Your Favorite Jazz Records of the 1980s?

[Rabshakeh]

Retribution Reparation by Nate Morgan has some good bassoon on it.  

Even weirder: Illinois Jacquet pulls one out for The Blues, That's Me! 

[Joe]

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Joe

[David Ayers]

So who is playing bassoon on these three ?

 

oh sorry not a bassoon thread 

Edited May 9, 2021 by David Ayers

[Joe]

1 hour ago, David Ayers said:

So who is playing bassoon on these three ?

 

oh sorry not a bassoon thread 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

I don't think I have a single jazz record from the 1980s, but certainly have flipped past hundreds of them in the dollar bins.  

That decade's cover art was simply hideous, and not the kind of design that would entice me to want to hear the music inside.

Case in point:

I 

I love "Digitally Processed" in the upper right corner.  "This original analog recording has been electronically rechanneled to simulate digital."

Edited May 9, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[porcy62]

9 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

 

That decade's cover art was simply hideous, and not the kind of design that would entice me to want to hear the music inside.

 

Totally agree, back then in record shop I overlooked lots of records because of the cover.

[JSngry]

14 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Retribution Reparation by Nate Morgan has some good bassoon on it.  

Even weirder: Illinois Jacquet pulls one out for The Blues, That's Me! 

Remember him in the 1970s, on Pablo? One with Dizzy, one of his own? He plays tenor just like he plays bassoon!!!!!!

[HutchFan]

On 5/9/2021 at 6:56 AM, Rabshakeh said:

Even weirder: Illinois Jacquet pulls one out for The Blues, That's Me! 

Oh you're right.  I'd forgotten about that!   

 

On 5/9/2021 at 10:25 AM, Teasing the Korean said:

I don't think I have a single jazz record from the 1980s, but certainly have flipped past hundreds of them in the dollar bins.  

That decade's cover art was simply hideous, and not the kind of design that would entice me to want to hear the music inside.

I don't disagree that there was some wretched cover (non)design during the 1980s. 

...But there was some excellent cover art too, IMO.  See two cases in point below, both issued on the Gramavision label:

 

and

And, more importantly, the music on these albums is every bit as good as the cover images -- if not better.

[Teasing the Korean]

On 5/16/2021 at 3:38 PM, HutchFan said:

Oh you're right.  I'd forgotten about that!   

I don't disagree that there was some wretched cover (non)design during the 1980s. 

...But there was some excellent cover art too, IMO.  See two cases in point below, both issued on the Gramavision label:

I couldn't see the first of the two images you posted. I realize there were exceptions, 

[Д.Д.]

Recorded in 1982:

• Dewey Redman Quartet - The Struggle Continues (ECM)
• Sonny Simmons - Backwoods Suite (West Wind)
• Chet Baker - Peace (Enja Matthias Winkelmann)
• Borbetomagus - Barbed Wire Maggots (Agaric)
• Joel Futterman / Jimmy Lyons / Robert Adkins - In-Between-Position(S) - A Trio In Eight Movements (L+R). I think this one is better than the Lyons / Cyrille duo from the same year, Burnt Offering (Black Saint) 
• Derek Bailey / Joëlle Léandre / George Lewis / Evan Parker - 28 Rue Dunois Juillet 1982 (Fou)
• Joe McPhee Po Music - Oleo (Hat Hut). Good stuff, although not as interesting as McPhee's "Topology" from the previous year.
• Sun Ra Arkestra - Nuclear War (Atavistic). Not the best Sun Ra out there, for sure, but I like it for the classic title track and for punchy and concise solos of the usual suspects.  
• Andrew Cyrille - The Navigator (Soul Note). I am not a Cyrille fan, but this one is perfect. 
• Sonny Simmons - Global Jungle (Deal With It)
• Steve Lacy Seven - Clichés (Hat Hut). The Lacy compositions are weak, but the playing of all involved is superb (George Lewis!). 
• Ron Carter / Jim Hall - Live at Village West (Concord Jazz). Class. 
• Lauren Newton - Filigree (Hat Hut). This one is amazing and annoying in nearly equal measures.  
• Bob Moses ‎– When Elephants Dream Of Music (Gramavision). This is some unique and indescribable stuff that could not have been created earlier than 1980s (unlike some other albums on this list) - thanks, Rabshakeh
• Tony Coe - Tournée Du Chat (nato) - recorded in 1981-82
• Peter Kowald & Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Maarten Altena ‎– Bass Duets (FMP) - duets with Guy and Altena recorded in 1981 and 1982, respectively. 
• Lol Coxhill - Instant Replay (nato) - recorded in 1981 and1982.

