Music Week

Expanded blog post, December archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 46 albums, 2 A-list

Music: Current count 43426 [43380) rated (+46), 18 [13] unrated (+5).

New records reviewed this week:

• Sakina Abdou/Toma Gouband/Maria Warelis: Hammer, Roll and Leaf (2024, Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(***)
• ADHD: ADHD 9 (2024, Enja/Yellowbird): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ricky Alexander: Just Found Joy (2024, Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(**)
• Lina Allemano's Ohrenschmaus: Flip Side (2023 [2024], Lumo): [bc]: B+(**)
• Pedro Melo Alves: Conundrum Vol. 1: Itself Through Disappearance (2019-23 [2024], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(**)
• Angles + Elle-Kari With Strings: The Death of Kalypso (2022 [2024], Thanatosis Produktion): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mulatu Astatke and Hoodna Orchestra: Tension (2023 [2024], Batov): [sp]: B+(**)
• Adriano Clemente: The Coltrane Suite and Other Impressions (2021-22 [2023], Dodicilune): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ezra Collective: Dance, No One's Watching (2024, Partisan): [sp]: B+(*)
• Mabe Fratti: Sentir Que No Sabes (2024, Tin Angel/Unheard of Hope): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Fury: Live in Brooklyn (2023 [2024], Giant Step Arts): [cd]: B+(**)
• Ganavya: Like the Sky I've Been Too Quiet (2024, Native Rebel): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ganavya: Daughter of a Temple (2024, Leiter): [sp]: B+(*)
• GloRilla: Glorious (2024, CMG/Interscope): [sp]: B+(**)
• Tord Gustavsen Trio: Seeing (2023 [2024], ECM): [sp]: B
• Caity Gyorgy: Hello! How Are You? (2024, La Reserve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Josh Johnson: Unusual Object (2024, Northern Spy): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Joymakers: Down Where the Bluebonnets Grow (2024, Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(***)
• Rolf Kühn: Fearless (2022 [2024], MPS): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jason Palmer: The Cross Over: Live in Brooklyn (2023 [2024], Giant Step Arts, 2CD): [cd]: A-
• Aaron Parks: Little Big III (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(*)
• Marek Pospieszalski Octet & Zoh Amba: Now! (2024, Instant Classics): [bc]: B+(*)
• Troy Roberts: Green Lights (2021 [2024], Toy Robot Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kavain Wayne Space & XT: Yesyespeakersyes (2024, Feedback Moves): [bc]: B
• Colin Stetson: The Love It Took to Leave You (2024, Invada): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sweet Meg: Bluer Than Blue (2024, Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sweet Meg: Live at Honky Tonk Tuesday July 2024 (2024, self-released): [bc]: B-
• Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii/Ramón López: Yama Kawa Umi (2023 [2024], Not Two): [cd]: B+(***)
• Andromeda Turre: From the Earth (2024, Starbilt): [sp]: B+(*)
• Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O: Tree Jazz: The Shape of Christmas to Come (2024, Palmetto): [sp]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Bobby Hutcherson: Total Eclipse (1968 [2024], Blue Note Tone Poet): [sp]: B
• Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra: L'Intercommunal (1976-78 [2024], Souffle Continu): [bc]: B+(**)
• Byard Lancaster/Steve McCall/Sylvin Marc: Us (1973 [2024], Souffle Continu): [bc]: B+(***)
• Byard Lancaster: Mother Africa (1974 [2024], Souffle Continu) **
• Byard Lancaster/Keno Speller: Exactement (1974 [2024], Souffle Continu): [bc]: B+(**)
• Byard Lancaster: Funny Funky Rib Crib (1974 [2024], Souffle Continu): [bc]: B+(**)
• Byard Lancaster: The Complete Palm Recordings 1973-1974 (1973-74 [2024], Souffle Continu): [bc]: B+(***)
• Lee Morgan: Taru (1968 [2024], Blue Note Tone Poet): [sp]: B+(**)
• Elvis Presley: Memphis (1956-76 [2024], RCA/Legacy, 5CD): [sp]: B+(***)

Old music:

• The Byard Lancaster Unit: Live at MacAlester College (1970-73 [2008], Porter): [sp]: A-
• Byard Lancaster: Soul Unity (2005 [2022], Komos): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sweet Megg and Ricky Alexander: I'm in Love Again (2020 [2021], Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sweet Megg: My Window Faces the South (2022, Turtle Bay): [sp]: B+(***)

Grade (or other) changes:

• John Abercrombie: Timeless (1974 [1975], ECM): [sp]: [was: B]: B+(*)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alan Chaubert: Just the Three of Us: Me, the Trumpet and the Piano (Pacific Coast Jazz) [02-22]
• Peter Erskine & the Jam Music Lab All-Stars: Vienna to Hollywood: Impressions of E.W. Korngold & Max Steiner (Origin) [01-17]
• Brad Goode Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer (Origin) [01-17]
• John Mailander's Forecast: Let the World In (self-released) [01-24]
• Jason Palmer: The Cross Over: Live in Brooklyn (Giant Step Arts) [12-06]
• Jae Sinnett: The Blur the Lines Project (J-Nett Music) [01-06]
• Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii/Ramón López: Yama Kawa Umi (Not Two) [12-06]

Daily Log

Opened this for "Odds & Sods (2)," but didn't get into it.

