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Jazz Albums of 2015

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Jazz isn’t discussed enough on The Afterword. I doubt much of it will appear in the end of year list when it is put together. However, as a genre, it is flourishing. There are oodles of great practitioners and fabulous bands making music that is as lively, inventive, challenging and current as jazz has ever been.

Here’s my top ten of 2015:

1. The Bad Plus Joseph Redman

The Bad Plus are a trio from Minnesota, Reid Anderson bass, Ethan Iverson piano and David King on drums. They are willing to try anything. Last year, they recorded a jazz version of The Rite Of Spring. In 2007, they released an album called Prog. They ought to be The Afterword’s house band. On this album, the trio are so empathetic, they sound like a single unit topped by Redman’s expressive, yet gentle, improvisations. It is a beautifully paced and balanced set of original compositions.

2. José James – Yesterday I Had The Blues – The Music Of Billie Holiday

Jazz is a tricky business. Creative challenge doesn’t sell much. When a record label wants to make money from a jazz artist they ask them to record a tribute album. What could be safer than have a velvety smooth singer cover Billie Holiday? Yet, this is gorgeous. The songs are approached with dignity and grace. Jason Moran’s piano arrangements find subtle seams allowing James to imbue them with a deep blues.

3. Kamasi Washington – The Epic

This is huge. Three hours that cover all jazz styles from big band to delicate trios, from standards to full-on skronk. Anyone with any love of jazz is bound find something to thrill them. However, for all the affection for jazz’s past, The Epic is thoroughly modern. These are youngsters brought up listening to all kinds of music, soul, funk, hip-hop and they bring the street and the party to jazz. It is incredibly uplifting.

4. Melody Gardot – Currency Of Man

Melody has a smoky, feline voice capable of singing anything. Currency Of Man features her back with old friends, writing and playing songs of greater ambition and scope. There are swampy blues, string-swept slowies and punchy soul. She brings a tingle to my lower spine.

5. Jack DeJohnette – Made In Chicago

Jack, now 73, is probably the most musical and free-flowing drummer that has ever lived. Here, he is reunited by his old school mates from five decades ago to play a concert in their home town. There is no question of them slowing down. They bop hard, they are full of beans and ready for the fight. There is no compromise for the listener. Made In Chicago is the most challenging album of the year.

6. Joyce Elaine Yuille – Welcome To My World

Another velvety smooth singer on the R&B edge of jazz, this time backed by a big band complete with lashings of strings. The album would glide serenely by if not for Timo Lassy’s sax sparks. Yuille’s world is poised and perfect but with enough jazz grit to enthral.

7. Vijay Iyer Trio – Break Stuff

The basic jazz trio of piano, bass, drums has been in existence for the best part of a century but Vijay hasn’t run out of ways of keeping it fresh. Sometimes, it’s as though they throw the rhythm up into the air and allow it to smash into pieces when it lands. At others, all three seem to be playing different tunes. Break Stuff is bewildering and bewitching at the same time.

8. Cécile McLorin Salvant – For One To Love

Salvant is idiosyncratic and theatrical. Her backing trio do well to keep as she swoops, squeals and explodes with colour. For One To Love is one hell of a show.

9. Marius Neset – Pinball

Neset wields his sax like a young gunslinger. He crackles with adrenaline, the expectation of doom in the air. Pinball is right on the edge, playing fast and loose with rhythm, melody and form.

10. Any Suggestions, Afterworders?

Beauty Has It Hard

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Comments

  1. Nice. I’ve not listened to much new jazz this year. A few there I’ll check out Tigg.
    I suppose on balance the bulk of what I’ve paid most attention to these past few months has what could be loosely termed folk.
    Although since November I must admit to becoming slightly obsessed with listening to mono recordings of classic Miles Davis albums. My god but they are mighty.

  3. I’m with you in spirit, Tigs, but like Penciol I haven’t listened to much ‘new’ jazz lately. I just bought a 50th anniversay 2CD/DVD edition of ‘Kind Of Blue’, which I’ve been enjoying (haven’t got to the DVD yet).

    One new (well, 2014) jazz CD I’d heartily recommend is Linley Hamilton’s quintet ‘In Transition’.