What stroke me when I was listening to these albums was how well they were recorded, including most of the live recordings. Definitely better than the majority of the stuff recorded in 1970s. Were early 80s the zenith of the analog recording?   

Edited August 12, 2022 by Д.Д.

[HutchFan]

Nice list, D.D.  

 

11 minutes ago, Д.Д. said:

Were early 80s the zenith of the analog recording?   

Possibly.  There are a ton of excellent recordings from that time, AQ-wise. 

One example: I think many early-80s Enja LPs sound superb -- i.e., Chet Baker's Peace, on your list.

 

[Д.Д.]

5 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Nice list, D.D.  

Well, thanks. I am off to 1983 stuff.  

[Rabshakeh]

29 minutes ago, Д.Д. said:

Recorded in 1982:

• Dewey Redman Quartet - The Struggle Continues (ECM)
• Sonny Simmons - Backwoods Suite (West Wind)
• Chet Baker - Peace (Enja Matthias Winkelmann)
• Borbetomagus - Barbed Wire Maggots (Agaric)
• Joel Futterman / Jimmy Lyons / Robert Adkins - In-Between-Position(S) - A Trio In Eight Movements (L+R). I think this one is better than the Lyons / Cyrille duo from the same year, Burnt Offering (Black Saint) 
• Derek Bailey / Joëlle Léandre / George Lewis / Evan Parker - 28 Rue Dunois Juillet 1982 (Fou)
• Joe McPhee Po Music - Oleo (Hat Hut). Good stuff, although not as interesting as McPhee's "Topology" from the previous year.
• Sun Ra Arkestra - Nuclear War (Atavistic). Not the best Sun Ra out there, for sure, but I like it for the classic title track and for punchy and concise solos of the usual suspects.  
• Andrew Cyrille - The Navigator (Soul Note). I am not a Cyrille fan, but this one is perfect. 
• Sonny Simmons - Global Jungle (Deal With It)
• Steve Lacy Seven - Clichés (Hat Hut). The Lacy compositions are weak, but the playing of all involved is superb (George Lewis!). 
• Ron Carter / Jim Hall - Live at Village West (Concord Jazz). Class. 
• Lauren Newton - Filigree (Hat Hut). This one is amazing and annoying in nearly equal measures.  
• Bob Moses ‎– When Elephants Dream Of Music (Gramavision). This is some unique and indescribable stuff that could not have been created earlier than 1980s (unlike some other albums on this list) - thanks, Rabshakeh
• Tony Coe - Tournée Du Chat (nato) - recorded in 1981-82
• Peter Kowald & Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Maarten Altena ‎– Bass Duets (FMP) - duets with Guy and Altena recorded in 1981 and 1982, respectively. 

What stroke me when I was listening to these albums was how well they were recorded, including most of the live recordings. Definitely better than the majority of the stuff recorded in 1970s. Were early 80s the zenith of the analog recording?   

Great stuff! Thanks. I am glad Elephants made the list. 

[HutchFan]

Forum Amigos,

Last night, I stumbled across The Village Voice Best Jazz of the 1980s Poll from August 28, 1990 -- re-published on Destination Out.  I thought it might be stir up this thread a bit with some perspectives from back in the day.

I won't bother with griping about the fact that they call these the "best" records, a pet peeve of mine.  We'll overlook that.  Instead, let's just call this an influential assemblage of records from the time -- and maybe even the writers' "favorites," a word that I find more helpful, descriptive, and accurate.   