Possible subjects:

• Tweet by Matt Stoller:

  Here's a question. Kamala was obviously a bad candidate, generationally wretched. Why don't Democrats blame her more? It feels like it would serve a lot of purposes to do that yet the fingers are going elsewhere.

  I was tempted to reply, but the quality level of the 192 comments to date was so appalling I lost heart.

Odds and Sods (1)

Blog link.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, December archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 47 albums, 9 A-list

Music: Current count 43380 [43333) rated (+47), 13 [10] unrated (+3).

New records reviewed this week:

• AALY Trio [Mats Gustafsson/Peter Janson/Kjell Nordeson]: Sustain (2024, Silkheart): [bc]: A-
• Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix Reimagined (Live) (2024, Ropeadope): [sp]: B+(***)
• John Blum Quartet Featuring Marshall Allen: Deep Space (2022 [2024], Astral Spirits): [bc]: A-
• Silvia Bolognesi/Dudú Kouate/Griffin Rodriguez: Timing Birds (2021 [2024], Astral Spirits): [bc]: A-
• C6Fe2RN6: C6Fe2RN6 (2023 [2024], Astral Spirits): [bc]: B+(***)
• Summer Camargo: To Whom I Love (2022 [2024], Blue Engine): [sp]: B+(**)
• Devon Daniels Quintet: LesGo! (2024, Sam First): [sp]: B+(***)
• Vanisha Gould: She's Not Shiny, She's Not Smooth (2024, Cellar Live): [sp]: B+(**)l
• Mats Gustafsson & Liudas Mockūnas: Watching a Dog. Smiling (2022 [2024], NoBusiness): [bc]: B+(*)
• Steve Hirsh/Steve Swell/Jim Clouse/William Parker: Out on a Limb (2024, Soul City Sounds): [bc]: A-
• Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements: Like Water (2024, Edition): [sp]: B+(***)
• Susie Ibarra/Jeffrey Zeigler/Graham Reynolds: Insectum (2024, Golden Hornet): [sp]: B+(**)
• Joaju Cuarteto: Avy' a Jave (2023 [2024], Polka Blue): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mike LeDonne/Eric Alexander [Heavy Hitters]: That's What's Up! (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Alex LoRe: Motivity (2022 [2024], Weirdear): [sp]: B+(***)
• Matt Mitchell: Illimitable (2023 [2024], Obliquity): [sp]: B+(***)
• MTB [Brad Mehldau/Mark Turner/Peter Bernstein]: Solid Jackson (2023 [2024], Criss Cross Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
• Demetrio Muñiz: Tromboneando con Demetrio Muñiz (2024, Egrem): [sp]: B+(**)
• Camila Nebbia/Sofia Salvo/Lara Alarcón/Alfred Vogel: Pnkstrasse53 (2023 [2024], Boomslang): [bc]: B+(**)
• New Regency Orchestra: New Regency Orchestra (2024, Mr Bongo): [sp]: B+(**)
• Margaux Oswald Collateral Damage: In Time, Hollow Oaks Become Chapels (2021 [2024], Clean Feed): [bc]: B+(**)
• Berke Can Özcan & Jonah Parzen-Johnson: It Was Always Time (2024, We Jazz): [bc]: B+(**)
• Jamie Saft Trio: Plays Monk (2022 [2024], Oystertones): [sp]: B+(*)
• Tom Skinner: Voices of Bishara Live at "mu" (2023 [2024], International Anthem) B+(**)
• Steve Swell's Imbued With Light: Hommage à Galina Ustvolskaya (2024, Silkheart): [bc]: B+(***)
• Thumbscrew: Wingbeats (2024, Cuneiform): [dl]: B+(***)
• Tomin: Flores Para Verene/Cantos Para Caramina (2020-24 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(*)
• Tomin: A Willed and Conscious Balance (2024, International Anthem): [sp]: B+(**)
• Village of the Sun: Live in Tokyo (2023 [2024], Gearbox): [bc]: B+(**)
• Liba Villavecchia Trio + Luis Vicente: Muracik (2022 [2024], Clean Feed): [sp]: B+(**)
• Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band: Treasury Volume 1 (2024, Turtle Bay): [sp]: A-
• Cory Weeds Meets Champian Fulton: Every Now and Then: Live at OCL Studios (2024, Cellar Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Lucy Wijnands/John Di Martino: Call Me Irresponsible: The Songs of Jimmy Van Heusen (2022 [2023], Night Is Alive): [sp]: B+(***)
• Lucy Wijnands: Something Awaits (2023, 4605843 DK2, EP) **
• Andrea Wolper: Wanderlust (2024, Moonflower Music): [sp]: A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Children of the Sun: Ofamfa (1971 [2024], Moved-by-Sound): [sp]: B+(***)
• Iancu Dumitrescu: Ansamblul Hyperion (1980 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: A-
• The Jazzmen: Nineteen Sixty-Six (1966 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(**)
• Louis Jordan: World Broadcast Recordings 1944/45 (1944-45 [2024], Circle): [sp]: B+(***)
• Nature's Consort: Nature's Consort (1969 [2024], Aguirre): [yt]: B+(***)
• Nisse Sandström Group: Öppet Ett (1965-67 [2023], Caprice): [sp]: B+(***)
• Omar Sosa: Omar Sosa's 88 Well Tuned Drums (1996-2018 [2024], Otá): [sp]: A-
• Charles Tolliver Music Inc: Live at the Captain's Cabin (1973 [2024], Cellar Music): [sp]: A-

Old music:

