[noisereductions]

Vandermark is good stuff. Thx for the heads up

[themawt71]

noisereductions

if you haven't listened yet you might like the vandermark 5. it was his longstanding quintet that he shuttered a few years ago.

i would say you might wanna check out simpatico and/or target or flag. the trombonist doubled on guitar. some really nice rock moments that are not precious at all. he only doubled on guitar for one two other records and the rest is sans guitar

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by themawt71

noisereductions

if you haven't listened yet you might like the vandermark 5. it was his longstanding quintet that he shuttered a few years ago.

i would say you might wanna check out simpatico and/or target or flag. the trombonist doubled on guitar. some really nice rock moments that are not precious at all. he only doubled on guitar for one two other records and the rest is sans guitar

I haven't heard any of these, so thanks for the recommendations!

[themawt71]

no problem man!

[noisereductions]

new Kendrick Scott Oracle album dropped today on Blue Note: WE ARE THE DRUM, which I'm looking fwd to bumping on my commute tonight.

[noisereductions]

No i kept meaning to thx for reminder

[noisereductions]

Word will do

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by TheDom

Good thread! Thanks for this I've been really looking for good contemporary stuff. Have you heard Kendrick Scott?

His new album is awesome

[Kuhb]

Greetings, haven't been on here SYG for a long time. Just thought I'd chuck this up here.

Tim Berne's Snakeoil - You've Been Watching Me

Incredible album of NYC-Scene avant garde featuring Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith, Oscar Noriega. Spacious group improvisations from a band that has really developed a collective language together.

For similar sorts of stuff on ECM, check out Michael Formanek's two recent-ish albums, featuring Craig Taborn.

http://player.ecmrecords.com/berne-2443

[noisereductions]

this thread was fun. I'll start a 2016 one soon.

For now, I'll recap my favorite jazz albums of 2015...

The Bad Plus/Joshua Redman
The Bad Plus Joshua Redman
I really had no idea that this combo would work. Don't get me wrong, I love The Bad Plus. And I've been an admirer of Redman's work since high school. But their styles seemed pretty different to me. I figured that one side would have to bend too much toward the other to make this collaboration happen. Not so. Instead we find Redman overlaying these gorgeous melodies over The Bad Plus' usual head-nodding material. Never has Joshua Redman rocked so much. Never have The Bad Plus been so damn smooth. Check out "As This Moment Slips Away" to see what I mean.

Brian Chippendale/Greg Saunier
Brian Chippendale & Greg Saunier
Can you even call this a jazz album? I don't know, and I don't care. That's what I'm calling it. A drummer duo improv session that is face-melting. Only released on vinyl and mp3 thus far unfortunately, though there are videos online that will blow your mind even further. Knowing the bands these guys come from (and having seen Lightning Bolt live in the past) it's so commendable to see the restraint that they both are able to use even when playing furiously. It would have been easy for this to devolve into a mess. But it never does. It's just crazy intense.


Miles Davis
The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
This latest installment in the Davis Bootleg Series proves that there's still plenty more material in the archives that needs to be released. This 4-CD set chronicles 20 years of Newport Jazz Festival performances with shifts from bands and genres that will make your head spin. Many periods of Davis' work is included here starting with a humble all-star jam that probably highlights Monk more than Davis through his jazz fusion bands in the 70's. Just an excellent set for those interested in a history lesson in the evolution of a brilliant career.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
The Conny Plank Session
I gotta hand it to Pitchfork - those hipsters we love to hate. Of course I read their reviews every weekday, as I have for probably fifteen years even if I feel I disagree with more than I agree with. Yet if it weren't for them, I'd have probably overlooked this Ellington album. Would have been my loss. This album is six tracks: two songs recorded three times each. But it's also totally eye-opening to just how experimental Ellington was willing to get. And no doubt Plank's production plays a big part in that outcome. But damn, hearing these takes progress you get a real sense of the creative process of a master at work. It's a bummer this shit took so long to see the light of day. But I'm sure glad it did. Check out "Afrique" (any of the three takes, though the first is probably my favorite) to hear some intense stuff.

Robert Glasper
Covered​
Another jazz musician I discovered this year thanks to To Pimp A Butterfly. Between projects, Glasper decided to get his trio together and record an intimate live album that takes some of his more experimental tracks, along with productions he's done with others and strips them down into an organic trio recording. It is immediately lovely. It's also quite soulful. There's nothing overly compelling here - which is not a dig in any way. Instead, it is a consistently good and pretty album that serves as an easy to overlook, but totally worth hearing chill out record.

Kendrick Scott Oracle
​We Are The Drum
Man, I'm glad I found this one. Came out of left field for me. But Scott pulled together a fantastic recording. I always say we don't have enough drummers as band leaders. This is proof of how you do it well. Scott is never show-boaty. Instead he lets this thing feel like an albums should feel. And I mean, who would think that a Blue Note recording artist would be covering Flying Lotus? But it works! It works. Check out his take on FlyLo's "Never Catch Me" and you'll see. That cover could have played itself. Just play that piano part - which is beautiful and just let the drums do all the interesting stuff right? But no! Instead he has his pianist barely hint at that melody. The Oracle truly makes this their own. It's great and this may be one of the more soulful and slept on jazz albums of 2015.

Kamasi Washington
The Epic
Alright, I know I said no ranking but this is definitely my #1 for the year. As much as a fan of Kendrick Lamar as I am, and as much as I really tried, I was never able to enjoy To Pimp A Butterfly the way I did Good Kid Maad City or Section 80. However the big takeaway I got from that album was the introduction of an entire jazz scene I was missing on the West Coast. Chief among these musicians was Kamasi Washington, a member of the Young Jazz Giants who released the literally Epic 3-disc album I've placed at #1 here. Over the course of three hours Washington delivers a bold solo debut that runs the gamut on everything from 60's Coltrane to gospel to Charlie Brown-era Geraldi Trio to soul... it's as much free jazz at is soul jazz as it is R&B and choir music. But trying to define any of it is worthless. The Epic is feelgood music. Perhaps the greatest jazz album of the 2010's.

[themawt71]

Jacob Garchik
Ye Olde

not a lot of jazz i guess but they are all jazz in one way or another
definitely a rock record with no singer.

really really good

3 guitars drums and a trombone


https://jacobgarchik.bandcamp.com/

[ilduclo]

seeing Dave Douglas w/Fabian Almazan (piano), Jon Irabagon (sax), Linda Oh (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums) next week. He plays a pretty trumpet. Haven't seen Irabgon but I like his work in MOPDTK, Royston to me is not a great drummer, a little too heavy handed and not the rhythmic support that I like to see (eg Motian or Wollenson)

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by ilduclo

seeing Dave Douglas w/Fabian Almazan (piano), Jon Irabagon (sax), Linda Oh (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums) next week. He plays a pretty trumpet. Haven't seen Irabgon but I like his work in MOPDTK, Royston to me is not a great drummer, a little too heavy handed and not the rhythmic support that I like to see (eg Motian or Wollenson)

that's awesome! I liked DD's last album quite a bit.

FYI, I started a new 2016 jazz thread

[ilduclo]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

that's awesome! I liked DD's last album quite a bit.

FYI, I started a new 2016 jazz thread

oopsie!