My Favorite 2013 Jazz Releases

[jazdoc]

All on CD unless otherwise noted. It was a great year for jazz!

3 Cohens "Tightrope" (Anzic)
Another winner from one of the great jazz families.
http://www.3cohens.com/live/

Geri Allen "Grand River Crossings: Motown & Motor City Inspirations" (Motema)
Every Geri Allen release is worth owning. This one is spectacular.
http://www.geriallen.com/

JD Allen "Grace" (Savant)
My favorite jazz album of the year. One of the Village Voice's 10 best of 2013. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Gerald Clayton "Life Form" (Concord)
John Clayton's son is establishing himself as a top notch pianist.
http://geraldclayton.com/

Aaron Diehl "The Bespoke Man's Narrative" (Mack Avenue)
Best release yet from the 2011 Cole Porter Jazz Fellow. With Warren Wolf who has earned high praise for his current release that I have yet to hear.
http://www.aarondiehl.com/

Kenny Garrett "Pushing The World Away" (Mack Avenue Vinyl)
Garnered a grammy nomination for this release.
http://www.kennygarrett.com/

Benny Green "Magic Beans" (Sunnyside)
Followup to one of last years best ("Source") and another great outing by one of the best working trios.
http://bennygreenmusic.com/disc/#jp-carousel-379

Jimmy Heath Big Band "Live At The Blue Note" (JLP)
I can say from personal experience, this really captures the experience of hearing this great band.
http://www.jimmyheath.com/

Tootie Heath "Tootie's Tempo" (Sunnyside)
Jimmy's brother leads a terrific trio including Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DELHUJQ...=UTF8&colid=UHVZIUO3BTZ0&coliid=IXPDREMPNWI5K

Ethan Iverson "Costumes Are Mandatory" (High Note)
The Bad Plus' pianist teams up with Larry Grenadier and Lee Konitz to create this musical love letter to Lennie Tristano. You can read more at The Bad Plus blog site:
http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/

Gretchen Parlato "Live In NYC" (Obliq)
Includes a DVD
http://gretchenparlato.com/

 

[Sauerball]

These are the ones I've heard that I like . . . all 24 bit downloads . . .

Aaron Diehl - The Bespoke Man's Narrative (Mack Avenue)
Chris Potter - The Sirens (ECM)
Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet - Wislawa (ECM)
Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette - Somewhere (ECM)
Cecile McLorin Salvant - WomanChild (Mack Avenue)
Charles Lloyd/Jason Moran - Hagar's Song (ECM)
Terence Blanchard - Magnetic (Blue Note)
Doug Douglas - Time Travel (Greenleaf)
Joe Lovano Us Five - Cross Culture (Blue Note)

 

[flez007]

....thanks jazdoc! I was about to ask you to post your picks, my credit card is jumping out my wallet!

 

[Ronm1]

Thanks guys for posting your yearly picks. JLP set initially on order. Good stuff to tack on as the year goes on.

 

[rbbert]

Thanks guys for posting your yearly picks. JLP set initially on order. Good stuff to tack on as the year goes on.

What is the "JLP set"?

 

[jazdoc]

What is the "JLP set"?

http://www.jazzlegacyproductions.com/catalogdeal.html


http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?12801-JLP-Catalog-(19-CD’s)-Only-99-95

Props to jap for bringing this to WBF's attention. Some really great releases in this set. Highly recommended!

 

[jazdoc]

These are the ones I've heard that I like . . . all 24 bit downloads . . .

Aaron Diehl - The Bespoke Man's Narrative (Mack Avenue)
Chris Potter - The Sirens (ECM)
Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet - Wislawa (ECM)
Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette - Somewhere (ECM)
Cecile McLorin Salvant - WomanChild (Mack Avenue)
Charles Lloyd/Jason Moran - Hagar's Song (ECM)
Terence Blanchard - Magnetic (Blue Note)
Doug Douglas - Time Travel (Greenleaf)
Joe Lovano Us Five - Cross Culture (Blue Note)

Thanks! I've been thinking about most of the releases on your list. Amazon beckons...

