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"Top Ten" lists often seem rather arbitrary, so here are my favorites out of about a thousand CDs which came my way last year. The selection is a personal choice based on musical merit and not necessarily popular appeal, sales, or airplay. This is not a ranking, CDs are listed in order received.
Grammy nominees are indicated with * except in the reissue/ historical section.
- Jim Wilke
Favorite Jazz | Reissues | Northwest | Earlier Picks
artist - album title - label ( * nominated for a Grammy )
Small groups
The Blue Note 7 - Mosaic - Blue Note
Benny Golson - New Time, New ‘tet - Concord
Ravi Coltrane - Blending Times - Savoy
Gary Smulyan - High Noon - Jazz Soul of Frankie Laine - Reservoir
Joshua Redman - Compass - Nonesuch
Jeff “Tain” Watts - Watts - Dark Key * (solo)
Tom Harrell - Prana Dance - HighNote
Joe Locke/Frank Kimbrough - Verrazano Moon - OmniTone
Sean Jones - The Search Within - Mack Avenue
Branford Marsalis Quartet - Metamorphosen - Marsalis Music
John Scofield - Piety Street - Emarcy
Fred Hersch Pocket Orch - Live at The Jazz Standard - Sunnyside
One For All - Return of The Lineup - Sharp Nine
Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy - Spirit Moves - Greenleaf
Seán Lyons - Roar of Lyons - Posi-Tone
Carl Allen & Rodney Whitaker - Work to Do - Mack Avenue
Gary Burton/Pat Metheny - Quartet Live - Concord *
Christian McBride - Kind of Brown - Mack Avenue
Bobby Broom - Plays for Monk - Origin
Joe Locke/David Hazeltine - Mutual Admiration Society 2 - Sharp Nine
Jim Rotondi - Blues for Brother Ray -Posi-tone
John Patitucci Trio - Remembrance - Concord *
Joe Cohn Quartet - Shared Contemplations - Criss Cross
Marcus Strickland Quartet - Of Song - Criss Cross
Danny Grisset Qnt/Sextet - Form - Criss Cross
Terence Blanchard - Choices - Concord
Stefon Harris & Blackout - Urbanus - Concord *
The Lanny Morgan Sextet - “6” - ACM
Azar Lawrence - Prayer for My Ancestors - Furthermore
Heath Brothers - Endurance - Jazz Legacy
James Moody - Moody 4A - IPO
Jim Snidero - Crossfire - Savant
Andy Martin/ Scott Whitfield - A Tribute to Carl Fontana 1 - Woofy
Brother Thelonious Quintet - North Coast Brewing
Mike DiRubbo - Repercussion - Posi-Tone
Steve Davis - Eloquence - Jazz Legacy
Graham Dechter - Right On Time - Capri
Bud Shank Quartet - Fascinating Rhythms - Jazzed Media
Bobby Hutcherson - Wise One - Kind of Blue
(Another) Nuttree Quartet - Something Sentimental - Kind of Blue
Royce Campbell Trio + Phil Woods - Movie Songs Project - Philology
Dana Hall - Into The Light - Origin
Wayne Escoffery - Uptown - Posi-Tone
Jacques Schwarz-Bart - Abyss - ObliqSound
Von Freeman - Vonski Speaks - Nessa
Tom Varner - Heaven and Hell - OmniTone
Jake Langley - Here and Now - Tone Poet
*nominated for a Grammy
Pianists & Friends -
Martial Solal - Live at the Village Vanguard - CAM * (solo)
The Stanley Clarke Trio - Jazz In The Garden - Heads Up
Michael Wolf - Joe’s Strut - Wrong
Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi - Nonesuch *
Tamir Hendelman - Playground - Swing Bros
Lynne Arriale - Nuance - Motema CD & DVD
Gerald Clayton - Two-Shade - ArtistShare * (solo)
Fred Hersch - Plays Jobim - Sunnyside
Jessica Williams - The Art of The Piano - Origin
Robert Glasper - Double Booked - Blue Note
Cedar Walton - Voices Deep Within - HighNote
Bill Mays - Mays at the Movies - SteepleChase
*nominated for a Grammy
Vocalists - including pianists who sing
Ernestine Anderson - A Song For You - HighNote
Dena De Rose/ Marvin Stamm - The Nearness of Two - Go Four
