ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2013
As is traditional at this time of year, our reviewers have picked their favourite releases of 2013 that have been reviewed on the Jazz Views website.
Over the last twelve months we have been able to listen to and review only a small percentage of releases however amongst our reviewer’s selection there is some great new music from musicians from the UK and the International stage.
No listing is ever exhaustive and always a subject for debate. Perhaps take this as a starting point in building your library of music from 2013.
Over the last twelve months we have been able to listen to and review only a small percentage of releases however amongst our reviewer’s selection there is some great new music from musicians from the UK and the International stage.
No listing is ever exhaustive and always a subject for debate. Perhaps take this as a starting point in building your library of music from 2013.
Euan Dixon
The Impossible Gentlemen - Internationally Recognised Aliens (Basho Records)
Ollie Howell - Sutures & Stitches (Whirlwind Recordings)
Simon Thacker’s Savara Kanti - Rakshasa (Slap the Moon Records)
Nicolas Meier - From Istanbul to Ceuta with a Smile (MGP Records)
Christian McBride & Inside Straight - People Music (Mack Avenue)
Kevin Figes Quartet - Tables and Chairs (Pig Records)
Aaron Diehl - The Bespoke Man’s Narrative (Mack Avenue)
Yellowjackets - A Rise in the Road (Mack Avenue)
John Escreet - Sabotage & Celebration (Whirlwind Recordings)
Enrico Fazio/Critical Mass - Shibui (Leo Records)
Ollie Howell - Sutures & Stitches (Whirlwind Recordings)
Simon Thacker’s Savara Kanti - Rakshasa (Slap the Moon Records)
Nicolas Meier - From Istanbul to Ceuta with a Smile (MGP Records)
Christian McBride & Inside Straight - People Music (Mack Avenue)
Kevin Figes Quartet - Tables and Chairs (Pig Records)
Aaron Diehl - The Bespoke Man’s Narrative (Mack Avenue)
Yellowjackets - A Rise in the Road (Mack Avenue)
John Escreet - Sabotage & Celebration (Whirlwind Recordings)
Enrico Fazio/Critical Mass - Shibui (Leo Records)
Arranged in no particular order except for The Impossible Gentleman whose highly polished follow up disc and sell out supporting tour guarantees their top billing as the sound most likely to succeed in the highly contested super group league.
All my choices provide evidence that we are living in a golden age of creative, contemporary music, able to relish sounds that are both retro and revolutionary within the space of a few bars. The mainstream is still with us as the excellent Mack Avenue releases affirm; world music influences enrich the musical palette and call forth incredible feats of virtuosity whilst post modern inclusiveness defies those who would apply lazy classifications in their search for convenient pigeonholes. Listeners of the world rejoice you’ve nothing to lose but your prejudices!
All my choices provide evidence that we are living in a golden age of creative, contemporary music, able to relish sounds that are both retro and revolutionary within the space of a few bars. The mainstream is still with us as the excellent Mack Avenue releases affirm; world music influences enrich the musical palette and call forth incredible feats of virtuosity whilst post modern inclusiveness defies those who would apply lazy classifications in their search for convenient pigeonholes. Listeners of the world rejoice you’ve nothing to lose but your prejudices!
Jack Kenny
Ivo Pereleman – One (RareNoiseRecords)
Carla Bley/Steve Swallow/Andy Sheppard – Trios (ECM Records)
Mike Gibbs plus Twelve - Play Gil Evans (Whirlwind Recordings)
Stan Tracey Quintet – The Flying Pig (Re-Steamed)
Warren Wolf – Wolfgang (Mack Avenue)
Duke Ellington - Duke At Fargo (Storyville)
Jeff Williams - The Listener (Whirlwind Recordings)
Miles Davis - Live In Europe 1969 (Columbia Legacy)
Kneebody - The Line (Concord)
Tubby Hayes - Little Giant Steps (Properbox)
Carla Bley/Steve Swallow/Andy Sheppard – Trios (ECM Records)
Mike Gibbs plus Twelve - Play Gil Evans (Whirlwind Recordings)
Stan Tracey Quintet – The Flying Pig (Re-Steamed)
Warren Wolf – Wolfgang (Mack Avenue)
Duke Ellington - Duke At Fargo (Storyville)
Jeff Williams - The Listener (Whirlwind Recordings)
Miles Davis - Live In Europe 1969 (Columbia Legacy)
Kneebody - The Line (Concord)
Tubby Hayes - Little Giant Steps (Properbox)
Interesting to see a label like Whirlwind Recordings doing so well with Mike Gibbs and Jeff Williams, more power to them!
The Flying Pig by Stan Tracey is a great CD. Stan will be sorely missed by us all.
It was a contemplative Carla Bley this year with Trios. Perhaps the big band will return next, no one does it better.
Miles and Duke will almost certainly have more to come from their archives next year.
