Best of 2012 (so far)

[Lunar Drift]

Best of 2012: Jazz & Slightly Beyond

No particular order.


Modern Jazz




Espen Eriksen Trio - What Took You So Long ( Rune Grammofon )

Benedikt Jahnel Trio - Equilibrium ( ECM )

e.s.t. - 301 ( ACT )

Studnitzky - Ky Do Mar ( Sonar Kollektiv )

Wolfgang Haffner - Heart of the Matter ( ACT )

Matthew Halsall - Fletcher Moss Park ( Gondwana Records )

GoGo Penguin – Fanfares ( Gondwana Records )

Erik Truffaz Quartet - El Tiempo De La Revolución ( Blue Note )


Nu Jazz / Electronica / Future Jazz / Electro-Acoustic



Hidden Orchestra - Archipelago ( Tru Thoughts )

Submotion Orchestra - Fragments ( Exceptional )

Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet ( Real World Records )


Folk / Jazz / Alternative/ Indie / Ambient Pop



Susanna - Wild Dog ( Rune Grammofon )


Post-Rock / Folk / Indie / Jazz Flavored



Balmorhea - Stranger ( Western Vinyl )


Progressive / Ambient Jazz / Fusion / Dub / Jazz-Rock / Experimental



Naked Truth - Ouroboros ( RareNoiseRecords )

Metallic Taste Of Blood - Metallic Taste Of Blood ( RareNoiseRecords )

Elephant9 with Reine Fiske - Atlantis ( Rune Grammofon )

Donny McCaslin - Casting for Gravity ( Greenleaf Music )


World Jazz



The Touré-Raichel Collective - The Tel Aviv Session ( Cumbancha )


Soul / Surf / Alternative / Dream Pop



Micatone - Wish I Was Here ( Sonar Kollektiv )

[jkelman]

My Best Releases of 2012 is set to run December 21; my best Live shows of 2012 on 12/23. I'll post here when they go live.

Another year here I've been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel extensively - and, while I cannot (for obvious reasons) include them in my best shows of 2012, I have to give a huge shout out to all the artists who participated in my All About Jazz Presents: Doing It Norway series at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, this past July...AAJ's first (as well as mine) shot at programming a series. It went swimmingly, with great attendance and some absolutely outstanding shows from:

• Eple Trio—pianist Andreas Ulvo, bassist Sigurd Hole and drummer Jonas Howden Sjøvaag—with guest saxophonist Karl Seglem;
• The double-duo show of guitarist Eivind Aarset/percussionist Thomas Strønen and vocalist Sidsel Endresen/guitarist Stian Westerhus;
• Elephant9, with guest guitarist Reine Fiske;
• Trumpeter/singer/percussionist's Per Jørgensen and Friends, the Jøkleba/BMX/Magnetic North Orchestra alum's first group ever under his own name, featruring percussionist Terje Isungset, bassist Morten Skage, harmonium expert Sigbjørn Apeland and keyboardist Morten Qvenild;
• Pianist Jon Balke's expanded Magnetic Book;
• Bassist Mats Eilertsen's SkyDive Quintet, with saxophonist Tore Brunborg, guitarist Thomas Dahl, pianist Alexi Tuomarilla and drummer Olavi Louhivouri;
• And trumpeter/singer Arve Henriksen's trio with percussionists Audun Kleive and Helge Norbakken.

To have had to opportunity to not just get some of my favorite musicians on one bill, but to get them to try some different things (like Elephant9's working with Reine Fiske; that, and Atlantis stemmed from my inviting them to play, but with guest(s) and when they suggested Reine, I was thrllled) was a real milestone in my life to this point. To have had my wife attend with me was even better. It was an opportunity to be on the other side of the table, looking for coverage (which I ended up getting in some European publications...even did a "Blindfold Test" for Norway's jazz mag, JazzNytt and I didn't do too badly, despite editor Jan Granlie definitely not babying me at all!). All in all, something I'd sure love to do again, were the opportunity to arise.

But that, as is the case with everything I've been so lucky to do - I'm off to Munich tomorrow to cover the ECM Exhibition, see two shows (Patrick&Thomas Demenga with Alexi Lubimov, plus another show with Meredith Monk - first time seeing her and I am pumped!), and interview the curator and, if he can be pinned down for half an hour (he has committed to it, but I know how it is), Manfred Eicher (either way, I'll be visiting ECM HQ) - makes me realize that I really am leading a charmed life these days, at least when it comes to music.

Sorry to ramble, but thinking about the best of 2012 just brings it all into sharp focus for me. Thanks for listening, and for those who bailed after the first few lines...I completely understand!