    I was delighted to be involved in RPM’s 3CD box set ‘Turtle Records: Pioneering British Jazz 1970-71’ this year, which I know a couple of AWers have. I’m stuck in the past, really…

  4. These are mostly a mystery to me too. I confess I don’t listen to much current jazz. Actually, make that any. I have a cutoff point of about 1970, or possibly 1965, which leaves out a large chunk of Miles’s oeuvre, I know, but generally I’m comfortable with that. There are still so many pre1970 discoveries to be made.

    But your post seems like a good moment to expand my horizons, so thanks. I’ll need to be alone, I suspect…

    • No. I haven’t got on with Matthew this year. I’m not sure short pieces with a singer suit him, although I applaud his decision to give it a go.

      The one I’m undecided on is Nat Birchall’s Invocations. It’s a bit too Coltrane for me at the moment. In the absence of suggestions from The Afterword, it would take that top ten slot.

      • Nat Birchall’s Invocations is a perfectly acceptable listen, I suppose, but inevitably it’s a bit of a comedown after the monumental Live in Larissa double live LP last year.

  6. Not much jazz for me this year, only Goran Kajfes “The Reason Why Vol 2” (quite wonderful, but vol 1 was better), Lyöstraini/Trees of Life which isn’t strict jazz but also folk/world (and absolutely lovely) and a new live recording of Don Cherry from Moderna Museet in the 70s (60s? can’t remember right now) which is full on hippie heaven.
    I just got a CD of Elephant9 with Reine Fiske called “Silver Mountain” which is Norwegian jazz with a visiting Swede, but I only just listened to it for the first time, so can’t say if it’s any good yet. I’m struggling to think if Nils Frahm is jazz, but no, he isn’t very (although I also struggle to put another genre name to what he does…)

    • I love the Don Cherry. I excluded it for not being ‘new’. I’ll definitely explore the Kajfes, Locust. I’m always pleased with your recommendations.

      I think Frahms is categorised as Contemporary or modern classical. That type of music, I find is often experimental and cutting edge, albeit more composed than Jazz. However, I’m never sure where Jazz ends and Contemporary begins.

      An album of 2015 I really love is Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufield – Never Were The Way She Was. It sounds like a couple of members of Tom Waits’s junkyard orchestra have absconded and teamed up with some angels to play the music of Steve Reich. Is it Contemporary or Jazz? Who cares really but, for the purposes of this thread, I decided it wasn’t improvisational enough to be Jazz.

    • I’m working my way to into a frenzy over Bowie’s new album. I can’t wait to hear those jazz guys do their thing with him. Bowie has never gone jazz before.

      A number of them are also in The Maria Scneider Orchestra. The Thompson Fields is meant to be glorious. They only way I can find to get hold of it is to download from an American website and I’m dubious about giving them my card details. I’m here waiting for a proper release in the UK.

  8. I’ve been browsing through all the Best of 2015 lists.

    Kendrick Lamar was pipped at the post by Julia Holter as Uncut’s album of the year, but was was more interesting to me was to discover that up-and-coming jazz superstar, Kamasi Washington, is playing on it. Now there’s a man with an big vision.

    Here he is talking about TPAB.

    And here is at his day job.

  9. After Kamasi’s everything including the kitchen sink approach, perhaps we need some Nordic minimalism?

    Finnish pianist, Iiro Rantala, from My working class hero, his fine 2015 album of John Lennon songs.

  10. An album I’m looking forward to listening to is Folk by Oddjob.

    One of Sweden’s most inventive jazz bands reinterprets Swedish folk music.

    Nothing on the Tube, but you can listen to it on Spotify.

    It was recorded in honour of this ground-breaking jazz-folk fusion album which was recorded 50 years ago: Adventures in Jazz and folklore.

    A host of stars including the wonderful Jan Johansson.

  15. The jazz album that has most excited me this year is actually a reissue: “To You” by the Cartsten Meinert Kvartet (Fredriksberg Records).

