Balladeer

Spencer Meyer plays William Bolcom "Piano Rags" (Steinway and Sons)

Eleanor Weingartner - 21 Century Lyrical Clarinet Concertos (Urtext)

Carsten Dahl trio - Simplicity (Storyville)

Wish I were there. Regrettably the probability that she will perform in Germany is very small. IMO Ravishing singer and musician. There are a few voices I fell in love with this year- - be it roots or classical music. Hers belongs to them.

Gillian Welch - Soul Journey (Acony Records)

Plainville - Jeremy Udden (Fresh Sound)

Tom Waits - Alice (Anti) 70 - belatetd congrats, Tom Waits, and thanks for your unique music!

Gillian Welch - Boots No 1; The Official Revival Bootleg (Acony Records)

Bill Evans Trio - Village Vanguard

Bill Evans & Jim Hall

Jeremy Udden - Plainville (Fresh Sound)

Jenny Scheinman - King of Hearts

Rosanne Cash - Rules of Travel (Capitol)

One gem of the eighties I forgot to mention earlier: Chet Baker Live in Sweden with Ake Johansson trio (Dragon, 1983) If you´re looking for the definitve haunting ballad then stop searching. You´ll find it here. Listen to Chet playing Charlie Haden´s "Ellen and David" live in Gothenburg - this one knocks me out every time. Now let´s really talk obscure and diggin deeper: If you ever get the chance to buy it, grab for it, because it´s really fantastic and extremely rare: Recorded in Italy: "The Incredible Chet Baker plays and sings. Recorded in 1977" (ANS)

Gillian Welch - Time (the Revelator)

Thanks to Larry Kart for bringing up evaluation of late Chet and merits of Munich folks of Enja records digging up those pearls. But: Though "In Chicago" is a nice, diverse set highlighting a seldom heard "We ll meet again" this album surely does not belong to his best recordings of the eightis. Consider: "From the Moonlight" "Live in Tokyo", "Sesjun Radio Shows", "Diane" and of course "Last Great Concert"- all playing in a different, higher league.

Red Norvo - Wigwammin´ (Hep)

Let´s share our grief. I have a similar story. 1979 a year CB was in his midlate bloom his excelletn quartet with Phil Markowitz gave a concert in my home town. But Mr B was not on my radar then so I missed the concert and learned only much later about it when I had listened hundreds of times to the quartet´s "Broken Wing" they had recorded that year in Paris. So it goes...

Malia - RIpples, Echoes of Dreams (MPS)

Dave Pike Set feat. Volker Kriegel - Big Schlepp

55 6 (21) Variations - Wayne Horvitz (from: The Snowghost Sessions)

Michel Reis - Short Stories (CamJazz) Beautiful set, strong new piano voice - recommended!

Randy Crawford - Play Mode (Warner)

Malia - Black Orchid (Universal)

A Musical Portrait of the American Southwest: Music of Dominic Dousa (Blue Griffin) Dominic Dousa (p) & Stephen Nordstrom (viola)