[The elephant shrew]

I'd love to see the Eple Trio live, as their "In the Clearing/In the Cavern" album was one of my 3 favourites of 2011.
So I wrote a nice e-mail to the Eple Trio, asking them if they might consider playing a gig in Stockholm. After all, Sweden is right next to Norway, where they live. They replied that they had no plans to play in Sweden, but if I got my ass over to Oslo, they'd put me on the guest list for one of their gigs there. Nice!

[jkelman]

Originally Posted by The elephant shrew

I'd love to see the Eple Trio live, as their "In the Clearing/In the Cavern" album was one of my 3 favourites of 2011.
So I wrote a nice e-mail to the Eple Trio, asking them if they might consider playing a gig in Stockholm. After all, Sweden is right next to Norway, where they live. They replied that they had no plans to play in Sweden, but if I got my ass over to Oslo, they'd put me on the guest list for one of their gigs there. Nice!

They are all supremely nice guys...no surprise to hear this...
Best!
John

[Alypius]

Originally Posted by Lunar Drift

Best of 2012: Jazz & Slightly Beyond
Modern Jazz

Espen Eriksen Trio - What Took You So Long ( Rune Grammofon )
Benedikt Jahnel Trio - Equilibrium ( ECM )
e.s.t. - 301 ( ACT )
Studnitzky - Ky Do Mar ( Sonar Kollektiv )
Wolfgang Haffner - Heart of the Matter ( ACT )
Matthew Halsall - Fletcher Moss Park ( Gondwana Records )
GoGo Penguin – Fanfares ( Gondwana Records )
Erik Truffaz Quartet - El Tiempo De La Revolución ( Blue Note )

Nu Jazz / Electronica / Future Jazz / Electro-Acoustic

Hidden Orchestra - Archipelago ( Tru Thoughts )
Submotion Orchestra - Fragments ( Exceptional )
Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet ( Real World Records )

Folk / Jazz / Alternative/ Indie / Ambient Pop

Susanna - Wild Dog ( Rune Grammofon )

Post-Rock / Folk / Indie / Jazz Flavored
Balmorhea - Stranger ( Western Vinyl )

Progressive / Ambient Jazz / Fusion / Dub / Jazz-Rock / Experimental

Naked Truth - Ouroboros ( RareNoiseRecords )
Metallic Taste Of Blood - Metallic Taste Of Blood ( RareNoiseRecords )
Elephant9 with Reine Fiske - Atlantis ( Rune Grammofon )
Donny McCaslin - Casting for Gravity ( Greenleaf Music )[/B]

World Jazz

The Touré-Raichel Collective - The Tel Aviv Session ( Cumbancha )

Soul / Surf / Alternative / Dream Pop

Micatone - Wish I Was Here ( Sonar Kollektiv )

Lunar, Thanks for the list. Lots of things I've never seen before--which makes it helpful. I enjoy your categories -- You've been hanging around John Kelman, I see.

[Lunar Drift]

Originally Posted by Alypius

Lunar, Thanks for the list. Lots of things I've never seen before--which makes it helpful. I enjoy your categories -- You've been hanging around John Kelman, I see.

My pleasure

[save]

In no particular order ...

Kurt Rosenwinkel Star Of Jupiter
Miles Okazaki Figurations
Masabumi Kikuchi Sunrise
Steve Lehman Trio Flourecent
Enrico Pieranunzi Permutation
Sam Rivers Trio Reunion: Live In New York
Tim Berne Snakeoil
Aaron Goldberg Yes!
Bill McHenry La Peur Du Vide
Michael Formanek Small Places

[The elephant shrew]

This Top 18, like all end-of-year best-of lists, is a work in progress. There are some albums that I’ve got on order that would probably make the grade, but I can hardly put them in if I haven’t heard ‘em. In particular, the new albums from two of my favourite artists, Nat Birchall and the Greg Foat Group, haven’t reached me yet. But for the moment, these eighteen will have to do. I’ve really enjoyed the music year that was 2012, and hope there might be a recommendation or two in here that might appeal to other jazzers.


1. Matthew Halsall – Fletcher Moss Park
The fourth and finest record of Halsall’s career. And a landmark in British jazz.

2. Erik Jekabson – Anti-Mass
Sextet’s sublime set of chamber jazz pieces inspired by the De Young Museum in San Francisco. (A big thank-you to dsschicago for this great recommendation!)

