A quick pre-amble: jazz is so diverse that it’s near-impossible to compare and rank the "best" albums of the year (Editor's note: which is why Nextbop refers to these lists as our "favorites" as opposed to "the best", because words are important). How does one rank Julian Lage, Darcy James Argue, Takuya Kuroda, and Brad Mehldau against each other? The answer of course is that … [Read more...]
Nextbop’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2015
I'm not quite sure what more I could say here about jazz in 2015. There may not have been some overarching narrative that guided how art was made and released. Some folks who have worked together for years finally released an album that said so. Some folks released large ensemble albums that made huge splashes, as sprawling debuts, par for the course, or as the muscular … [Read more...]
St. Germain – ‘s/t’
Ludovic Navarre's music has always been a little difficult to pin down. It's always had a lounge sound that borrows from jazz, tailor made since its inception for late night internet streaming on Dublab or before them, Soma.fm in some forgotten corner of the internet (somebody out there remembers what I'm talking about). It was trip-hop and acid jazz and downtempo and other … [Read more...]
‘The Bad Plus Joshua Redman’ Equals Awesome
I was a bit skeptical upon first hearing of The Bad Plus Joshua Redman (Nonesuch). BP members Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and Dave King (drums) have asserted in the past that their trio is a collaborative effort and that each of them strive to contribute equally as players, composers, and artist I wondered how Joshua Redman would change the dynamic of the … [Read more...]
Mehliana – “Centinela” (Video)
Hopefully, you remember pianist Brad Mehldau and drummer Mark Guiliana's amazing Nonesuch album from last year, Mehliana: Taming the Dragon. The explosive pairing made for some of the most interesting work either of them had made in their careers so far and it's still quite a fun listen. Back during the press cycle for the album's release, they released a group of videos … [Read more...]