In a year when there has effectively been little else to do with regards to leisure time, I have listened to quite a lot of recordings this year. Of the new releases, the big discovery for me in 2020 has been Guillermo Klein whose "Cristal" is a brilliant and highly original approach to composition with a smallish big band. However, this record crept in at the end of 2019 and is discounted from my list.
Four albums stand out for me. Guitarist Vic Juris' final album "Let's cool one" looked liked it would take some beating for ages when it came out in the first quarter of the year as it includes many of my favourite compositions and some great, straight ahead playing. This is something that has been spun by me this year more than anything else. I love this album but my top three are exceptional strong and, in reverse order, my choice would have to be:-
3. Tomeka Reid Quartet - "Old New." - For my money this quartet is one of the best groups in jazz at the moment with the combination of the leader's cello with the guitar of May Halvorson. Their first album was a my choice for best album a few years back but this one is at least as good if not better. Although associated with the avant garde, the musicians in this band tip their hat towards the more orthodox swing of Oscar Pettiford.
2. Bill Frisell - "Valentine" - This trio with Rudy Royston and Thomas Morgan has produced a gem with this record which I think is on a par with the earlier solo album "Music is." It is probably the best group album, Frisell has made since "Quartet" in the mid 1990s. The guitarist has nothing to prove and the record captures his regular working trio laying down a number of originals plus the pop standard "What the world needs now is love" which is the best thing on the whole record. There is a degree of introspection on this record which recalls the great Jim Hall. This album is another which is firmly in the mainstream tradition.
1. Gerald Clayton - "Live at the Village Vanguard" -This is the best album of the year for 2020 in my opinion. It features a quintet with the from line of Logan Richardson and Walter Smith III caught live at the famous jazz club. Like the Frisell album, this is another Blue Note release albeit far more in the kind of tradition that the label is famous for. The writing is good yet the stand out element remains the leader's piano playing. I suppose you would call the music Post-bop yet I feel this record really captures what the experience of catching any kind of jazz in live performance should be like. None of the creases have been ironed out in the studio and there is a raw energy about this record which strikes me as being totally authentic. A trio outing of Bud Powell's "Celia" is worth the money for the album alone (this track has been nominated for a Grammy) and I just feel that it is a disc sums up what listening to jazz should be about.
Four albums stand out for me. Guitarist Vic Juris' final album "Let's cool one" looked liked it would take some beating for ages when it came out in the first quarter of the year as it includes many of my favourite compositions and some great, straight ahead playing. This is something that has been spun by me this year more than anything else. I love this album but my top three are exceptional strong and, in reverse order, my choice would have to be:-
3. Tomeka Reid Quartet - "Old New." - For my money this quartet is one of the best groups in jazz at the moment with the combination of the leader's cello with the guitar of May Halvorson. Their first album was a my choice for best album a few years back but this one is at least as good if not better. Although associated with the avant garde, the musicians in this band tip their hat towards the more orthodox swing of Oscar Pettiford.
2. Bill Frisell - "Valentine" - This trio with Rudy Royston and Thomas Morgan has produced a gem with this record which I think is on a par with the earlier solo album "Music is." It is probably the best group album, Frisell has made since "Quartet" in the mid 1990s. The guitarist has nothing to prove and the record captures his regular working trio laying down a number of originals plus the pop standard "What the world needs now is love" which is the best thing on the whole record. There is a degree of introspection on this record which recalls the great Jim Hall. This album is another which is firmly in the mainstream tradition.
1. Gerald Clayton - "Live at the Village Vanguard" -This is the best album of the year for 2020 in my opinion. It features a quintet with the from line of Logan Richardson and Walter Smith III caught live at the famous jazz club. Like the Frisell album, this is another Blue Note release albeit far more in the kind of tradition that the label is famous for. The writing is good yet the stand out element remains the leader's piano playing. I suppose you would call the music Post-bop yet I feel this record really captures what the experience of catching any kind of jazz in live performance should be like. None of the creases have been ironed out in the studio and there is a raw energy about this record which strikes me as being totally authentic. A trio outing of Bud Powell's "Celia" is worth the money for the album alone (this track has been nominated for a Grammy) and I just feel that it is a disc sums up what listening to jazz should be about.
I like that you choose a live album to top the list. Pity the jazz media don't have an annual 'best live jazz album of the year' category. Live jazz venues desperately need revitalising at the moment and, well, that might help. Here's a quote I found a quote that says it better than I can:
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