3. Oskar Schönning – The Violin
Swedish double-bass man and his sextet turn the focus onto Lisa Rydberg’s violin, with enthralling results

4. Ketil Bjørnstad – Vinding’s Music
One disc of solo piano improvisation and one disc of orchestral standards from the veteran Norwegian composer and novelist

5. Bugge Wesseltoft & Henning Karggerud – Last Spring
An hour of lean, elegant duets for piano and violin/viola

6. Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard – Vesper
7. Marc Johnson & Eliane Elias – Swept Away
8. Adam Fairhall – The Imaginary Delta
9. Vijay Iyer Trio – Accelerando
10. GoGo Penguin – Fanfares
11. John Surman – Saltash Bells
12. Brad Mehldau Trio – Ode
13. Steve Kuhn – Wisteria
14. Christian Scott – Christian aTunde Adjuah
15. Angles 8 – By Way of Deception: Live in Ljubljana
16. Portico Quartet – Portico Quartet
17. Ballrogg – Cabin Music
18. Espen Eriksen Trio – What Took You So Long

[Alypius]

Great to see this thread taking off. I somehow missed Niels' and Hamlake's posts. Thanks for those. Also Save's and Elephant Shrew's--whose recommendations have often been a big help for me.

A few quick questions:

1. About Bill McHenry's La Peur du Vide: Do the liner notes translate the title? I translate it as "Fear of Emptiness". Correct? What's the reference?

2. About the Ron Miles: There's no bass and no piano. Any thoughts about the rather spare quality? That's what I hear in the clips, but as usual, it's hard to judge.

3. About Oskar Schönning – The Piano: Is that available yet in the U.S.? I can't find it.

With everyone citing E.S.T.'s "301", I gotta check it out. I worry about posthumous releases not being up to snuff. Thanks, all.

[HutchFan]

Originally Posted by Alypius

1. About Bill McHenry's La Peur du Vide: Do the liner notes translate the title? I translate it as "Fear of Emptiness". Correct? What's the reference?

Alypius, I've seen the title translated as "Fear of the Void." I've not seen the liner notes, since I downloaded my copy.

I'm not aware of any allusion with the title -- but it sounds like something Nietzsche would say! LOL

FWIW, I don't think the music correlates much with the title. It's not "down-beat" at all.

[jkelman]

Originally Posted by Alypius

With everyone citing E.S.T.'s "301", I gotta check it out. I worry about posthumous releases not being up to snuff. Thanks, all.

Recorded at the same sessions as Leucocyte. Not quite as good I'd say, if only because Leucocyte was a signal of a directional shift, whereas this combines some of that shift with some of their more typical stuff (which I do like).

Had I reviewed it (I didn't, as Bruce Lindsday did, and this year I had to make decisions based on that at times), and even had I, it wouldn't have made my top list. But it's still a very good record, without a doubt, and its posthumous status should be no cause for concern.

As for Quiver? The idea was to follow up Ron & Bill's 2002 duo record Heaven, but add Blade to the mix to broaden things somewhat. I didn't get around to reviewing it, but do enjoy it quite a bit...though, again, not sure if it would have made best of the year for me.

[niels]

I think Quiver is maybe my favorite "chill out" album of this year (surely the album I put on most after a busy work day, just before I go to bed) . I don't know a thing about the technical side of jazz (notes, scales and all that stuff), so for me music/jazz is completely about emotions/feelings an album can bring. for me this album reminded me a bit of some older Paul Motian trio records witch I also enjoy a lot.
Furthermore, the sound/recording quality of this CD is some of the best I heard this year for me . Listening to this album over a good set of speakers/amp there is a lot of "black space" (I don't know if this is a widely spread term, but that's how we call it in the Netherlands), between the instruments witch gives it a very spacious and natural sound. Together with the Nik Bartsch record, this record gave me the most feeling of "listing to a band on stage" instead of listening to sound coming out of a speaker.

[Mark of Cenla]

My budget for buying music is not what it used to be. These are the only 2012 albums I have bought, but they are all great.

Corea/Gomez/Motian - Further Expolorations
Brad Mehldau Trio - Ode
Brad Mehldau Trio _ Where Do You Start
Pat Metheny - Unity Band

I may update this after Christmas. Peace and goodwill.

[Alypius]

Niels, John, and Hutch, Thanks for the quick responses.

Niels, I've never heard the term "black space"--may be common in the Netherlands, but not here. I think I'll introduce it to American parlance.

Hutch, "Void" does seem a better translation given that there's a definite article preceding "vide". You're right about the Nietzschean (or Sartrean) sentiment.

[HutchFan]

More fodder for discussion: author & critic Ted Gioia's "The 100 Best Albums of 2012 (all styles, all genres)."