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Reflecting on Your 2021 Jazz Year: New-to-You Favorites


HutchFan

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With less than two months remaining in 2021, I thought it would be enjoyable to begin a favorite discoveries of the year thread.  If you were sitting in a bar with a group of jazz-loving friends, what artists & albums would you tell them about that you discovered this year?  I would suggest that we NOT limit ourselves to new releases.  The recording date doesn't matter, as long as you discovered the music in the last 12 months or so. 

*******************

Much of the new stuff that I discovered this year is from the 1980s.  But I'm going to exclude those records, since I'll be sharing those on my 1980s blog project beginning in January.  Eighties stuff aside, here are ten new-to-me favorites that I discovered in 2021:

  • The Awakening - Hear, Sense and Feel (Black Jazz/Real Gone, 1972)
  • Doug Carn - Spirit of the New Land (Black Jazz/Real Gone, 1972)
  • Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group - Earth (Whaling City, 2020)
  • Hampton Hawes - Hamp's Piano aka The Dynamic Hampton Hawes (MPS, 1969)
  • James Moody - Great Day (Argo/Cadet, 1963)
  • Bill O'Connell - Black Sand (Random Chance, 2001)
  • Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader - Bamboleate aka Palmieri & T'Jader (Tico, 1967)
  • Tito Puente - Puente in Percussion (Tico/Fania, 1956)
  • Shabaka & the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here by History (Impulse, 2020)
  • Jorge Sylvester - Musicollage (Postcards, 1996)

 

So which new-to-you albums have left the most lasting impression on YOU in 2021? 

Feel free to post one, three, five, ten, twenty, or however many you'd like.  

 

Edited by HutchFan
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I would have to include:

Charles Tolliver ‘Compassion’ (Strata-East/Pure Pleasure)

Clifford Jordan Magic Triangle ‘Firm Roots’ (Steeplechase)

Lee Morgan ‘Complete Live at the Lighthouse’ (Blue Note)

Rendell/Carr Quintet ‘Live at the BBC Vol 1’ (R&B)

Barbara Thompson ‘Live at the BBC’ 13CD box set (Repertoire)

Roy Brooks ‘Understanding’ (Real to Reel)

 

Edited by sidewinder
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41 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

Clifford Jordan Magic Triangle ‘Firm Roots’ (Steeplechase)

Yeah, that's terrific. One of Clifford Jordan's very best. :tup 

 

41 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

Roy Brooks ‘Understanding’ (Real to Reel)

That's on my 'to-get' list. l love Brooks' The Free Slave, so I have high expectations for this one.  :)   

 

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The totality of known (to this point) and available Chicago Sun Ra, experienced, not all at once, but all in one focused effort.

It was time to do it, and the material is all available. Rewards far exceeded efforts!

Note: sideman and other for hire dates not included. Yet?

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The Roy Brooks "Understanding" set jumps out from memory.  Not sure I discovered much in the way of meaningful new artists or sub-genres.  Nothing like a few years ago when the whole Nimbus West world beyond Tapscott opened up to me.    Thrilled to have Lloyd McNeill's "Treasures" finally on CD, but I've known that one for 45 years.

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The Lee Morgan Complete Lighthouse was a complete revelation having never got on with the 3CD version. I bought the LP and really enjoy the accessibilty of the LP length sides

Recent wider investigations of South African Jazz courtesy of Matsuli Music, prompted by @Rabshakeh

James Moody's catalogue - thank you again @HutchFan

Nate Wooley - 'Mutual Aid Music' great in and of itself but also sent me back to more in depth listening of his back catalogue

Improvised music released from Argentinian label Nendo Dango Records

The music of flautist Claire Chase

Apartment House's recording of John Cage's Number Pieces (possibly my favourite release of the year alongside the Morgan)

And finally, the releases of Tom Challenger, Rachel Musson, Alexander Hawkins and Olie Brice, together and with others showing that British improvisation is very safe in their hands

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The number one new purchase with the biggest impact this year was 

