"Best of Jazz" 2011

[LWayne]

My final lists for "Best of" 2011" are as follows:

New Releases

1 Aaron Goldberg/ Guillermo Klein Bienestan Sunnyside Records

2 Craig Taborn Avenging Angel ECM Records

3 Jason Adasiewicz Sunrooms Spacer Delmark Records

4 Joe Lovano Us Five Bird Songs Blue Note

5 Vijay Iyer Trio Tirtha ACT Music

6 Miguel Zenon Alma Aldentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook Marsalis Music

7 Bill Frisell 858 Quartet Sign of Life Savoy Jazz

8 Dave Douglas Three Visions Greenleaf Music

9 Rudresh Mahanthappa Samdhi ACT Music

10 Enrico Rava Quintet Tribe ECM Records

Footnotes: my favorite new release for 2011 was Joseph Daley Earth Tone Ensemble "Seven Deadly Sins" on Jaro. However, since it was released in Europe in 2010, it was on my "best of" list for last year.

Reissues

1 Miles Davis Quintet Bootleg 1: Live in Europe 1967 Columbia Records

2 Gabor Szabo Sorcery/ More Sorcery Impulse

3 Charles Tolliver Big Band Mosaic Select 37 Mosaic Records

4 Ahmad Jamal Poinciana Revisited/ Freeflight Impulse

5 Rany Weston Blue Moses CTI

6 Miles Davis Bitches Brew Live Columbia

Footnotes: Debated whether the Miles Davis Bootleg was a "reissue" since it had not been officially released. Finally, I became comfortable with the distinction that the music was previously in the public domain. Overall, this set is, by far, the best CD of the year.

Live Events

1 Charles Lloyd New Quartet Albrght Knox Art Gallery-Buffalo, NY Thursday, January 20, 2011

2 Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier Manchester Craftsmens Guild-Pittsburgh, PA Saturday, October 01, 2011

3 Randy Weston African Rhythms Quartet Walters Art Museum-Baltimore, MD. Wednesday, April 06, 2011

4 Henry Threadgill and Zooid Christ Church Theater-Philadelphia, PA Sunday, June 05, 2011

5 Stanley Cowell Trio An Die Musik-Baltimore, MD. Sunday, May 15, 2011

6 Joe Lovano "Us Five" Quartet Hartwood Acres-Pittsburgh, PA. Sunday, August 14, 2011

7 Michael Formanek Quartet The Windup Space-Baltimore, MD. Sunday, May 15, 2011

8 Regina Carter Reverse Thread Quintet Cleveland Museum of Art-Cleveland, OH Sunday, May 08, 2011

9 Vijay Iyer Trio Manchester Craftsmens Guild-Pittsburgh, PA Friday, April 29, 2011

10 Roberto Occhipinti International All-Star Quartet Nighttown Jazz Club-Cleveland, OH. Thursday, March 24, 2011

Footnotes: Meeting Charles Lloyd, Randy Weston, and Stanley Cowell were my personal highlights of the year.

Great year for jazz!

Regards,

LWayne

[Ted O'Reilly]

Debated whether the Miles Davis Bootleg was a "reissue" since it had not been officially released. Finally, I became comfortable with the distinction that the music was previously in the public domain.

On my radio programme twenty-plus years ago, the late John Norris (of Coda Magazine and Sackville Records) and board-member Don Brown and I used to get together at the end of the year and play our Best Of The Year selections. We decided to do one show with New Releases, and to cover the quandary you face, to make the second show Reissues and Archival Recordings. We felt that put the newly-available older material was better placed with its more contemporaneous music. It seemed a fair way to handle it...

[GA Russell]

Thanks for remembering to start this thread, LWayne!

My Top Ten for 2011 are (in rough chronological order):

Kenny Werner - Balloons

Art Pepper - Blues for the Fisherman

Lee Konitz - Live at Birdland

Randy Brecker - The Jazz Ballad Song Book

Deep Blue Organ Trio - Wonderful!

Chick Corea and Stefano Bollani - Orvieto

Rahsaan Barber - Everyday Magic

Michael Pedicin - Ballads...searching for peace

James Carter - At the Crossroads

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew Live

[paul secor]

Roscoe Mitchell's Before There Was Sound (Nessa) will be near or at the top of any list I might compile.

