highnote)
• Rempis Percussion Quartet: Cash and Carry (Aerophonic Records)
• Ran Blake: Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell (A-side Records)
• Makaya McCraven: In the Moment (International Anthem)
• Charles Evans: On Beauty (More is More Records)
• James Brandon Lewis: Days of FreeMan (OKeh)
• Billy Mintz: The 2nd Bass Band... Live (Billy Mintz)
• Wooley/Rempis/Niggenkemper/Corsano: From Wolves to Whales (Aerophonic Records)
• Steve Coleman: Synovial Joints (Pi Recordings)
• Vijay Iyer Trio: Break Stuff (ECM)
• Skydive Trio: Sun Moee (Hubro)

Ornette Coleman, 1930-2015: a few words, with a helping hand from Robert Palmer

Photo: Michael Hoefner / Wikimedia Commons

No single musician changed the way I hear, approach, perceive, feel, appreciate and think about music the way Ornette Coleman did. His music was... is mind expanding and profoundly touching. It can be relentless in its conviction, but also communal in its approach. Inclusive, even. "Friends and neighbors, that's where its at." It can be deceptively complex yet also alluringly simple, and vice versa. It is all of that, and so much more. And it has a democratic principle at its very core.

This democratic principle to music making has been a cornerstone for me for many years. It is one I see mirrored in so much of my fave music, both in jazz and beyond. Even in rock music, such as in the set up and approach of groups like Gang of Four (particularly the early version) and the Minutemen. I've written about this topic previously (e.g. ENO #1), and will likely return to it again.

Today, I'm feeling too sad to do much writing at all. The news of Ornette Coleman's death -- although I like many others had heard rumors his health had been poor -- has devastated me. Instead, I'll leave you with some words by the late, great Robert Palmer, who wrote about Coleman as well as any I've read.

"The Ornette Coleman quartet that debuted in New York at the old Five Spot, in the fall of 1959, approached the void and, at times, tumbled into it. The listeners that first night included Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, Neshui and Ahmet Ertegun, John Hammond, and almost every musician in town. Some heard formlessness and chaos, others a sound that would radically alter the course of jazz and inform the work of a generation of musicians to come.

"In the music we play,'" Ornette said, "no one player has the lead. Anyone can come out with it at any time."

 This new approach to group playing looked ahead with its polyrhythms, geared to exploration rather than to predetermined patterns, and its melodies that proceeded through a complex of unstated modulations rather than riding on a cushion of traditional chord progression. But the music also looked back through the jazz tradition with its collective improvisation and its personal, speechlike approach to intonation and phrasing (...)" -- from "Ornette Coleman and the Circle with a Hole in the Middle," reprinted in Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer (Scribner, New York, 2009)

Listening Booth: Reviews 4th Quarter 2014 + 1st Quarter 2015. Pt. 1

Records reviewed for Klassekampen's weekly music supplement Musikkmagasinet from October through December 2014, plus January through April 2015 (As per usual, this list does not include live reviews, which during this period included Sheila Jordan and Kris Davis Trio, nor articles such as my piece on Mostly Other People Do the Killings Kind of Blue album/project). If you're the artist, the label, distributor, or in any other way connected to the releases and artists listed here and would like to see the relevant review/piece, send me an e-mail with a request to perfectsounds.chrismonsen[at]gmail.com or monsen.christopher[at]gmail.com.

• Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Alloy (Pi Recordings) - 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 3rd, 2014. Original grade: 5 out of 6)

• Large Unit: Erta Ale (PNL Records) - 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 17th, 2014. Original grade: 5 out of 6)

• Leo Welch: Sabougla Voices (Fat Possum) - 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, December 15th, 2014. Original grade: 5 out of 6)

•  John Coltrane: Offering: Live at Temple University (Resonance Records) - 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 19th, 2015. Not graded)

• Ted Daniel's Energy Module: Innerconnection (NoBusiness Records) - 8* Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 19th, 2015. Not graded)

• Horace Tapscott Quintet: The Giant is Awakened (International  Phonograph Inc.) - 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 19th, 2015. Not graded)

• Sun Ra and his Arkestra: In the orbit of Ra (Strut Records) - 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 19th, 2015. Not graded)

• New Vocabulary: New Vocabulary (System Dialing Records) - 6* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 26th, 2015. Original grade: 4,5 out of 6)

• Rudresh Mahanthappa: Bird Calls (ACT) - 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 9th, 2015. Original grade: 5,5 out of 6)

• Vijay Iyer Trio: Break Stuff (ECM) - 6* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 9th, 2015. Original grade: 4,5 out of 6)

•  Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter (Clean Feed) - 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, March 23rd, 2015. Original grade: 5 out of 6)

•  Kirk Knuffke: Arms & Hands (Roayl Potato Family) - 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 20th, 2015. Original grade: 5 out of 6)

•  Mark Lomax II & Edwin Bayard: #BLACKLIVESMATTER (marklomaxii.com/blacklivesmatter) - 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 27th, 2015. Original grade: 5 out of 6)

Records reviewed for Jazznytt as well as some other stuff to be posted soon.