Kid Thomas And His Algiers Stompers Featuring Emile Barnes

from the New Orleans Living Legends series on Riverside... afterwards, I got most records in that series, and also further records by clarinetist Emile Barnes like his 1951 sessions on American Music... generally, I got a bit further into old jazz... I also started buying those great Savoy double LPs (e.g. Black California and the Changing Face of Harlem) and  got my Jimmy Lunceford collection in order... a surprising winner was Bob Cooper's Michel Legrand Tribute album featuring Mike Wofford from the 80s... There were some great new (to me) Horace Tapscott and Masabumi Kikuchi albums... and I discovered two relatively recent albums by jazz musicians younger than me that I really like

Sam Harris - Interludes (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2014)

David Virelles - Ḿbọ̀kọ́ (ECM, 2014)

for both pianists, I also like various other (sideman) records but these two are the favorites

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Maybe nothing earth-shattering, but a lot of consistently excellent discoveries throughout the year:

Gideon Nxumalo - Gideon Plays
The Red Garland Quintet - All Mornin' Long
Archie Shepp & Joachim Kühn - Wo!man
Ray Lema, Laurent De Wilde - Wheels
Charles Williams - Charles Williams (Mainstream)
Booker Ervin - That's It!
Duke Ellington - 1947-1952 Recorded Works In Chronological Order
Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan - Trouble In Mind    
Dexter Gordon - Ca' Purange
Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Bethlehem)
Jimmy Heath - Love Letter
Kippie Moketsi - Hal Singer - Blue Stompin'
Jimi Tenor / Tony Allen - Inspiration Information
Giorgio Gaslini - La Notte
Alfa Mist - Antiphon & Bring Backs
Mombasa - African Rhythms & Blues
Denny Zeitlin Trio - As Long As There's Music
The 17 Piece Orchestra Of Gerald Wilson - You Better Believe It!
Bennie Green - Walkin' And Talkin'
Tony Fruscella - Tony Fruscella    
Ernie Henry - Presenting Ernie Henry
Art Farmer - To Duke With Love
The Heshoo Beshoo Group – Armitage Road
Andrew Hill - Smoke Stack

Edited by aparxa
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14 hours ago, JSngry said:

The totality of known (to this point) and available Chicago Sun Ra, experienced, not all at once, but all in one focused effort.

It was time to do it, and the material is all available. Rewards far exceeded efforts!

Note: sideman and other for hire dates not included. Yet?

What a cool project.

Aside from hearing tons of incredible music, what have been your big take-aways from listening to Ra's music from this time in chrono order?   

 

29 minutes ago, aparxa said:

The Red Garland Quintet - All Mornin' Long
Booker Ervin - That's It!
Duke Ellington - 1947-1952 Recorded Works In Chronological Order
Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan - Trouble In Mind    
The 17 Piece Orchestra Of Gerald Wilson - You Better Believe It!
Art Farmer - To Duke With Love
Andrew Hill - Smoke Stack

All five star records, IMO. Primo stuff.

And that 1947-52 Ellington box is desert-island music!  :wub:

 

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1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

What a cool project.

Aside from hearing tons of incredible music, what have been your big take-aways from listening to Ra's music from this time in chrono order?  

 

My biggest realization was that this was essentially a territory band, and the territory was the South Side of Chicago (I guess you could call that local, but considering how many different types of venues they works, I'm using "territory, albeith advixsedly). Players were always local, and as the economic viability of the territory declined, so did the size of band. But - and this is the other big, non-musical takeaway - between Ra & Alton Abraham, they always found a way to keep going, of finding some place to rehearse and/or play - and to roll tape.  

Another big takeaway was just how rooted Ra was in playing for dancers and floorshows and such (again, not unlike a territory band). Some of the early "space music" strikes one one way when listened to as "creative jazz", quite another when you place a floorshow in front of it!

One more "eye-opener" - Ra as pianist, not just as soloist but as BAND pianist, the closer you listen the more details there are inside. None of it is splashyslappy, it's all very specific, just...multi-dimensional. And when accompanying the band, it gets deep, he sets up all kinds of planes, a section among sections.