 

Village Voice Best Jazz of the 1980s Poll

Bob Blumenthal, The Boston Globe
Tim Berne, Sanctified Dreams (Columbia)
John Carter, Castles of Ghana (Gramavision)
Dave Holland, Seeds of Time (ECM)
Ronald Shannon Jackson, Eye on You (About Time)
Steve Lacy, Prospectus (Hat Hut)
Henry Threadgill, Easily Slip Into Another World (Novus)
Steve Turre, Viewpoint (Stash)
Edward Wilkerson Jr., Eight Bold Souls (Sessoms)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)
John Zorn, The Big Gundown (Nonesuch)

Richard Cook, The Wire
Paul Bley, Tears (Owl)
Dennis Gonzales’s New Dallas Quartet, Stefan (Silkheart)
Joe Henderson, State of the Tenor, Volume 1 (Blue Note)
Andre Hodier/Martial Solal Orchestra, Jouvent (Carlyne)
Steve Lacy, Ballets (hat ART)
David Murray, Ming (Black Saint)
Evan Parker, The Snake Decides (Incus)
Cecil Taylor, Garden (hat ART)
Edward Vesala, Lumi (ECM)
Cassandra Wilson, Blue Skies (JMT)

Stanley Crouch, Notes of a Hanging Judge (Oxford)
The American Jazz Orchestra/Benny Carter, Central City Sketches (MusicMasters)
Betty Carter, Look What I Got (Verve)
Art Farmer, Something to Live For (Contemporary)
Tommy Flanagan, Thelonica (Enja)
Shirley Horn, Live at Vine Street (Verve)
Clifford Jordan, Repetition (Black Saint)
Wynton Marsalis, Black Codes From the Underground (Columbia)
Wynton Marsalis, The Majesty of the Blues (Columbia)
Max Roach, Bright Moments (Soul Note)
Sonny Rollins, G-Man (Milestone)

Francis Davis, Outcats (Oxford)
John Carter, Castles of Ghana (Gramavision)
Ornette Coleman, Virgin Beauty (Portrait)
Anthony Davis, Hemisphere (Gramavision)
Abdullah Ibrahim, African River (Enja)
Helen Merrill/Gil Evans, Collaboration (Emarcy)
The Microscopic Septet, Beauty Based on Science (Stash)
Don Pullen, New Beginnings (Blue Note)
Henry Threadgill, Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (About Time)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)
Edward Wilkerson Jr., Eight Bold Souls (Sessoms)

Amy Duncan, The Christian Science Monitor
Michael Brecker (Impulse)
Betty Carter, Look What I Got (Verve)
The Lounge Lizards, Voice of Chunk (Legarto)
Carmen McRae, Carmen Sings Monk (Novus)
Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman, Song X (Geffen)
James Morrison, Postcards From Down Under (Atlantic)
Daniel Ponce, Arawe (Island)
Lew Tabackin, Desert Lady (Concord)
Henry Threadgill, You Know the Number (Novus)
Tick & Patti, Tears of Joy (Windham Hill)

Leonard Feather, The Jazz Years: Earwitness to an Era (Da Capo)
Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sumi-E (Insights)
Bird: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Columbia)
Jane Ira Bloom, Slalom (Columbia)
Mercer Ellington, Digital Duke (GRP)
Manhattan Transfer, Vocalese (Atlantic)
Branford Marsalis, Renaissance (Columbia)
Wynton Marsalis (Columbia)
Marcus Roberts, The Truth Is Spoken Here (Novus)
Turtle Island String Quartet (Windham Hill)
Sarah Vaughan/Count Basic, Send In the Clowns (Pablo)

Will Friedwald, Jazz Singing: America’s Great Voices From Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond (Scribners)
Tony Bennett, Astoria: A Portrait of the Artist (Columbia)
Betty Carter, Whatever Happened to Love? (Verve)
Kenny Davern, One Hour Tonight (MusicMasters)
Stan Getz/Chet Baker, Line for Lyons (Sonet)
Warne Marsh, Star Highs (Criss Cross)
Mark Murphy, Bop for Kerouac (Muse)
Art Pepper, The Complete Galaxy Recordings (Fantasy)
Frank Sinatra, She Shot Me Down (Reprise)
Mel Torme/Marty Paich, Live at Fujitsu (Concord)
Sarah Vaughan, Crazy and Mixed Up (Pablo)

