CraigP Posted December 19, 2012 Report Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) Here are my top releases for 2012 in order, followed by a separate list of honorable mentions. You can read capsule descriptions of each on my blog. Michael Formanek - Small Places (ECM) Michael Attias - Spun Tree (Clean Feed) Simon Nabatov - Spinning Songs of Herbie Nichols (Leo) Tomas Fujiwara – The Air is Different (482 Music) Harris Eisenstadt - Canada Day Octet (482 Music) Nils Wogram - Complete Soul (nwog) Angelica Sanchez - Wires & Moss (Clean Feed) Eric Revis – Parallax (Clean Feed) Vijay Iyer Accelerando (ACT) And the honorable mentions (in alphabetical order): 9Volt with Tim Berne – Open Circuit (OutNow) Tim Berne – Snakeoil (ECM) Catatumbo – Catatumbo (Babel Label) Harris Eisenstadt - Canada Day III (Songlines) Devin Gray - Dirigo Rataplan (Skirl) Mary Halvorson - Bending Bridges (Firehouse 12) Steve Lehman – Dialect Fluorescent (Pi) Living by Lanterns – New Myth/Old Science (Cuneiform) Tom Rainey - Camino Cielo Echo (Intakt) Leo Smith - Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform) Weston/Laubrock/Marshall – Haste (Emanem) Promising, but arrived too recently to potentially make either list: Paul Giallorenzo Trio – PG3 (NotTwo) Roscoe Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble – Three Compositions (RogueArt) Watershed (Dennis Fournier) – Watershed (RogueArt) Edited December 19, 2012 by CraigP Quote
Clunky Posted December 19, 2012 Report Posted December 19, 2012 Tomas Fujiwara – The Air is Different (482 Music) Harris Eisenstadt - Canada Day Octet (482 Music) Thanks for these thought provoking choices , I'm tempted by these two in particular. The samples of the Canada Day Octet sound really good. Quote
WD45 Posted December 19, 2012 Report Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) Top Six Favorite Records Released In 2012 1. Emptyset - "Medium" Recorded in an abandoned, unfinished 19th century British mansion. Huge, oppresive, and delightful. Brings together my love of history, recording, and abstraction. 2. Oneohtrix Point Never - "Rifts" Five LPs of mind-melting synthesizer experimentation. This cat would have been at home with the Germans making this type of music in 1972. Hypnotic, texturally lush, and possibly self-indulgent (in the best way, of course.) 3. Andy Stott - "Luxury Problems" Mr. Stott keeps making music that sounds quite unlike anything else before it. Imagine if someone produced a Sade record under the influence of Bauhaus architecture and codeine. Unsettling and inviting at the same time. Time stands still when you play it. 4. Death Grips - "The Money Store" Parts of this record still scare the hell out of me. It's so intense that I can only liken it to standing in front of a blast furnace. NSFW in a number of ways. Sonically and lyrically. These cats would have Lil' Wayne weeping in the corner. 5. CAN - "Lost Tapes" Where do I turn when I wish to hear a man chant the lyric "Are you waiting for the streetcar" for ten minutes? This amazing set of outtakes and non-album cuts from these German giants of weird rock, of course. 6. Josh Berman and His Gang - "There Now" Mr. Berman helped me with a question about a Gerry Mulligan record at the Jazz Record Mart in 2011. In 2012, he released this thoughtful and exciting record of jazz music. It's lighthearted at times, freely exploratory at others. Just what I needed, actually. I even made a YouTube playlist with a track from each record. Edited December 19, 2012 by WD45 Quote
Steve Reynolds Posted December 19, 2012 Report Posted December 19, 2012 "Streetcar" is the single greatest thing I have heard this past year - about 7 minutes in the band CRANKS it up and the tension is finally released. the whole 3 CD box is filled with much great stuff and limited filler Quote
