Other Writing

Jan 6 2017

Recommended: John Clark – “I Will”

 

At some point, it’s very likely you’ve heard the music of John Clark.  The French horn player has recorded and performed with musicians that hit every point along the vast spectrum of expressions that comprise the Jazz lineage.  The first time I heard Clark perform was a winter afternoon in Denver.  I brushed the snow off my jacket and felt the welcome embrace of heat just inside the doorway of Jerry’s Record Exchange, a great music shop on Colfax Avenue, just east of downtown and the 16th Street Mall.  Of the many excellent music stores in Denver back in the 90s, Jerry’s was my main stop when it came to feeding my music addiction.

Jazz had got its hooks in me years earlier, but the shop owner, John Loquidis, always had plenty of new artists and albums to recommend at me.  A NYC beat poet who could tell back-in-the-day stories about Sonny Rollins and Eric Dolphy, John was always happy to steer me to music that had brought him happiness, too.  He played music over the store’s stereo, and as I made my way to the new arrivals section, he put on a new CD.  It grabbed my ear immediately.  It had a cool locomotion for a cadence and it had hints of spiritual jazz to accompany its large ensemble classical influence.  I was hopping in place to the music, and only a little bit of my activity was to get the warmth back into my feet.  I was seriously digging this music.  And then all of the sudden, it hit me.  That melody I was hearing… it was John Coltrane’s “India.”

I turned to look at John, and as I approached the front counter, I asked, who is this?!  He picked up the CD case and said, “John Clark.  It’s his new album.”  He handed me the case for I Will.  As John told me that Clark was a bad-ass French horn player that all kinds of jazz musicians hired when they wanted some classical music influence, I noticed on the songlist that Clark also did a cover of Sonny Rollins’ “Airegin” and there was an intriguing 3-part “96th Street Sonata.”  John was in the process of mentioning an ECM Records release when I looked up and said, “I’m buying this.”  He chuckled and said I was the third person who’d bought the album after hearing it over the store speakers.  I had no difficulty believing that claim.  It’s been twenty years since I first heard it, and even now when I hit the play button, the music fills me joy and euphoria and hopefulness.

The rest of the album I enjoy just fine.  That three-part “96th Street Sonata” displays a punchy attitude, and keeps the focus on its cadence.   A rendition of “My One and Only Love” takes the aspirations of a ballad to heart.  “Bad Attitude” swings plenty, but throws some left hooks for good measure.  The rendition of “Airegin” is plenty fun, especially in the way Clark’s French horn and the tuba of guest musician Bob Stewart pinball notes off one another while straddling the line that separates melodic development and rhythmic support.  And the title-track “I Will” is a standout tune.  A mid-tempo piece that serves up some heat as it paints a gorgeous melodic scene, it possesses a blues streak that isn’t far removed from some of Mark Knopfler’s soundtrack works.

When I pop this CD into the player, I keep it in for the duration.  But there’s no doubt it’s that amazing rendition of “India” that keeps the dust from ever accumulating on this must-have recording.

Your album personnel:  John Clark (French horn), Bruce Ditmas (drums), Alex Foster (tenor & soprano saxes), Pete Levin (keyboard), Mike Richmond (bass) and guests:  Trevor Clark (sitar), Stanton Davis (trumpet), Chris Hunter (flute, alto sax), Ryo Kawasaki (guitar), Howard Johnson (bass clarinet), Bob Stewart (tuba) and Dave Taylor (trombone, bass trombone).

Released in 1997 on Postcards Records.

Jazz from NYC.

Available at:  Amazon

You can also buy the music directly from John Clark at his label site, Hidden Meaning Music.

By • Other Writing, The Old Stuff, The Safety Net, These are songs that I like • 2

Jan 1 2017

So… about 2016 (Chapter 1): Me and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

 

This was my fourth year to be invited to participate in the Jazz Critics Poll at NPR Music.  Begun originally by respected jazz critic Francis Davis back when the Village Voice was his home turf, this nifty compilation of Jazz’s best of 2016 is now housed over at the NPR site.  This was the poll’s 11th edition.  I’m no less flattered today than I was the first time around I was asked to submit a ballot.

Here is a LINK to the amalgamated results, showing the top ten and also the top sixty, as well as some sub-categories.  It includes comments from Davis on each of the top ten results.  They also have sample tracks from each of the albums that fell in the top ten, and links to various other articles about the artists.

