HutchFan

This thread isn't limited to new releases, but here's some grist for the mill. JazzTimes' 2021 Year in Review https://jazztimes.com/features/lists/year-in-review-top-40-jazz-albums-2021/ 40. Mike LeDonne It’s All Your Fault (Savant) 39. Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas SoundPrints 38. Steve Coleman and Five Elements Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II (MDW NTR) (Pi) 37. Dan McCarthy A Place Where We Once Lived 36. John Pizzarelli Better Days Ahead: Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny (Ghostlight) 35. Jihye Lee Orchestra Daring Mind (Motéma) 34. Jamire Williams But Only After You Have Suffered (International Anthem) 33. Oz Noy Snapdragon (Abstract Logix) 32. Nadje Noordhuis Gullfoss (Little Mystery) 31. Vince Mendoza Freedom Over Everything (Modern) 30. Eivind Aarset Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey (Jazzland) 29. Various Artists Indaba Is (Brownswood) 28. Brian Lynch Songbook Vol 1: Bus Stop Serenade (Hollistic Music Works) 27. The Cookers Look Out! (Gearbox) 26. Thumbscrew Never Is Enough (Cuneiform) 25. James Francies Purest Form (Blue Note) 24. Amir ElSaffar/Rivers of Sound The Other Shore (Outnote) 23. Percy Jones/Alex Skolnick/Kenny Grohowski/Tim Motzer PAKT (MoonJune) 22. Craig Taborn Shadow Plays (ECM) 21. Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios Songs from My Father (Whaling City Sound) 20. Irreversible Entanglements Open the Gates (International Anthem) 19. Chick Corea Akoustic Band LIVE (Concord Jazz) 18. Sons of Kemet Black to the Future (Impulse!) 17. Cameron Graves Seven (Artistry/Mack Avenue) 16. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels Tone Poem (Blue Note) 15. Kenny Garrett Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue) 14. Veronica Swift This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue) 13. Henry Threadgill Zooid Poof (Pi) 12. Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows Architecture of Storms (Soundspore) 11. Dr. Lonnie Smith Breathe (Blue Note) 10. Archie Shepp and Jason Moran Let My People Go (Archieball) 9. Pat Metheny Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Modern) 8. William Parker Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World: Volumes 1-10 (Centering) 7. Not posted 6. Ches Smith and We All Break Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic) 5. Vijay Iyer Uneasy (ECM) 4. Johnathan Blake Homeward Bound (Blue Note) 3. Anna Webber Idiom (Pi) 2. Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders/London Symphony Orchestra Promises (Luaka Bop) 1. James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quintet Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)

Chic Chic Chico! How about that cape? ... Most dudes would look silly wearing that thing. But Chico looks debonair.

Now: I like this record, but I wish it had been mixed differently. It's too treble-y, giving the music a flat aspect. Where's the low-end ooomphh ?!? Earlier:

Now playing:

I don't particularly like those records either. But CJ's larger point still stands. IMO, it's 100% right-on for a critic (or anyone else) to say, "I don't like that music because reason X, Y, or Z." Because that statement acknowledges the personal and the subjective that's part-and-parcel of the assessment. It's different when a critic (or anyone else) says, "That's bad music because reason X, Y, or Z." Because that's a statement about power. That is, "I get to decide what's good." Critcs -- and others who are trying to be "gatekeepers" -- act as if they have some sort of authority that they don't possess. And, as often as not, the critic is making judgments based on criteria that don't align with the artist's goals and desires. Ellington made this same point when he said that critics often forget that it's not their job to tell the artist what to do; it's their job to describe what the artist has done.

CJ, I completely agree with your point that the "received wisdom" about what constitutes valid jazz often has been woefully narrow. However, I think that sort of perspective is far less tenable now than it has been in the past. Of course, there are still traditionalists and there are still avant-gardists -- and everything in between. But the either/or clashes seem to have given way to something that's more open-ended and less rigid. ... Or maybe it's just that jazz has moved so far into the margins of culture -- and it's economic power is so diminished -- that no one has the impetus or desire to argue about it any more. Either way, those old narratives seem to be breaking down. Or at least I think they are. There's room enough for many, many different perspectives at the table. And there's no need for any one person or group to "own" the narrative. That's my take.

Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler, Paolo Fresu, John Taylor, Paolo Damiani, Tony Oxley - Live at Roccella Jonica (Splasc(h), rec. 1984)

The second half of this Chucho Valdés CD was originally released as Tema de Chaka (Areito, 1981). That's what I'm listening to now.

Terrific. I've been listening to Batacumbele today: Con Un Poco De Songo (Tierrazo, 1981) and Afro Caribbean Jazz (Montuno, 1987) Both of these records feature stellar bass work by Eddie "Gua Gua" Rivera. He's really grabbing my ear today.

(l to r) Charlie Palmieri, Manny Oquendo, Mongo Santamaría, Vicentico Valdés; San Francisco, 1952; photographer unknown

Now: Milton Nascimento - Milton (A&M/Verve, 1976)

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?

Yep. It's a cryin' shame that it didn't last longer -- because they signed some interesting artists: Flora & Airto, Lester Bowie, Mike Westbrook, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, a.o.

and

I love how LOOSE the music on this album is. The sensation of imprecision -- whether real or not -- is just fantastic.

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

Now:

NP: Cal Tjader - Puttin' It Together (Fantasy, 1974) Deliciously groovy, courtesy of bassist John Heard (as well as others).

Maybe not "Jazz" (?) ... but it swings mightily.

Now spinning:

Perujazz - S/T (Vampi Soul) Originally released as Verde Machu Picchu (Soundstudio, 1987) in Italy

Grupo AfroCuba - S/T (Discos NCL, 1980)