Steve Futterman, Rolling Stone
Geri Allen/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian, In the Year of the Dragon (JMT)
Air, 80 Degrees Below ’82 (Antilles)
Arthur Blythe, Illusions (Columbia)
Jack DeJohnette, Album Album (ECM)
Marty Ehrlich, Traveler’s Tale (Enja)
Craig Harris, Tributes (Of The Cosmos)
Dave Holland, Triplicate (ECM)
David Murray, Home (Black Saint)
Bobby Previte, Claude’s Late Morning (Gramavision)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

Gary Giddins, Village Voice
Muhal Richard Abrams, The Hearinga Suite (Black Saint)
George Adams/Don Pullen, Decisions (Timeless)
John Carter, “Roots and Folklore: Episodes in the Development of American Folk Music,” five volumes (Black Saint/Gramavision)
Ornette Coleman, In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams)
Tommy Flanagan, Thelonica (Enja)
David Murray, New Life (Black Saint)
Max Roach/Dizzy Gillespie, Max + Dix: Paris 1989 (A&M)
Sonny Rollins, G-Man (Milestone)
Cecil Taylor, In Berlin ’88 (FMP)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

Ira Gitler, Jazz Times
Pepper Adams, Urban Dreams (Palo Alto)
Al Cohn, The Final Performance, Volume One (Razmtaz)
Walter Davis Jr., Illumination (Jazz C ity)
Tommy Flanagan, Thelonica (Enja)
Barry Harris, For the Moment (Uptown)
Jimmy Rowles, Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (Columbia)
Zoot Sims, Quietly There (Pablo)
Sphere, Live at Umbria (Red)
Vienna Art Orchestra, From No Time to Ragtime (hat ART)
Phil Woods, The Macerata Concert (Philology)

Deborah E. Halper, United Hospital Fund
Kenny Barron, At the Piano (Xanadu)
Willem Breuker, Metropolis (Bvhaast)
Stan Getz, Pure Getz (Concord)
John Lewis, Kansas City Breaks (Finesse)
Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra, Make Me Smile and Other New Works by Bob Brookmeyer (Finesse)
Paul Motian, On Broadway, Volume 1 (JMT)
David Murray, Deep River (DIW)
Art Pepper, The Complete Galaxy Recordings (Fantasy)
Sonny Rollins, Falling in Love with Jazz (Milestone)
Roswell Rudd/Steve Lacy/Misha Mengelberg/Kent Carter/Han Bennink, Regeneration (Soul Note)

Senator Jesse Helms, Jefferson and Paine: Dupes for Communism? (Arlington House)
Chuck Berry, Roll Over Jolson (Parchesi)
Al Jolson, A Man and His Mammy (Reprise)
Al Jolson/Al Bowlly, Two Guys Named Al: The Jolie-Bowlly Sessions (Archie Rice)
Al Jolson/Duke Ellington, Black, Brown and Burnt Cork (Mills)
Al Jolson/Tipper Gore, We’re Clean! (MCA)
Al Jolson/Public Enemy, I Gotta Right to Sing the Jews (Def Vaud)
Don Lockwood/Lena Lamont, The Dueling Mammy (Monumental)
Arthur Miller, All My Jol-Sons (Kazan)
2 Live Crew, Free to Be Al Jolson, Clyde Tolson, Chuck Colson, Asa Yoelson, Benny Golsen, Jimmy Olson (Luke Kneebender)
John Zorn, News for Jolson (Cork ART)

James Isaacs, WBUR-FM Boston
Charles Brown, One More for the Road (Alligator)
Jerry Gonzales, Rhumba Para Monk (Sunnyside)
Andrew Hill, Eternal Spirit (Blue Note)
Shirley Horn, Close Enough for Love (Verve)
Steve Lacy, The Door (Novus)
Philly Joe Jones and Dameronia, Look, Stop & Listen (Uptown)
Helen Merrill/Gil Evans, Collaboration (Emarcy)
J. R. Montrose/Tommy Flanagan, A Little Pleasure (Uptown)
Caetano Veloso, Estrangeiro (Nonesuch)