    This is one of the great lost treasures of Danish jazz. It was originally released in March 1969, with a pressing run of only 500 copies, mainly sold at gigs. Until August this year, the album was as rare as hen’s teeth and highly sought after by Nordic jazz fans. Meinert’s band were certainly influenced by the classic John Coltrane quartet, and indeed Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison were so impressed by the Danes that they played a session with Meinert in Copenhagen.
    “To You” actually opens with a lovely version of the classic Coltrane ballad “Naima”, and the centrepiece is the big 12-minute “Dansevise”. But it’s cracking good stuff all the way through.
    Fredriksberg Records are to be congratulated on making this invaluable and thrilling piece of Danish jazz heritage available again. It’s highly recommended to all Afterword jazz fans.
    When released in August, “To You” was only available through a few sites, such as Honest Jon’s and Jazzman, as both a CD and an LP. Note: the CD seems rather difficult to find at the moment. It may be sold out.

    https://www.facebook.com/frederiksbergrecords/
    http://honestjons.com/shop/artist/Carsten_Meinert_Kvartet/release/To_You
    http://www.jazzmanrecords.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=carsten

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6BC_cxsmOM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhYYlTbF5wE

    http://honestjons.com/shop/artist/Carsten_Meinert_Kvartet/release/To_You

    • I always enjoy your recommendations, duco, and I’ll certainly seek this one out.

      However, I’m certain you’ve been listening to new jazz too. Anything from 2015 catch your ear?

      • Here are my 10 favourite new jazz albums of 2015, Tigger.

        To be honest, I probably listen to less straight-ahead standard jazz now than at any time in the past 15 years.
        Looking at this list, several of the selections are lurking about on the outskirts of what can be called ‘jazz ‘- normally where jazz intersects with a rather polite, arty ECM-style chamber music. I just happen to like that kind of stuff. So sue me!
        These aren’t in a 1-10 descending order, as that would give away too many clues about the duco01 Favourite 40 albums of 2015, which I know every Afterworder is eagerly anticipating.

        So – IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

        Nat Birchall – Invocations
        Anouar Brahem – Souvenance
        Mathias Eick – Midwest
        Espen Eriksen Trio – Never Ending January
        Greg Foat Group – The Dancers at the Edge of Time
        Paolo Fresu and Daniele di Bonaventura – In Maggiore
        Daniel Herskedal – Slow Eastbound Train
        Third Reel – Many More Days
        Kamasi Washington – The Epic
        Eberhard Weber – Encore

        • And perhaps I should add …

          Disappointment of the year (Jazz album) – Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra – Into Forever.

          Well, I suppose, after five triumphantly brilliant albums, we can allow him a dodgy one.

  17. I loved the Vijay Iyer Trio album, but the one that got me most excited this year was “Dysnomia” by Dawn Of Midi, who use the acoustic piano/bass/drums trio format to produce jazz based on the repetitive form of electronic dance music (an approach which has also been adopted in a less jazzy style by the Japanese trio Nissennenmondai). Radio 3’s excellent Jez Nelson put me onto this with his Jazz On Three show. Here’s a sample of what they’re like live:

  18. Thanks for those – I’ll have to check them out. This year the only new jazz I’ve bought has been Andy Sheppard’s “Surrounded by Sea”, which I loved, especially “I Want to Vanish” (though hadn’t remembered it was an Elvis Costello song until I googled it!).

    Other than that, I’m still working my way through old stuff of my Dad’s. Latest obsession is guitarist Charlie Christian – what a tragedy that he died aged only 25, but what a legacy he left!

    • Surrounded By The Sea is quiet and delicate. Sheppard’s sax whispers as Aarset’s guitar hums. I like a bit of quiet but I could do with it being a bit more lively like the finale, For Ornette.

  19. The only thing that lets Kamasi Washington`s album down are the vocals otherwise it`s quite good for a jazz (or is it Jazz) album.

    Tigger don`t let the naysayers put you off from answering posts on your posts.

    Oh and you were missed today.

  20. I think the correct label is JAZZ!!! Baron.

    Completely agree with you about Tigger answering posts on his threads. Your replies are always a delight. Talk about curating with class.

  21. It was a remarkable day. One that has left me somewhat overwhelmed. I shall explain in a thread as soon as I am able to collect my thoughts.
    What I want to write about today and the past three or four months of my life I don’t wish to rush. It requires careful thought. I want to get it right. It’s important to me.
    For now I will just write bless you one and all. You are wonderful people.

  22. Looking around the jazz top 10s here – and in various places – it’s good to see that there isn’t a consensus anywhere. Could be there isn’t a standout album – though “The Epic” does pop up everywhere – but it also means there’s plenty out there still to explore and could…possibly…maybe indicate the music is in decent health.

    So thanks to Tigger and duco – more stuff I haven’t heard to add to my list – and look forward to your broader “best of 2015” lists when they appear.

