LWayne Posted December 24, 2020 Report Share Posted December 24, 2020 As the year winds to a close, I wanted to start a "best of" thread. Despite the pandemic, this was a wonderful year for new releases. More depth of recordings than previous years. Of my top ten, the first six never left my CD player: 1 Carla Bley Life Goes On ECM 2 Bill Frisell Valentine Blue Note Records 3 Maria Schneider Orchestra Data Lords ArtistShare 4 Thumbscrew The Braxton Project Cuneiform 5 Liberty Ellman Last Desert Pi Recordings 6 James Brandon Lewis Quartet Molecular Intakt Records 7 Immanuel Wilkins Omega Blue Note Records 8 Micah Thomas Tide Self-Released 9 Matthew Shipp Trio The Unidentifiable ESP Disk 10 Charles Tolliver Quartet Connect Gearbox Records If this list was expanded to top twenty, there would also be Nels Cline Singers "Share the Wealth" and Charles Lloyd "Live at the Lobrero" included. Surprisingly, this would make Blue Note my choice for top label as I have pretty much passed by many of its releases in recent years. Three reissues/previously unissued gems to mention as well: Sonny Rollins "Live in Holland", Charles Tolliver "All Stars", and Bill Evans "Live at Ronnie Scott's" Although the pandemic relegated much of my listening to livetsteam broadcasts, I was fortunate to catch several great concerts in person at the beginning of the year: 1. Charles Tolliver Quintet. An Die Musik. Baltimore MD. Feb 29, 2020. Wonderful to hear the maestro along with Buster Williams and Lenny White play some of my favorite Strata East songs. 2. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble "Raise Your Spirits" Tour. First Unitarian Church, Pittsburgh PA. Feb 24 2020. Is there a more charismatic performer than Kahil El Zabar? 3. Joshua Redman "Still Dreaming" Quartet. August Wilson AACC. Pittsburgh, PA. Feb 15, 2020. Tight quartet paying tribute to the Old and New Dreams repertoire. So many great livestreams to consider, but some of my favorites were: 1. In Order to Survive, Vision Festival-Healing Soul- William Parker always amazes. James Brandon Lewis and Rob Brown were a formidable duo of saxophones. 2. Thumbscrew, Roulette-Playing music from the new CD as well as previewing the forthcoming 2021 album. One of the best trios around. 3. Miles Okazaki and Trickster-The Jazz Gallery. Tight group at its peak. Both sets were amazing. His "Trickster Live" recording via Bandcamp was also a highlight. 4. Tom Harrell Trio, Village Vanguard-although some streaming problems during the broadcast, his lyrical compositions and thoughtful playing were amazing. 5. Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, Constellation-Group contained all of Chicago's finest playing some challenging, but rewarding, music. Would love this to be a recording. Happy Holidays! LWayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabshakeh Posted December 24, 2020 Report Share Posted December 24, 2020 I think it's been the best year for new releases for a while, despite the circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted December 24, 2020 Report Share Posted December 24, 2020 Your top four are excellent. Haven't heard the others, except for the Tolliver which is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted December 24, 2020 Report Share Posted December 24, 2020 Current Jazz Gregg August, Dialogues on Race Alan Braufman, The Fire Still Burns Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Tone Mino Cinelu and Nils Petter Molvaer, Sulamadiana Lafayette Gilchrist, Now Charles Lloyd, Kindred Spirits (Blue Note) Jason Marsalis Live (Basin Street) Makaya McCraven, We're New Again Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott, Live at Luthjen's Terje Rypdal, Conspiracy (ECM) Shabaka and the Ancestors, We are Sent Here by History (Impulse) Somi, Holy Room Sun Ra, Swirling (Strut) Newly issued vintage jazz Art Blakey, Coolin' (Blue Note) Charles Mingus, Live in Bremen (Sunnyside) Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (Impulse) Non-Jazz Bombino Live in Amsterdam Moonlight Benjamin, Simido Derek Gripper, A Year of Swimming Seu Jorge and Rogge (Night Dreamer) Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 (Night Dreamer) Michael Olatuja, Lagos Pepper Soup Jackie Venson, Live in Texas/Vintage Machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted December 24, 2020 Report Share Posted December 24, 2020 (edited) The top five would be in my top ten with the exception of the Frisell which I enjoyed but not as much as a lot of others. New albums by Irreversible Entanglements, Angles 10/9, the Thumbscrew Ours/Theirs, Charles Lloyds birthday concert, Anteloper and Denis Gonsalez all hit the spot for me 9 minutes ago, mjazzg said: The top five would be in my top ten with the exception of the Frisell which I enjoyed but not as much as a lot of others. New albums by Irreversible Entanglements, Angles 10/9, the Thumbscrew Ours/Theirs, Charles Lloyd's birthday concert, Anteloper and Denis Gonsalez all hit the spot for me Edited December 24, 2020 by mjazzg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted December 25, 2020 Report Share Posted December 25, 2020 As for the newly issued vintage jazz, I would add: -the new Rollins (despite its below-average sound for some of the live recordings, the edits et al... the music is GREAT!!!) -the Dexter Gordon Quartet with Tete at Montmartre -the Wilen/Tete ‘88 recordings from Grenoble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 25, 2020 Report Share Posted December 25, 2020 (edited) In the Reissues/Vintage (some very good ones this year) Neil Swanson ‘49th Parallel’ (Reel to Real) Black Unity Trio ‘Al-Fatiha ’ (Salaam) Monty Alexander ‘Love You Madly’ (Resonance) Sonny Rollins ‘Rollins in Holland’ (Resonance) George Coleman ‘In Baltimore’ (Reel to Real) ..plus Monk ‘Palo Alto’ of course. 22 minutes ago, EKE BBB said: -the Dexter Gordon Quartet with Tete at Montmartre -the Wilen/Tete ‘88 recordings from Grenoble These two will be in the next JazzMessengers order with the Friends from Barcelona ! Edited December 25, 2020 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted December 25, 2020 Report Share Posted December 25, 2020 Dean Fraser - Nyabinghi Christmas MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcam_44 Posted December 27, 2020 Report Share Posted December 27, 2020 (edited) These were my top 5+1 from this year: Noah Preminger - Contemptment Vinny Goila - An Electric Love Supreme Julian Arguelles - Atlantico Immanuel Watkins - Omega Chad Taylor - The Daily Biological Michael Thomas - Event Horizon honorary mention: Bob Reynolds - Runway Edited December 28, 2020 by jcam_44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 A late addition to the best releases of 2020: Dezron Douglas and Brandee Younger, Force Majeure. Gorgeous harp and bass duos recorded from livestream performances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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