Willard Jenkins, National Jazz Service Organization
Art Blakey, Album of the Year (Timeless)
Arthur Blythe, Light Blue (Columbia)
Betty Carter, The Audience (Verve)
Julius Hemphill, Big Band (Musician)
Dave Holland, Seeds of Time (ECM)
Freddie Hubbard/Woody Shaw, Double Take (Blue Note)
The Leaders, Mudfoot (Blackhawk)
Wynton Marsalis, Black Codes From the Underground (Columbia)
David Murray, Ming (Black Saint)
Sonny Rollins, G-Man (Milestone)

Lee Jeske, New York Post
Muhal Richard Abrams, Blues Forever (Black Saint)
George Adams/Don Pullen, Live at the Village Vanguard, Volume 2 (Soul Note)
Art Ensemble of Chicago, Full Force (ECM)
Ornette Coleman, In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams)
Abdullah Ibrahim, Water From an Ancient Well (Blackhawk)
Steve Lacy/Brion Gyson, Songs (hat ART)
Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman, Song X (Geffen)
David Murray, Ming (Black Saint)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

Burt Korall, Drummin’ Man (Schirmer, forthcoming)
Miles Davis, Aura (Columbia)
Stan Getz, Anniversary (Emarcy)
Tom Harrell, Stories (Contemporary)
Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra, Make Me Smile and Other New Works by Bob Brookmeyer (Finesse)
Mel Lewis, The Lost Art (MusicMasters)
Wynton Marsalis, Black Codes From the Underground (Columbia)
Sonny Rollins, The Solo Album (Milestone)
Jimmy Rowles, Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (Columbia)
Bud Shank, That Old Feeling (Contemporary)
Mel Torme/Marty Paich, Reunion (Concord)

Jeff Levinson, Billboard
Muhal Richard Abrams, Blues Forever (Black Saint)
Art Blakey, Album of the Year (Timeless)
Ornette Coleman, In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams)
Jack DeJohnette, Album Album (ECM)
Gil Evans/Steve Lacy, Paris Blues (Owl)
Dave Holland, Seeds of Time (ECM)
Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman, Song X (Geffen)
Don Pullen, The Sixth Sense (Black Saint)
Tony Scott, Africa Bird (Soul Note)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

John Litweiler, The Freedom Principle: Jazz After 1958 (Da Capo)
Anthony Braxton, Composition 113 (Sound Aspects)
Pierre Dorge, New Jungle Orchestra (SteepleChase)
Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman, Song X (Geffen)
Roscoe Mitchell, Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancing Shoes (Nessa)
Evan Parker, The Snake Decides (Incus)
Leo Smith, Touch the Earth (FMP)
Cecil Taylor, In Berlin ’88 (FMP)
Henry Threadgill, Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (About Time)
Mal Waldron/Steve Lacy, Snake Out (hat MUSICS)
Edward Wilkerson Jr., Eight Bold Souls (Sessoms)

Graham Lock, Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton (Da Capo)
Anthony Braxton, Composition 98 (hat ART)
Anthony Braxton, Six Compositions: Quartet 1981 (Antilles)
Anthony Braxton, Four Compositions: Quartet 1983 (Black Saint)
Anthony Braxton, Six Compositions: Quartet 1984 (Black Saint)
Anthony Braxton, Quartet London 1985 (Leo)
Anthony Braxton, Six Compositions: Quartet (hat ART)*
Marilyn Crispell, Gaia (Leo)
Andrew Hill, Shades (Soul Note)
Red Mitchell/Warne Marsh, Hot House (Storyville)
Leo Smith, Procession of the Great Ancestry (Nessa)

* Graham Lock informs us that this album title, which we’ve reproduced exactly as it’s listed on the original Voice page, was somehow garbled, perhaps in the original editing process, and doesn’t correspond to any Braxton title he is aware of.