Fave Jazz of 2014

Below you'll find my top 30 list of fave jazz albums of 2014, with additional comments for the top 3. I'll add that there were more jazz records released in 2014 than these that I have enjoyed and would recommend. Those can be found or will eventually be added to the full 2014 favorites list. At any rate, this is a list of 30 new jazz albums I have listened to and enjoyed so far in 2014, plus three reissues.

New albums:

1.    Moskus: Mestertyven (Hubro): Anja Lauvdal (piano), Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson (bass) and Hans Hulbækmo (drums) have taken a major step towards a more distinctive expression since their more structured debut (Salemsykkel, 2012), and grown into a rather unique piano trio. Mestertyven does admittedly have nods to jazz history -- traces of Thelonious Monk and Paul Bley Trio pop up here and there -- but it is chock full of personality, bubbling with ideas and eruptive whims. Fresh, quirky, experimental, and simultaneously alluring and even funny.

2.    Jemeel Moondoc: The Zookeeper's House (Relative Pitch Records): Jemeel Moondoc has been relatively active in recent years, but on this release, he emerged with the best band he's lead in a long time, with contributions from Matthew Shipp (piano), Steve Swell (trombone), Hilliard Greene (bass), Newman Taylor Baker (drums) and the late trumpeter Roy Campbell. Performing alternately as a trio, quartet and quintet, they stir up a riveting and delightful mix of rough-hewn avant-blues and hard-swinging free-bop, reminiscent of the music Moondoc became known for in his time with Muntu and in varous projects throughout the 80's, yet additionally colored by his artistic adventures from then up until now.

3.    Max Johnson Trio: The Invisible Trio (Fresh Sound New Talent): Bassist/composer Max Johnson was involved as a leader or co-leader in three very interesting and distinctive albums in what seemed like something of a break-out year. The Invisible Trio was the first of to emerge of these releases, and remained a firm favorite throughout the year. A uniquely sounding trio with Johnson plus Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Ziv Ravitz on drums, they expertly glide, sprint, and jump through intriguing and subtly shape-shifting patterns.


4.    Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites (TUM Records)

5.    Peter Van Huffel, Michael Bates & Jeff Davis: BOOM CRANE (Fresh Sound New Talent) 

6.    Mary Halvorson: Reverse Blue (Relative Pitch Records)

7.    James Brandon Lewis: Divine Travels (OKeh Records) 

8.    Steve Lehman Octet: Mise en Abîme (Pi Recordings)

9.    Tyshawn Sorey: Alloy (Pi Recordings)

10.   Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit: Erta Ale (PNL Records/Catalytic Sound)

11.   Trio 3 & Vijay Iyer: Wiring (Intakt Records)

12.   Kris Davis Trio: Waiting For You to Grow (Clean Feed)

13.   Microscopic Septet: Manhattan Moonrise (Cuneiform)

14.   Tarbaby with Oliver Lake & Marc Ducret: Fanon (Rogue Art)

15.   Marc Ribot Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (Pi Recordings)
16.   Rodrigo Amado: Wire Quartet (Clean Feed) 

17.   Mark Turner Quartet: Lathe of Heaven (ECM)

18.   Wadada Leo Smith, Joe Morris, Jamie Saft & Balasz Pandi: Red Hill (RareNoiseRecords)
19.   Ross Martin, Max Johnson & Jeff Davis: Big Eyed Rabbit (NotTwo Records)

20.   Ken Thomson and Slow/Fast: Settle (NCM East Records


21.   Made to Break: Cherchez La Femme (Trost)

22.   Danny Fox Trio: Wide Eyed (Hot Cup Records)

23.   Sarah Manning: Harmonious Creature (Posi-Tone Records)

24.   
Henry Butler & Steven Bernstein: Viper's Drag (Universal Music)

25.   Fred Hersch Trio: Floating (Palmetto Records)

26.   Matt Bauder and Day in Pictures: Nightshades (Clean Feed)

27.   
Angles 9: Injuries (Clean Feed)
28.   Max Johnson: The Prisoner (No Business Records)

29.   Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra: Live in Ljubjana (Clean Feed)

30.   Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: Double Windsor (Tzadik Records)


Reissues:

1.   Horace Tapscott Quintet: The Giant is Awakened (International Phonograph Inc.)
2.   Ted Daniel's Energy Module: Innerconnections (2CD, NoBusiness Records)
3.   Sun Ra:  In the Orbit of Ra (2CD, Strut)

Listening Booth: Reviews 3rd Quarter, July through September, 2014

July was more or less a month free of writing, seing as Klassekampen's music supplement takes a break throughout that month. I did, however, write some reviews for Jazznytt, Norway's premier jazz monthly, which was relaunched this September.

Several of the records reviewed during these months had been out for a while when my write-ups hit the streets, the exception being my review of the latest Spoon which was published the week the album came out, as well as this week's review of two recent Wadada Leo Smith albums, both of which were released this September.

