Bird is the Worm Best of 2014: Albums 26-30

Today’s post reveals the 26nd through the 30th Bird is the Worm Top 30 jazz albums of 2014.

*****

A Best Of album has to hit me right in my heart and provoke a strong emotional reaction.  A Best Of album has to engage my head and elicit a cerebral connection.  Give me some intrigue.  Show me your music has got personality.  Extra points are awarded for doing Something Different.  I want to hear music that embraces the best qualities of creativity.  Strong musicianship alone is not enough.  Many excellent albums fall short of earning a slot on the list.  It literally pains me when I see some of the albums that aren’t included on my Best Of lists.  But I listen to a lot of music, and one of the rare downsides to encountering so much great Jazz is that some of it won’t receive the recognition it deserves.  So there you have it.

No matter how diligent a listener is and no matter how thoroughly that person covers the music scene, there will always be albums that slip through the cracks.  It’s a matter of the scarcity of time vs. the overflow of music.  It’s also a matter of subjectivity.  I try to instill an objectivity into the affair, judging each album’s qualities without consideration for my own personal preferences… at least, as much as I am able.  I can say for certain, my Best of 2014 list looks different than my personal Favorites of 2014 list.  No attempt to encapsulate the 2014 jazz album landscape will be fully comprehensive, but I humbly offer up my list with a confidence that these albums represent the best that 2014 had to offer.  But it’s a list that’s likely to gain a few addendums with the passing of time.

What you’ll read below are not reviews.  They are simple thoughts, reminiscences, fragments of recollections, and brief opinions about how each album struck me both now and when I first heard it.  There is a link to a more formal write-up following each entry… that’s where you go to find out what’s what about each recording.  Those write-ups are accompanied with embedded audio of an album track, as well as personnel and label information, links to artist, label, and retail sites, and anything else that seemed relevant at the time I wrote about the album.  Follow those links.  They might just lead to your next most favorite album ever.

So, with all that out of the way:  Let’s begin…

*****

26.  Matt Wilson Quartet + John Medeski – Gathering Call

This album is all heart.  It swings and it’s best friends with the blues.  Every melody has a personality and the rhythm is an engaging conversation each time one is struck up.  This is the kind of thing Matt Wilson has a history of doing.  He doesn’t swing because it’s on a list of procedures for writing a jazz song or because it just seems like the thing to do… you can hear and feel his enthusiasm with each song.  His crack line-up is comprised of musicians (Jeff Lederer, Kirk Knuffke and Chris Lightcap) who have a track record of deconstructing the old into something new, and Wilson gives them some space to do just that, at times, while still sticking to a straight-ahead jazz path.  John Medeski sits in on this session, and the enthusiasm he brings to his own MM&W project is a perfect fit for Wilson’s positive attitude.  How do you not smile just listening to this music?  If someone ever says they don’t make jazz today like they used to, point them in this direction.

Released on Palmetto Records.

Read more on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

*****

27.  Tineke Postma & Greg Osby – Sonic Halo

The duo saxophone attack of Tineke Postma and Greg Osby is captivating in any number of ways.  There’s the weaving of melodic fragments into an offshoot of even more beauty.  There’s the dialog between saxophone voices that celebrates the similarities and the differences with equal enthusiasm.  And then, perhaps, there’s the directional patterns and shape of the motion that is most captivating.  A quintet session that features an excellent line-up of bassist Linda Oh, drummer Dan Weiss and pianist Matt Mitchell, and the way they are able to express their individuality and remain essential parts of the group dynamic is no small reason for the album’s success.  Tunes are put into play and the activity and motion resulting from how each musician helps guide the song from first note to last results in an album that is seriously compelling.

Released on Challenge Records.

Read more on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

*****

28.  Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band – Mother’s Touch

There is a “Kind of Blue” perfection to this album that’s not immediately evident.  I’m not claiming that Mother’s Touch is one of the all-time great jazz recordings, but Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band makes all the profound complexities and statements, both nuanced and glaring, seem almost effortless.  That’s indicative of a certain mastery of the craft, and it’s why it might be easy to overlook the accomplishment that Mother’s Touch truly is.  There are some flirtations with different influences here, but mostly it’s clear sailing straight ahead… the kind of jazz that is just as likely to appeal to new-school fans as it will old-schoolers.

Released on Posi-Tone Records.

Read more on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

*****

29.  Joris Roelofs – Aliens Deliberating

What is best about this album is how every motion from this trio is an awkward one, even when they swing, and yet they remain so crazily tuneful as to deny that they were ever awkward in the first place.  There’s the sense that, at any moment, any one of these musicians (Joris Roelofs on bass clarinet, Ted Poor on drums and Matt Penman on bass) could suddenly peel off and careen wildly into the paths of the others, and yet they all stick to some vague flight pattern, which is mesmerizing to see develop in its way.  Besides, it’s great to hear another example of bass clarinet’s range.  Too often it’s used, either, as the soulful voice in a melodic soup or the lighter-fluid for a free jazz conflagration.  On Aliens Deliberating, it’s about a song voice, a storyteller’s disposition, and a melody that is given no less care by bass clarinet than that of a more traditional wind instrument.  And most of all, this album is about creating seriously compelling music that is strange, unconventional and positively alluring.

Released on Pirouet Records.

Read more on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

*****

30.  Brigaden – Om Alberto och Några Andra Gubbar

An album with a huge heart.  All of Brigaden‘s expressions are Big, even when the quintet (plus a bunch of guests) pours out a love song.  The Swedish folk influence is strong, and there’s a pop music sensibility to the music that is terrifically arresting.  The Spanish influence plays more than just a supporting role, and it’s a wrinkle that adds to this album’s already distinct personality.  The album’s boisterous enthusiasm and unguarded earnestness are the qualities that get this album a Best of 2014 slot, but that the music is innately tuneful is the clincher.

Released on Havtorn Records.

Read more on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

*****

Tomorrow’s post reveals the 2014 Bird is the Worm #21-#25 albums of the year.

Cheers.