During a year in which the aftershocks of the COVID lockdown were still reverberating, jazz artists continued to create some dazzling art, on stage and in the studio. Following are JAZZIZ critics’ selections of the best recordings of the past 12 months (roughly from September 20, 2021 to October 15, 2022). Each critic’s number-one selection tops their list and includes a brief explanation of why they put it there. Once again, we preface this exercise with the recognition that it’s a highly subjective undertaking, one limited by the albums we’ve had the opportunity to hear and by our own personal tastes and biases. And once again, we salute the creativity and courage of jazz artists who find a way to express themselves on record, despite all obstacles.
Eri Yamamoto/Chad Fowler/William Parker/Steve Hirsh, Sparks (Mahakala)
This is
an entirely improvised session recorded over one fall afternoon. The quartet consists of giants of contemporary creative music who had never performed together. Innovative and fresh, the resulting two-disc set brims with seamless camaraderie. Pianist Eri Yamamoto, bassist William Parker, drummer Steve Hirsh and saxophonist Chad Fowler balance originality with tradition, delightful dissonance with unfettered lyricism, and above all, individuality with group synergy. Few musicians could have achieved this as well as this foursome.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Ivo Perelman Quartet,
Magic Dust (Mahakala); Melissa Aldana,
12 Stars (Blue Note); Myra Melford,
For the Love of Fire and Water (RogueArt); Chris Greene Quartet,
PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder (Single Malt); Nduduzo Makhathini,
In the Spirit of Ntu (Blue Note); Ben LaMar Gay,
Open Arms To Open Us (International Anthem); Harish Raghavan,
In Tense (Whirlwind); Craig Taborn,
Shadow Plays (ECM). -
Hrayr Attarian
Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Mesmerism (Yeros7 Music)
Tyshawn Sorey continues to gain acclaim for his orchestral compositions and his conducting of “spontaneous compositions.” All of which might obscure his brilliance as a trap-set drummer and leader of small jazz ensembles, were it not for
albums like this. Here, with a trio including pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer, interpreting well-known compositions by masters from Duke Ellington to Paul Motian, Sorey gives us a riveting reminder.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Hasaan Ibn Ali,
Retrospect in Retirement of Delay: The Solo Recordings (Omnivore); Artifacts Trio,
…And Then There’s This (Astral Spirits); Abdullah Ibrahim,
Solotude (Gearbox); Marta Sánchez,
SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) (Whirlwind); Steven Bernstein & The Hot 9,
Manifesto of Henryisms: Community Music, Vol. 3 (Royal Potato Family); Immanuel Wilkins,
The 7th Hand (Blue Note); Myra Melford,
For the Love of Fire and Water (RogueArt); Wadada Leo Smith,
The Chicago Symphonies (TUM); Nduduzo Makhathini,
In the Spirit of Ntu (Blue Note) -
Larry Blumenfeld
Roxana Amed, Unánime (Sony Music Latin)
On her 2021 U.S. debut,
Ontology, Buenos Aires-bred, Miami-based vocalist Roxana Amed questioned her place in Latin jazz as an Argentinean-American artist emerging on a global stage. On
Unánime, she asserts her place in a world of her choosing. Accompanied by longtime collaborators — pianist-arranger Martin Bejerano, bassist Edward Pérez and drummer Ludwig Afonso — as well as guests including Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés and Spanish flamenco guitarist Niño Josele, Amed expands on her idiosyncratic vision. The ease with which she navigates musical cross-currents is on display, as is the wide range of her enveloping alto. The album draws from composers and songwriters spanning Latin America, among them Luis Alberto Spinetta (Argentina), Egberto Gismonti (Brazil), Ignacio Cervantes (Cuba) and Julio Reyes Copello (Colombia). Amed evocatively re-imagines those works as elegantly constructed jazz fusions, demonstrating that her place in Latin jazz is within herself.
HONORABLE MENTION: Sasha Berliner,
Onyx (JMI); Maria Mendes,
Saudade, Colour of Love (Challenge); Melanie Charles,
Ya’ll Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women (Verve); Chucho Valdés & Paquito D’ Rivera Reunion Sextet,
I Missed You Too! (Sunnyside); Julieta Eugenio,
Jump (Greenleaf); Ilan Ersahin, Dave Harrington, Kenny Wollesen.
