Best Jazz Albums of 2007

[Lazaro Vega]

http://www.slate.com/id/2180205/

[GARussell]

We've had some discussion of the Paul Bley. My Carla Bley is waiting till Christmas Day to be opened up!

[Elissa]

Anyone heard that Kendra Shank album? I love those Abbey tunes. Actually I love most Abbey tunes.

[Guest Bill Barton]

Anyone heard that Kendra Shank album? I love those Abbey tunes. Actually I love most Abbey tunes.

I haven't heard the Kendra Shank, but one of the year's highlights for me, definitely ranking high on my personal list for 2007, is Abbey Sings Abbey.

[Lazaro Vega]

Yes, Abbey Sings Abbey is a more compelling album. Shank does alright with the music, she just dosn't bring it to life the way Abbey does. There's a version of "Down Here Below" where Shank is cast alongside a bass clarinet, from what I remember, and it works musically -- yet when Abbey sings it you know right off that this song is a prayer first and always then a song.

The Slate list is good. Hard to argue with. For a fuller view of the year include something from the Monterey Jazz Records series, the Miles Quintet with George Coleman, Herbie, Carter and Williams for instance; as well as mention of the great King Oliver re-issue from Off the Record.

As for new albums, this year was made that much richer with "Streaming" by Muhal, Roscoe and Lewis; as well as The Exploding Star Orchestra, "We Are All From Somewhere Else."

[GregK]

Yes, Abbey Sings Abbey is a more compelling album. Shank does alright with the music, she just dosn't bring it to life the way Abbey does. There's a version of "Down Here Below" where Shank is cast alongside a bass clarinet, from what I remember, and it works musically -- yet when Abbey sings it you know right off that this song is a prayer first and always then a song.

The Slate list is good. Hard to argue with. For a fuller view of the year include something from the Monterey Jazz Records series, the Miles Quintet with George Coleman, Herbie, Carter and Williams for instance; as well as mention of the great King Oliver re-issue from Off the Record.

As for new albums, this year was made that much richer with "Streaming" by Muhal, Roscoe and Lewis; as well as The Exploding Star Orchestra, "We Are All From Somewhere Else."

Streaming came out in 2006.

[Guest Bill Barton]

I'd agree that the list is a pretty darned good recap of the year. Here's a copy of the one I prepared for CODA toward the end of October 2007 (deadlines, ya know.) It's always a challenge to limit oneself to that arbitrary ten... I tried to include as much stylistic variety as possible, choosing from the releases that have affected me personally. You may notice that the list is skewed a bit toward Seattle-area musicians; I'm a firm believer in supporting your local/regional artists in any way that you can, most particularly by going out and hearing live music.

____________________________________________

CODA 2007 Top Ten

Bill Barton

Seattle, WA, USA

Paul Bley – Solo in Mondsee – ECM

Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura – In Krakow, In November – Not Two

Hal Galper/Jeff Johnson/John Bishop – Furious Rubato – Origin

David Haney & Julian Priester – Ota Benga of the Batwa – CIMP

Steve Kuhn Trio – Live at Birdland – Blue Note

Thomas Marriott – Both Sides of the Fence – Origin

Mark O'Leary/Cuong Vu/Tom Rainey – Waiting – Leo

Maria Schneider Orchestra – Sky Blue – Artist Share

Wally Shoup/Gust Burns/Reuben Radding/Greg Campbell – The Levitation Shuffle – Clean Feed

Warren Smith – Natural Cultural Forces – Engine

__________________________________________________

Runners up, in addition to Abbey Sings Abbey, include the Marty Ehrlich/Myra Melford Spark!, William Hooker/Sabir Mateen Dharma and Fred Hersch Trio Night and the Music.

Since the list was compiled, Bobby Few Lights and Shadows, Satoko Fujii/Carla Kihlstedt Minamo, Josh Roseman New Constellations, John Butcher/Torsten Muller/Dylan van der Schyff Way Out Northwest and Charmaine Clamor Flippin' Out have impressed me greatly.

I didn't have a chance to hear many reissued or archival recordings this year. Fred Katz Folk Songs for Far Out Folk is a gem. And Miles Davis Complete On the Corner is a MF.

