The Best Jazz of 2014

[CraigP]

I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole "best" thing, but I like seeing what people rate highly, so here goes:

Top 10 (in order)

Steve Lehman – Mise en Abime (Pi Recordings)

Anna Webber – SIMPLE (Skirl)

RED Trio & Mattias Ståhl - North And The Red Stream (NoBusiness Records)

Max Johnson – The Prisoner (NoBusiness Records)

Jorrit Dijkstra’s Pillow Circles - Live Bimhuis Amsterdam (Driff Records)

Samuel Blaser/Benoit Delbecq/Gerry Hemingway - fourth landscape (Nuscope Recordings)

Wadada Leo Smith – The Great Lakes Suites (TUM)

Stephen Gauci/Kirk Knuffke/Ken Filiano - Chasing Tales (Relative Pitch)

Luis Vicente/Rodrigo Pinheiro/Hernani Faustino/Marco Franco - Clocks and Clouds (FMR Records)

Anthony Braxton – Trio (New Haven) 2013 (New Braxton House)

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order by last name)

Rodrigo Amado - Wire Quartet (Clean Feed)

Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad Quartet – Silver Cornet (Nessa Records)

Anthony Braxton – 12 Duets (DCWM) 2012 (New Braxton House)

3d: Tomasz Dabrowski/Kris Davis/Andrew Drury – vermillion tree (ForTune)

The Danny Fox Trio- Wide Eyed (Hot Cup Records)

Ideal Bread – Beating the Teens (Cunieform Records)

Tyshawn Sorey – Alloy (Pi Recordings)

Reissues (in order)

The Jimmy Giuffre 3 & 4 – New York Concerts (Elemental Music)

Miles Davis – Miles at the Fillmore: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy)

Howard Riley Trio – Angle/The Day Will Come (Hux Records)

Debut Recording

Tesla Coils – S/T (Setola di Maiale) Their first as a group, although at least one member has other albums out, so I don’t know if this counts as a true “debut”.

Edited December 8, 2014 by CraigP

[xybert]

My standout favourites, based purely on enjoyment:

Mary Halvorson - Reverse Blue

Steve Lehman - Mise En Abime

Lee Konitz - First Meeting

JD Allen - Bloom

Allen Lowe - Mulatto Radio

Matthew Shipp - Root of Things

Jason Adasiewicz - From The Region

Aram Shelton - Ton Trio ll: On And On

Also really enjoyed (>>>>>>> = particularly enjoyed):

Pay Metheny - Kin >>>>>>>

The Bad Plus - Inevitable Western >>>>>>>

The Bad Plus - Rite Of Spring >>>>>>>

Mary Halvorson - Thumbscrew >>>>>>>

Matt Bauder - Nightshades

John Hollenbeck - JASS

Tony Malaby - Somos Agua

Dog - Dog

Laubrock / Rainey - And Other Desert Towns

Chick Corea - Portraits

Nicole Mitchell - The Secret Escapades Of Velvet Anderson

Joe Morris - Balance >>>>>>>

Bobby Hutcherson - Enjoy The View

Jason Moran - All Rise

Nels Cline - Macroscope

Matthew Shipp - I've Been To Many Places >>>>>>>

Chris Speed - Really OK >>>>>>>

Chris Speed - Ruins >>>>>>>

John Zorn - On Leaves Of Grass

Reissues/Newly released stuff that was recorded decades ago:

Miles Davis - Bootleg Series/At The Fillmore

Duke Ellington - Treasury Shows Volume 18

Jimmy Giuffre - New York Concerts 1965

Still awaiting the arrival of:

Antonio Sanchez - Birdman OST

Antonio Sanchez - Three Times Three

Ken Vandermark - Made To Break: Cherchez La Femme

Ken Vandermark - Audio One: An International Report

The usual "ask me tomorrow" and "there's so much stuff i haven't had a chance to check out yet" disclaimers apply. I pretty much say this every year, but yeah, an excellent year for jazz, i thought!

Edited December 8, 2014 by xybert

[BeBop]

I can't buy recorded music any more, unless I discard it, usually within a week. So I only bought one CD in 2014: Randy Weston and BIlly Harper, Roots of the Blues. So without any comparison to any other CD purchased in 2014 (but compared to what I heard during about six hours of radio listening a day), I'll say, "I liked Roots of the Blues".

[BillF]

If this one was issued this year, I'm nominating it as one of the best.

[Leeway]

In no particular order:

Roscoe Mitchell - Conversations - with Craig Taborn and Kikanju Baku.