One last thing - for those who want to get a pure dose of "hard bop" Sun Ra, the first Saturn Ra records - all from 1956 -  put together make one helluva strong standalone record. It was never released as such, but a DIY of it is most rewarding! The tympani thing actually works like, say, a deeper-pitched conga, especially when blending with the electric bass. The eyes will see eccentric, but the ears can here what's going on. Ancient elements being reimagined in a thoroughly contemporary set of voices.

  • Sun Ra (Wurlitzer ep -1, p); Art Hoyle (tp); Julian Priester (tb); John Gilmore (ts); Laurdine “Pat” Patrick (bars); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, timb -1).

Balkan Studio, Chicago, around March 22, 1956

100- A 22 Super Blonde (Le Sun-Ra)   Saturn Z1111-B, Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216^, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
100 B 22 Soft Talk (Priester)   Saturn Z1111-A, Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216^, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
  Medicine for a Nightmare (Ra) [2nd version] -1   Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
       
  Advice to Medics (Ra) [ep only] -1   Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]

 

  • Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep); Art Hoyle (tp -1); Julian Priester (tb -1); James Scales (as); Pat Patrick (bars -1); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); John Gilmore (space bells, perc).

Balkan Studio, Chicago, April 13, 1956

  Springtime in Chicago (Ra)^   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
  New Horizons (Ra)* -1   Saturn HK 5445, Evidence 22038 [CD]
  • Sun Ra (p); Jim Herndon (tymp); Robert Barry (d); prob. John Gilmore (bells); unidentified (bells, scrapers).

Rehearsal?, Chicago, 1956

  Adventur [sic] in Space (Ra)   Saturn 874, Evidence 22164 [CD]

 

 

  • Sun Ra (Wurlitzer ep -1, p); Art Hoyle (tp); Julian Priester (tb); John Gilmore (ts); Laurdine “Pat” Patrick (bars); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); Jim Herndon (tymp -1).

RCA Studios, Chicago, May 16, 1956

G7OW5257 Saturn (Ra)   Saturn G7OW5257, Evidence 22164 [CD], Paddle Wheel KICJ 315 [CD], Evidence 22219 [CD]
G7OW-5258 Medicine for a Nightmare (Ra) -1   Saturn Z222A, Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P, Impulse AS-9245, Evidence 22066 [CD], Paddle Wheel KICJ 315 [CD], Evidence 22219 [CD]
G7OW5259 Call for All Demons (A Call for All Demons*) (Ra) -1   Saturn G7OW5259, film soundtrack (edited), Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P*, Impulse AS-9245*, Evidence 22066 [CD]*
G7OW-5260 Demon's Lullaby (Ra)   film soundtrack (edited), Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P, Impulse AS-9245, Evidence 22066 [CD]
G7OW-5261 Urnack (Priester)   Saturn Z222B, film soundtrack (edited), Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P, Impulse AS-9245, Evidence 22066 [CD]
       
       
       
       
  Supersonic Jazz (Ra) -1   Evidence 22164 [CD]
  • Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep, space gong); Art Hoyle (tp, perc); Pat Patrick (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Charles Davis (bars, perc); Victor Sproles (b); William Cochran (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, perc).

RCA Victor Studio, Chicago, November 21, 1956

tk. 1 Kingdom of Not (Ra)   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
tk. 1 Portrait of the Living Sky (Ra) [no horns]   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
       
       
tk. 1 Blues at Midnight (Ra) [tp, ts, p, b, d, tymp only]   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, film soundtrack [edited], Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
tk. 1 El [El Is a Sound of Joy] (Ra)   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
tk. 1 India (Ra)   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
  Sunology (Ra)   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]
  Sunology part II (Ra)   Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD]

Also in 1956 were the two Transition sessions, but these Saturn sessions work great quite apart from either of them.