Edited December 20, 2007 by Bill Barton

[ghost of miles]

Still working on a best-new-releases list--here's the "favorite reissue/historical" list that I've compiled so far for the Night Lights site:

Miles Davis, LIVE AT THE 1963 MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL

Art Farmer, THE TIME AND THE PLACE

Lionel Hampton, COMP. VICTOR SESSIONS 1937-1941

Julie London/Bud Shank, ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT

Bennie Maupin, THE JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

Charles Mingus, CORNELL 1964

King Oliver, OFF THE RECORD: THE COMP. 1923 JAZZ BAND RECORDINGS

George Russell, EZZ-THETIC (Keepnews Collection series)

Jimmy Smith, BACK AT THE CHICKEN SHACK/MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (RVG series)

Various, THAT DEVILIN' TUNE V. 4 (technically 2006? close enough for jazz)

...and the entire ESP catalogue.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Surprisingly little mention of the Reuben Wilson, Grant Green Jr, Bernard Purdie "Godfathers of groove"

Or, for that matter, among previously unissued matter retrieved from vaults, The Harlem Arts Ensemble, "Live in New York" and Etta Jones/Houston Person's "Don't misunderstand".

MG

[Lazaro Vega]

Was "Streaming" in '06? Glad there were follow up tours from it this year. The Abrams solo album, then, this year.

[Nate Dorward]

Re: "historical" issues/reissues--don't forget--

Graham Collier, Hoarded Dreams

Iskra 1903, Chapter Two: 1981-3

Paul Rutherford, Solo in Berlin 1975

Introducing Kenny Cox

Andrew Hill, Change

[Lazaro Vega]

Any other opinions on New records from 2007?

[Joe G]

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...st&p=720044

Gave this one another spin yesterday - some great stuff!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Where've you bin?

MG

[Nate Dorward]

Re: new albums: the ones I've found myself most excited about were the new Bruise disc, the Convergence Quartet, ZMF Trio. Oddly enough many of the best things have just emerged in the past couple of months & I've barely had a chance to listen--for instance I've only spun the new Steve Lehman once but it seemed very strong, maybe I'll have a firmer sense of it after another couple of spins. Ditto the new Sunny Murray album (The Gearbox Explodes). -- Anyway here's a list of things I liked this year.

Of the discs on Kaplan's list, the only one I've heard is the Mingus (which made my list, needless to say). Probably the only one I'd actually be interested in picking up is the Bley solo set, maybe the Motian trio disc too.

Edited December 22, 2007 by Nate Dorward

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Where've you bin?

1) wicca ceremonies for the solstice

2) preparing a chamber opera based on the X-Mas Day Death of James Brown

3) trying to satisy Jenufa

4) file under folk

See what we've been missing?

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

& hey, wow, Hank Jones ain't dead yet-- top 10 for sure!! must be those goat glands, Dizzy's Coca Cola & a couple drops of Wynton piss still left on the toilet seat at Lincoln Center when Hank went in to take "well earned" "dump." (the multiple layers of idiocy & bullshit around the Joni/Herbie are too much for even edc to deconstruct; needless to say, Herbie's better days are l-o-n-g past (too bad) & ya'll oughta force down Joni's Geffen sides before patronizing this pabulum.)

Fred Kaplan, Dizzy's Coca Cola douche, wake the fuck up to your HUGE limitations as a listener, hack (hard to call his blather either "writing" or "criticism") &, for the most, consensus dupe.

maybe if Muhal or Roscoe or Tony or Shipp or Butch or x/y/z much less known but deserving of wider acclamation had put it out records in 2007 this list woulda been a little... darker, compositionally speaking?

naw...

***

"funny" Fred Kaplan fun facts from wikipedia (cavet lector, i know, but chances are he wrote it himself), which might explain... something, if not his ignorance of the million plus African-descendant people (a # making 'em majority minority) in his home borough.

Audio/video

Kaplan is an enthusiast of high-end audio and video equipment, and has reported from the Consumer Electronics Show on new technologies in this area,[1] as well as penning shopping-advice columns on what sorts of new TVs offer the best value.[2]

He often writes about jazz and hi-fi equipment for Stereophile.