[save0904]

My picks for this year:

1. David Binney Greylen Epicenter

2. David Binney Barefooted Town

3. Craig Taborn Avenging Angel

4. Ambrose Akinmusire When Heart Emerges Glistening

5. Fred Hersch Alone At The Vanguard

6. Jason Palmer Here Today

7. Enrico Rava Tribe

8. Danny Zeitlin Labyrinth

9. Colin Vallon Rruga

10. Adam Cruz Milestones

[AllenLowe]

where's Larry Kart when I need him?

[kh1958]

The jazz concerts I enjoyed most this year were:

Melissa Aldana--Smalls

Carlo deRosa and Cross Fade (with Vijay Iyer and Mark Shim)--Smalls

Orin Evans (with Mark Gross and Marvin Sewell)--Smalls

Rob Garcia 4--Cornelia Street Cafe

Kevin Hays Trio--Kitano

Derrick Hodge--92Y Tribeca

Steve Kuhn Trio--Jazz Standard

Jason Moran Presents Houston to New York: Various groups including Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Billy Harper, Melvin Sparks, Kendrick Scott, and Jamire Williams--92Y Tribeca

Jean Michel Pilc Trio--Smalls

Noah Preminger (with Frank Kimbrough and Victor Lewis)--Smalls

Leni Stern--55 Bar

[king ubu]

concerts, roughly grouped by rating (Dylan was on top with Brötzmann, but I took him out since we're talking jazz here... and Sex Mob in Cologne in November wasn't quite good enough in the end, to enter the best concerts listing):

*****

Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet + 1 - 17.4. - Rote Fabrik, Zürich

****1/2

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin "Gens de Couleur Libre" - 24.2. - Rote Fabrik, Zürich

Henry Threadgill Zooid - 16.11. - Bimhuis, Amsterdam

Co Streiff / Russ Johnson / Gerry Hemingway "Eric Dolphy Project" - 25.11. - Unerhört Festival, Rote Fabrik, Zürich

Craig Taborn Trio - 18.11. - Stadtgarten, Köln

Irene Schweizer & Pierre Favre - 21.5. - Jazzfestival Schaffhausen, Kammgarn

McCoy Tyner Quartet (w/Gary Bartz) - 15.7. - Festival da Jazz, St. Moritz

****

George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band - 25.10. - Moods, Zürich

Oliver Lake / Christian Weber / Dieter Ulrich feat. Nils Wogram - 25.11. - Unerhört Festival, Rote Fabrik, Zürich

Malcolm Braff "Voltage" - 21.5. - Jazzfestival Schaffhausen, Kammgarn

Colin Vallon Trio - 22.2. - Moods, Zürich

Araxi Karnusian "Miniatur Orchester" - 21.5. - Jazzfestival Schaffhausen, Kammgarn

Christoph Grab's Raw Vision w/Ronny Graupe - 25.11. - Unerhört Festival, Rote Fabrik, Zürich

Ingrid Laubrock Oktett - 10.12. - Rote Fabrik, Zürich ("New Jazz Meeting 2011")

[relyles]

With the usual qualifiers about not hearing many 2011 releases, including quite a few sitting in piles in my basement, these are my favorites:

New Releases (in chronological order):

Rob Brown - "Unknown Skies" |Rogue Art

Joseph Daley Earth Tones Ensemble - "The Seven Deadly Sins" | JARO

Miles Davis - "Live In Europe 1967 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 1" | Columbia/Legacy

Ellery Eskelin - "Trio New York" | Prime Source

Gigi Gryce - "Doin The Gigi" | Uptown

Pandelis Karayorgis - "System of 5" |hatOLOGY

Roscoe Mitchell - "Before There Was Sound" | Nessa

Jason Palmer - "Here Today" | SteepleChase

Sam Rivers - "Mosaic Select 38 - Sam Rivers & The Rivbea Orchestra - Trilogy" | Mosaic

Reissues:

Julius Hemphill - "Dogon A.D." |International Phonograph

[relyles]

Favorite Live Music Experiences:

Eric McPherson/Abraham Burton Quartet - Jaanuary 7, 2011 - Masala, Hartford, CT

Mario Pavone - January 31, 2011- Tribute to Hotep Idris Galeta, Black Eyed Sally's, Hartford, CT

Gebhard Ullmann/Steve Swell Quartet - April 8, 2011 - Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

Rob Brown Quartet - May 13, 2011 - Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

James Weidman - June 4, 2011 - Hartford Jazz Society Fundraiser, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, CT

Stephen Haynes - Parrhesia - June 11, 2011 - Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT

