So much music, so little time -- it's absurd to whittle down this year's "best" recordings to 10, an act that merely bows to convention. Why not 15? 25? 50? -- if there are that many albums that reward repeated listening with enjoyment and revelation.I make no claims for the following list being definitive -- I haven't yet had a chance to hear once many of the some 1100 promising cds that arrived for consideration of review since November 1 2007. But I guarantee that none of these recommendations are made on the basis of anything except my … [Read more...]
Classic Monk, classical Jazz at Lincoln Center
November 22, 2008 by
The jazziest scene at the second night of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Monk Festival was in the fifth floor atrium, during intermission of simultaneous concerts by pianist Danilo Perez's trio (reprising his cd Panamonk, in the Allen Room) and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra performing members' arrangements of Monk's music in big band settings led by Wynton Marsalis, with featured pianist Marcus Roberts (in more formal Rose Hall). Between sets all-age, all-hipster-style attendees mingled in the buzzy, high ceilinged room. Especially fashionable … [Read more...]
Guitar heroes, virtual and actual
November 16, 2008 by
The phenomenon of Guitar Hero is unaccountable to most musicians. Why would anyone spend hours miming moves with a fake instrument when given similar time investment you could make music yourself, live, and with friends? Nonetheless, the game is the Christmas season's most highly anticipated music item. As for disappointing early sales reports for "World Tour," its just-released new edition, aren't sales down for everything, everywhere?Here's my flick at stimulating the music economy -- consumer alerts to recommended new cds by guitar … [Read more...]
Mostly Other People’s killer liner notes
November 11, 2008 by
Mostly Other People Do The Killing is a super-serious-with-a-sense-of-humor Philadelphia-based quartet paying homage to Ornette Coleman with its hot new album This Is Our Moosic.The cd's cover photo cops and mocks the oh-so-cool look of Coleman's earth-shaking quartet on its classic 1960 release This Is Our Music -- but more impressive is the young band's music, which in its leader's explicit liner notes endorses Coleman's revolutionary "free jazz" concept and in ensemble play expands upon it without being imitative. A nominee … [Read more...]
The jazz of victory and celebration
November 5, 2008 by
It's odd that of all the nuances of expression jazz can convey, the thrill of victory and celebration of success is hard to find among the music's classics. Barack Obama's heartening win of the presidency prompts me to search out joyous music, but I can't think of a movement akin to the bells ringing in Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" in the repertoire of Miles, Ornette, Cecil or Coltrane, Mingus, Monk, Bird and Diz, or Ellington, Basie and Goodman. The crowning last chorus of Armstrong's "Tight LIke This" comes to mind, though the satisfaction … [Read more...]