Speaking of the Leo Smith discs, they are both very good albums that share some common themes: change, particularly over long periods of time, and open spaces. On the brilliant The Great Lakes Suites, Leo Smith hooks up with Henry Threadgill on saxophone and flutes and drummer Jack DeJohnette, in addition to long-time partner John Lindberg on bass. This is stunning, expansive music that is both calm, restrained and patient, yet in bursts volatile and throbbing. This is in line with Smith's vision of the lakes and their importance to the surrounding areas: huge, flat surfaces that at a glance seem peaceful, but with pockets of bustling activity, they're scenes for both recreation as well as commerse and growth. Here, Threadgill plays some of his most touching saxophone lines in years, pensive and careful yet firm and assertive, particularly on the majestic "Lake Huron", equaled by Wadada's longing and piercing trumpet tones, while Lindberg and DeJohnette create supportive frameworks, quietly rumbling and suspensefully bubbling. It is a lovely album.

Red Hill was recorded with a slightly younger generation of musicians: Jamie Saft on keys, Joe Morris – perhaps best known as a guitarist – on bass, and Balasz Pandi on drums. It contains three compositions named after rock formations, and one that shares its name with the Roman diety Janus, a symbol for change, among other things. Rock too, of course, has been formed over long periods of time. With this in mind, the tunes too take time to develop, yet are comparatively busier once they get going. It is intriguing and thrilling music, and in comparison to Great Lakes..., it is equaly cerebral music, yet not quite as emotionally stirring.

•  Spoon: They Want My Soul (Lomo Vista) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 4th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

•  Jemeel Moondoc: The Zookeeper's House (Relative Pithc Records) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 25th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

• Peter van Huffel's Gorilla Mask:  Bite My Blues (Cean Feed) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 8th, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

• Peter van Huffel, Michael Bates & Jeff Davis: BOOM CRANE (Fresh Sound New Talent) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 8th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

• Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites (TUM Records) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 29th, 2014. 5,5 out of 6)

• Wadada Leo Smith, Joe Morris, Jamie Saft & Balasz Pandi: Red Hill (RareNoiseRecords) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 29th, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

Additional reviews:

(These were reviewed for the September 2014 issue of the relaunched Jazznytt magazine, who operate without a grading system)

• Håkon Stene: Lush Laments for Lazy Mammal (Hubro) (Tentative grade: 6)
• Ross Martin, Max Jonson & Jeff Davis: Big Eyed Rabbit (NotTwo Records) (Tentative grade: 7)
• The Microscopic Septet: Manhattan Moonrise (Cuneiform Records) (Tentative grade: 7)

* Grades adjusted for the PerfectSounds scale.

Listening Booth: Reviews 2nd Quarter, April through June, 2014

With the summer vacation well and truly over, and the first reviews of the fall season already published this week, here is a belated overview of records reviewed from April through June, 2014. Additional notes on some notable releases I for one reason or another have not covered previously will be posted at some point later in the week. The first quarter overview can be accessed here. A list of my fave recordings from January to July can be found here.

• Moskus: Mestertyven (Hubro Records) – 9* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 14th, 2014. 5,5 out of 6)

•  1982: A/B (Hubro Records) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 12th, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

• Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal (Rough Trade) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 2nd, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

•  Steve Lehman Octet: Mise en Abîme (Pi Recordings) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 23rd, 2014. 5 out of 6)

•  Angles 9: Injuries (Clean Feed) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 23rd, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

* Grades adjusted for the PerfectSounds scale.

A belated, short Charlie Haden tribute

 Late in the evening on July 11, while vacationing on the western coast of Norway, I logged on to the web via my cell phone for one of the two daily web news updates I hade allowed myself. It didn't take many page views before I read that Charlie Haden had died. Suffice to say, I was deeply saddened. Few pieces of music has moved, shaped and formed me as much as the music Haden made with Ornette Coleman's early quartet, and although I wasn't as enthusiastiv about many of his later collaborations, almost everything he did seemed heartfelt and genuine, and his playing was always a joy to hear. I was lucky enough to see Haden with Coleman and drummer Billy Higgins at Battery park during a day of celebration of Ornette's muci in Battery Park, Manhattan, May 1st 2000.

I was contacted late that July night by Norwegian daily Dagbladet, asking for a comment on Haden and his music. Here's a translated (and slightly edited) version of what I wrote:

- [Charlie Haden] was a giant, a brilliant and distinctive musician, and from what I've heard by people who have been lucky enough to have met him, a humble and extremely friendly man.

- As a leading member of Ornette Coleman's quartet in the late 50s and early 60s, he was deeply involved in the development of jazz as an expression. Given Coleman's democratic principle that encouraged and allowed his fellow musicians to be more involved and gave them inceased musical freedom, Haden became more than just a sideman in the quartet, writes Monsen.

- His powerful yet warm bass tone was as often in the foreground as it was the music's heart and driving force, simultanously liberal and open, deep and vibrant.

- He was both frenetically energetic and thoughtfully lyrical, politically radical and heartbreakingly sensitive. His influence on modern jazz bassists is evident, both in terms of playing style and in the open minded approach to music. He also inspired punk and rock musicians (eg. Minutemen), and maintained a close relationship with the country & bluegrass music of his childhood.

R.I.P.