• Steve Swell's Systems for Total Immersion: Hommage à Luciano Berio (2021 [2022], Silkheart): [bc]: B+(***)
• Terry Waldo's Gutbucket Syncopators: Hot House Rag (1971 [2001], Delmark): [r]: B+(***)
• Terry Waldo: The Soul of Ragtime {[2014], Tompkins Square): [r]: B+(**)
• Terry Waldo/Tatiana Eva-Marie: I Double Dare You (2021, Turtle Bay): [r]: B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alex Coke & Carl M ichel Sextet: Situation (PlayOn) [01-29]
• Groovology: Almost Home (Sugartown) [01-01]
• Benjie Porecki: All That Matters (Funklove Productions) [01-01]

Daily Log

Had to replace a bathroom light bulb today. Spec on the bulb is: Halogen T3, 120V, 100W, RSC Base, 1600 lumens, 78mm length, 2700K warm white, instant on, dimmable. I wondered whether it would be possible to replace them with LEDs. I'm finding some T3 LED lights, but brightness is down (800 vs 1600 lumens), light is bluer (6000K), and there are flicker problems. Second one I looked at seems to be a bit better: 1000 lumens, "no flicker." Might be worth trying for the work lamps, where the halogen heat is especially annoying.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, December archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 29 albums, 6 A-list

Music: Current count 43333 [43304] rated (+29), 10 [6] unrated (+4).

I wasn't sure when (or if) I'd find time to run a Music Week post this week, but caught up with my daily mail late Tuesday evening, so I took a few minutes to run the break, leaving me just an introduction to write before posting.

I'm preoccupied with the 19th annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll, where we are facing a Friday, Dec. 20 deadline. I've counted 93 100 ballots so far. Last year I wound up with 159, up from 151 in 2022. I think we'll probably top these figures, but there's still a fair amount of uncertainty at this late date. The main reason for hope is that I've put quite a few more invites out this year, especially to critics in Europe. On the other hand, attrition (that I know about) strikes me as unusually high, and the unknown looms larger than ever.

Still, even the worst case imaginable (which is probably down around 140) means that this is a very large, very wide-ranging poll, which will generate a lot of tips for readers to explore. I'm generating lists of albums, which show that thus far 388 different new albums have received votes, plus 96 for the Rara Avis category (new releases of older music, recorded no later than 2014).

While I caught up with my mail around 8 pm, the next couple days should be a lot of work (and if not it will be pretty depressing). Meanwhile, I'm listening to whatever I can squeeze in. The only non-jazz album below is one that I stumbled across an open tab on, and figured it's short, so why not now? Glad I did.

New records reviewed this week:

• John Butcher/Florian Stoffner/Chris Corsano: The Glass Changes Shape (2023 [2024], Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(**)
• Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few: The World Is on Fire (2023 [2024], Division 81): [sp]: A-
• Elephant9 With Terje Rypdal: Catching Fire (2017 [2024], Rune Grammofon): [sp]: B+(***)
• Eliane Elias: Time and Again (2024, Candid): [sp]: B+(**)
• Peter Evans: Extra (2023 [2024], We Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
• Kate Gentile/International Contemporary Ensemble: B i o m e i.i (2021 [2023], Obliquity): [bc]: B+(***)
• Ayumi Ishito: Roboquarians Vol. 1 (2022 [2024], 577): [bc]: B+(**)
• Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra: Live at the Adler Planetarium (2023 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(**)
• Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra/Small Unit: Spectral Fiction (2023 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(***)
• Milton Nascimento/Esperanza Spalding: Milton + Esperanza (2024, Concord): [sp]: B+(**)
• Eva Novoa: Novoa/Gress/Gray Trio, Volume 1 (2019 [2024], 577): [os]: B+(**)
• Ivo Perelman/Aruán Ortiz/Ramón López: Ephemeral Shapes (2024, Fundacja Słuchaj): [dl]: B+(***)
• Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: Magical Incantation (2024, Soul City Sounds): [sp]: A-
• Ivo Perelman/Gabby Fluke-Mogul: Duologues 2: Joy (2024, Ibeji Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ivo Perelman/Ingrid Laubrock: Duologues 3: Crystal Clear (2024, Ibeji Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ivo Perelman's São Paulo Creative 4: Supernova (2024, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
• Neta Raanan: Unforeseen Blossom (2024, Giant Step Arts): [bc]: B+(***)
• Christian Tamburr/Dominick Farinacci/Michael Ward-Bergeman: Triad (2024, Ropeadope): [sp]: A-
• Teiku: Teiku (2022 [2024], 577): [sp]: B+(***)
• Trance Map (Evan Parker and Matthew Wright): Horizons Held Close (2024, Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(**)
• Transatlantic Trance Map: Marconi's Drift (2022 [2024], False Walls): [bc]: B+(**)
• Unionen: Unionen (2024, We Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
• John Zorn: New Masada Quartet, Volume 3: Live at Roulette (2024, Tzadik): [sp]: A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Tim Berne/Michael Formanek: Parlour Games (1991 [2024], Relative Pitch): [sp]: A-
• Brian Calvin and Devin Johnston: Some Hours (1999 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey, EP): [bc]: B+(**)
• Johnny Cash: Songwriter (1993 [2024], Mercury Nashville): [sp]: A-
• Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: The Old Country: More From the Deer Head Inn (1992 [2024], ECM): [sp]: B+(*)
• Soft Machine: Høvikkoden 1971 (1971 [2024], Cuneiform): [dl]: B+(***)

Old music:

• None.