 

[rbbert]

Thanks! I've been thinking about most of the releases on your list. Amazon beckons...

If they're not on LP I'd go the HDtracks route.

Two disappointing (for me) releases this year were Kenny Garrett's "Pushing the World Away" and Dave Holland's "Prism". Both were good but not nearly as good as I had hoped for based on each artist's recent trends.

A pleasant surprise was Chick Corea's "The Vigil", well worth getting at HDtracks both for sound quality and an extra track.

 

[rbbert]

Dave Douglas' "Time Travel" is so much like last year's "Be Still" they really could (should?) have been a double album; JMO, of course.

 

[jazdoc]

If they're not on LP I'd go the HDtracks route.

Two disappointing (for me) releases this year were Kenny Garrett's "Pushing the World Away" and Dave Holland's "Prism". Both were good but not nearly as good as I had hoped for based on each artist's recent trends.

A pleasant surprise was Chick Corea's "The Vigil", well worth getting at HDtracks both for sound quality and an extra track.

I agree regarding Dave Holland's "Prism". I buy every one of his releases but this one was really disappointing. Sorry you didn't like the Kenny Garrett. I really like his playing, but he is all over the place stylistically and is the jazz equivalent of a box of chocolates in that you never know what you are going to get...Do you have his Miles Davis "Sketches of MD: Live At The Iridium"? Its extremely well recorded and more straight ahead...

 

[jazdoc]

Dave Douglas' "Time Travel" is so much like last year's "Be Still" they really could (should?) have been a double album; JMO, of course.

Agreed...That said, "Be Still" was one of my favorites from last year. The vinyl is terrific sounding!

 

[rbbert]

I love them both. What great "mood music", as in listening to them puts me in a great mood!

 

[jap]

Fred Kaplan's 2013 list:

Maria Schneider & Dawn Upshaw, Winter Morning Walks (ArtistShare).
Darcy James Argue & Secret Society, Brooklyn Babylon (New Amsterdam).
Marc Cary, For the Love of Abbey (Motema Music).
William Parker, Wood Flute Songs, Anthology: Live, 2006–12 (AUM Fidelity).
Dave Douglas, Time Travel (Greenleaf Music).
Steve Coleman & Five Elements, Functional Arrythmia (Pi Recordings).
John Zorn, Dreamachines (Tzadik).
Matthew Shipp, Piano Sutras (Thirsty Ear).
Ben Goldberg, Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues (BAG Production).
Preservation Hall Jazz Band, That's It! (Columbia).

BEST REISSUES:
Clifford Jordan, The Complete Strata-East Sessions (Mosaic Records).
Jim Hall, Live Vol. 2–4 (ArtistShare).

http://www.stereophile.com/content/best-jazz-recordings-2013

 

[Migo]

1.Carmen Gomes Inc:''Thousand Shades of Blue''My favourite this year,beautiful sounding audiophile recording,incredible fresh readings of old and new tunes by my favourite European singer.
http://www.soundliaison.com/

2.Bobo Stenson trio:Indicum. The Swedish grand old man has made maybe his best album ever.http://player.ecmrecords.com/bobo_stenson_trio

3.Keith Jarrett trio: Somewhere, well what is there to say he is still in top form.http://player.ecmrecords.com/jarrett-trio---somewhere

4.John Scofield:Uberjam Deux,same concept,better sound,and he always puts me in a good mood.http://www.johnscofield.com/

5.Paul Berner Band:Road to memphis.The Monty Alexander trio alumni is visiting his roots with this instrumental Elvis Presley saga,top audiophile download.http://www.soundliaison.com/


6.Sinne Eeg:the Beauty of Sadness,The danish Dianne Reeves is really finding her own voice with this album.http://www.sinnemusic.com/

7.Triosence:Turning Points,these guys really help keeping the piano trio alive,as an art form.http://www.triosence.com/en/shop/

 

[jap]

Here's another great 2013 release.

Kenny Barron/Gerry Gibbs/Ron Carter: Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=46143