Best of 2002 (New Releases)

[xricci]

What are your favorite jazz albums from 2002?

[mkaiser]

OK, so I'm biased, since I produced this CD. It's just now being released on Sea Breeze Records, so it's a little hard to find.

The recording features Carl and many of LA's finest big band players. Other soloists include Bobby Shew, Ron Stout, Bob Summers, Lanny Morgan, Brian Scanlon, Doug Webb, Jerry Pinter, Andy Martin, Bob McChesney, Kevin Axt, and Christian Jacob.

For more information, go to www.carlsaunders.com

[Coypu]

Spastic Ink - Inc Complete, not a pure jazz album but any fan of challenging music can enjoy this album.

Here is a review:

Having grown up on music of a technical nature ie:classical, fusion, big band, Rush, Return to Forever, I was very intrigued by the description of this band, "An awe inspiring display of ultimate technical arrangements, wasting no notes, beats, or melodies, everysound is exacted to perfection!" now what can one think? I bought the cd, and the description was not words enough to descibe what I had heard, Technical? perhaps the most technical band I have ever heard. They waste no notes, no ramblings, no improvisations, no repetitious meanderings of any sort, just ultra-challenging, ultra-complex metal tinged zaniness. And it's very enjoyable, Ron also shows his sense of humor with some very funny cartoons, and quips that he uses to explain the concepts to each song, I simply cannot find a band worthy of comparing them to, for the fact that no one is playing this kind of stuff, perhaps Spiral Archetect(except they have vocals, and tend to be heavy at all times), this is all instrumental, less the song : A wild Hare, which has the vocal soundtrack from Disneys" Bambi, played over a Spasticized soundtrack, all while Ron mimics the voices of Thumper and Bambi with his Vai -like guitar, does this give you a picture? Another song of note is "Mosquito Brain Surgery", which shows the band at its most intense, the title should give you an idea of what this song is like, you will be stupified at how complex this 3 piece is, and how machine like they are able to play togeter.

For thoose who are interested in this amazing band :
go here (http://galaxen.net/~coypu/musik/MX/)

[scalle]

Ben Allison Pice Pipe
Andrew Hill A Beautiful Day
Dj Spooky Optometry
Dave Douglas The Infinite

[xricci]

Here are some of my early picks...

Bill Carrothers - Duets with Bill Stewart
John Hollenbeck - Quartet Lucy
Moutin Reunion Quartet - Power Tree
The Treehouse Project - The Picture Show
Medeski Martin & Wood - Uninvisible
Michael Blake - Elevated
Dave Leslie - The Brim
Trio Da Paz - Café
Tom Harrell - Live at the Village Vanguard
Brian Bromberg - Wood
Steve Lantner - Saying So
Patricia Barber - Verse
Trio Mundo - Carnaval
Chris Potter - Traveling Mercies
Ted Rosenthal - The 3 B's
Jef Lee Johnson - St. Somebody

[scalle]

New picks

Ralph Alessi This Against That
John Hollenbeck Quartet Lucy
Dave Holland What Goes Around

[Herb]

ben allison / peace pipe
david s. ware / freedom suite
dave douglas / the infinite
mario pavone / mythos
nels cline singers / instrumentals
john hollenbeck / quartet lucy
joe morris / age of everything

[clifton]

Wayne Shorter "Footprints Live", Dave Douglas "The Infinite", Von Freeman "The Improviser", Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt "God Bless Jug And Sonny", Branford Marsalis "Fooitsteps Of Our Fathers", Cyrus Chestnut "Soul Food".

[ADR]

My top ten list for 2002 right now would consist of (in alphabetical order):

Allison, Ben - Peace Pipe (Palmetto)
Barron, Kenny - Live at Bradley's (Sunnyside)
Blake, Michael - Elevated (Knitting Factory)
Douglas, Dave - The Infinite (RCA)
Holland, Dave - What Goes Around (ECM)
Osby, Greg - Inner Circle (Blue Note)
Parker, William - Bob's Pink Cadillac (Eremite)
Shorter, Wayne - Footprint's: Live (Verve)
Vandermark 5 - Free Jazz Classics Vol. 1 & 2 (Atavistic)
Ware, David S. - Freedom Suite (AUM Fidelity)

[Pharaohrock]

Duck Harrison's new joint- straightahead but smokin'....

Osby's but not Moran, which I find rather affected. Moran's become a media darling though who can't do anything wrong.

Shorter is a given. Epic shit. Better if you're in kind of a dark mood though...

Herbie's just because he's pushing the envelope there with "futuristic" jazz IMO.

- Agree about the Carrothers: boadloads of interaction there.

Kenny Garrett's new one- (....not really, although it's hard for me to really dislike anything he lays his hands on. If that's smooth jazz I'm supposed to hate, then let me be wrong. Kenny would sound beautiful playing over a stapler gun. I play this a lot even though I expect it would be the last disc to make any critic's list.)

Myron Walden "Beyond"- gritty stuff by two of the most promising soloists out there right now= Myron and Marcus Strickland.

Renee Rosnes- this disc came out early in 02', and I think it's got some pretty damn hip tracks on it. Especially one w/Mor Thiam and the other with the tablas player.