Davis talks about this year’s results in a column on the NPR site HERE, with an expanded take on this year’s winner Henry Threadgill.

Also, the individual ballots are compiled and maintained by Tom Hull over on his site, Hullworks.  Here’s a LINK to view the entire list of albums that received votes.  In addition, there’s now a list of all of the jazz critics (LINK), with each leading to their specific ballot.  My ballot (Dave Sumner) can be found HERE.

Every year that I compile and create my own site’s year-end Best Of list reinforces my genuine respect for the work Davis, Hull and the NPR staff put into making this thing happen.  It’s a mammoth undertaking to be sure.

Here was my ballot:

Album of the Year

  1. Taylor Ho Bynum – “Enter the PlusTet” – (Firehouse 12 Records)
  2. Jon Armstrong – “Burnt Hibiscus” – (Orenda Records)
  3. Eric Hofbauer Quintet – “Prehistoric Jazz Volume 3 (Three Places in New England)” – (Creative Nation Music)
  4. Michael Blake – “Fulfillment” – (Songlines)
  5. Jonathan Finlayson & Sicilian Defense – “Moving Still” – (Pi Recordings)
  6. Laurent Rochelle Okidoki Quartet – “Si tu regardes” – (Linoleum Records)
  7. Moonbow – “When The Sleeping Fish Turn Red And The Skies Start To Sing In C Major I Will Follow You Till The End” – (ILK Music)
  8. Psychic Temple – “Plays Music for Airports” – (Joyful Noise Recordings)
  9. Ian Carey – “Interview Music (A Suite for Quintet+1)” – (Kabocha Records)
  10. Stijn Demuynck – “Pouancé” – (Self-Produced)

Best Debut:  Stijn Demuynck – “Pouancé” – (Self-Produced)

Best Latin Jazz:  Edward Simon – “Latin American Songbook” – (Sunnyside Records)

Best Vocals Jazz:  Jon Armstrong – “Burnt Hibiscus” – (Orenda Records)

Reissue/Historical:  No submission

There’s no sense talking about any of my Album of the Year selections, since I covered that territory on my Best of 2016 list.  My vote for the Latin Jazz category went to Edward Simon’s excellent 2016 session; It, too, made the Best of 2016 list.  This is the second year in a row that I didn’t vote for anything in the Reissue/Historical category.  I just don’t have time to dig into that stuff.  I’m focused on music being made today, not on music from the last century.  Besides, there’s certainly no shortage of writers who are focused on Jazz’s past.  That said, I remember when Resonance Records began issuing older recordings a few years back.  I would touch upon them now and again for my eMusic and Wondering Sound columns.  Based on this year’s poll, it would appear that their impressive streak is continuing on.

Of the ten albums I selected for album of the year, six of those recordings didn’t receive a vote other than my own.  Two of the albums (Eric Hofbauer and Michael Blake) received a vote from one other critic than myself.  And two albums (Bynum and Finlayson) received multiple votes in addition to my own.  This disparity between my own ballot and those of the other critics is consistent with that of prior years.

Some thoughts about the amalgamated Critics top ten recordings of 2016

Here’s the Critics amalgamated list (with total points and total voters following each):

  • Henry Threadgill Double Up Ensemble, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi) 257.5 (41)
  • Wadada Leo Smith, America’s National Parks (Cuneiform) 233 (35)
  • Jack DeJohnette-Matt Garrison-Ravi Coltrane, In Movement (ECM) 194.5 (28)
  • Mary Halvorson, Away With You (Firehouse 12) 183 (29)
  • Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus, The Distance (ECM) 172.5 (27)
  • Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM) 170 (27)
  • Nels Cline, Lovers (Blue Note) 165 (23)
  • Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family, Beginning of a Memory (Palmetto) 131.5 (22)
  • Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra, Time/Life: Song for the Whales and Other Beings (Impulse!) 128 (20) *
  • Steve Lehman, Sélébéyone (Pi) 127 (20)

Henry Threadgill is a brilliant artist.  I’ve raved about some recent recordings, though it’s his older stuff that still holds the greatest appeal to me.  His newest never really connected with me, and it didn’t strike me as particularly notable or special.  But Threadgill can be difficult to warm to, even for fans of his music (ie, me), so it’s possible one day I’ll give it another listen and think, wait, why didn’t that make my top ten?