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Erik Jekabson: Breakthrough (Wide Hive) [01-17]

Weakly Links

Lizzie Cernik: [12-06] How we met: 'Anyone who can tolerate me for 40 years has got to be special': Human interest story, a Boston couple, "Wayne, 72 and Aura, 67." I knew them when I lived in Boston in the 1990s, but haven't seen them since. They were good friends of my wife, who has been back to Boston since then, and has kept in touch.

Daily Log

French pianist Martial Solal died, probably 97. I commented on Facebook:

I remember Gary Giddins was a big fan. I think the only time I met Giddins was shortly after 9/11/2001, when I was at Christgau's working on setting up his website. Gary came over to edit his piece on Solal, his first choice subject after 9/11, and we talked about how this music gave him comfort and hope. My own sampling of Solal's work has been rather spotty, although I noted that "Just Friends" was Gary's #2 for 1998, and that the last four records I have heard (recording dates 2016-19 were all high B+ (and I'm not generally much of a piano fan).

I wrote the following in a letter to Steve Pick, after he skipped Rara Avis on his ballot (edited down a bit):

Thanks. Somewhat refreshing to see Rara Avis skipped. Most of us are so steeped in history that that's the easy part of the job -- or would be if we could just get the damn records (much harder than new albums), and if the mix of archival tapes and expensive LP reissues and real obscurities were more easily comparable. But also the standings track much more closely to publicist influence than with new albums -- probably because no more than 10-15 historical albums get any serious PR push -- Blue Note/Verve obviously, plus a couple independents that work through Braithwaite, Liebman, and (less often) DL Media.

I'm basically a historian at heart, and I used to write an oldies column, so I'd like to focus on that stuff, but even for me, this year's new/old split is like 8-to-1 (exact numbers in latest Music Week). I gave up the column when it became increasingly difficult to get the records I wanted -- and I couldn't afford to just buy everything, like Clifford Ocheltree seems able to do.

El Intruso Ballot

• Musician of the year: Allen Lowe, Fay Victor, James Brandon Lewis.
• Newcomer Musician: Luke Stewart.
• Group of the year: Ahmed.
• Newcomer group: ØKSE.
• Album of the year: Allen Lowe & the Constand Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America; Fay Victor: Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (Tao Forms); Luke Stewart Silt Trio: Unknown Rivers (Pi).
• Composer: Allen Lowe
• Drums: Hamid Drake, Chad Taylor
• Acoustic Bass: William Parker
• Electric Bass:
• Guitar: Samo Salamon, Luis Lopes
• Piano: Matthew Shipp, Pat Thomas
• Keyboards/Synthesizer/Organ:
• Tenor Saxophone: Dave Rempis, James Brandon Lewis, Rodrigo Amado
• Alto Saxophone: François Carrier, Darius Jones, Allen Lowe
• Baritone Saxophone: Dave Rempis, Tim Berne
• Soprano Saxophone: Roberto Ottaviano
• Trumpet/Cornet: Kirk Knuffke, Dave Douglas
• Clarinet/bass clarinet: Jason Stein
• Trombone: Steve Swell
• Flute
• Violin/Viola: Jason Kao Hwang, Layale Chaker
• Cello: Tomeka Reid
• Vibraphone: Jason Adasiewicz
• Electronics: Floating Points
• Others instruments
• Female Vocals: Fay Victor
• Male Vocals
• Record Label: Mahakala Music, NoBusiness

Music Week

Expanded blog post, December archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 48 albums, 4 A-list

Music: Current count 43304 [43255] rated (+48), 6 [12] unrated (-6).

Schedule around here has gone haywire. Last week I posted on Tuesday, but this Tuesday I was frantically struggling to mail out a second round of invites to vote in the 19th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. I finally got my list of 300+ prospects down to less than 50 high priorities, and after midnight sent out 35 emails. (Some names on my list still lacked email addresses, so I saved them for further investigation.) After that mailing, plus a notice sent to previous invitees via my jazzpoll email list, I got a deluge of mail to sort through, which took me through the end of Wednesday.

In between Tuesdays, Laura's cousin came for a 3-day visit, during which I got very little poll work done, but did manage to cook a nice Jewish dinner that compared favorably to the fancy Chinese restaurant and to the barbecue takeout of the other days: roast chicken with tsimmes, latkes with all of the trimmings, mustard slaw, chopped liver, applesauce cake. I didn't collect any photographic evidence, but the chicken was exceptionally lovely, and everything else was just plain yummy. We did manage to get the construction cleaned up before the visit, so now we can rest on our laurels.

As I'm writing this, I'm caught up, with 62 ballots counted, and eight days to go until the Dec. 20 deadline. All year (well, month) long I've hoped for the biggest and best poll ever. It's impossible at this point to tell whether we're on track or not. What I can say is that I've had a lot of warm responses, and that whatever results we wind up with will very interesting to readers who want a better idea of how much really high qualify jazz is being created in 2024.

One of the invitees who has yet to submit a ballot is Tom Hull, who will try to rectify that here and now. The ballot is just a sample from my ever-expanding Best Jazz of 2024 list, which at the moment counts 92 New Music albums graded A- or above (probably an all-time record high, and I'm still a long ways from processing many records I'm only discovering now as I compile the poll results) + 3 late adds from 2023. Also 23 (+1) new releases of older music A- or higher. These top picks are followed at B+(***) with 188 (+8) new music albums plus 26 (+4) old music albums. Lest you think I'm a pushover, the file also lists 355 new and 30 old music albums that I assigned lower grades to (for a total to date of 646 new music albums + 84 old music albums; that's just jazz, as I've also listened to some non-jazz during 2024).