Family

He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Brooke Gladstone--a journalist at NPR who co-hosts the weekend show On the Media--and their two daughters.

Well, at least he lives in Brooklyn.

MG

[ejp626]

I'd agree that the list is a pretty darned good recap of the year. Here's a copy of the one I prepared for CODA toward the end of October 2007 (deadlines, ya know.)

David Haney & Julian Priester – Ota Benga of the Batwa – CIMP

This one intrigues me. I don't recall hearing much if anything about it. Do you have a mini-review of this one in CODA or another source?

[Guest Bill Barton]

Where've you bin?

1) wicca ceremonies for the solstice

2) preparing a chamber opera based on the X-Mas Day Death of James Brown

3) trying to satisy Jenufa

4) file under folk

***

seriously, i'm fucking stunned Lazaro could say "good recap," unless he's playing straight man & i've not had enough "Dizzy's Coca Cola" yet to get it, tho' i appreciate the his skillful tone & timing if that was his intention.

the black music (compositionally) issue is but one glaring aspect of that shitpile of an ill-written list. is everything on there lousy? no, of course not & a few things are okay as better. en toto, that "industry" "people" are going along with out of agreement or misplaced politesse is pathetic, really.

but hey, since Max Roach is dead, maybe we don't have to "worry" about such questions anymore, right?

roll the fuck over Fred Kaplan, & tell Max Kaminsky the news-- he needs another fifth of Dizzy's Coca Cola, which is goddamn SWILL.

kind regards,

elder don clementine

I totally agree with you, edc, when it comes to supporting Great Black Music - Ancient to the Future as the AEC calls it. If you've seen the playlists I post for Bright Moments, you'll notice that Muhal, Henry Threadgill, Randy Weston, Sam Rivers, William Parker, Bill Cole, Archie Shepp, Matt Shipp, Julian Priester and plenty of other living Black musicians get lots of exposure. In terms of "best of" lists it's always a case of which recordings made it through the maze to reach one particular listener. Nobody can hear everything, and probably when the dust settles there will be a ton of releases in 2007 that were neglected.

That said, it's time to get the heck off the Internet, check out some music, go out to dinner, then gear up for an all-nighter gathering at a Wiccan friend's place to celebrate the Winter Solstice. It's part two of the celebration: last night's drum circle was smokin'.

Peace, Love, Rhythm &...

Bright Moments,

Bill

[Guest Bill Barton]

I'd agree that the list is a pretty darned good recap of the year. Here's a copy of the one I prepared for CODA toward the end of October 2007 (deadlines, ya know.)

David Haney & Julian Priester – Ota Benga of the Batwa – CIMP

This one intrigues me. I don't recall hearing much if anything about it. Do you have a mini-review of this one in CODA or another source?

My own review of this CD will be published in the January/February 2008 edition of CODA. I've been surfing around looking for a decent review online and don't find anything of any substance.

Quick take: suitably melancholy considering Ota Benga's sad story, introspective, thoughtful "free" improv with some thematic structure, Priester's tone on this CD is flat-out gorgeous. Haney deserves more exposure. He's a superb player.

[LWayne]

In retrospect, while compiling my "best of" jazz list for 2007 I appreciated what an incredibly deep and diverse year this was as far as recordings and performances happily reversing the trend of recent years. What follows are my personal favorites ranking for new recordings, reissues, and live performances. I have been very fortunate this year and hope that my good fortune and luck continue into 2008:

New

Maria Schneider Orchestra Sky Blue Artist Share

Dino Saluzzi & Anja Lechner Ojos Negros ECM

Paul Motian/ Joe Lovano/ Bill Frisell Time and Time Again ECM

Paul Bley Solo in Mondsee ECM

Joe Lovano and Hank Jones Kids Blue Note

Chris Potter Underground Follow The Red Line: Live at the Village Vanguard Sunnyside