If you have not yet heard Kneebody and Warren Wolf give them a listen, they could be the future.
The Flying Pig by Stan Tracey is a great CD. Stan will be sorely missed by us all.
It was a contemplative Carla Bley this year with Trios. Perhaps the big band will return next, no one does it better.
Miles and Duke will almost certainly have more to come from their archives next year.
If you have not yet heard Kneebody and Warren Wolf give them a listen, they could be the future.
Roy Booth
Tubby Hayes - Little Giant Steps (Properbox)
Wayne Shorter – Beginnings (Properbox)
Stacey Kent - The Changing Lights – (Parlaphone)
Anita Wardel - The Road (Specific Jazz)
The Impossible Gentlemen - Internationally Recognised Aliens (Basho Records)
The Tubby Hayes is a welcome addition to the previously issued Little Giant on the same label and would enhance any Hayes collection. The Wayne Shorter set covers his early recording period including two full albums and various versions of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Stacey Kent’s new album shows a return to form with a collection of Brazilian inspired songs. Anita Wardell improves with every new release and this is one of her best. The Impossible Gentlemen tends to be fairly middle of the road but Mike Walker gives it that edge.
Wayne Shorter – Beginnings (Properbox)
Stacey Kent - The Changing Lights – (Parlaphone)
Anita Wardel - The Road (Specific Jazz)
The Impossible Gentlemen - Internationally Recognised Aliens (Basho Records)
The Tubby Hayes is a welcome addition to the previously issued Little Giant on the same label and would enhance any Hayes collection. The Wayne Shorter set covers his early recording period including two full albums and various versions of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Stacey Kent’s new album shows a return to form with a collection of Brazilian inspired songs. Anita Wardell improves with every new release and this is one of her best. The Impossible Gentlemen tends to be fairly middle of the road but Mike Walker gives it that edge.
Ken Cheetham
Ivo Perelman – A Violent Dose Of Anything (Leo Records)
Ivo Perelman – Enigma (Leo Records)
Marius Neset's Birds (Whirlwind Recordings)
The Bannau Trio - Points of View (Whirlwind Recordings)
Grid Mesh Live in Madrid (Leo Records)
My favourites from the Jazz Views website in 2013 are the two albums from Ivo Perelman, A Violent
Dose of Anything and Enigma, reviewed by Nick Lea.
Ivo is a decidedly idiosyncratic tenor player with a forcefully dramatic performing style. He has often been favourably compared with David Murray and Albert Ayler and as with those and other
top-flight musicians he is usually at his best when playing with artists of the same rank. This is the case with both of these albums where the presence of pianist Matthew Shipp is strongly felt.
Ivo Perelman – Enigma (Leo Records)
Marius Neset's Birds (Whirlwind Recordings)
The Bannau Trio - Points of View (Whirlwind Recordings)
Grid Mesh Live in Madrid (Leo Records)
My favourites from the Jazz Views website in 2013 are the two albums from Ivo Perelman, A Violent
Dose of Anything and Enigma, reviewed by Nick Lea.
Ivo is a decidedly idiosyncratic tenor player with a forcefully dramatic performing style. He has often been favourably compared with David Murray and Albert Ayler and as with those and other
top-flight musicians he is usually at his best when playing with artists of the same rank. This is the case with both of these albums where the presence of pianist Matthew Shipp is strongly felt.
Enigma sees Ivo Perelman demonstrating that he is a master at improvising on melodic themes and at using this technique to deconstruct then rebuild statements already made. Shipp, in his turn,
plays rhythm from his left hand while his right nips at, harries, contrasts and explores the tenor's apparent intentions, creating a commanding, but entirely sensitive, counterpoint. The album
flaunts two drummers and these build on the dimorphic piano playing to propagate the polyrhythmic underlay of the whole.
Enigma's entirety shows how important the balanced skills between these master musicians really are, in reinforcing the integrity of these performances through the synergic collaboration of all the artists present.
The same is true for A Violent Dose of Anything, a free-form album which is really a film sound track.
Shipp is present, but violist Mat Maneri also and a trio consisting of reeds, piano and strings has to be seen as unusual, but, in the long run, startlingly well-balanced and enthralling. That again is
synergy.
The viola seems to be the crux of the music and Maneri seems to hold back, yet follow at a distance from the tenor before jumping from cover to respond to its chirrups, its squeaks, its howls and yowls. Matthew Shipp identifies the general flow and locks it down, but reacts to both tenor and viola by feinting at them in turn.
Here you have two brilliant albums which should be on your shelf, not still in the shop. Thoroughly modern music indeed.