    In no particular order, a sort of top 10 from me:

    Mette Henriette – self titled: only just arrived so still working my way through it. It’s a beautiful record – for sure very “ECM” – with the first disc a saxophone/piano/cello trio, the second adding more instruments including a string section. And she gets to have her picture on the cover – can’t remember the last time ECM did that (Keith Jarrett?). She sounds occasionally hesitant – at times barely breathing through the sax – but it’s wonderfully lyrical stuff.

    Michael Wollny – Nachtfarten: slow piano trio meditations on the night time world. Occasionally gloomy, sometimes lovely and then discordant, it’s not received the plaudits of his previous outing – voted album of the year in 2014 by some – but equally as good to these ears.

    Tigran Hamasyan & Yerevan State Chamber Choir – Luys I Luso: posted about this before – gloomy but strangely joyful Armenian choir pieces with Tigran’s elegant piano accompaniment.

    Cyrus Chestnut – A million colours in your mind: straight ahead no-nonsense boppers and ballads from the great gospel influenced pianist – includes a great re-working of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” that strangely works.

    Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba – Tokyo Adagio: the late Charlie Haden always shone in a duo setting – albums with Kenny Barron and John Taylor spring to mind – and this is no exception. Great late night listen.

    Robert Glasper – Covered: returns to a more straight ahead jazz trio setting after his “Black radio” diversions and sounding as distinctive as ever. Superbly recorded as well.

    Matthias Eick – Midwest: almost like a film soundtrack – typically ECM – with some great, even hummable, tunes.

    Terri Lynne Carrington – the Mosaic Project: Love and Soul: hmmm…possibly a little smooth for some but it’s a really good 90s throwback soul jazz album with some excellent vocalists – good to hear Valerie Simpson in great voice again.

    Charenee Wade – The music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson: possibly best jazz vocal album of the year, with great jazz re-workings of Gil’s early music. She’s a very good singer and there’s a top notch band swinging easily between jazz and funkier stuff.

    Kamasi Washington – The epic: like everyone says, it’s overblown and overlong but how good is it to see a proper full-on jazz album nudging around the top of “rock” best of 2015 lists?

    Others: finally warmed to Julia Hulsmann’s “A clear midnight” re-working of Kurt Weill songs and, despite some terrible song choice misfires, Kurt Elling’s “Passion World” is still a joy to listen to. Like you, Tigger, also enjoyed the Joyce Elaine Yuille album as well.

    Some great reissues: I’ve mentioned the Turtle box set before – worth it for the John Taylor album and ColinH’s excellent accompanying booklet – plus Bobby Watson’s mid-80s classic “Love Remains” seems to have re-appeared on CD. It’s a great album.

    • Thanks for that very interesting list, Morrison. You’re a man of consistently impeccable taste, and I’ll certainly be (re)investigating the titles here, particularly the Mette Henriette album.

      Re: ECM not putting many artists’ photos on the cover.
      You’re right. They don’t. It’s normally an abstract dark blue atmospheric blur, to give it that ECM caché.

      The last ECM album that I can think of that featured a photo of the artists on the cover was “1961”, the reissue of “Fusion” and “Thesis” by the Jimmy Giuffre 3.

      Oh hang on! I just thought of one more: “Elegy of the Uprooting” by Eleni Karaindrou. Fab album, by the way.

    • You can’t beat a good Charlie Haden album, can you?

      I’ve tried very hard with Julia Hülsmann. Twenty per cent of it is absolute genius. As for the rest, you may as well take some pliers to my finger nails.

      Great work, Morrison. I love your lists. I rely on you for some good music, soul especially.

  23. The jazz album I’ve listened to most this year technically came out last December, but as a Japan only release I didn’t get hold of it till this year – Brothers & Sisters by Soil & Pimp Sessions. Self proclaimed “death jazz”, to my ears it sounds like hard bop played very loud and fast. It’s so driving, dynamic and energetic, it puts most rock acts to shame. They were also responsible for the best gig I’ve seen this year, just astonishingly good.

    Another gig highlight was Kamasi Washington in the same venue. Truth be told, I find The Epic a bit flabby, with a few too many mid-tempo R&B numbers clogging up some other inspired tunes. With a smaller band, and only 100 minutes to play with, he delivered a much more focused experience. A very good show, although not as headspinningly brilliantly make you walk out with a ten foot wide smile on your face as Soil & Pimp were.