John McDonough, The Wall Street Journal
Howard Alden/Dan Barrett, Salute to Buck Clayton (Concord)
The American Jazz Orchestra, Ellington Masterpieces (East West)
The American Jazz Orchestra/Benny Carter, Central City Sketches (MusicMasters)
Count Basie, Mostly Blues (Pablo)
Buck Clayton, A Swinging Dream (Stash)
Panama Francis, The Black and Blue Sessions (Inner City)
Bud Freeman, The Real (Principally Jazz)
Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra, Definitive Thad Jones (MusicMasters)
Modern Jazz Quartet, For Ellington (East West)
Loren Schoenberg, Time Waits for No One (MusicMasters)

Dan Morgenstern, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers
Muhal Richard Abrams, UMO Plays the Music of (UMO)
The American Jazz Orchestra/Benny Carter, Central City Sketches (MusicMasters)
Ruby Braff/Dick Hyman, America the Beautiful (Concord)
Benny Carter, Over the Rainbow (MusicMasters)
Kenny Davern, One Hour Tonight (MusicMasters)
Stan Getz, Anniversary (Emarcy)
Don Joseph, One of a Kind (Uptown)
Mr. Tram Associates, Getting Some Fun out of Life (Audiophile)
Marcus Roberts, The Truth Is Spoken Here (Novus)
Dick Wellstood, After You’ve Gone (Unisson)

Marpessa Dawn Outlaw, The Village Voice
Don Cherry, Art Deco (A&M)
Miles Davis, Tutu (Warners
Fred Houn, We Refuse to Be Used and Abused (Soul Note)
Fred Houn, Tomorrow Is Now! (Soul Note)
Jack DeJohnette, New Directions in Europe (ECM)
OTB, Inside Track (Blue Note)
Courtney Pine, Journey to the Urge Within (Antilles)
Archie Shepp, Little Red Moon (Soul Note)
Cassandra Wilson, Days Aweigh (JMT)
World Saxophone Quartet, Live in Zurich (Black Saint)

Don Palmer, Black Arts Annual
Ornette Coleman, In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams)
Kip Hanrahan, Days and Nights of Blue Luck Inverted (Pangaea)
Ronald Shannon Jackson, Eye on You (About Time)
Frank Lowe, Decision in Paradise (Soul Note)
Ellis Marsalis/Eddie Harris, Homecoming (Spindletop)
Sonny Sharrock, Seize the Rainbow (Enemy)
Henry Threadgill, Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (About Time)
James Blood Ulmer, Are you Glad to Be in America? (Rough Trade)
Edward Wilkerson Jr., Eight Bold Souls (Sessoms)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

Peter Pullman, Freelance critic
Bobby Bradford/John Carter, Comin’ On (Hat Hut)
Anthony Braxton, Quartet London 1985 (Leo)
Anthony Braxton/Derek Bailey, Momenteux Precieux (Victo)
Jerome Cooper, Outer and Inner Actions (About Time)
Marilyn Crispell, Live in Berlin (Soul Note)
Steve Lacy/Mal Waldron, Sempre Amore (Soul Note)
Roscoe Mitchell, The Flow of Things (Black Saint)
Evan Parker/Steve Lacy, Chirps (FMP)
Cecil Taylor, In Berlin ’88 (FMP)
Edward Wilkerson Jr., Eight Bold Souls (Sessoms)

Doug Ramsey, Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of Its Makers (Arkansas)
Chick Corea, Akoustic Band (GRP)
Stan Getz, The Dolphin (Concord)
Tommy Flanagan, Super Session (Inner City)
Jim Hall, These Rooms (Denon)
Joe Henderson, The State of the Tenor, Volumes 1 & 2 (Blue Note)
Dave Holland, Jumpin’ There (ECM)
Wynton Marsalis, J Mood (Columbia)
Zoot Sims, Quietly There (Pablo)
Sphere, Flight Path (Musician)
Phil Woods, Bop Stew (Concord)

Gene Santoro, The Nation
Geri Allen, In the Alley (Minor Music)
Tim Berne, Fulton Street Maul (Columbia)
John Carter, “Roots and Folklore: Episodes in the Development of America Folk Music,” five volumes (Black Saint/Gramavision)
Ornette Coleman, In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams)
Bill Frisell, Look Out for Hope (ECM)
Dave Holland, The Razor’s Edge (ECM)
Paul Motian, Monk in Motian (JMT)
David Murray, Murray’s Steps (Black Saint)
James Newton, The African Flower (Blue Note)
Henry Threadgill, Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (About Time)