Mary Halvorson - Reverse Blue and Thumbscrew

Ideal Bread - Beating the Teens

Ingrid Laubrock - And Other Desert Towns

Vinny Golia & Urs Leimgruber - Empiricism in the West

Mats Gustafsson- Torturing the Saxophone

Decoy with Joe McPhee - Spontaneous Combustion (2 CD)

Fire! Orchestra - Enter

Brotzmann, Adasiewicz, Edwards, Noble - Mental Shake

Dave Rempis - Balladeer

Dave Rempis - Naancore with Lasse Marhaug

The Whammies - Play Steve Lacy, Vol. 3

Steve Lehman - Mise en Abime

Jorrit Djikstra - Music for Reeds and Electronics

Brandon Evans - downloads at his website/Bandcamp- wonderful music.

[mjazzg]

those that stuck around on the current play pile, in no particular order except maybe I thought of the first two first for a reason

Olie Brice Quintet - Immune to Clockwork [Multi Kulti]

Anton Hunter Trio - s/t [Efpi]

John Escreet - Sound, Space and Structures [sunnyside]

Jason Adasiewicsz Sun Rooms - From the Region [Delmark]

Chicago Underground Duo - Locus [Northern Spy]

Saft/Swallow/Previte - The New Standard [Rare Noise]

Go Go Penguin - v2.0 {Gondwana]

The Grip - s/t [slowfoot]

Brotzmann/Adasiewicsz - Mollie's in the mood [Eremite]

Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra - When the world was one [Gondwana]

David Virelles - Mboko [ECM]

Fire! Orchestra - Enter [Rune Grammofon]

Reissue - Jimmy Giuffre 3 & 4 - New York Concerts

[JohnJ]

New Yorker article on the best jazz reissues of 2014.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/2014-best-jazz-reissues

[GA Russell]

Thanks for that link, John! I had no idea that there is so much of Coltrane there to be released.

[paul secor]

Why the hold up in releasing some of this?

[John Tapscott]

If this one was issued this year, I'm nominating it as one of the best.

It was recorded in 2/14, so it's definitely a candidate, one I would strongly support. I don't buy as many CD's as I used to, but I actually did buy this one, so I could listen to it anywhere.

[Peter Friedman]

Reading all the selections mentioned demonstrates that my taste is extremely different from a large number of those here.

I purchase a significant number of jazz CDs, yet with the exception of a Duke Ellington recording mentioned by one person, I do not own nor have heard any of the others from any of the lists.

As a lover of bebop, mainstream, and some traditional jazz, and some blues, it is highly doubtful that I would have much, if any, interest in the recordings listed thus far.

[BillF]

Three more from this year that I liked:

[alankin]

Reading all the selections mentioned demonstrates that my taste is extremely different from a large number of those here.

I purchase a significant number of jazz CDs, yet with the exception of a Duke Ellington recording mentioned by one person, I do not own nor have heard any of the others from any of the lists.

As a lover of bebop, mainstream, and some traditional jazz, and some blues, it is highly doubtful that I would have much, if any, interest in the recordings listed thus far.

What would be on your list?

[Clunky]

The problem trying to compile these lists is remembering. Inevitably these lists tend to have the releases most recently acquired. In no particular order I enjoyed these fine releases. I could have added several more on Intakt including Laubrock's Zurich and Rainey's Obbligato. A good year of the fine Swiss label. On reflection the Nessa, Ogun and Fataka would be my top 3.

Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad------Silver Cornet---- (Ncd-36)

John Edwards, Mark Sanders, John Tilbury------A field perpetually at the edge of disorder ---- (Fataka 9)

ICP Orchestra -----East Of The Sun ---(ICP 51)

Louis Moholo-Moholo----- 4 Blokes ---(Ogun)

Idea Bread- Beating the Teens--- ( Cunieform)

Lacy,Togashi, Satoh-- Apices----( Studio Songs)

Takase/Von Schlippenbach--So Long Eric----- (Intakt)

Jemeel Moodoc----- The Zookeepers House----(Relative Pitch)

[Leeway]

I've made a practice over the last 5 years of keeping a log of the music I've listened to, the books I've read, and the film I've watched. Not easy, since I tend to be undisciplined in such ways, but once I started, I've kept it going. It's really interesting, and sometimes edifying/dispiriting as the case may be, to review the year in music, books, or film. I just keep the jottings in a student-type spiral notebook. Anyone else do so?

[Larry Kart]

New Yorker article on the best jazz reissues of 2014.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/2014-best-jazz-reissues

All of those sound interesting, but what an oddly limited list in terms of era and style.