  25. What a great thread this is turning out to be.

    Those of you with Spotify may enjoy this playlist that my “Jazz neighbour” Fredrik compiled. Everyone should have a Jazz Neighbour. A quick chat about the latest releases brightens up the school run enormously.

  26. Thanks for the comments Tigger and duco – and the ECM knowledge…will have to dig around for the Eleni Karaindrou album – I’ve got Ulysses Gate (?) somewhere which I also thought was excellent. Must also search out Espen Eriksen Trio – Never Ending January – read a couple of decent reviews and I do have a thing about jazz piano trios.

    The best of soul 2015 shouldn’t take too long – makes 2014 look like a golden year…any suggestions more than welcome as I’ve bought embarrassingly little this year. Decent reissues and compilations but aside from a couple of gems nowt much.

    • The DVD version of the Eleni Karaindrou’s “Elegy of the Uprooting” is even better than the CD version, in my view, because … well, because you can actually see the performers right there on your television screen.

      Yes, Ulysses’ Gate is very fine – Karaindrou has worked extensively with the Greek film-maker Theo Angelopoulos.

      The third Karaindrou album that I’d recommend is her theatre music for Antonis Antypas’s production of “Medea”. Tremendous stuff.

  28. I haven’t listened to as much jazz as I should this year although I may be the only person on this thread that liked the new Matthew Halsall album. I thank many of the above though for giving me new stuff to investigate and I would love a new full list of recommendations from @duco01. The one he did a couple of years ago provided some wonderful music.
    I did however re-discover 2 really good albums this year – Neil Ardley – ‘Symphony of Amaranths’ from the early 70s and a Gilles Peterson compilation – ‘Impressed Vol 2’ which is mainly British jazz from the 60s and 70s and includes this beauty from Mike Westbrook

    • Hi Feedback,

      I will indeed be doing a full rundown of my Top 40 (or 50) new albums of the 2015, as well as my Top 20 reissues and historical recordings of the year. I hope to post them sometime next week.

      However, I’m bound to say now that, apart from the 10 albums I listed higher up this thread, there won’t be many jazz records in the new albums list. For whatever reason, I found that most of my favourite records this year were in other areas – particularly the ‘modern classical/chamber/ambient’ genre.

  29. I dabble my toes in the sea of jazz and have a paddle.

    You jazz athletes are all cross-channel swimmers by comparison.

    So many interesting new names that I did my best to do a playlist. No ECM of course and several other artists missing. Spotify need to pull their jazz socks up. If the most recent album wasn’t there I tended to include an earlier release.

    It could be worse. There are tracks from several albums mentioned here.

  31. Of course I meant the famous documentary film maker. Of course!

    You’ll be pleased to hear Tigger that Jazz Fredrik was very keen about the Spotify list based on this thread.

  32. The NPR best of the year lists are always well worth a glance.

    http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/12/16/459822811/poll-results-listeners-pick-their-favorite-albums-of-2015?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=allsongs&utm_term=music&utm_content=2043

    But probably not too much jazz on this one. at least not it the first 25.

    Tigger, I was fascinated that in both Mojo and Uncut, the number 2 position for Best of 2015 was taken by Kendrick. And the number one, in BOTH cases was Julia Holter. Odd.

    • Yes. Extremely odd. Julia’s is a great record but Kendrick’s is much more than that. When a crowd protesting against the Police killing young black people start singing the chorus of Alright, you know something special is happening. To Pimp A Butterfly could well be mentioned in the history books of the future.

  33. This is my absolute favourite online end-of-year list (apart from my own forthcoming one, obviously).

    It’s the Aquarium Drunkard list.

    I can’t say that it covers every genre in music, but the AD guys are very good at digging out unknown albums in American roots music and the more interesting end of the US indie scene.

    http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/

  34. A quick glance suggests that the Drunkards are really on the money. You’ve got some serious competition this year DuCool. But I’m sure you’ll do a Julia Holter and pip them at the post.

  35. Here’s a link to the Albums of the Year List from the best jazz blog on the internet, ‘Bird is the Worm,’ written by the hugely knowledgeable and engaging Dave Sumner from Chicago. His Albums of the Year lists are always worth checking out for jazz fans.

    Today he’s counting down from no. 30 to no. 26. …

    http://www.birdistheworm.com/

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