James Carney- "Thread".....dude is from LA but he's got this dark east coast vibe going on that reminds me in parts of James Hurt's shit.

[xricci]

Here are a handful more since my last post...

John Ehlis Ensemble - San Carlos
Charles Lloyd - Lift Every Voice
Matthias Lupri - Same Time Twice
David Manson - Fluid Motion
David S. Ware - Freedom Suite

There are reviews for the above discs here...
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/release/index.html

[Joel]

my cjazz centric ears says;

Dave Weckl - Perpetual Motion
Al DiMeola - Flesh On Flesh
Joe Sample - The Pecan Tree
George Duke - Face The Music
Lee Ritenour - Rit's House
Pat Metheny Group - Speaking Of Now
The Caribbean Jazz Project - The Gathering
Dennis Chambers - Outbreak

Pharaohrock,
Kenny Garrett's new album, Happy People is half contempo and half straight ahead.
I wouldnt call it smooth jazz at all since the cjazz tracks still have elements of rhythm changes ("improvy") which is a rarity compared to the melody and groove centric Smooth Jazz.
I like "Happy People" too which is also a rarity for me since I normally dont like the sax as the main instrument, at least in this album, KG allows more "space" for his bandmates.

[omar zamora]

Some good ones have mentioned. I can't think of everything that came out, but a couple I'd add (sticking to jazz, and not non-idiomatic free improv or electro-acoustic improv)

Billy Bang - Vietnam: The Aftermath
William Parker - Raining on the Moon
Taylor/Dixon/Oxley (not everyone liked it, but I thought it was excellent)

I'm sure there's more I've heard that I can't think of right now.

[clifton]

Don't forget Andrew Hill, "A Beautiful Day".

[ppjazz]

Ones I've enjoyed this year are:

1. "Speaking of Now" - Pat Metheny Group
2. "Perpeptual Motion" - The Dave Weckl Band
3. "Live At Semper Opera" - Jean Luc Ponty
4. "Grapevine" - Metro
5. "Mint Jam" - Yellowjackets
6. "The Gathering" - The Caribbean Jazz Project
7. "In Blue" - Karrin Allyson
8. "Something Cool" - Tienery Sutton
9. "Live and Unreleashed" - Weather Report
10. "Live In Paris" - Diana Krall

[gregk]

Always Let Me Go, by Keith Jarrett's trio, and Footprints Live, Wayne Shorter

[Pharaohrock]

I'm normally not a big fan of Ron Carter's records, but I thought his "Stardust" of this year, with Benny Golson and Joe Locke, was just a BEAUTIFUL record. It's a tribute to Oscar Pettiford and the music is just flawlessly executed, very relaxed, and with a downright "classic" sound.

[LeMo]

My favorites for 2002:

- Mike Bisio & Joe Giardullo: Primal Intentions (Cadence)
- Hamid Drake & Sabir Mateen: Brothers Together (Eremite)
- Gerd Dudek: 'Smatter (PSI)
- Frank Gratowski, Fred Van Hove, Tony Oxley: Grathovox (Nuscope)
- Keith Jarret: Always Let Me Go (ECM)
- Stephan Oliva/ Olivier Raulin: Sept variations sur Lennie Tristano (Sketch)
- Tony Bianco & Paul Dunmall: Hour Glass (Emanem)
- Ned Rothenberg & Denman Maroney: Tools of Trade (CIMP)
- Ken Vandermark 5: Acoustic Machine (Atavistic)
- Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston: 6 Dialogues (Emanem)

+ the indispensable John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (Impulse!) in his "Deluxe" edition of course!

[omar zamora]

LeMo,

Nice list. That Gratkowski and the Drake are fantastic. And I need to get the Dunmall

Some additions to my earlier brief list would include:

Maneri Ensemble - Going to Church
Mark Dresser - Aquifer

Some non-jazz improvised music:

Stnagl/Dieb13 - eh
Cosmos - Tears
MIMEO/Tilbury - The Hands of Caravaggio

[LeMo]

Omar,

Thanks for your appreciation.
I was afraid than these forums were only visiting by a bunch of mainstreamer of the worst category (particulary the one who love so much the terrible Kenny Garret and find the Penguin Guide to Jazz too... eurocentric!).
It's good to find somebody who like something else than post-bop jazz or fusion of the worst kind.

By the way, could you tell me more about thhe Stangl/ Dieb 13 record?

[groovinhigher]

Wayne Bergeron - You Call This A Living

and Wayne Bergeron as a special guest with my big band, Rich Wetzel's Groovin Higher Jazz Orchestra. See www.groovinhigher.com for info and pics of that concert.

[powderfinger]

Here are my top-records of the year:

1) Dave Holland B.B. / What goes round
2) Bill Frisell / The Willies
3) Chris Potter / Travelling mercies
4) Tom Harrel / Live at the V.V.
5) Weather Report / Live and Unreleased
6) Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette / Live in Tokyo
7) Bill Frisell / rarum
8) Wayne Shorter / Footprints
9) Oregon / Live at Yoshi's
1o) Bobby Previtte / 23 Constellations

Happy X-mas and happy new year to all AAJ-Folks !