B. Goren. Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) These are my favorite CDs I purchased in 2012: Edited December 22, 2012 by B. Goren. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) My overall favourite of the year, in this case from way outside the jazz world: Shows how a relatively new, distinctive performer can take a genre (in this case English folk music) that has been around for ages (the songs for centuries, the performance approach, maybe 50 years) and still come up sounding totally fresh. Edited December 22, 2012 by A Lark Ascending Quote
B. Goren. Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) I've read again the opening post of this thread and saw that GA Russell mentioned also CDs that we were given, so I'll add few lines to what I've already wrote in In 2011, a good friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. He was also a jazz fan and a huge Bill Evans fan. Few month ago I helped his wife to rearrange his CDs collection and to sell some of his CD's. After I completed this very sad mission, she gave me this box set (from his collection) as a souvenir from him. Many moments of musical magic can be found in this set. Edited December 22, 2012 by B. Goren. Quote
ElginThompson Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 Reposting bc apparently there was an issue. My Top 10 is really a Top 7 - Discs 1 - 7 of the new Mingus. Quote
colinmce Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 I'll just plug my own list here, which is alphabetized so as to avoid hierarchy and in a 24 new/12 reissue or unearthed format. Big Weird Weeds fan here, Clifford. I'm sure you're friends with Nick. I was turned onto them about 7 years ago by my friend Jason, who was also friends with him. Quote
Utevsky Posted December 24, 2012 Report Posted December 24, 2012 My favorites from the last year or so -- of the ones I've heard, of course: Ravi Coltrane -- Spirit Fiction -- Blue Note Harris Eisenstadt -- Canada Day III -- Songlines Human Spirit -- Dialogue -- Origin Jon Irabagon’s Outright! -- Unhinged -- Irabbagast Steve Lehman Trio -- Dialect Fluorescent -- Pi Hafez Modirzadeh -- Post-Chromodal Out! -- Pi Michael Musillami Trio + 4 -- Mettle -- Playscape Sam Rivers, Dave Holland & Barry Altschul -- Reunion: Live in New York -- Pi Avery Sharpe -- Sojourner Truth—“Ain’t I A Woman?” -- JKNW Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts -- An Attitude For Gratitude -- Palmetto Quote
Bol Posted December 25, 2012 Report Posted December 25, 2012 (edited) I don't know if these are my favorites from the year, as I have not really taken a thorough look at what was issued when. But these are some of the new CDs I've enjoyed the most this past year: Chick Corea, "Further Explorations" (Concord) Kirk Knuffke & Jesse Stacken, "Like a Tree" (SteepleChase) Kirk Knuffke & Ted Brown, "Pound Cake" (SteepleChase) Bill McHenry, "Peur du Vide" (Sunnyside) Talking Cows, "Almost Human" (Morvin) I must say, I really miss getting new recordings from Paul Motian. The Corea recording would not have been the same w/o Motian, and the McHenry recording would have been even better with Motian. I hope there are fair number of unissued sessions that were done with him and that will be issued over the coming years. And I kick myself for not ever being in NYC at the right time to hear him live. Edited December 25, 2012 by Bol Quote
LWayne Posted December 29, 2012 Report Posted December 29, 2012 (edited) My favorite new releases, in no particular order, in 2012 were: 1 Michael Formanek Quartet Small Places ECM Records 2 Frank Kimbrough Trio Live at the Kitano Palmetto Records 3 Tim Berne Snakeoil ECM Records 4 Odean Pope Odean Pope Three In & Out Records 5 Ryan Truesdell-Gil Evans Project Centennial Artist Share 6 Henry Threadgill and Zooid Tomorrow Sunny/ The Revelry Spp Pi Recordings 7 Chick Corea, Paul Motian, Eddie Gomez Further Explorations Concord Records 8 Vijay Iyer Accelerando ACT Records 9 George Cables My Muse High Note My favorite reissues, or new releases of older music: 1 Keith Jarrett Sleeper ECM Records 2 Bill Evans Live at Art D' Lugoff's "Top of the Gate" Resonance Records 3 Bobby Hutcherson Spiral