To this I will add Marius Neset's Birds. Find there inspired playing from a saxophonist who never loses sight of his rhythm section and leads his band through his own authority as well as his technique. The Bannau Trio's Points of View certainly wins a place for the absolute imagination and freshness of every phrase. Imagination also wins a place for Grid Mesh Live in Madrid. Throughout, the band is completely locked into the ensemble collaboration and the expression of
their free improvisation.
plays rhythm from his left hand while his right nips at, harries, contrasts and explores the tenor's apparent intentions, creating a commanding, but entirely sensitive, counterpoint. The album
flaunts two drummers and these build on the dimorphic piano playing to propagate the polyrhythmic underlay of the whole.
Enigma's entirety shows how important the balanced skills between these master musicians really are, in reinforcing the integrity of these performances through the synergic collaboration of all the artists present.
The same is true for A Violent Dose of Anything, a free-form album which is really a film sound track.
Shipp is present, but violist Mat Maneri also and a trio consisting of reeds, piano and strings has to be seen as unusual, but, in the long run, startlingly well-balanced and enthralling. That again is
synergy.
The viola seems to be the crux of the music and Maneri seems to hold back, yet follow at a distance from the tenor before jumping from cover to respond to its chirrups, its squeaks, its howls and yowls. Matthew Shipp identifies the general flow and locks it down, but reacts to both tenor and viola by feinting at them in turn.
Here you have two brilliant albums which should be on your shelf, not still in the shop. Thoroughly modern music indeed.
To this I will add Marius Neset's Birds. Find there inspired playing from a saxophonist who never loses sight of his rhythm section and leads his band through his own authority as well as his technique. The Bannau Trio's Points of View certainly wins a place for the absolute imagination and freshness of every phrase. Imagination also wins a place for Grid Mesh Live in Madrid. Throughout, the band is completely locked into the ensemble collaboration and the expression of
their free improvisation.
Nick Lea
Charles Lloyd/Jason Moran – Hagar’s Song (ECM)
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – In The Spirit Of Duke (Spartacus Records)
Lucian Ban/Mat Maneri – Transylvanian Concert (ECM)
Kayhan Kahlor/Erdal Erzincan – Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi (ECM)
Stan Tracey Quintet – The Flying Pig (ReSteamed)
John Harle – Art Music (Sospiro Records)
George Haslam – Words Unspoken (Slam Productions)
Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Classic 1958-1962 Recordings (Jazz Dynamics)
Maria Pia De Vito/Francois Couturier/Anja Lechner/Michele Rabbia – Il Pergolese (ECM)
Keith Jarrett – Concerts: Bregenz/Munchen (ECM)
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – In The Spirit Of Duke (Spartacus Records)
Lucian Ban/Mat Maneri – Transylvanian Concert (ECM)
Kayhan Kahlor/Erdal Erzincan – Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi (ECM)
Stan Tracey Quintet – The Flying Pig (ReSteamed)
John Harle – Art Music (Sospiro Records)
George Haslam – Words Unspoken (Slam Productions)
Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Classic 1958-1962 Recordings (Jazz Dynamics)
Maria Pia De Vito/Francois Couturier/Anja Lechner/Michele Rabbia – Il Pergolese (ECM)
Keith Jarrett – Concerts: Bregenz/Munchen (ECM)
A lot of great music has been released throughout 2013, much of it quite diverse in nature and quite
rightly so stretching and blurring the boundaries of the music still further. I always felt that my tastes in jazz and improvised music were very catholic covering a wide variety of styles and yet I have found myself constantly being challenged in my perceptions and preferences.
ECM Records have featured heavily in my listening in 2013, as has been the case for nearly thirty years, and have played a big part in expanding my musical horizons. No less than five ECM albums have made my top ten, and the list is by no means exhaustive.
Other choices have come from unexpected sources, most notably John Harle’s Art Music. Saxophonist, George Haslam has long been a favourite of mine, and I still maintain one of the UKs best kept secrets (although South America and Scandinavia it seems have quite rightly spotted his worth). On the res-issue front the superb Ahamad Jamal 5 CD set covering some of his essential trio recordings is especially satisfying listening.
As we enter into 2014 there are already some tantalising releases about to hit the shops and online stores, and this surely bodes well for another year of interesting developments within the music.
rightly so stretching and blurring the boundaries of the music still further. I always felt that my tastes in jazz and improvised music were very catholic covering a wide variety of styles and yet I have found myself constantly being challenged in my perceptions and preferences.
ECM Records have featured heavily in my listening in 2013, as has been the case for nearly thirty years, and have played a big part in expanding my musical horizons. No less than five ECM albums have made my top ten, and the list is by no means exhaustive.
Other choices have come from unexpected sources, most notably John Harle’s Art Music. Saxophonist, George Haslam has long been a favourite of mine, and I still maintain one of the UKs best kept secrets (although South America and Scandinavia it seems have quite rightly spotted his worth). On the res-issue front the superb Ahamad Jamal 5 CD set covering some of his essential trio recordings is especially satisfying listening.
As we enter into 2014 there are already some tantalising releases about to hit the shops and online stores, and this surely bodes well for another year of interesting developments within the music.
