The history of jazz has always favored the partnership of strong personalities, especially those of guitar and tenor saxophone collaborations. Memorable pairings have included: Jim Hall and Sonny Rollins , Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano , and Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mark Turner . Add to that list two Italian artists, guitarist Francesco Diodati and saxophonist Francesco Bigoni...
MUSICIANS OF THE YEAR Fred Anderson (tenor saxophone) Chick Corea (keyboards) Dave Douglas (trumpet) Peter Evans (trumpet) Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) RECORD LABELS OF THE YEAR CLEAN FEED ECM LEO NO BUSINESS STEEPLECHASE VENUES OF THE YEAR BAR NEXT DOOR (West Village) DIZZY’S CLUB (Columbus Circle) JAZZ STANDARD (Murray Hill/Gramercy) ROULETTE (SoHo) THE STONE (Alphabet City) PERFORMANCES OF THE...
SFJAZZ Collective, Live 2009 (SFJazz). Last year's tour by the all-star septet was built around their arrangements of music by pianist McCoy Tyner. It also included new compositions by its members, Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenón, Dave Douglas, Robin Eubanks, Renee...
Bassist/Composer Michael Janisch calls his new album Purpose Built, and with one listen to this debut recording it leaves no doubt to the listener why he is one of the premier creative musicians of his generation. One of the most productive and innovative young bassists on the jazz scene today, Janisch--whose has shared the stage with such jazz luminaries as Shirley Horn, Quincy Jones, Gary Burton,...
Found some time to process the remaining bookmarks. Here are the rest of the 2009 posts/threads that are worth mentioning. Lots of gems to hunt for!! Stones Throw, Stef Free Jazz, Other Music, Headphone Commute, AMN, Adgy, Bleep etc.
Blue Note’s release, via Billboard : “As Chairman Emeritus, Lundvall will continue to work in an A&R capacity by finding and developing artists. He will also consult on product and catalog development related to Blue Note’s vast jazz repertoire, which includes such Jazz icons as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey,...
Cenk Akyol's style has always been distinct and his lists picky. Once again he's told us that he wasn't able to find 10 or so releases to enjoy completely this year, so his best of lists consists mostly of songs.
The Village Voice : Jazz Album of the Year 1. Vijay Iyer Trio, Historicity (ACT) 234 (33) 2. Henry Threadgill Zooid, This Brings UsTo, Volume 1 (Pi) 198.5 (30) 3. Joe Lovano Us Five, Folk Art (Blue Note) 150 (23) 4. Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam) 134 (22) 5. Steve Lehman Octet, Travail, Transformation, and Flow (Pi) 112 (17) 6. Keith Jarrett, Testament:...
Once again, it's that time of year when jazz journalists, DJs, critics and bloggers publish their annual "Best Of" lists, and once again this year, St. Louis Jazz Notes is offering a meta-list with links to all of the "Best Jazz of 2009" lists we can locate. This year's list 'o lists is alphabetized by writers' names. In those cases when a list was collaborative or presented as...
Reading OK, so earlier this month I finished The Life and Times of Thelonious Monk: An American Original, by Robin Kelley, an exhaustive look into the world of Monk that kinda took over my listening life. I got so caught up in Monk’s music that I not only pulled out many of my Monk LPs, but I added a [...]
Bill Mays, Mays at the Movies (Steeplechase). The pianist is a veteran of motion picture sound stages, but in this stimulating trio session he's free from click tracks, conductors and scores. With bassist Peter Washington and drummer Billy Drummond, Mays...
I've processed some of the best of lists in my bookmarks folder. Here are some of the more interesting and/or diverse ones. I'm trying to wrap up my own list, but damn these lists always give you lots to catch up.
2010 New Orleans Jazz Festival Some of the interesting artists and headliners at this year’s New Orleans Jazz Festival (April 23 – May 2, 2010) include: Pearl Jam, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, B.B. King, My Morning Jacket, Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes, Band of Horses, The Black Crowes, Drake, Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers, Elvis [...]
Travellers staying in hotels in Madrid next month will have the chance to soak up some culture at one of Europe's biggest musical events. Taking place from November 4th until November 28th, Madrid International Jazz Festival is now in its 26th year and the 2009 edition features a world-class line-up of talented performers.