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New releases rom 2020 & 2021:

  • Bro, Henrikson & Rossy - Uma Elmo
  • Jimmy Dludlu - History in a Frame (Smooth jazz with South African flavor)
  • Kenny Garrett - Sounds from the Ancestors
  • Oscar Jerome - Breathe Deep
  • David Sanford Big Band - A Prayer For Lester Bowie
  • Marc Johnson - Overpass
  • Nubya Garcia - The Source
  • LCSM - Earthbound
  • Run Logan Run - For a Brief Moment We Could Smell the Flowers
  • Nicole Glover - Strange Lands
  • Jonathan Blake - Homeward Bound
  • Charles McPherson - Jazz Dance Suites
  • Sonny Rollins in Holland
  • Mingus at Bremen '64 & '75

Earlier releases that I'm just now hearing and enjoying:

  • Jaleel Shaw - Perspective
  • Ayler Quintet - Berlin, Lorrach, Paris and Stockholm Revisited
  • Hamiet Bluiett Sextet - Young Warrior, Old Warrior
  • Thurman Green - Dance of the Night Creatures
  • Woody Herman at Carnegie Hall '46
  • Sonny Fortune - From Now On
  • Pharoah Sanders - Message from Home, Africa & Lord let Me Do No Wrong
  • Billy Bang Quartet - Spirits Gathering
  • Joe McPhee - Black is the Color
  • Sun Ra Disco 3000 Complete

 

 

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5 hours ago, JSngry said:

My biggest realization was that this was essentially a territory band, and the territory was the South Side of Chicago (I guess you could call that local, but considering how many different types of venues they works, I'm using "territory, albeith advixsedly). Players were always local, and as the economic viability of the territory declined, so did the size of band. But - and this is the other big, non-musical takeaway - between Ra & Alton Abraham, they always found a way to keep going, of finding some place to rehearse and/or play - and to roll tape.  

Another big takeaway was just how rooted Ra was in playing for dancers and floorshows and such (again, not unlike a territory band). Some of the early "space music" strikes one one way when listened to as "creative jazz", quite another when you place a floorshow in front of it!

One more "eye-opener" - Ra as pianist, not just as soloist but as BAND pianist, the closer you listen the more details there are inside. None of it is splashyslappy, it's all very specific, just...multi-dimensional. And when accompanying the band, it gets deep, he sets up all kinds of planes, a section among sections.

One last thing - for those who want to get a pure dose of "hard bop" Sun Ra, the first Saturn Ra records - all from 1956 -  put together make one helluva strong standalone record. It was never released as such, but a DIY of it is most rewarding! The tympani thing actually works like, say, a deeper-pitched conga, especially when blending with the electric bass. The eyes will see eccentric, but the ears can here what's going on. Ancient elements being reimagined in a thoroughly contemporary set of voices.

[ ... snip ... ]

Very interesting!

Makes me wonder what a reissuer like Mosaic could do with Ra's Saturn legacy, simply by re-sequencing the music in chronological order.  Not just one year, but over several. ... Of course, the original releases are Ra's original vision.  (I assume that he was the one making the programming decisions for each album.)  In that sense, they're "canonical."  But it sounds like arranging the music chronologically would make for a very interesting alternative viewpoint -- just like other Mosaic sets have done.

 

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On 11/8/2021 at 4:58 PM, HutchFan said:

Very interesting!

Makes me wonder what a reissuer like Mosaic could do with Ra's Saturn legacy, simply by re-sequencing the music in chronological order.  Not just one year, but over several. ... Of course, the original releases are Ra's original vision.  (I assume that he was the one making the programming decisions for each album.)  In that sense, they're "canonical."  But it sounds like arranging the music chronologically would make for a very interesting alternative viewpoint -- just like other Mosaic sets have done.

The Mosaic that could have done this project justice no longer exists I'm afraid...and maybe never did?