[Tom in RI]

I don't buy nearly enough new material to make a best of list but I like seeing what's on the lists of people who do. Will probably pick up one or two based on the above (particularly Ideal Bread).

[Thomas Jackson]

Ambrose Akinmusire - The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Piant

Archie Shepp - I hear The Sound

Harvey Mason - Chamelon

Jason Moran-All Rise

Jose James - While You Were Sleeping

Kris Bowers- Heroes and Misfits

Sean Jones - Improvise Never Before Seen

Takuya Kuroda - Rising Son

Theo Croker - AfroPhysicist

Gary Clark Jr.- Live

word

[Brad]

What's the view on the Powell set mentioned in the New Yorker article.

[Mark Stryker]

The Powell set is awesome musically. The sonics and pitch correction are very good considering the source material -- though I haven't heard earlier CD versions so I can't say the degree to which the latest set is better or worse that previous ones and whether it's worth an upgrade depending what you may already have.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Mark Stryker

[kh1958]

Some pleasing new recordings for the year:

Ahmad Jamal, Saturday Morning (Jazzbook). A late 2013 release, but 2014 for me. Really nice.

Dave Burrell and Steve Swell, Turning Point (No Business). Piano and trombone duo. By the end I was hooked.

Magos Herrera and Javier Limon (Okeh). Spare and beautiful vocal/guitar duos. Songs in Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Jamie Saft, Bobby Previte, Steve Swallow, The New Standard (Rare Noise).

Eric Wyatt, Borough of Kings (Positione).

Azar Lawrence, The Seeker (Sunnyside)

Melissa Aldana and the Crash Trio (Concord)

Jason Moran, All Rise (Blue Note).

Mike DiRubbo, Threshold (Ksanti)

Nils Petter Molvaier, Switch (Okeh)

Billy Harper and Randy Weston, The Roots of the Blues (Sunnyside)

Blues:

Lucky Peterson, Travelin' Man (JSP).

Smoky Babe, Way Back in the Country Blues (Arhoolie)

Albert King, Live in the 70s (Rockbeat)

Brazil

Marisa Monte, Verdade, Uma Ilusao Tour 2012/2013 (EMI)

Adriana Calcanhotto, Olhos de Onda Ao Vivo

Edited January 4, 2015 by kh1958

[Eric]

I've made a practice over the last 5 years of keeping a log of the music I've listened to, the books I've read, and the film I've watched. Not easy, since I tend to be undisciplined in such ways, but once I started, I've kept it going. It's really interesting, and sometimes edifying/dispiriting as the case may be, to review the year in music, books, or film. I just keep the jottings in a student-type spiral notebook. Anyone else do so?

that sounds like a cool idea ... there needs to be an app to log all that stuff!

[Eric]

So using the highly scientific approach of identifying which 2014 albums received the most "plays" in my itunes:

Orrin Evans - Liberation Blues

Misha Tsiganov - Artistry Of The Standard

Eric Wyatt - Borough Of Kings

Eddie Allen - Push

[mjazzg]

I've made a practice over the last 5 years of keeping a log of the music I've listened to, the books I've read, and the film I've watched. Not easy, since I tend to be undisciplined in such ways, but once I started, I've kept it going. It's really interesting, and sometimes edifying/dispiriting as the case may be, to review the year in music, books, or film. I just keep the jottings in a student-type spiral notebook. Anyone else do so?

I keep a list of music purchased but have only done so for a couple of years. What I find sobering reviewing the list at year's end is those titles I've forgotten about...."must buy less" is a recurring New Year's resolution

The problem trying to compile these lists is remembering. Inevitably these lists tend to have the releases most recently acquired. In no particular order I enjoyed these fine releases. I could have added several more on Intakt including Laubrock's Zurich and Rainey's Obbligato. A good year of the fine Swiss label. On reflection the Nessa, Ogun and Fataka would be my top 3.

Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad------Silver Cornet---- (Ncd-36)

John Edwards, Mark Sanders, John Tilbury------A field perpetually at the edge of disorder ---- (Fataka 9)

ICP Orchestra -----East Of The Sun ---(ICP 51)

Louis Moholo-Moholo----- 4 Blokes ---(Ogun)

Idea Bread- Beating the Teens--- ( Cunieform)

Lacy,Togashi, Satoh-- Apices----( Studio Songs)

Takase/Von Schlippenbach--So Long Eric----- (Intakt)

Jemeel Moodoc----- The Zookeepers House----(Relative Pitch)

Nice list Adrian. I haven't bought any of them but they're nearly all 'to buy' list

[CraigP]

Dr. Funkenstein, you reminded me that I need to go listen to Melissa Aldana on Spotify.