Blue Note Japan 4 Donald Byrd The Creeper Blue Note Japan 5 Stanley Turrentine Aint No Way Blue Note Japan And, my favorite performances of the year were: 1 Michael Formanek Quartet Windup Space-Baltimore, MD. Saturday, October 06, 2012 2 "The Great Flood"-Bill Frisell Trio Thurber Theater, Ohio State-Columbus, OH. Saturday, March 31, 2012 3 Roy Haynes" Fountain of Youth" Band New Hazlett Theater-Pittsburgh, PA Saturday, September 22, 2012 4 Brad Mehldau Trio Alte Oper, Frankfurt Germany Sunday, November 25, 2012 5 Enrico Rava Tribe Albright Knox Art Gallery-Buffalo, NY Sunday, February 26, 2012 Good year for Jazz! Regards, LWayne Edited December 29, 2012 by LWayne Quote
GA Russell Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Posted December 29, 2012 LWayne, you did some travelling this year! Quote
LWayne Posted December 30, 2012 Report Posted December 30, 2012 Yes, but not as much as in the past (believe it or not). Used to make it to New York City every month... LWayne Quote
ornette Posted January 1, 2013 Report Posted January 1, 2013 Spiritual Jazz Vol 2 +Vol 3 Albert Ayler Quintet – Stockholm, Berlin 1966 Chano Dominguez – Flamenco Sketches Omer Avital – Suite of the East Terry Riley – A Rainbow in Curved Air(remaster) Bill Evans – Live at the Top of The Gate Giovanni Mirabassi – Adelante! v/a – Jazz at The Hollywood Bowl Timo Lassy – In With Lassy Jose Monton – Solo Guitarra Sonny Rollins – Live in Europe 1959 Jussi Nonet – Lampela and Eskola Don Cherry – Organic Music Society Jack DeJohnette – Special Edition box set Quote
charlesp Posted January 20, 2013 Report Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) My favorite new releases in 2012: Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad/Ingebrigt Haker Flaten/Paal Nilssen-Love - KAMPEN - NoBusiness Records Ravi Coltrane - SPIRIT FICTION - Blue Note Dave Douglas - BE STILL - Greenleaf Harris Eisenstadt - CANADA DAY III - Songlines Michael Formanek - SMALL PLACES - ECM Billy Hart - ALL OUR PLACES - ECM Vijay Iyer - ACCELERANDO - ACT Music Living By Lanterns - NEW MYTH/OLD SCIENCE - Cuneiform Simon Nabatov - SOLO: SPINNING SONGS OF HERBIE NICHOLS - Leo Records Ted Nash - THE CREEP - Plastic Sax Reissues or Archival: Keith Jarrett Quartet - SLEEPER - ECM Magico - CARTA DE AMOR - ECM Charles Mingus - THE JAZZ WORKSHOP CONCERTS 1964-65 - Mosaic Records Edited January 20, 2013 by charlesp Quote
7/4 Posted January 20, 2013 Report Posted January 20, 2013 here's mine: http://harmonicsdb.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/notable-releases-of-2012/ Quote
JETman Posted January 20, 2013 Report Posted January 20, 2013 here's mine: http://harmonicsdb.w...leases-of-2012/ I would've expected you to check out the 3 cd Jim Hall Artist Share release. For me, jazz guitar may not get better than this! Quote
clifford_thornton Posted January 20, 2013 Report Posted January 20, 2013 CT - is that Harmos Live recording out/available on Intakt?? Yes. It is a DVD of the concert (w/o extraneous stuff, so I considered it comparable to a CD release w/ visuals). I've read again the opening post of this thread and saw that GA Russell mentioned also CDs that we were given, so I'll add few lines to what I've already wrote in In 2011, a good friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. He was also a jazz fan and a huge Bill Evans fan. Few month ago I helped his wife to rearrange his CDs collection and to sell some of his CD's. After I completed this very sad mission, she gave me this box set (from his collection) as a souvenir from him. Many moments of musical magic can be found in this set. Sorry to hear of your loss, but I'm glad you were able to help out and that he can live on through memories and music in your household. Quote
BillF Posted January 20, 2013 Report Posted January 20, 2013 I think David Brent Johnson's playlist for his show "Best Historical Releases of 2012" on WFIU is worth looking at: http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/best-historical-releases-of-2012/ Quote
