I’ve only heard like 2 of these. Looking forward to checking out some of the stuff I’m unfamiliar with. The Best Jazz Albums of 2020
I've listened to 1 and skimmed another. But then again, that's been the same for all of the best of jazz lists. Though they tend to be filled with more trad jazz albums and I tend to steer clear of most of that. Although Bandcamps jazz list last year was pretty eclectic, so i'll definitely give some of those a listen.
I've always hated making eoty lists. Last year was the first time in years I forced myself to do it and I didnt do it til mid Jan lol. I still have a lot to catch up on too, but once I do I'll do my best
Here’s what I liked best this year. 1. Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol 1 2. Nubya Garcia - Source 3. Brigid Dawson and The Mothers Network - Ballet of Apes 4. Jeff Parker - Suite For Max Brown 5. Asher Gamedze - Dialectic Soul 6. Martin Rude & Jakob Scott Duo - The Discipline of Ascent 7. Lemon Quartet - Crestless 8. Jermey Cunningham - The Weather Up There 9. Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You? 10. Angel Bat Dawid - LIVE 11. Shabaka and the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here By History 12. Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl - Artlessly Falling 13. Muriel Grossman - Quiet Earth 14. Idris Ackamoor - Shaman! 15. Sun Ra Arkestra - Swirling 16. Waaju - Grown 17. Moses Boyd - Dark Matter 18. Badge Epoque Ensemble - Self Help 19. Ambrose Akinmusire - on the tender spot... 20. Sauce and Dogs - Sauce and Dogs
Tried the Ambrose Akinmusire album and it was a little too far out there for me. It might make me a plebe, but there is only a certain level of avant-garde melodically I can do.
Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes - Heritage of the Invisible II The Heliocentrics - Infinity Of Now/Telemetric Sounds Sparkle Division - To Feel Embraced Ambrose Akinmusire - on the tender spot of every calloused moment Jahari Massamba Unit - Pardon My French Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings E&F Sides Kamaal Williams - Wu Hen Thundercat - It Is What It Is Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music Kassa Overall - I Think I'm Good Jeremy Cunningham - The Weather Up There Rob Mazurek - Dimensional Stardust Melt Yourself Down - 100% Yes Black Nile - The Further Side Yussef Dayes Trio - Welcome to the Hills Sam Gendel - Satin Doll Oscar Jerome - Breathe Deep Moses Boyd - Dark Matter Kahil El'Zabar - Kahil El’Zabar’s America the Beautiful Gil Scott-Heron - We're New Again (A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven) Jaga Jazzist - Pyramid Shabaka & The Ancestors - We Are Sent Here By History Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You? Not really in any order. Top one are obviously ones I enjoyed most, but they're all great.
As someone who can’t stand Christmas music, these really helped this year. Can’t believe it took me so long too finally listen to the Charlie Brown album...
did any of y'all listen to the christian scott live record from this year? i think it may be my favorite thing he's ever done
oh lol there it is, just upthread. i haven't seen it get any play on jazz year-end lists but maybe everyone's sleeping bc it's live
Yeah that’s prob the my main excuse for not really checking it out, though it’s not a very good excuse since that Angel Bat Dawid record is also live and it’s great.
Yeah, not sure why I haven’t gone back to it. I think I said at the time that the length was a bit daunting, maybe it’s that. It is a bloody great record, though. And I’m not normally a fan of live albums. Modern ones, anyway. I think the album flew under the radar for a lot of people. Although Ancestral Recall got a lot of attention when it came out, as did the trilogy and Stretch Music. So I’m stumped haha
https://pitchfork.com/news/eugene-wright-jazz-bassist-dead-at-97/amp/?__twitter_impression=true RIP to a legend
This came out on 1/1. Pretty nice improv jazz with some funk mixed in. Electric Octopus - Inclinations
Been listening to a lot of George Duke these past couple of days. Although they obviously don't play the same instrument, you can tell that jazz fusion/funk style was a big influence on Thundercat.
Finally given Birth of the Cool and Porgy & Bess a proper listen these past couple of days. I don't normally listen to much 50's jazz, but recently I've been finding stuff I like. Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck. All the cool stuff basically haha
Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain are just staggering. Miles and Gil Evans were one of the greatest teams ever. For some reason, this is all I want to hear today:
I guess this was out on Bandcamp for a while but it just hit streaming services last week and it is unsurprisingly awesome.