Jazz Recommendations – 2018

Jan 20 2019

Best of 2018 #4: Thumbscrew – “Ours” and “Theirs”

 

The Thumbscrew trio of guitarist Mary Halvorson, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, and double bassist Michael Formanek had two simultaneous releases in 2018, but for all intents and purposes, they should be viewed as a single recording.  Ours consists solely of compositions from the trio members, while Theirs features compositions by jazz giants Wayne Shorter, Herbie Nichols, Jimmy Rowles, and Misha Mengelberg.  However, Theirs is Ours, too, because these three musicians, each with their own striking personal voice, bring that same individuality as a trio to that music from a past jazz age and make it sound as brand new as tomorrow’s sunrise.  The language of jazz is passed on down through the generations, and in that way each successive generation is shaped by the environment they are born to, they give new shape to the music language they’ve inherited.  Thumbscrew is a priceless example of how old and new can sound nothing alike and yet still exist in a state of unity like one slow exhalation of the most enchanting sound ever.  Jazz never dies.  It evolves.  And then there are those instances, like Theirs and Ours, when sometimes, instead, it is an act of reincarnation.  These are the tiny miracles that music can convey upon our lives.  Be sure to celebrate them.

Released on Cuneiform Records.

Music from New York City.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Available at: (Ours) Bandcamp | Amazon and (Theirs) Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jan 20 2019

Best of 2018 #5: Makaya McCraven – “Universal Beings”

 

I’m not sure how much more I can say about this recording.  I originally included Makaya McCraven‘s Universal Beings in my Best Jazz on Bandcamp column, in which I explained how “Four concerts in four different cities [and] four casts of collaborators lead to four different perspectives on the expressionistic range of modern jazz.”  Later, for the Best Bandcamp Jazz in 2018 column, I added that his “cohesive vision of the strength and diversity of today’s talent pool… is a statement, and that statement is: This is jazz today.”  And then, finally, for its inclusion on The Best Albums of 2018, which included music for all genres, I summed up that “Universal Beings reveals the wealth of riches right there in front of us.  You don’t need to hold onto 1959; Makaya McCraven can give you today.”  McCraven captures four different takes on the modern jazz sound with four different ensembles performing in four different cities, further cementing the fact that this music is everywhere and that its potential for expression is limited only by the space on the planet and how that affects the space within artists heads and hearts and souls.

Released on International Anthem.

Music from Chicago, IL.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jan 19 2019

Best of 2018 #6: Ambrose Akinmusire – “Origami Harvest”

 

This album is stunning.  It’s stunning, and it comes from all directions, in all contexts.  Ambrose Akinmusire brings together an exquisite unity of modern jazz, hip hop, chamber music, R&B, pop, rap and spoken word that is unlike anything else out there.  The influences are like swirling tides in a single body of water, entering confluences and then breaking apart and colliding.  The themes of racism, political divides, and societal barriers possess an immediacy that never goes away even as you drift away to the beauty of the music.  The motion of the music incites the image of dance, elicits it from the listener.  Rarely does spoken word and rap merge so well in a jazz setting as it does here, where the powerful meaning of the words melts lovingly into the flow of the instruments, one not taking a dominant role over the other, while also allowing the cadence of the vocal delivery to behave, too, as an additional percussive instrument.  This album is stunning in that way it brings classic forms of expression into the fold with those modern, as if attempting to prove that the passing of time is merely a device of perception and that all music of all ages truly exists all in the same breath.  Origami Harvest is stunning, and it is sublime, and with the passing of time and opportunity for contemplation, those qualities are likely to resonate with ever increasing strength.

Released on Blue Note Records.

Music from New York City.

Read more on Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Amazon

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Jan 19 2019

Best of 2018 #7: Marike van Dijk – “The Stereography Project feat. Jeff Taylor and Katell Keineg”

 

“A remarkable example of diverse aspirations attaining a cohesive vision,” is how I described the 2018 release from Marike van Dijk for The Bandcamp Daily in my round-up of the Best Jazz of 2018.  What the statement refers to is two-fold.  First, the alto saxophonist adds to the challenge of her 2015 Stereography Project release of bringing improvisational elements to a chamber jazz environment by adding an additional layer of difficulty by composing for vocalists.  Furthermore, as a reflection of her time spent living in New York City and her native Amsterdam, van Dijk brings together two different ensembles and two different vocalists from those locales.  That’s a lot of variables to incorporate, and van Dijk makes it seem as simple as taking your next breath.  But it’s more than just overcoming a great challenge; it’s that this music is bursting with life and awash in nuance and the tiny details that make the difference between a pretty song and one possessing the emotional charge to melt hearts and move mountains.  In my original write-up of this album for The Bandcamp Daily, I said “[These] aren’t proper love songs per se, but they sure do evoke euphoria, heartbreak, and all of the ineffable emotions that fall between those extremes.”  This music is timeless.

Released on Hert Records.

Music from NYC and Amsterdam.

Read more on Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jan 19 2019

Best of 2018 #8: Roller Trio – “New Devices”

 

There are a very great many things to adore about the 2018 release from Roller Trio, but the most significant development is best viewed from the context of the band’s timeline.  As I stated about this exciting electro-acoustic project when I first wrote about it for The Bandcamp Daily, “The mad experiments of the Roller Trio’s previous two recordings manifested a new kind of Frankenstein’s monster.”  Roller Trio’s previous recordings were warmly received by this site, and each were enjoyable in their own way, but looking back on them now as stages that led up to the magnificent New Devices, there’s a certain post-excitement about the earlier works because of the hints and signs of what was yet to come.  When I included this album in my Best Jazz Albums of 2018 column for The Bandcamp Daily, I believe I summed things up best when I concluded, “This is the sound of a band coming into their own.”  It’s one of the most rewarding benefits of following the creative trajectory of an artist, to experience that growth in their work and the achievement of new plateaus as we go about living our own lives, and manifesting our own individual growth and achievements.  This is how music becomes intertwined with our timelines, and becomes personal to us in the most ineffable ways.  It is how art becomes timeless.

Released on Edition Records.

Music from Leeds, UK.

I wrote about this album for Bird is the Worm.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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