My ballot:

NEW ALBUMS:

1. Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America (ESP-Disk): two volumes treated as one album
2. Fay Victor: Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (Tao Forms)
3. Luke Stewart Silt Trio: Unknown Rivers (Pi)
4. Emmeluth's Amoeba: Nonsense (Moserobie)
5. Darius Jones: Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
6. Steve Coleman and Five Elements: PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
7. Dave Douglas: Gifts (Greenleaf Music)
8. The Core: Roots (Moserobie)
9. Ballister: Smash and Grab (Aerophonic)
10. أحمد [Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (Fönstret) **

RARA AVIS:

1. Mal Waldron/Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
2. Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)
3. NRG Ensemble: Hold That Thought (1996, Corbett vs. Dempsey) **
4. Phil Haynes' 4 Horns and What?: The Complete American Recordings (1989-95, Corner Store Jazz, 3CD) **
5. Charles Gayle/Milford Graves/William Parker: WEBO (1991, Black Editions Archive) **

VOCAL: Above, plus up to +3.

1. Fay Victor: Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (Tao Forms)
2. Queen Esther: Things Are Looking Up (EL)
3. Catherine Russell/Sean Mason: My Ideal (Dot Time)
4. Betty Bryant: Lotta Livin' (Bry-Mar Music) **

LATIN: plus up to +3.

1. Julia Vari Feat. Negroni's Trio: Somos (Alternative Representa)
2. Dafnis Prieto Sí o Sï Quartet: 3 Sides of the Coin (Dafnison Music)
3. Hermanos Gutiérrez: Sonido Cósmico (Easy Eye Sound) **

DEBUT: plus up to +3.

1. Ivanna Cuesta: A Letter to the Earth (Orenda) **
2. Alfredo Colón: Blood Burden (Out of Your Head)
3. Mathias Højgaad Jensen: Is as Is (Fresh Sound New Talent)

Several notes of explanation:

• The label split the Allen Lowe album into two volumes (each 2-CD), but in the poll we're treating them as one album. (They came out the same day, and actually share the same liner notes.)
• I bumped my earlier ranking of the Ahmed box up considerably to squeeze it into the ballot, just ahead of the group's really superb Wood Blues album. I very rarely cast a vote just to promote an album, but after this album finished surprisingly strong in the mid-year poll, I've been disappointed at just how few votes this extraordinary work has received so far. My vote here should help nudge it into the top 50 that ArtsFuse will publish.
• Unfortunately, the record that fell off the list to make room for Ahmed was James Brandon Lewis Quartet's Transformation. Lewis's record is currently in the top 20, and could wind up in the top 10 (as could his Messthetics album, which is currently running a bit higher, but is one I like a bit less). One thing that softens the cost of dropping Lewis is that he also not just appears but stars in the Dave Douglas album I have at 8. The Douglas album only has 2 votes so far (same as Ahmed), so its chances of winding up in the top 50 are rather slim.
• Three albums on my list have no other votes so far: Emmeluth, Ballister, and Core. I always have about that many albums all to myself. There are many more albums like that among my A-list, the next one down being Roby Glod's No ToXiC. Mike Monford's The Cloth I'm Cut From could have been another, but it does have one vote so far.
• The Ahmed box is the only one of my top 10 albums that I didn't get a physical CD of. (Hint to whoever, although in this case I didn't even get a download link or a piece of junk mail -- although I did for Wood Blues. I also didn't get a CD of Transfiguration. The streamed/downloaded albums on my 2024 list are marked ** -- for non-jazz, that is very near everything; I had stripped, but now have returned those markings to the ballot above).
• Archival recordings are poorly promoted, so it's especially tempting to restrict the Rara Avis list to promos, but I stopped at two, demoting the Miles in France box (which is good and I am thankful for) so I could mention three other albums that are exceptional but not nearly as well known. Rara Avis is a grab bag of several different things that are hard to compare to one another, so you're always making hard choices here. I've made my EOY file conform to the order here, but that wasn't really necessary.
• I originally had Julia Vari both in Vocal and Latin, but dropped the former to squeeze in Betty Bryant. It's rare that I have this many vocal albums rated this high. (In past years, I might have listed Monford here, as the album has a fair bit of spoken word. There may be more where my memory and/or notes are deficient.)
• Miguel Zenón's Golden City ranks high enough to make the Latin list, and at the moment is in a three-way tie to lead the category. My review played down its significance as Latin Jazz, which gave me an excuse to skip over it, in favor of the more obvious (Dafnis Prieto) and the more obscure (Hermanos Gutiérrez, possibly non-jazz but instrumental and definitely rooted in Ecuador).
• Unusual to find as many as three Debut albums on my A-list, so I went with what I obviously had. I also considered Bex Burch's late-2023 There Is Only Love and Fear, which should be eligible, but decided 2024 albums would be cleaner.

One thing I did last week was to write up a shorter version of the invite letter, where I tried to downplay the rules a bit and make it sound less like contract law. I like this part:

Don't sweat the details. If you have fewer than the maximum number of choices, send in what you have. Vocal and Latin are pretty much whatever you think they mean. Debut has a stricter definition (which almost never allows groups to be eligible), but if it feels right, the worst that can happen is the album is ruled ineligible, and you'll have the chance to come up with something else, or leave it blank. If you can't come up with a maximum list (or don't think it's worth the trouble), just leave it short or blank.

