The Jazz.com Blog
December 23, 2008 · 4 comments
Ralph Miriello Looks at Some Jazz Highlights of 2008
As part of our year-end festivities, several regular contributors to jazz.com have offered their views on the jazz highlights of the year. Below Ralph Miriello serves up his selections. T.G.
During the course of 2008, young innovators as well as indefatigable veterans have once again proven that almost any song given the right thought can be magically transformed into a unique work of art. Some songs are old standards that, given the right amount of contemplation, are mystically conjured into a vehicle for a whole new experience of expression. Some compositions are originals that have the mettle to become new standards in their own right.
This year was indeed a cornucopia of wonderful and varied expressionistic offerings. Here are just a few of my choices for noteworthy performances, most by lesser known artists, which I had the opportunity to listen to and in some case review for jazz.com over the past year.
From the grand masters of the keyboard witness the wonderful Tea for Two by the bombastic, octogenarian pianist Martial Solal on his wonderful album Longitude. The sensationally sensitive Fred Herschs version of the Monk classic Misterioso from his offering Night & the Music. Newcomer to me, Dave Frank, took a left-handed turn at You Stepped Out of A Dream from his fine solo effort Turning it Loose and made it his own. Veteran stylist Steve Kuhn hit it out of the park with his killer rendition of Mal Waldrons Left Alone ably assisted by Al Foster and Buster Williams on his release Play Standards. Marc Copland once again showed his thoughtful side on his eclectic collaboration with the fine guitarist John Abercrombie with the beautifully rambling River Bend, an Abercrombie tune from Coplands Another Place, being a standout.
Italian pianist Roberto Magriss Europlane release Check-In introduced me to the fine sound of this musician/composer as well as the eye opening saxophone work of Hungarian Tony Lakatos, who blew me away on Magriss Blues for My Sleeping Baby. Pianist John Beasley assembled a monster supporting cast on his homage to Herbie Hancock Letter to Herbie with an especially nice treatment of Chans Song.
Saxophonists were well represented. To my mind, the purest example of the art of saxophone improvisation was offered by Donny McCaslin from his marvelous release Recommended Tools where his The Champion and Eventual were standouts. Adam Niewoods Wheres the Cat from Epic Journey Vol 1 & 2 is a distinctive foray into crescendo-building atmospherics and worth a listen. Saxophonist Andy Middletons recorded version Up the River from his European Quartet Live is one of my favorite live performances of the yearthe intensity of his playing comes right through the speakers.
There were a few cool Hammond organ offerings this year but my favorite of the bunch was The Princes Groove by B3 master Vince Seneri on his album of the same name, with props to Randy Brecker and Paul Bollenback.
In a successful venture into Gunther Schullers third stream arena, pianist Bill Mays and his Inventions Trio (also featuring trumpeter Marvin Stamm along with cellist Alisa Horn) were hauntingly successful in Fantasy Movements 1 through 3 on his Fantasy CD, a recording that I find myself playing repeatedly. Joel Harrisons The Wheel was a five-movement work for strings and guitar featuring the fine trumpet work of Ralph Alessi and combining sensibilities of classical, jazz and Appalachian folk into a cohesive performance of considerable depth.
There were many offerings of what I would call composition-oriented improvisation, with my choice for album of the year in this category being Ben Allisons Man-Sized Safes magical Little Things Run the World. Seeing this group perform live in Brooklyn was a true treat, with each musician putting his own imprimatur on the music without ever taking away from the groups cohesive sound. Out of many fine songs, guitarist Steve Cardenass Language of Love is a soon-to-be classic.
Bassist David Fincks haunting Ballad for a Future Day on his Future Day album, was a worthy offering and featured stirring performances by vibraphonist Joe Locke and veteran drummer Joe La Barbera, and some nice work by saxophonist Bob Sheppard and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt on the song Four Flags.
Brooklyn based pianist Emilio Sollas fine Conversas Al Lado Del Agua was a treat to behold especially his engaging Remain Alert, which stretched the boundaries with its careful combination of classical styled orchestrations in a driven piece of music laced with the sounds of Pan-American folk music.
Saxophonist Felipe Salles released what may have been one of the finest examples of the kind of new compositions that incorporate world sounds with sophisticated orchestrations. Salless South American Suite is a major statement in this direction. His piece Crayon is a perfect example of the kind of creative jazz-hybrid music that is coming from the Southern Hemisphere.
Flautist Jamie Baum put together a brilliant piece of music with her formidable septet on her commendable offering Solace where Solace and Pine Creek were especially notable; a release not to be missed. The Stryker/Slagle Bands The Scene was a fine outing, with journeyman Joe Lovano lending his considerable clout to the affair. Slagles rendition of Rahsaan Roland Kirks Fingers in the Wind was a standout. Pablo Ziegler, Quique Sinesi and Walter Castro took tango Nuevo to a new level of jazz sophistication on Zieglers Buenes Aires Report.
One of my favorite discoveries of the year came from the strangely unidentifiable sound of pianist / vocalist / composer Meddy Gerville and his wonderfully infectious release Fo Kronn la Vi. This inhabitant of distant Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean, has created a magical combination of heart grabbing beat along with musical and vocal virtuosity that is simply unforgettable. His performance in New York at Cachaa with Matt Garrison on bass and Horacio El Negro Hernandez on drums was mesmerizing, and the album is no less engaging. One of my best new finds of the year.
On the vocal front, we had some wonderful releases from Denise Donatelli, What Lies Within, which offered her captivating version of the Chick Coreas Crystal Silence, with kudos going to arranger / pianist Geoff Keezer. Australian Rachel Price showed her mettle with her engaging version of The Trolley Song from her notable The Good Hours release.
Drummer Ken Serio had an impressive live CD Live In the Moment, ably assisted by bassist Mark Egan and guitarists Peter McCann and Vic Juris, with the simply smoking Big Blue Cars being of note. This is another example of the visceral live performance being transferred effectively to the recording.
Guitarist Pat Metheny, with super trio band-mates Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez, treated us to their special type of musical magic with the notable release Day Trip. Their At Last Youre Here serves as a fine starting point to an overall good offering.
As with any listing exclusions are bound to offend or surprise some. My listing is but a mere sampling of what I had an opportunity to listen to and review this past year. While not attempting to denigrate any that were not mentioned, my simple goal here is to give some recognition to those whose music in someway touched me this year and perhaps for years to come. Happy Holidays to all our readers and keep listening to the music!
This blog entry posted by Ralph A. Miriello.
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A friend played me the Dave Frank CD Turning it Loose. It was insane! Always nice to discover an artist I don't already have in my collection.
Evan: It was a good year for pianists. Glad to hear my article turned you on to another fine one. Check out Jack Reilly's "Pure Passion" cd though it was not released this year. Another fine solo piano effort from this year that I inadvertently failed to mention was "Air" by Frank Kimbrough. Happy listening
Nice to see you are even more passionate about Jazz than you were 30 plus years ago. My intent is simply to say thanks for opening my ears, heart, and soul to Jazz. I don't think it would have happened without you. My interest is a bit more subdued, but that allows me to flow easily in to various forms of music that are not identified with the jazz branding iron. But yeah, there's been some really powerful music to listen to over the years. Again, my most humble and sincere thanks to you for setting me on this path of discovery.
This only goes to prove that you never can be sure of who is reading what you write! I always think that I am writing in a vacuum since so few people actually bother to comment. It is good to hear you are alive and well and amazingly still listening after 30 plus years (has it been that long?)! Thank you for the kind words,it means a lot to me, its been a crazy trip, keep reading and listening.