Tierney Sutton - Desire - Telarc *
Diana Krall - Quiet Nights - Verve
Kendra Shank Quartet - Mosaic - Challenge
Melissa Morgan - Until I Met You - Telarc
Claudia Acuña - En este momento - Marsalis Music
Kurt Elling - Dedicated to You - Concord *
Luciana Souza - Tide - Verve *
Jackie Ryan - Doozy - Open Art
Gretchen Parlato - In A Dream - Obliq Sound
Roberta Gambarini - So In Love - EmArcy/Groovin’ High *
Carol Welsman - I Like Men - Welcar Music
Angela Hagenbach - The Way They Make Me Feel - Resonance
Jody Sandhaus - Afterglow
* nominated for a Grammy
Big Bands, Large Ensembles
Chicago Jazz Philharmonic/ Orbert Davis - Collective Creativity - 3 Sixteen
Bohuslän Big Band - Porgy & Bess w.Lew Soloff - BBB
Resonance Big Band, Marian Petrescu - Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson - Resonance
Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band - I’m BeBoppin’ Too - Half Note
Bob Florence Limited Edition - Legendary - MAMA *
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble - Eternal Interlude - Sunnyside *
Count Basie Orchestra - Swinging, Singing, Playing - Mack Avenue
Roy Hargrove Big Band - Emergence - EmArcy/Groovin’ High * (solo)
Gerald Wilson Orch - Detroit - Mack Ave
Phil Kelly & NW Prevailing Winds - Ballet of the Bouncing Beagles - Origin
George Robert Jazz Orch/ Ivan Lins - Abre Alas - GPR
* nominated for a Grammy
Afro-Cuban & Latin Jazz
Claudio Roditi - Brazilliance X 4 - Resonance *
Mark Levine & Latin Tinge - Off & On, music of Moacir Santos - Left Coast Clave
Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz - ¡Bien Bien! - Patois
Poncho Sanchez - Psychedilic Blues - Concord
Oscar Feldman - Oscar e Familia - Sunnyside
Miguel Zenón - Esta Plena - Marsalis Music * (also solo)
Bryan Lynch Afro Cuban Orch - Bolero Nights - Venus
* also nominated for a Grammy
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Legacy Edition) - Columbia (2 CD)
Return to Forever - Returns - Eagle Rock (2 CD)
Lucky Thompson New York City, 1964-65 - Uptown Flashback *
Dave Brubeck - Time Out - Columbia / Legacy
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain - Columbia / Legacy
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um - Columbia / Legacy
Eddie Harris/ Ellis Marsalis - Homecoming - ELM
Corky Corcoran - Lamplighter All Stars 1945 - Hep *
Buddy DeFranco - Meets Martin Taylor - Hep
Philly Joe Jones Dameronia - Look, Stop and Listen - Uptown
Kenny Dorham - The Famboyan, Queens 1963 - Uptown *
John Coltrane - Side Steps - Prestige
*historical recording first issued this year
For Northwest jazz fans in particular, here are some of the exceptional releases from artists living in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver.
Amanda Tosoff Group - Wait And See - Cellar Live
Marc Seales Band - The Paris Suite -
The Ross Taggart Trio - Presenting - Cellar Live
Bridge Quartet - Night - Origin
Thomas Marriott - Flexicon - Origin
Bill Anschell/ Brent Jensen -We Couldn’t Agree More - Origin
Greta Matassa -I Wanna Be Loved - Resonance
Chad McCullough - Dark Wood, Dark Water - Origin
Cory Weeds Quintet - Everything's Coming Up Weeds - Cellar Live
McTuff - Volume 1 - Joe Doria Music
Johnny Conga - Breaking Skin
Phil Kelly & NW Prevailing Winds - Ballet of the Bouncing Beagles - Origin
Earlier picks: 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
Buy any CD on this list and you're guaranteed some great music! Each of these CDs has received frequent airplay on Jazz After Hours and/or Jazz Northwest.
—Jim
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