The point isn't to judge everything. You're just making your recommendations, and in doing so, we will all benefit from your knowledge and taste. We don't give out plaques or ribbons. All we are really doing is helping our readers to better understand the great bounty of jazz released each year.

I haven't really followed my advice here: this is much more exhaustively overthought than I expect or even want other people to do. But these lists don't just tell us things about the music on the list, but about the voter, what you know, how you work, and how you view the world. These ballots matter not just because they're easy to aggregate and analyze, but because each tells its own story. That's why we make them all available, even if few readers really care to know that much.

Pretty much everything below is jazz, and that pattern is likely to hold for a couple more weeks. I haven't begun to tabulate all the albums I haven't heard yet that have gotten votes in the poll so far, but the number must be over 100. One resource I've only started to look at is the folder where I've been stuffing all my download link/codes for the past year.

I'll try to post another Music Week toward the middle of next week, but cannot guarantee anything. I basically need a break like I had today, and that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, I'm playing stuff almost continuously, and working my way through whatever happens. After the shock and nausea of the election, this kind of busy work is some kind of blessing -- just not the kind that clarifies thinking. Instead, we just do, and hope for the best. The poll, at least, will be a good thing to come from this period. Syria, I'm not so sure about.

I should mention that while I'm way behind, I've done occasional bits of work on the Metacritic/EOY Aggregate file. Charli XCX has opened up a fairly clear lead, but I don't know whether that's due to early UK reporting, or whether it will sustain as I count more US sources (among others, I haven't done Pitchfork or Rolling Stone yet).

I have a question about Speaking of Which that I want to respond to, but I don't want to hold this up for that. Besides, I have another ballot wanting attention, so I need to get to that. Always open to more questions.

New records reviewed this week:

• Alfa Mist & Amika Quartet: Recurring: Live at King's Place (2024, Sekito): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Bad Plus: Complex Emotions (2023 [2024], Mack Avenue): [sp]: B+(**)
• Dmitry Baevsky: Roller Coaster (2024, Fresh Sound New Talent): [sp]: B+(**)
• Bark Culture: Warm Wisdom (2023 [2024], Temperphantom): [sp]: B+(*)
• Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Spin (2023 [2024], Ronin Rhythm): [sp]: B+(***)
• Body Meπa: Prayer in Dub (2024, Hausu Mountain): [sp]: B+(***)
• Willi Bopp/Camille Émaille/Gianni Gebbia/Heiner Goebbels/Cécile Lartigau/Nicolas Perrin: The Mayfield (2022 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Karen Borca/Paul Murphy: Entwined (2024, Relative Pitch): [sp]: B+(***)
• Sarah Buechi/Franz Hellmüller/Rafael Jerjen: Pink Mountain Sagas (2024, Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Anna Butterss: Mighty Vertebrate (2024, International Anthem): [sp]: B+(***)
• Charlie and the Tropicales: Jump Up (2024, Nu-Tone): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sylvie Courvoisier: To Be Other-Wise (2024, Intakt): [sp]: B+(***)
• Josephine Davies: Satori: Weatherwards (2024, Whirlwind): [sp]: B+(***)
• Caroline Davis: Portals Vol. 2: Returning (2022 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• David Friesen: A Light Shining Through (2021 [2024], Origin): [cd]: B+(***)
• Asher Gamedze & the Black Lungs: Constitution (2023 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ginetta's Vendetta: Fun Size (2024, Kickin' Wiccan Music): [cd]: B+(*)
• Louis Hayes: Artform Revisited (2024, Savant): [sp]: B+(***)
• The Jazz Passengers: Big Large: In Memory of Curtis Fowlkes (2023 [2024], FOOD): [sp]: B+(***)
• Emiliano Lasansky: The Optimist (2024, Outside In Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Brink (2024, Intakt): [r]: B+(**)
• Jeff Lederer: Guilty!!! (2024, Little (i) Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Luis Lopes Humanization 4tet: Saarbrücken (2021 [2024], Clean Feed): [bc]: A-
• Luis Lopes: Dark Narcissus: Stereo Guitar Solo (2024, Shhpuma): [bc]: B+(**)
• Roberto Magris: Europlane for Jazz: Freedom Is Peace (2024, JMood): [cd]: B+(***)
• Francisco Mela/Zoh Amba: Causa y Efecto (Vol. 2) (2021 [2024], 577): [bc]: B+(**)
• Eva Novoa: Novoa/Carter/Mela Trio, Vol. 1 (2021 [2024], 577): [os]: A-
• Adam O'Farrill: Hueso (2024, FOOD): [sp]: B+(***)
• Out Of/Into [Joel Ross/Gerald Clayton/Kendrick Scott/Matt Brewer/Immanuel Wilkins]: Motion I (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: The Way Out of Easy (2023 [2024], International Anthem): [sp]: A-
• Ivo Perelman/Fay Victor/Jim Morris/Ramon Lopez: Messa Di Voce (2018 [2024], Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(***)
• Ivo Perelman/Nate Wooley: Polarity 3 (2024, Burning Ambulance): bc]: B+(*)
• Joe Sanders: Parallels (2021 [2024], Whirlwind): [sp]: B
• Jenny Scheinman: All Species Parade (2024, Royal Potato Family): [sp]: B+(***)
• Jörg A. Schneider/Luis Lopes: Schneider/Lopes (2023 [2024], Schneidercollaboration): [bc]: B+(**)
• Shabaka: Possession (2024, Impulse!, EP): [sp]: B
• Linda Sikhakhane: Iladi (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ben Solomon: Echolocation (2023 [2024], Giant Step Arts): [sp]: B+(***)
• Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message (2023 [2024], Circle 9): [cd]: B+(**)
• Chucho Valdés/Royal Quartet: Cuba and Beyond (2024, InterCat Music Group): [sp]: B+(**)
• Anna Webber: Simpletrio2000 (2023 [2024], Intakt): [bc]: B+(***)
• Ben Wolfe: The Understated (2023 [2024], Resident Arts): [sp]: B+(*)
• John Zorn & Jesse Harris: Love Songs Live (2023 [2024], Tzadik): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Louis Armstrong All Stars: Lausanne 1952 [Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 48] (1952 [2024],TCB): [bc]: B+(***)
• Jakob Bro/Lee Konitz/Bill Frisell/Jason Moran/Thomas Morgan/Andrew Cyrille: Taking Turns (2014 [2024], ECM): [cd]: B+(*)
• Bill Evans: In Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (1970 [2024], Elemental Music): [cd]: B+(***)
• Al Jarreau: Wow! Live at the Childe Harold (1976 [2024], Resonance): [cd]: B+(***)
• NRG Ensemble: Hold That Thought (1996 [2024], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: A-