Wadada Leo Smith placed two albums in the amalgamated top ten list.  Smith is something like the Ken Burns of jazz.  He picks a huge subject and then builds an epic recorded piece around it.  National Parks was the latest subject.  The album has its moments, but just gets listless at times, and comes off as empty and distant.  I’ve had this issue with other Smith recordings.  Sometimes his music is like gazing into someone’s eyes and you can just tell from their vacant stare that they’re off somewhere else.  His collaboration with Vijay Iyer is nice enough, but nothing that ever received any consideration when I put together this site’s Best Of list.

I really enjoyed the Coltrane-DeJohnette-Garrison recording.  It has one of my favorite tracks from 2016.  I included this album is one of my recent ECM Records rundowns.  The album got a little bit of consideration for this site’s Best Of list.  I’m not surprised to learn that other people also were excited by this fun live recording.

As I’ve expressed previously on this site, I have some strong feelings about the music of Mary Halvorson.  I’m not gonna rehash them here.  But I did enjoy her 2016 release very much.  I wrote some words about it (LINK).

If there’s one album that haunts me for not making this site’s Best Of list, it’s that Michael Formanek.  It was the very last cut before finalizing the top thirty.  I’ll be writing something about that album in the upcoming weeks.  I’m still taking it in.  Just when I think I’ve fully absorbed it, something new makes me take a different perspective on what I’m hearing.

The Matt Wilson, LMO and Nels Cline recordings are all nice albums.  Each has qualities that will make them enjoyable listens.  None received any consideration for this site’s Best Of list.  On the other hand, that Steve Lehman recording did receive some consideration.  Quite a bit, actually.  If a musician makes a statement with their recording, that can go a long way to earning them a slot on the list.  Lehman definitely makes a statement with Sélébéyone.  I wrote about it for Bandcamp (LINK).

Of the amalgamated list, the three major labels owned and/or distributed by Universal Music Group (Blue Note, Impulse and ECM) claimed half of the top ten slots.  Blue Note Records has found an intriguing way of reinventing itself.  ECM Records had, in my opinion, a very strong year in comparison to the last handful.  In every way that Blue Note is succeeding, Impulse Records is flailing.  Someone needs to put that once-great label out of its misery.  I’m tired of seeing it flopping around like a fish stranded on the shore.  Either that, or someone needs to figure out how to get it swimming again.  But the point I was going to make here is not to get the wrong impression that the best jazz being made today is on UMG labels.  The landscape for labels is too diverse for any one label to dominate a list like that.  Of my top thirty, no one label has more than two inclusions on the list.  That’s not by design; it’s the reality of the talent pool.  And that’s not even taking into account all the solid self-produced recordings.  It’s the smaller labels like Cuneiform, Hubro, PI Recordings, For-tune, Auand, Underpool, El Negocito, Edition Records, PJCE, Whirlwind, Firehouse 12 Records and Traumton putting out the cutting music of today.  And not one of them has a leg up on any other.  The days of the major labels dominating the landscape are gone… no matter the distorted view given by the NPR list.  But you don’t have to go searching all of those labels (and more, believe me, there are many more)… that’s what we do for you at Bird is the Worm.  We Search.  You listen.

And that about wraps it up for today.  Remember, as I stressed previously, go to town on that NPR Music Jazz Critics list… and not just the top ten list, but all the albums that received votes.  Many of them have been written about on this site, but this is a great opportunity for you to revisit some albums that maybe you didn’t give enough attention before.

I may be writing a couple more Year In Review columns over the next couple days.  I always have plans to do some year-end extravaganza, but just compiling the year-end Best Of list wipes me out, and then suddenly I’m faced with all of the new albums about to be released in the new year.  So, we’ll just see how it goes.

Thanks again for stopping by.  I hope 2017 is the best year ever.

Cheers.

By • Announcement - Music, Essays & Columns & Lists, Other Writing • 4

Aug 24 2016

Recommended: Kiyasu Orchestra – “Cosmo”

 

Kiyasu Orchestra - "Cosmo"One day not long ago, the Tokyo-based quartet of trumpeter Tomonori Honma, bassist Tsubatics, guitarist Koichi Kidoura and drummer Ryosuke Kiyasu drank an entire gallon of rocket fuel.  Suddenly consumed with the energy of a thousand exploding suns, they immediately ran to their instruments and began playing for their lives, hoping that creative release would save them from a fate of spontaneous combustion.  Miraculously, someone had the foresight to hit the record button.  Thus was born Cosmo from the Kiyasu Orchestra.