Kenny Barron Trio - June 24, 2011 - Artists Collective Theater, Hartford, CT

Kenny Barron Trio - July 7, 2011 - Crowell Concert Hall, Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

Larry Willis Quintet - July 18, 2011 - Hartford Jazz Society's Monday Night Jazz, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, CT

Amina Claudine Myers - September 30, 2011 - Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

Harris Eisenstadt and Canada Day - December 9, 2011 - Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

[Leeway]

Off the top of my head:

Favorite live music events:

Peter Brotzmann (with several groupings) at the Vision Fest, NYC, June 2011;

Evan Parker, Vision Fest, NYC, and Wind Up Space, Baltimore;

Trevor Watts and Veryan Weston, Wind Up Space, Baltimore;

John Butcher, 3 nights, High Zero Festival, Baltimore.

Reissues:

Cien Fuegos LP reissues of Brotmann et al: "Ein Halber Hund Kannicht Pinkeln," Tschus," and "Balls."

Trost reissue of FULL BLAST & FRIENDS, SKETCHES & BALLADS: Wertmuller, Brotzmann, Vandermark, Pliaka.

[kh1958]

I can't say what the ten best were, but the 2011 jazz CD releases (a couple might be late 2010 releases) I liked the best were:

Ambrose Akinmusire--When the Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)

Jane Ira Bloom--Wingwalker (Outline)

Larry Coryell with the Wide Hive Players (Wide Hive)

Captain Black Big Band (Positone)

Orrin Evans--Freedom (Positone)

Rob Garcia 4--The Drop and the Ocean (Brooklyn Jazz Underground)

Chico Hamilton--Revelation and Euphoria (Joyous Shout)

Tom Harrell--The Time of the Sun (High Note)

Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya--Sotho Blue (Sunnyside)

Vijay Iyer with Prasanna--Tirtha (Act)

Frederika Krier and Gian Luigi Diana--Laghima (Setola de Maiale)

Charles LLoyd and Maria Farantouri--Athens Concert (ECM)

Rudresh Mahanthappa--Samdi (Act)

Jean Michel Pilc--Essential (Motema)

Noah Preminger--Before the Rain (Palmetto)

Matana Roberts--Live in London (Central Control) And Coin Coin Chapter One

Hal Singer and David Murray--Challenge (Marge)

Carlo de Rosa's Cross Fade--Brain Dance (Cuneiform)

Jamaaladeen Tacuma--For the Love of Ornette

Kenny Werner--Balloons (Half Note)

[BillF]

Best live music heard this year:

Tubby Hayes Legacy Big Band with Peter King and Alan Skidmore, Royal Clifton Hotel, Southport, 29th May

Pharoah Sanders, Band on the Wall, Manchester, 1st May

[king ubu]

Still need that Singer/Murray disc, thanks for the reminder!

[sonnymax]

MAGNET’s Bill Meyer's picks for best jazz releases of the year:

1. MATT BAUDER Day In Pictures (Clean Feed)

2. REMPIS PERCUSSION QUARTET Montreal Parade (482 Music)

3. MATTHEW SHIPP Art Of The Improviser (Thirsty Ear)

4. ACID BIRDS Acid Birds III (Blackest Rainbow)

5. KEN VANDERMARK Strade d’Acqua/Roads Of Water (Multikulti)

6. KEITH ROWE Concentration Of The Stare (Bottrop Boy)

7. THE SPANISH DONKEY XYX (Northern Spy)

8. AMIR ELSAFFAR TWO RIVERS ENSEMBLE Inana (Pi)

9. DAVID S. WARE Organica (Aum Fidelity)

10. BILL DIXON Envoi (Victo)

[AllenLowe]

just to note, (since I feel invisible here), we've made 7 top ten lists for jazz CDs 2011;

New Republic

Stash Dauber Blog

Gene Seymour

Chris Robinson

Scott Albin (writer for Jazz Times)

Larry Kart (hope I'm not speaking out of turn)

the Big City Blog

I'm proud to say that on most of these lists I'm pretty much the only musician listed who does not operate near a big media center.

Edited December 25, 2011 by AllenLowe

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Off the top of my head:

Favorite live music events:

Evan Parker, Wind Up Space, Baltimore;

Trevor Watts and Veryan Weston, Wind Up Space, Baltimore;

Was at both concerts (Hello neighbor!), especially loved the Watts/Weston.

[king ubu]

That's cool Allen!

But bear with us non-promo-non-media-non-paid folks who struggle to keep up and collect old stuff, too (okay the last part may be an issue, but hey, you help flooding us with great old stuff, too, so don't complain too loudly!)