Old music:

• None.

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Jessica Jones Quartet: Edible Flowers (Reva) [01-03]
• Karl Latham: Living Standards II (Dropzone Jazz) [01-17]
• Noel Okimoto: Hō'ihi (Noel Okimoto Music) [01-01]

Weakly Links

I think that was the title I used for blog posts for a while -- original idea was "Weekly Links" but as best I recall I took a liking to the typo. I'm not going to do a systematic search for these things, but when I find something, why not?

Chatter:

• Aaron Regunberg: [12-03] Harris campaign advisors: "We did everything we coould have, but this was unwinnable, because Biden - the guy we previously said absolutely had to be the nominee - was so unpopular, but also not unpopular enough to justify us making literally any effort at all to break from him."

• David Sirota: [12-03] On CNN, Rahm Emanuel admits a refusal to hold Iraq War proponents accountable for their lies & a refusal to hold Wall St. accountable for the financial crisis created big problems for Dems. Emanuel was chief of staff of the Obama White House that opted to hold nobody accountable.

• David Klion: [12-07] The reason you can't name a leading health insurance CEO unless they get shot is that unlike CEOs in some industries, they don't try to be famous. Implicitly, they know that everyone correctly hates their product, hates them, and wishes their whole industry didn't exist.

• Alan MacLeod: [12-08] The absolute worst take imaginable. [Link to Bret Stephens: Syrians also have Israel to thank for their liberation -- link takes you to "five quick takes," so beware that Stephens was already competing with Thomas Friedman and Nicholas Kristoff for the title.]

Music Week

Expanded blog post, December archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 26 albums, 7 A-list

Music: Current count 43255 [43229] rated (+26), 12 [21] unrated (-9).

Another short week, attempting to revert to a normal (or at least more customary) publication date of Tuesday (or Monday). But also because we're expecting company from late tonight through the weekend, so I'm not expecting much more time to work on this (or anything else).

We finally moved back into our wrecked-and-renovated upstairs room, with all the dislocated clutter if not back in its original resting space at least stashed away somewhere we won't accidentally trip over. I'll still need to figure out some organization for the now empty closet space, but that's no longer on the critical path to something else. And if we do manage to declutter some, we might not even need it.

I wish I could say the 19th annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll was properly shaped up, but I've bumbled through another week of deep thought and lightweight hacking, making only small measures of progress. The initial round of 230 invites went out on or near Nov. 20. (The 8 bounces have since been reduced to 5. Anti-spam problems persist, even within the rather compact jpadmin mail list. (I'm overdue to send a reminder to the more global jazzpoll mail list, but I keep thinking I'll have better news soon.) The website Voter Notes have a lot more detail, but are still unfinished. The more urgent project is to get a second round of ballot invites out, which may take as long as the end of the week. If you're expecting one and haven't heard yet, please nag me.

I've counted 27 ballots, and have 4-5 in my inbox today that I'll get to after posting this. The pace should pick up steadily from this week, although it's impossible to predict whether we will wind up with 120 or 150 or 180 ballots (or maybe even 200 if the second round really explodes). The biggest uncertainty is how much mail is actually getting through to voters, as there is no way (at least that I know of) to ensure or even accurately measure delivery. In the past, I've urged people who read this to spread the word, but I've never seen any evidence of that working.

So I'm torn between feelings of panic and que sera sera, with the coming distraction favoring the latter. No new work on the ultimate Speaking of Which. I glanced briefly at The Intelligencer today for the first time in a week or two, discovering that Biden pardoned his son -- which at least short-circuits the question of whether Trump would have done so (in the hollowest gesture of bipartisanship imaginable). Also Ed Kilgore attacking "Sanders, Warren, and other progressives" for "looking to steal some of Trump's populist street cred" and "just deny Democrats a united front" (against what? street cred?). Nothing there on South Korea yet, where the right does seem to have provoked a "united front" in defense of democracy.