That backstory doesn’t appear anywhere on the band’s website, but there’s no other reasonable explanation for this ferocious free jazz performance.

Your album personnel:  Tomonori Honma (trumpet), Tsubatics (bass), Koichi Kidoura (guitar) and Ryosuke Kiyasu (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Jazz from the Tokyo scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

By • Jazz Album Origin Stories, Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2016 releases • 0 • Tags:

May 20 2016

These are videos that I like: Per Oddvar Johansen – “Let’s Dance”

 

Per Oddvar Johansen - "Let's Dance"Today we’re featuring two short video promos for the new Per Oddvar Johansen album, Let’s Dance.

I’m very sympathetic to musicians, labels and reps when it comes to promoting their music.  It’s not an easy thing, the business of art, and finding the right formula for a particular project is gonna have to take any number of variables into consideration.

But here’s two successful ones right here created by the label, Edition Records.  Both are short and to the point.  Put to an album track, images of the album cover and just a little bit of information about the musicians and release information flash across the screen, and it’s accompanied by, in one video, footage from a train passing by a snowy picturesque countryside that weds perfectly with the album’s serene music.  The other has the same kind of set-up, but the music (a different album song than the first) is matched with studio footage from the recording session.  Again, simple… and that’s all that’s needed.  It’s definitely not the only way to handle a promo video, but this particular approach is pretty damn effective.

Now, about those videos…

Your video personnel:  Per Oddvar Johansen (drums, violins, vibraphone, guitars, wood percussion, electronics), Helge Lien (piano) and Torben Snekkestad (saxophones, reed trumpet).

*****

Per Oddvar Johansen - "Let's Dance"And be sure to check out the write-up of the actual recording.  It’s a gorgeous album, and one that I find particularly suited to the early morning hours when the city still sleeps and the sun is only just barely thinking about climbing out of bed.

Read more here-> (LINK).

By • Other Writing, Stuff You Should Think About Doing, These are videos that I like • 0

Jan 1 2016

So… about 2015 (Chapter 1): Me and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

 

BitW square avatarThis was my third year to be invited to participate in the Jazz Critics Poll at NPR Music.  Begun originally by respected jazz critic Francis Davis back when the Village Voice was his home turf, this nifty compilation of Jazz’s best of 2015 is now housed over at the NPR site.  This was the poll’s 10th edition.  I’m no less flattered today than I was the first time around I was asked to submit a ballot.

Here is a LINK to the amalgamated results, showing the top ten and also the top sixty, as well as some sub-categories.  It includes comments from Davis on each of the top ten results.  They also have sample tracks from each of the albums that fell in the top ten, and links to various other articles about the artists.

Davis talks about this year’s results in a column on the NPR site HERE, with an expanded take on this year’s winner (a tie) between Rudresh Mahanthappa for Bird Calls and Maria Schneider for The Thompson Fields.

Also, the individual ballots are compiled and maintained by Tom Hull over on his site, Hullworks.  Here’s a LINK to view the entire list of albums that received votes.  In addition, there’s now a list of all of the jazz critics (LINK), with each leading to their specific ballot.  My ballot (Dave Sumner) can be found HERE.

Every year that I compile and create my own site’s year-end Best Of list reinforces my genuine respect for the work Davis, Hull and the NPR staff put into making this thing happen.  It’s a mammoth undertaking to be sure.

So, about those results… As you may have guessed, I have an opinion or two, oh yes.  Also, I’m gonna embed some music from my favorite albums of 2015 for you to listen to as you read.