7/4 Posted January 21, 2013 Report Posted January 21, 2013 here's mine: http://harmonicsdb.w...leases-of-2012/ I would've expected you to check out the 3 cd Jim Hall Artist Share release. For me, jazz guitar may not get better than this! Someday I will! Quote
JETman Posted January 21, 2013 Report Posted January 21, 2013 here's mine: http://harmonicsdb.w...leases-of-2012/ I would've expected you to check out the 3 cd Jim Hall Artist Share release. For me, jazz guitar may not get better than this! Someday I will! I initially hesitated at the price, but I soon found out that it was worth its weight in gold..........perhaps more than most cheaper things I bought last year. Quote
mjzee Posted January 21, 2013 Report Posted January 21, 2013 These are the albums, new to me, that made an impact on me in the last year (in no particular order): Miles Davis - Live At The Olympia 1960, vols. 1 & 2 Charles Tolliver - Mosaic Select Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia - Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings The Complete Wolverines: 1924-1928 Bob Dylan - Tempest Bill Dixon - Black Saint/Soul Note box Paul Motian - Black Saint/Soul Note box Keith Jarrett - Sleeper The Cookers - Believe The Phineas & Ferb Soundtracks The Band Perry Captain Beefheart - Bat Chain Puller The Black Keys - El Camino Classic Coleman Hawkins Sessions 1922-1947 Miles Davis - Complete Live Recordings 1948-1955 Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra - Basie Beginnings Sonny Rollins - Live In Europe 1959 - Complete Recordings Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give Quote
Big Al Posted January 21, 2013 Report Posted January 21, 2013 There were a lot of mainstream rock & roll releases from various old established artists that I enjoyed a lot: 1) THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO - The Beach Boys. This had far more hits than misses for me, and the closing suite of songs is sheer beauty. What a wonderful thing if they could let this be their swan song, because it would be more than fitting. 2) ANALOG MAN - Joe Walsh. His most enjoyable work since BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS, but hampered by sound so bad I actually whined about it in an Amazon review. 3) AMERICANA - Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Served as a nice appetizer for what came just a few months later... 4) PSYCHEDELIC PILL - Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Starting an album with a half-hour jam on two chords? Works for me. BOY, does it work for me! 5) TANK FULL OF BLUES - Dion. Cat's 72 years old and still sounds as full of fire as he did when he started. And oh my can he play the guitar! YIKES!!! 6) REMEMBER - Micky Dolenz. I realize by now that my credibility was shot to hell ages ago, and I don't care. I heard about this CD because Phil Keaggy is on it. And it's a DAMN good CD! The closing title track is worth the price of admission alone. 7) SUNKEN CONDOS - Donald Fagen. Much in the same vein as MORPH THE CAT, which I loved, so it's all good. 8) CLOCKWORK ANGELS - Rush. These guys just keep getting better and better, and I'm not what you would call a typical Rush fan, only having come around to their music in the last few years. But as Geddy's voice can't hit those shrieking high notes anymore, what remains is a lot more heartfelt. 9) FANATIC - Heart. Best thing they've done since the 70's. May be their finest ALBUM ever. All I know is it rocks like nobody's business. 10) MONSTER - KISS. Credibility.... I know, I know, BUT they haven't sounded this hungry since CREATURES OF THE NIGHT. When these guys cut out all the bullshit, they too rock like nobody's business. Thanks for indulging me. Quote
Clunky Posted February 17, 2013 Report Posted February 17, 2013 My favorite new releases in 2012 Ted Nash - THE CREEP - Plastic Sax Great recommendation. Got this and played it many times. Thanks Quote
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