Meanwhile, I've moved from Marshall Berman's All That Is Solid Melts Into Air to another old book I've long meant to read, Eric Hobsbawm's The Age of Capital: 1848-1875. I have two more Hobsbawm volumes lined up after that, with The Age of Extremes on a shelf hereabouts since I bought it hot off the press. I might also note that I did manage to take a break Sunday to fix a very comfy dinner. Had leftovers tonight, and they were delish. With company, hopefully I'll get to cook some more. Helps relieve stress, even though it does tend to come back on you.

I haven't filed my own ballot yet, but will do so this week. For a rough draft, you can look at my Jazz list. I have to reconsider the order, which has always been slapdash, but the leading candidates haven't changed much in well over a month -- the adds have been way down the list, which currently is up to a possible record-high 89 A-list jazz albums. One likely change is that I'll combine the Lowe volumes into one entry and make it my top pick. (The Pollmaster has allowed that to be legal. See the op. cit. Voter Notes.) I'll publish whatever I come up with next week, along with whatever news crops up. Meanwhile, my Non-Jazz list remains relatively lame, with a mere 49 A-list new albums, which Lamar Kendrick barely missed this week. I've done a little bit of EOY Aggregate work, but not much. I'll have time to catch up later. One thing I have zero interest in right now is 2025 releases. My 2024 demo queue is down to 6 albums right now. I should knock them down next week. As for saved download links, not my problem right now.

I've skipped past much bookkeeping work over the last month or so, and doubt I'll make any progress on it for a couple more weeks, but eventually I'll get to it. Looking forward to changes, around here if not out there, after the Poll.

New records reviewed this week:

• Jacqui Dankworth: Windmills (2024, Perdido): [sp]: B+(*)
• Djrum: Meaning's Edge (2024, Houndstooth, EP): [sp]: B+(**)
• Taylor Eigsti: Plot Armor (2024, GroundUP Music): [sp]: B-
• Floros Floridis/Matthias Bauer/Joe Hertenstein: Temporal Driftness (2023 [2024], Evil Rabbit): [sp]: A-
• Joe Fonda Quartet: Eyes on the Horizon (2023 [2024], Long Song): [cd]: A-
• Ben Goldberg/Todd Sickafoose/Scott Amendola: Here to There (2024, Secret Hatch): [cd]: B+(**)
• Mickey Guyton: House on Fire (2024, Capitol Nashville): [sp]: B+(*)
• Tom Harrell: Alternate Summer (2022 [2024], HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
• Cliff Korman Trio: Urban Tracks (2021 [2024], SS): [cd]: B+(*) [12-06]
• Marie Krüttli Trio: Scoria (2023 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(*)
• Kendrick Lamar: GNX (2024, PGLang/Interscope): [sp]: B+(***)
• Hayoung Lyou: The Myth of Katabasis (2024, Endectomorph Music): [cd]: B+(**)
• Rob Mazurek Quartet: Color Systems (2022 [2024], RogueArt): [cdr]: B+(***)
• Kresten Osgood Quintet: Live at H15 Studio (2017 [22024], ILK Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Reut Regev's R*Time: It's Now: R*Time Plays Doug Hammond (2023 [2024], ESP-Disk): [cd]: B+(***)
• Sara Serpa: Encounters & Collisions (2023 [2024], Biophilia): [cd]: B+(*)
• Skyzoo: Keep Me Company (2024, Old Soul Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh: A Star's Light Does Fall (2024, Slovak Music): [cd]: B+(*)
• Sun Ra Arkestra [Under the Direction of Marshall Allen]: Lights on a Satellite (2024, In+Out): [sp]: A-
• Pat Thomas: The Solar Model of Ibn Al-Shatir (2024, Otoroku): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Duck Baker: Breakdown Lane: Free Jazz Guitar 1976-1998 (1976-98 [2024], ESP-Disk): [cd]: B+(**)
• Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (1963-64 [2024], Columbia/Legacy, 6CD): [cd]: A-
• Miles Davis: Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings (1954 [2024], Craft, 2CD): [sp]: A-
• B.B. King: In France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival (1977 [2024], Deep Digs/Elemental Music): [cd]: B+(**)
• Sun Ra: Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (1978 [2024], Resonance, 2CD): [cd]: A-

Old music:

• Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (1961 [2014], Enterplanetary Koncepts): [bc]: A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Liz Cole: I Want to Be Happy (self-released) [01-28]
• Eugenie Jones: Eugenie (Open Mic) [01-20]
• Doug MacDonald: Santa Monica Session (DMAC Music) [01-01]
• Rob Mazurek Quartet: Color Systems (RogueArt) [11-11]
• Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message (Circle 9) [11-15]
• Vincenzo Virgillito: Precondition (self-released) [01-01]

Daily Log

Laura's computer is noisy. Likely culprit is CPU fan. I'm not sure yet of the CPU, but motherboard is ASUS M5A78-L, uATX, which supports AM3+ MD 760G + SB710 USB 3.0 HDMI. It looks like Socket AM3 was launched in 2009 as successor for AM2+, with AM3+ coming out in 2011. CPUs are AMD Phenom II, Athlon II, FX, and Opteron 3000 Series. It was superseded by AM4 (2016, Ryzen CPUs), and AM5 (2022, Eyzen/Epyc). AM3+ heatsink "are placed in a rectangle with lateral lengths of 48 mm and 96 mm for AMD's sockets AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, and FM2."

AM3+ CPUs are almost all used.

Nov 2024