But factoring in the Transparency & Atavistic material as well as the Saturn/Transition-Delmark material (to say nothing of the R&B dates and such), you go from 1948 - 1960 over the course of a BUTTLOAD full of CDs. And factor in the scholarship about his Birmingham life, and then the Themei organization, and then the move from "Ethiopianism" to Afro-Futurism/Space Worlds...it's one helluva ride, an encapsulation of a lot of significant American history, all of it going on, for the very longest, TOTALLY off the radar.

And also - old-school African-American economic self-determination, neither depending on nor seeking White Capital. Never underestimate the role that not going after White Backing Money plays in the narrative that comes forth right away...

The pieces are beginning to come together, but looking at it in linear fashion like this made a LOT of things jump out for me in a way that had heretofore been sort of implied and/or assumed/underplayed.

The data is there (a lot of it coming from the Alton Abraham collection, and if you don't know THAT story...), the music is definitely there, and I'm sure (I hope...) that serious-minded people without an agenda already have done this for their own edification.

But yeah, it needs to be done, if only, as per the Sun Ra model - by the individual to benefit the collective. And that's just the Chicago years.

check it out - How far is this removed from a Tadd Dameron Eckstine chart? Not very!

Put the Nicholas Brothers out in front of this one!

I mean, I knew, but I didn't really KNOW, if you know what I mean.

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New Jazz

Joe Chambers, Samba de Maracatu

The Cookers, Look Out

Dezron Douglas and Brandee Younger, Force Majeure

Nubya Garcia, Source

Kenny Garrett, Songs from the Ancestors

Lafayette Gilchrist, Now

Dave Holland, Another Land

Charles Lloyd, Tone Poem

Houston Person, Live in Paris (High Note)

Archie Shepp and Jason Moran, Let My People Go

Derek Shezbie, The Ghost of Buddy Bolden

Thumbscrew, Never is Enough

Henry Threadgill, Poof

Archival Jazz

Roy Brooks with Woody Shaw, Understanding (Reel to Reel)

George Coleman in Baltimore

Roy Hargrove and Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (Resonance)

Johnny Hodges, Live in Paris, May 13, 1961

Harvey S Trio with Mike Stern/Alan Dawson, Going For It (High Note)

Complete Mingus at Carnegie Hall

Complete Lee Morgan at the Lighthouse
 

Other Music
Jupiter and Okwess, Na Kazonga

Freddie King, Blues Journey

Mdou Moctar, Afrique Victime

Ballake Sissoko, Djourou

Jackie Venson, Love Transcends







 

Edited by kh1958
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

This was already on my list -- in my first post above -- but I've got to reiterate (after listening to it this morning), "Wow, what an amazing record!"

R-4193654-1479220351-1107.jpeg.jpg

 

I actually have the Dutch reissue with a different title and cover:

R-5130468-1492948889-9466.jpeg.jpg

Oh man!  Such musical fluidity and grace and animation, as if he's a dancer.  But it's effortless.  Hawes' playing is soooo relaxed, even on the uptempo pieces.  

I think this album is right up there with Hawes' very best.  Half of the cuts are duos with Eberhard Weber and the other half are trios with Weber and Klaus Weiss.  Not surprisingly (since it's on MPS), the AQ is exquisite too.

This LP is part of Hawes' terrific run of records, post-incarceration:

  • Here and Now (Contemporary, rec. 1965)
  • The Seance and I'm All Smiles (Contemporary, rec. 1966)
  • Hamp's Piano aka The Dynamic Hampton Hawes (SABA/MPS, rec. 1967)
  • Blues for Bud and Spanish Steps (Black Lion, rec. 1968)
  • High in the Sky (Vault, rec. 1970)
  • Live at the Montmartre and A Little Copenhagen Night Music (Freedom, rec. 1971)

 

Anyhow... I dig it! 

 

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3 hours ago, JSngry said:

Walter Miller.

After a Google search, I assume that you're referring to the trumpeter who played with Sun Ra, right?  

https://www.discogs.com/artist/263445-Walter-Miller?type=Credits&subtype=Instruments-Performance&filter_anv=0

Any performances in particular that stand out in your mind?

 

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