Compiling a list of the greatest works of the last ten years is an inherently difficult proposition. The first complication lies in the fact that so many of my musical memories from the last decade are tied to recordings released prior to the period. Some of my best memories include the Charlie Parker song from 1950 that played at my wedding, the New Year’s Eve I first stumbled … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Jazz Albums of the Decade
There's a fullness in ten years. A lot of work, if rather relentlessly done, can really make a discernible impact. Ten years ago, folks were making all the talk as rather cyclically that jazz was dead. It was such an exhausting conversation. Folks were around making this music, obviously. It couldn't be that dead. The problem was in the awareness and the tweaking of the … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Jazz Albums of 2019
Yesterday we unveiled Nextbop's Best Jazz Albums of 2019, which was compiled by our staff as a whole. Today, we continue our Season of Lists with Editor-in-Chief Anthony Dean-Harris' Favorite Jazz Albums of 2019. There's something kind of lovely about the lack of one major cohesive idea present in the genre of jazz at the moment. The idea of what the music can be is larger … [Read more...]
Steve Lehman Trio + Craig Taborn – ‘The People I Love’ (Album Review)
There's a funny thing about round numbers and commemorations. People add extra value to big signpost years in the narrative of things, to make them somehow make more sense in the context. Perhaps this is the grasp I'm making as I have fallen for alto saxophonist Steve Lehman's album, released in his 40th rotation around the sun and his trio of bassist Matt Brewer and drummer … [Read more...]
Jonathan Finlayson – ‘3 Times Round’ (Album Review)
Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson as a composer and arranger knows quite a bit about interlocking rhythms. Finlayson's work has always had a driving momentum to it, forging ahead and exploring almost unceasingly, as a sideman with groups of the same musical philosophies and as a leader applying the lessons learned from his considerable resume working with modern masters like Henry … [Read more...]