Frank Kimbrough Air Palmetto

Michael Blake The World Awakes: A Tribute to Eli "Lucky" Thompson Stunt

Dave Douglas Quintet Live at the Jazz Standard Greenleaf/ Koch

Kenny Werner Lawn Chair Society Blue Note

Paul Motian Trio Plus Two Live at the Village Vanguard Winter & Winter

McCoy Tyner Quartet McCoy Tyner Half Note

Chris Potter 10 Song for Everyone Sunnyside

Johnny Ponder Somebody's Child High Note

Sam Rivers Rivbea Orchestra Aurura Rivbea Sound Company

Carl Allen and Rodney Whitaker Get Ready Mack Avenue

Bobby Hutcherson For Sentimental Reasons Kind of Blue

Robin Eubanks EB3 Live, Volume 1 RKM

Bill Frisell Floratone Blue Note

Steve Kuhn Trio Live at Birdland Blue Note

Charles Tolliver Big Band With Love Blue Note

John Abercrombie The Third Quartet ECM

Quest (Liebman, Bierach, McClure, Hart Quest: Live in Europe Hatology

Gerald Wilson Orchestra Monterrey Moods Mack Avenue

Reissue

Andrew Hill Change Blue Note

Bobbby Hutcherson Mosaic Select Mosaic

McCoy Tyner Mosaic Select Mosaic

Booker Ervin The Freedom Book OJC

Charles Mingus with Eric Dolphy Cornell 1964 Blue Note

Dewey Redman The Struggle Continues ECM

Live

Gary Peacock/ Paul Motian/ Paul Bley Jazz Standard, New York NY 22-Aug-07

Dino Saluzzi and Anja Lechner Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo NY 28-Apr-07

Charles Mingus' Epitaph Allen Theater-Playhouse Square, Cleveland OH 27-Apr-07

Motian/ Lovano/Frisell Trio Village Vanguard, New York NY 4-Sep-07

Rany Weston African Rhythms Quintet Manchester Craftsman's Guild, Pittsburgh PA 9-Dec-07

Frank Kimbrough Trio The Kitano Hotel, New York NY 26-Jan-07

Tribute to Thelonious Monk (Lovano, Barron) Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland OH 26-Apr-07

Bill Frisell's Disfarmer Project An Die Musik, Baltimore MD 30-Oct-07

Paul Motian Octet Village Vanguard, New York NY 3-Apr-07

Toumani Diabate & Symmetric Orchestra Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh PA 27-Mar-07

LWayne

[montg]

Here are a lot more top ten lists from 2007 from jazz 'critics'

jazz journalists association top ten 2007

I tend to agree with elder don's sentiments--to the extent i can parse them; understanding is, after all, part of the adventure. Tthe Slate list is a pretty bland one to me. It is, for the most part, the 'top ten corporate sponsored' jazz recordings of 2007. Or 'the top 10 jazz recordings reflecting and/or contributing to the gentrification of jazz'.

Unfortunately, I have no alternatives to offer. If there's something new and underground that's really worthy of acclaim, I'd love to know what it is.

[Nate Dorward]

Derek Taylor's list for Dusted is worth a look--Derek listens to (& writes up) more jazz albums than just about anyone I know, so he's got a better perspective on the year's jazz than most folks. (I get the impression, looking at many year-end lists, that some critics receive/listen to a very narrow range of promos.) -- Can't say I share his enthusiasm for the Z. Nasser (it's got its good points, but his tone & intonation are so off that I can't stand it), but it's nice to see the MOPDTK album there & the Rutherford, in particular.

One of the year's best is actually by a group containing a member of this board: the Convergence Quartet's Live in Oxford, which has Alex Hawkins (= Red) on the keys.

[montg]

Derek Taylor's list for Dusted is worth a look--Derek listens to (& writes up) more jazz albums than just about anyone I know, so he's got a better perspective on the year's jazz than most folks. (I get the impression, looking at many year-end lists, that some critics receive/listen to a very narrow range of promos.) -- Can't say I share his enthusiasm for the Z. Nasser (it's got its good points, but his tone & intonation are so off that I can't stand it), but it's nice to see the MOPDTK album there & the Rutherford, in particular.

One of the year's best is actually by a group containing a member of this board: the Convergence Quartet's Live in Oxford, which has Alex Hawkins (= Red) on the keys.

Good call, I always enjoy DT's reviews on the bagatellen site. Thanks for the link.