Anyway, I'm not posting a best of 2011 list since I've hardly yet bought 10 new releases from this year... but in a few years, I might have enough of them to post a list - yet then no one will care any longer. Same thing each year... maybe I'm too patient, maybe I mis-allocate my budget, maybe whatever... but I'm no teenage fan waiting for the latest Olivia John single or Julie London cheesecake album cover. Not entirely sure why, but I keep lagging behind all the time...

My favorite new releases of the year are:

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres (Constellation)

John Zorn - Nova Express (Tzadik)

Marilyn Crispell / Gerry Hemingway - Affinities (Intakt)

all of which would get * * * * 1/2 from me.

then there are pair of * * * * albums:

Colin Vallon - Rruga (ECM)

Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble – Live In Nashville & Louisville (Sagittarius A-Star)

and a much longer reissue list:

* * * * *

Julius Hemphill - Dogon A.D. (International Phonograph)

Bill Dixon - Intents and Purposes (International Phonograph) [Cover sagt: 2010]

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew Live (Sony/Legacy)

Sidney Bechet - The Complete American Masters 1931-1953 (Universal)

* * * * 1/2

Black Artists Group - In Paris Ariès (Rank and File)

Charles Tolliver Big Band - Mosaic Select 37 (Mosaic)

Art Pepper - Blues for the Fisherman (Widow's Taste)

Stan Getz Quintets - The Clef & Norgran Studio Albums (Hip-O-Select)

First Impulse: The Creed Taylor Collection 50th Anniversary (Hip-O-Select)

* * * *

Wes Montgomery - Movin': The Complete Verve Recordings (Hip-O-Select)

Miles Davis - Tutu (Deluxe Edition) (Warner)

Nathan Davis - Rules of Freedom (Universal)

Eddy Louiss - Orgue (Universal)

Swiss All-Stars (Sonorama)

Various: Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl (Hip-O-Select)

In the "from the archives" secion (where partly the Tolliver, Pepper, Miles BB Live and Jazz from Hollywood Bowl could also be listed), I have these:

* * * * *

Miles Davis Quintet Live in Europe 1967 (Bootleg Series Vol. 1)

* * * * 1/2

G.F. Fitz-Gerald & Lol Coxhill - The Poppy-Seed Affair (Reel Recordings)

Tubby Hayes - Tubby's New Groove (Candid)

Tubby Hayes - Dancing in the Dark (The Tubby Hayes Archives Vol. 2) (Savage Solveig)

* * * *

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald in Japan (Hip-O-Select)

John Surman - Flashpoint: NDR Jazz Workshop April '69 (Cuneiform)

And still, there's plenty of new stuff missing, including the Sam Rivers Select, which I've received a few weeks ago but haven't heard a second of yet.

Also I've not caught up yet with Chuck's latest (I'm sure the new Roscoe would be on or near the top of the final list).

Also haven't gotten several recent Mosaics, or else the Lunceford would be way on top somewhere, too... there's just so much you can handle, ain't there?

(EDITED because I messed up and repeated the reissues list instead of including the archives list)

Edited December 31, 2011 by king ubu

[Leeway]

Off the top of my head:

Favorite live music events:

Evan Parker, Wind Up Space, Baltimore;

Trevor Watts and Veryan Weston, Wind Up Space, Baltimore;

Was at both concerts (Hello neighbor!), especially loved the Watts/Weston.

Hi Hoppy, we needs must meet next time -- or have we already? Anyway, must come up with elaborate plan for identification, like red roses or Nats caps.

[king ubu]

or t-shirts with LeeWay prints

[tranemonk]

What Dave Douglas cd are you talking about when you say "Three Visions"? I'm a big DD fan and don't recall that title.

My final lists for "Best of" 2011" are as follows:

New Releases

1 Aaron Goldberg/ Guillermo Klein Bienestan Sunnyside Records

2 Craig Taborn Avenging Angel ECM Records

3 Jason Adasiewicz Sunrooms Spacer Delmark Records

4 Joe Lovano Us Five Bird Songs Blue Note

5 Vijay Iyer Trio Tirtha ACT Music

6 Miguel Zenon Alma Aldentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook Marsalis Music

7 Bill Frisell 858 Quartet Sign of Life Savoy Jazz

8 Dave Douglas Three Visions Greenleaf Music

9 Rudresh Mahanthappa Samdhi ACT Music

10 Enrico Rava Quintet Tribe ECM Records

Footnotes: my favorite new release for 2011 was Joseph Daley Earth Tone Ensemble "Seven Deadly Sins" on Jaro. However, since it was released in Europe in 2010, it was on my "best of" list for last year.