Invite Your Eye (Nublu); Javon Jackson,
The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni (Solid Jackson); Dafnis Prieto,
Cantar (Dafnison Music); Flora Purim,
If You Will (Strut). -
Lissette Corsa
Tom Harrell, Oak Tree (HighNote)
On
Oak Tree, Tom Harrell’s 34th recording as a leader since 1978, the 76-year-old trumpeter continues to impress as an improviser, composer and conceptualizer. A master of idioms that stretch from bop through ballads to bossa and beyond, Harrell crafts 11 ear-catching themes that offer bite-size samples of his multiple talents. Few tracks run longer than five minutes. The leader and his quartet — pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Adam Cruz — make their point, sans indulgent excess, and move on. Each cut is a new adventure, and, as the session’s title suggests, Harrell demonstrates why he is a sturdy survivor with plenty left to give.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Xiomara Torres,
La Voz del Mar (Patois); Ryan Keberle’s Collectiv do Brasil,
Sonhos da Esquina (self-released); Carlos Averhoff Jr.,
Together: Honoring My Father (Sunnyside); Rubén Blades con Boca Livre,
Pasieros (Rubén Blades Productions); Charlton Singleton,
Crossroads (Singleton Music); DO’A,
Higher Grounds (Outside In Music); Flora Purim,
If You Will (Strut); Roberto Magris
Duo & Trio (JMood); Gustavo Cortiñas,
Kind Regards (Desafío Candente). -
Mark Holston
Franco Ambrosetti, Nora (Enja)
This
magnificent collection of romantic ballads is the 80-year-old Swiss trumpeter’s answer to his heroes’ (Charlie Parker and Clifford Brown) encounters with strings in the 1950s. With Grammy-winning arranger Alan Broadbent conducting a 22-piece string orchestra, backed by a core group of pianist Uri Caine, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Peter Erskine, along with solo contributions from guest guitarist John Scofield, Ambrosetti takes his time and tells a story on each one of these melodic gems. In the vein of classic partnerships such as Miles Davis with Gil Evans or Frank Sinatra with Gordon Jenkins, Ambrosetti embraces Broadbent’s gorgeous arrangements with rare intimacy and grace, delivering golden tones on his flugelhorn like those other great singers of songs.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Julian Lage,
View With a Room (Blue Note); Charles Lloyd,
Trios: Chapel (Blue Note); John Scofield,
John Scofield (ECM); Pasquale Grasso,
Be-Bop! (Sony Masterworks); Enrico Rava/Fred Hersch,
The Song Is You (ECM); Marta Sanchez,
SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) (Whirlwind); Seamus Blake,
New York Factor, Vol. 1 (self-released); The Jon Cowherd Trio,
Pride and Joy (Le Coq); Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra,
Popular Culture (Community Music, Vol. 4) (Royal Potato Family). -
Bill Milkowski
Cécile McLorin Salvant, Ghost Song (Nonesuch)
Salvant has already established herself as the most celebrated contemporary jazz vocalist. Fortunately for listeners, she keeps digging deeper into her artistry, and
this record serves as a window into her diverse interests and influences. There’s the choice of songwriters she interprets (Kate Bush, Sting, Gregory Porter) and the range of material she tackles. That eclecticism extends to her original compositions, which include elements of gutbucket blues, theatrical flourishes, avant-garde electronics and choral reveries. All of it guided by Salvant’s expansive, supple voice — a wonder in itself. It’s thrilling, ambitious and surprising in all the best ways.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Matthew Shipp Trio,
World Construct (ESP-Disk); Tyshawn Sorey Trio + 1,
The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism (Pi); Anteloper,
Pink Dolphins (International Anthem); Moor Mother,
Jazz Codes (Anti-); The Comet Is Coming,
Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam (Impulse!); Samara Joy,
Linger Awhile (Verve); Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio,
The Bottom (Cuneiform); Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey,
Counterfeit Mars (Relative Pitch); Joel Ross,
The Parable of the Poet (Blue Note). -
John Frederick Moore
Black Flower, Magma (SDBAN)
The Belgian collective Black Flower, led by multi-instrumentalist Nathan Daems, uses trance-like Ethiopian jazz as a basis to concoct a heady sonic stew. Farfisa organ and a variety of flutes provide the bedrock, joined by trumpet and reeds. Dub elements and influences from the Balkans, the Middle East and India all combine to make
Magma a trippy and inspired example of world fusion.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Will Bernard,