 

Here’s my ballot:

1.    Chris Lightcap, Epicenter (Clean Feed)
2.    Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bird Calls (ACT)
3.    Kamasi Washington, The Epic (Brainfeeder)
4.    PRISM Quartet, Heritage/Evolution Volume 1 (Innova)
5.    Giovanni Francesca, Rame (Auand)
6.    Tomoko Omura, Roots (Inner Circle)
7.    Greg Foat Group, The Dancers at the Edge of Time (Jazzman)
8.    Eric Hofbauer, Prehistoric Jazz, Vol. 1: The Rite of Spring (Creative Nation Music)
9.    Reijseger Fraanje Sylla, Count Till Zen (Winter & Winter)
10.  Ghost Rhythms, Madeleine (self-released)

Vocal:   Charenee Wade, Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson (Motéma)
Debut:   Kamasi Washington, The Epic (Brainfeeder)
Latin:   Carlos Henriquez, Bronx Pyramid (Blue Engine)
Reissue/Archival:   No submission

In what some might refer to as a surprising turn of events, a few of my selections actually correspond to the amalgamated list.  In previous years, that wasn’t the case.  In fact, this may be the first year when any of my top ten selections appeared in the amalgamated top ten.  My #1, #2 & #3 selections (Chris Lightcap, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Kamasi Washington) were #10, #1 and #4 in the amalgamated list.  In addition, my #23 album of the year (Charles Lloyd) received the #9 slot on the amalgamated list, and my #21 selection (Mike Reed’s PP&T) got the #23 slot on the NPR poll.

For the sub-genre categories, my choice of Kamasi Washington as having the Debut of the year was in line with the amalgamated list.  I was joined by two other critics in choosing Carlos Henriquez for the Latin Jazz category.  Worth noting that several of the albums that received more votes in Latin Jazz were receiving serious consideration from myself, too, as I put together my ballot.  And I was joined by three other critics on my choice of Charenee Wade in the Vocal category.  Her album Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson also received the #29 slot on my Best of 2015 list.

I didn’t make a selection in the Archival/Reissues category.  I had in previous years, despite my focus on only new music, but that was primarily due to my weekly recommendations column for eMusic and Wondering Sound, which, obviously, didn’t have any qualms with focusing on archival material.  So, as a result, I kept on top of older music being reissued (or issued for the first time).  But that column ended this year, and so I just didn’t feel as compelled to to keep abreast with what was being released by way of old stuff, and, consequently, I didn’t feel like I should cast a vote.  I mean, I feel like if I’m gonna cast a vote, it’s gotta be because I have listened to a wide swath of that particular music category and can offer an experienced opinion on what’s what.  Otherwise, it’s just a list (or selection) of what I’ve listened to and not any kind of qualitative assessment.  But that’s just what I think.

But even though some of my choices corresponded to the amalgamated list, overall, however, many of my selections received a vote only on my ballot.  Recordings by Giovanni Francesca, Ghost Rhythms and Reijseger/Fraanje/Sylla had only me vouching for them.  I was joined by an additional critic, however, in casting a vote for albums by Tomoko Omura, Prism Quartet and Greg Foat Group.  Eric Hofbauer only received my vote on this year’s poll, but someone gave his The Rite of Spring a vote on the 2014 poll.  It’s album album that came out right on the cusp of my “voting year” cutoff (Nov. 1 – Oct. 31).  It’s very likely that whoever voted for it last year may have received a copy of it sooner than I and had enough time to absorb the music and judge it.  So, really, the Hofbauer counts as having received two votes.

I don’t mind that the albums I’ve chosen aren’t getting the recognition they deserve (yet).  As I’ve stated previously, it’s my sincere belief that the Jazz Critics Poll provides the opportunity for those albums to receive a second look by other critics.  The albums definitely deserve it.  And I’m thrilled to be given the additional platform of the NPR poll to provide that opportunity.

Let’s go over some of the albums that made the Critics top ten list.  As with previous years, what I write below may be kind of harsh… about the only time you’ll see me taking that tone about music on this site.  These year-in-review posts are the only time I really indulge that kind of negativity.  That said, it’s so very important to remember that each of you should decide on your own what you think about these recordings.  The NPR site article includes embedded audio for you to give a listen yourself.  It’s also worth noting that each of them were included in my weekly recommendations column, so it’s not like there’s an album on the Critics top ten list that is so offensive as to incur a beating.  But, yes, I have an opinion or two.

1.  (Tie) Rudresh Mahanthappa Bird Calls and Maria Schneider The Thompson Fields

Mahanthappa received the #2 slot on my Best of 2015 list, so there’s no reason for me to go into this selection.  Just read what I wrote for his album on my own list (LINK).  I really like the Schneider recording, and though it didn’t make my top thirty Best Of list, it did receive some consideration, and I can see how it would captivate the ears of other critics.  As I wrote back when it first came out, it has “an expansive sound possessing a sightline that just seems to go on forever.”  Plus, a new Maria Schneider recording has become something of an event in jazz circles (deservedly), so that’s gotta play a factor in it, too.  Am I surprised to see this album receive a share of the top slot?  No, not really, not really at all.