W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Times
George Adams, America (Blue Note)
Art Ensemble of Chicago, Full Force (ECM)
Betty Carter, Look What I Got (Verve)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band, My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now (Concord)
Charlie Haden, Ballad of the Fallen (ECM)
Branford Marsalis, Trio Jeepy (Columbia)
Wynton Marsalis, The Majesty of the Blues (Columbia)
Don Pullen, New Beginnings (Blue Note)
Emily Remler, Transitions (Concord)
James Blood Ulmer, America — Do You Remember the Love? (Blue Note)

John F. Szwed, Yale University
George Adams/Don Pullen, Live at Montmartre (Timeless)
Chet Baker/Warne Marsh, Blues for a Reason (Criss Cross)
Count Basie, Kansas City Shout (Pablo)
Anthony Braxton, Quartet London 1985 (Leo)
Steve Lacy, The Door (Novus)
Dave Liebman, Tribute to John Coltrane (Owl)
London Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, Zurich Concerts (Intakt)
Jimmy Lyons/Andrew Cyrille, Something in Return (Black Saint)
Max Roach/Dizzy Gillespie, Max + Diz: Paris 1989 (A&M)
Cecil Taylor, In Berlin ’88 (FMP)

Greg Tate, The Village Voice
Charlie Haden/Paul Motian/Geri Allen, Etudes (Soul Note)
Ronald Shannon Jackson, Barbeque Dog (Antilles)
Greg Osby, And Sound Theater (JMT)
Power Tools, Strange Meeting (Antilles)
Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Def Jam)
Michele Rosewoman, Quintessence (Enja)
Cecil Taylor, For Olim (Soul Note)
Henry Threadgill, Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (About Time)
James Blood Ulmer, Are You Glad to Be in America? (Rough Trade)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

Stuart Troup, Newsday
Art Farmer, Something to Live For (Contemporary)
Tommy Flanagan, Thelonica (Enja)
Dave Frishberg, Let’s Eat Home (Concord)
Stan Getz, The Dolphin (Concord)
Tom Harrell, Sail Away (Contemporary)
Woody Herman, Woody’s Gold Star (Concord)
Branford Marsalis, Scenes in the City (Columbia)
Ken Peplowski, Sunny Side (Concord)
Zoot Sims/Joe Pass, Blues for Two (Pablo)
James Williams, Magical Trio (Emarcy)

Peter Watrous, The New York Times
Muhal Richard Abrams, The Hearinga Suite (Black Saint)
Tim Berne, Sanctified Dreams (Columbia)
Ornette Coleman, Virgin Beauty (Portrait)
Jack DeJohnette, Album Album (ECM)
Dave Holland, Triplicate (ECM)
David Murray, Ming (Black Saint)
Ralph Peterson, Triangular (Blue Note)
Marcus Roberts, Deep in the Shed (Novus)
Henry Threadgill, You Know the Number (Novus)
World Saxophone Quartet, Revue (Black Saint)

Erik Wiedemann, Jazz i Danmark (Gyldendal)
Chet Baker, Let’s Get Lost (Novus)
Miles Davis, Aura (Columbia)
Jack DeJohnette, Album Album (ECM)
Stan Getz, Anniversary (Emarcy)
John Hicks/David Murray, Sketches of Tokyo (DIW)
Keith Jarrett, Still Lives (ECM)
David Murray, Ming (Black Saint)
David Murray, Morning Song (Black Saint)
James Newton, The African Flower (Blue Note)
Michel Petrucciani, Power of Three (Blue Note)

Norm Weinstein, East-West Journal
Michael Bisio, In Seattle (Silkheart)
John Carter, Dance of the Love Ghosts (Gramavision)
Pierre Dorge, Brikama (SteepleChase)
The Ganelin Trio, Ttaango…in Nickelsdorf (Leo)
Sheila Jordan, The Crossing (Blackhawk)
Steve Lacy, Futurities (Hat Hut)
David Murray/Randy Weston, The Healers (Black Saint)
Max Roach, Chattahoochee Red (Columbia)
Sonny Rollins, G-Man (Milestone)
Cecil Taylor, In Berlin ’88 (FMP)