Reissues

1 Miles Davis Quintet Bootleg 1: Live in Europe 1967 Columbia Records

2 Gabor Szabo Sorcery/ More Sorcery Impulse

3 Charles Tolliver Big Band Mosaic Select 37 Mosaic Records

4 Ahmad Jamal Poinciana Revisited/ Freeflight Impulse

5 Rany Weston Blue Moses CTI

6 Miles Davis Bitches Brew Live Columbia

Footnotes: Debated whether the Miles Davis Bootleg was a "reissue" since it had not been officially released. Finally, I became comfortable with the distinction that the music was previously in the public domain. Overall, this set is, by far, the best CD of the year.

Live Events

1 Charles Lloyd New Quartet Albrght Knox Art Gallery-Buffalo, NY Thursday, January 20, 2011

2 Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier Manchester Craftsmens Guild-Pittsburgh, PA Saturday, October 01, 2011

3 Randy Weston African Rhythms Quartet Walters Art Museum-Baltimore, MD. Wednesday, April 06, 2011

4 Henry Threadgill and Zooid Christ Church Theater-Philadelphia, PA Sunday, June 05, 2011

5 Stanley Cowell Trio An Die Musik-Baltimore, MD. Sunday, May 15, 2011

6 Joe Lovano "Us Five" Quartet Hartwood Acres-Pittsburgh, PA. Sunday, August 14, 2011

7 Michael Formanek Quartet The Windup Space-Baltimore, MD. Sunday, May 15, 2011

8 Regina Carter Reverse Thread Quintet Cleveland Museum of Art-Cleveland, OH Sunday, May 08, 2011

9 Vijay Iyer Trio Manchester Craftsmens Guild-Pittsburgh, PA Friday, April 29, 2011

10 Roberto Occhipinti International All-Star Quartet Nighttown Jazz Club-Cleveland, OH. Thursday, March 24, 2011

Footnotes: Meeting Charles Lloyd, Randy Weston, and Stanley Cowell were my personal highlights of the year.

Great year for jazz!

Regards,

LWayne

[AllenLowe]

that's ok, UBU; but I will continue to plug myself, since I seem not to have made too many top ten lists herein;

just found out that Blues and The Empirical Truth placed 51st in the top 600 CDs in the upcoming Village Voice poll -

[king ubu]

that's ok, UBU; but I will continue to plug myself, since I seem not to have made too many top ten lists herein;

just found out that Blues and The Empirical Truth placed 51st in the top 600 CDs in the upcoming Village Voice poll -

Sure! You do deserve it, after all! :tup

[jlhoots]

What Dave Douglas cd are you talking about when you say "Three Visions"? I'm a big DD fan and don't recall that title.

It's actually called Three Views.

Initially released as download only.

Because of demand now out in a 3 CD set.

It's very good.

[Larry Kart]

My ballot in what used to be the Village Voice Jazz Poll (full results will be posted on Rhapsody.com the second week of January):

Best New Releases

1) Warne Marsh-Ted Brown, "Live in Hollywood 1957" (Marshmallow)

2) Anthony Braxton-John McDonough, "6 Duos (Wesleyan) 2006" (Nessa)

3) Roscoe Mitchell, "Before There Was Sound" (Nessa)

4) Chet Baker, "The Sesjun Radio Shows" (Out of the Blue)

5) Les Rois du Fox-Trot, "Fireworks" (Stomp Off)

6) Allen Lowe, "Blues and the Empirical Truth" (Music & Arts)

7) David Binney, "Graylen Epicenter" (Mythology)

8) Bill Carrothers Trio, "A Night at the Village Vanguard" (Pirouet)

9) Alex Sipiagin, "Destinations Unknown" (Criss Cross)

10) Nick Mazzerella Trio, "This Is Only a Test" (Sonichla)

Best Reissues

1) Julius Hemphill, "Dogan A.D." (International Phonograph)

2) "The Complete Jimmy Lunceford Decca Sessions" (Mosaic)

3) Von Freeman, "Have No Fear" (Nessa)

Best Vocal album

No choice

Best debut CD

No choice

Best Latin jazz CD

Alexis Cuadrado, "Noneta Iberico" (bju records)