3.  Jack DeJohnette Made in Chicago

Okay, whatever.  I just don’t see it.  It’s a live performance of some serious jazz giants that came holding some AACM action.  But it’s often muddled, and too many times I found the music’s dramatics a little bit dull.  If you told me you were at the show and it was one of the best things you’ve ever heard, okay, I believe that, but if it’s gonna get put on a recorded medium, that electricity sure as hell better come through when I’m sitting at home and hitting the play button.  Honestly, the only reason I included it in my recommendations column was because I sort of felt like I should in consideration of the talent pool contributing to the recording, and figured, hey, it might float the boat of one or three readers.  But here it is on a critics top ten list.  Let’s move on.

4.  Kamasi Washington The Epic

9.  Charles Lloyd Wild Man Dance

10.  Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth Epicenter

I’m not gonna talk any about the above three since they all appeared on my site’s Best of 2015 list top thirty, so there’s no real disagreement between me and the Critics.  But I will add that my statement about a live performance recording and electricity… that’s something that Charles Lloyd and crew definitely understood when they put together their Wild Man Dance recording.  That album delivers all kinds of heavy voltage to the listener at home, oh yes.

5.  Vijay Iyer Trio, Break Stuff

Iyer is about as talented as they come on piano.  I probably enjoyed Break Stuff more than any of his other recordings.  It’s a good album, but that’s about as strong a reaction as the recording elicits from me.  That’s how it is for me now and it’s how it was for me when I wrote something about it when it first came out.

6.  Henry Threadgill Zooid In For a Penny, In For a Pound

This album may be one that I regret not giving a slot on my site’s Best of 2015 top thirty list.  It was my Album of the Week when it first came out (LINK), and I still like the recording very much today.  But me and Threadgill’s music go way back, as far back as to when I first started getting into modern jazz, and there’s always been a slow acclimation process for me warming to any one of his particular albums.  In a year, maybe more maybe less, as I continue to listen to this nifty album, the connections between me and the music may continue to strengthen, and I get to where I think, yeah, probably should’ve given this album one of the thirty slots on my Best of 2015 list.  But that’s par for the course with these lists… time always nudges things around.

7.  Mary Halvorson Meltframe

I’ve got some strong feelings about this album and about the musician.  I don’t see how this album gets anywhere close to a top ten list.  I don’t even think this album is Jazz.  Unless I’m wrong.  And I could be.  I really really really might be wrong.  But I don’t think so… at least, not now.  Halvorson and her crazy guitar action might require, say, thirty to fifty years (conservatively) before I or anyone else who isn’t insane can figure her music out.  Y’know what, go and read what I wrote about this album, because I think it adequately captures what I’m trying to say here (LINK).  But the point I want to get across is that if you are reading this and you are a critic and you are one of the critics who voted for Meltframe, then I think you are insane, because no reasonable person would listen to this album and think, “Oh, hey, sure, I get what this album is trying to say and now I’m going to make a logical, level-headed assessment of it and measure how it stacks up to other albums in the context of the modern jazz environment and then give it a numerical value, voila!”  No freakin’ way.  Come talk to me in thirty years and maybe we can figure this album out together.

8.  Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance Synovial Joints

A real nice album that possesses equal amounts of sharp intelligence and raw emotional power.  It was one of the final cuts for my top thirty Best of 2015 list, and it was one that pained me considerably when I finalized the list and saw that it was standing on the outside looking in.  The way my sliding ratios work when constructing the list gave it a possible value as high as #15, which just proves how slight the difference is between a #15 and #35 album.  No issues with this receiving a top ten slot on the Critics list.  Here’s a LINK to when I first wrote about the album around its release date.

*****

And that about wraps it up for today.  Remember, as I stressed previously, go to town on that NPR Music Jazz Critics list… and not just the top ten list, but all the albums that received votes.  Many of them have been written about on this site, but this is a great opportunity for you to revisit some albums that maybe you didn’t give enough attention before.

I’ll be writing a couple more Year In Review columns over the next couple days.  Check back in tomorrow for another.

Cheers.

By • Essays & Columns & Lists, Other Writing • 4

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