Jay Weiser, New York Native
Ahmed Abdullah, And the Solomonic Quintet (Silkheart)
The American Jazz Orchestra/Benny Carter, Central City Sketches (MusicMasters)
Rosemary Clooney, The Music of Johnny Mercer (Concord)
Ella Fitzgerald/Joe Pass, Speak Love (Pablo)
Lee Konitz, Dovetail (Sunnyside)
Lee Konitz, The New York Album (Soul Note)
Kirk Lightsey/Harold Danko, Shorter by Two (Sunnyside)
Frank Morgan, Mood Indigo (Antilles)
Bobby Watson, No Question About It (Blue Note)
James Williams, Magical Trio 2 (Emarcy)

Kevin Whitehead, Fresh Air—NPR
Maarten Altena, Quotl (hat ART)
John Carter, “Roots and Folklore: Episodes in the Development of American Folk Music,” five volumes (Black Saint/Gramavision)
Ornette Coleman, Virgin Beauty (Portrait)
Carlo Actis Dato, Oltremare (Splasc[h])
Andrew Hill, Shades (Soul Note)
Dave Holland, The Razor’s Edge (ECM)
Evan Parker, Six of a Kind (Incus)
Cassandra Wilson, Point of View (JMT)
Edward Wilkerson Jr., Eight Bold Souls (Sessoms)
Kahil El’Zabar/David Murray, Golden Sea (Sound Aspects)

Edited July 26, 2021 by HutchFan

[soulpope]

Great to see Betty Carter nominated recurringly .... well deserved .... 

[Dub Modal]

That Jesse Helms entry has to be satire, correct? 

[HutchFan]

Does anything jump out at anyone?  Specific artist-wise?  Or general trend-wise?

Two things I immediately noticed:
 - Practically no LATIN JAZZ.
 - Practically no jazz from EUROPE or anywhere outside of the U.S.

Perhaps it's not surprising that the lists are very U.S.-centric, since the publication is based in the U.S.  But still . . .  

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by HutchFan

[Niko]

quite a few surprises there... Album Album as the most popular ECM album (and not a single mention of Special Edition)... almost nothing on Criss Cross or Steeplechase... e.g. what about some of those glorious late Chet Baker albums (some are mentioned but not the best ones)...

[HutchFan]

10 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

That Jesse Helms entry has to be satire, correct? 

Yup.

 

[Dub Modal]

4 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Perhaps it's not surprising that the lists are very U.S.-centric, since the publication is based in the U.S.  But still . . .  

Were these writers behaving as a kind of vanguard for a struggling domestic genre at the time, and one they may have had some sort of personal stake in? Just wondering if that contributed a bit to the US-centric focus. Not that it's wrong if that was the case, just more illustrative of the times. 

[JSngry]

Eight Bold Souls

[Niko]

No Herbie Hancock, no John Abercrombie, just a single mention of the Brecker brothers... somehow many of the lists don't fit very well with my image of the 80s... I mean, there is a lot of Marsalis, and Ming by David Murray and other usual suspects... but that type of album that would have Peter Erskine on drums and John Patitucci on bass (there must have been hundreds) does not seem well represented

[HutchFan]

9 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

Were these writers behaving as a kind of vanguard for a struggling domestic genre at the time, and one they may have had some sort of personal stake in? Just wondering if that contributed a bit to the US-centric focus. Not that it's wrong if that was the case, just more illustrative of the times. 

I think the lists are just a reflection of what the authors are familiar with and dig.

A comparison: ESPN always features stories with a NY interest because NY is the biggest market -- and that's where they're based (approximately).  I don't think this list is any different.  It's a sort of parochialism that results from thinking you're in the center of ALL the action.

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by HutchFan

[Larry Kart]

12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Eight Bold Souls

I think I wrote the first review they got. It was enthusiastic.

P.S. I think John Litweiler may have been the first.

[HutchFan]

On the positive side:  It's nice to see John Carter getting lots of mentions. 

Castles of Ghana -- and his entire "Roots and Folklore" series -- is a towering masterpiece, IMO.