Pond Life (Dreck to Disc); Kibrom Birhane,
Here and There (Flying Carpet); Steve Cardenas/Ben Allison/Ted Nash,
Healing Power (Sunnyside); Andrew Cyrille/William Parker/Enrico Rava,
2 Blues for Cecil (TUM); Charles Farrell/Russ Lossing,
176 (World Tribe); Mary Halvorson,
Amaryllis (Nonesuch); Charles Lloyd,
Trios:Chapel (Blue Note); Nduduzo Makhathini,
In the Spirit of Ntu (Blue Note); Tony Malaby,
Cave of Winds (Pyroclastic). -
Eric Snider
Wadada Leo Smith, The Chicago Symphonies (TUM)
This
four-CD set, recorded between 2015 and 2018, chronicles the further adventures of the Great Lakes Quartet led by octogenarian superman Wadada, surveyor of large-scale musical landscapes, composer for a vast array of genres, and a compelling, commanding trumpeter. The band’s name grows from its roots: Wadada spent the mid-1960s with the AACM in Chicago, also the birthplace of reedist Henry Threadgill and drummer Jack DeJohnette; bassist John Lindberg grew up on the other side of Lake Michigan. On each multi-movement, disc-length “symphony,” the quartet weaves cogent, passionate improvisation in and around Wadada’s detailed compositional structures, evoking impressions of important figures in his Chicago orbit (Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams). Wadada also invokes Chicago transplants Louis and Lil Armstrong, Sun Ra, and, on the last “symphony,” Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. In so doing, he traces an autobiography that began before his birth, and the music proves thrilling, mesmerizing and reverberant.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Jon Irabagon,
Rising Sun (Irabbagast); Ethan Philion,
Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside); Ches Smith,
Interpret It Well (Pyroclastic); Jacob Garchik,
Assembly (Yestereve); Keith Jarrett,
Bordeaux Concert (ECM); Matthew Shipp Trio,
World Construct (ESP-Disk); Wayne Shorter,
Live at Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 (Candid); Stephen Riley,
My Romance (SteepleChase); Charles Lloyd,
Trios: Ocean (Blue Note) -
Neil Tesser
Myra Melford, For the Love of Fire and Water (RogueArt)
Pianist and composer Melford assembled an aggregate of distinctive voices on
For The Love Of Fire And Water, a suite of songs inspired by the drawings of Cy Twombley. As thoughtful and thorny as its source material, the music is vividly realized via Melford’s interactions with saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, guitarist Mary Halvorson, cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer-percussionist Susie Ibarra. Each contributes essential colors, textures and tones, whispering, screaming, doodling in the margins or in the center of the canvas. A commanding presence, Melford’s piano is hardly dominant: The leader provides her bandmates plenty of room to create, bespeaking a confidence in her vision as well as in her cohorts.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Eri Yamamoto/Chad Fowler/William Parker/Steve Hirsh,
Sparks (Mahakala); Rufus Reid Trio With The Sirius Quartet,
Celebration (Sunnyside); Terri Lyne Carrington,
new Standards Vol. 1 (Candid); Tarbaby featuring Oliver Lake,
Dance of the Evil Toys (Clean Feed); Cécile McLorin Salvant,
Ghost Song (Nonesuch); Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double,
March (Firehouse 12); Tyler Mitchell featuring Marshall Allen,
Dancing Shadows (Mahakala); Steve Cardenas/Ben Allison/Ted Nash,
Healing Power: The Music of Carla Bley (Sunnyside); Tyshawn Sorey Trio,
Mesmerism (Yeros7) -
Bob Weinberg
Grant Geissman, Blooz (Futurism)
Guitarist Geissman returns with
one of the most dynamic and adventurous albums of his multi-faceted career — a fun, freewheeling and supremely soulful exploration of a multitude of styles connected in some way to the blues. Geissman jokes that it’s not that he doesn’t know how to spell “blues,” but rather the album’s fanciful title indicates his unique, wide-ranging interpretation of the genre. Helping to realize this long-in-the-making labor of love are a grand group of longtime pals, including Randy Brecker, David Garfield, Russell Ferrante, Tom Scott, Joe Bonamassa and Robben Ford.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Ron Bosse,
Burning Room Only (Deep Cat); Judy Whitmore,
Isn’t It Romantic (Arden House Music); Eric Darius,
Unleashed (SagiDarius Music); Mark Winkler,
Late Bloomin’ Jazzman (Café Pacific); Jessy J,
Blue (Changi); Michael Lemmo,
Blue Comet (Woodward Avenue); Paul Brown,
Promised Land (Shanachie); Carol Albert,
Magic Mirror (Cahara); Bill Ortiz,
Points of View (Left Angle) -
Jonathan Widran
