Once again year end list time comes too soon. Ballots for the
Village Voice Jazz Poll that Francis Davis runs were due last
week. The best I could do under the circumstances:
- William Parker: Double Sunrise Over Neptune (AUM Fidelity)
- Vijay Iyer: Tragicomic (Sunnyside)
- Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Holon (ECM)
- Rob Brown Ensemble: Crown Trunk Root Funk (AUM Fidelity)
- Scott Fields Freetet: Bitter Love Songs (Clean Feed)
- Mostly Other People Do the Killing: This Is Our Moosic (Hot Cup)
- Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse (Fresh Sound New Talent)
- Vandermark 5: Beat Reader (Atavistic)
- Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: We Are MTO (Mowo!)
- Randy Sandke: Unconventional Wisdom (Arbors)
That leaves unrecognized the following A- records:
- Adam Lane/Lou Grassi/Mark Whitecage: Drunk Butterfly (Clean Feed)
- François Carrier: Great Love: The Digital Box (Ayler, 7CD)
- Jorge Lima Barreto: Zul Zelub (Clean Feed)
- The Roy Campbell Ensemble: Akhenaten Suite (AUM Fidelity)
- Kenny Garrett: Sketches of MD (Mack Avenue)
- Fieldwork: Door (Pi)
- Mike Ellis: Bahia Band (Alpha Pocket)
- Mike Reed's People, Places & Things: Proliferation (482 Music)
- Bill Frisell: History, Mystery (Nonesuch, 2CD)
- The Soprano Summit: In 1975 and More (1975-79, Arbors, 2CD)
- Sonny Rollins: Road Shows Vol. 1 (Doxy/Emarcy)
- Ben Allison & Man Size Safe: Little Things Run the World (Palmetto)
- Patricia Barber: The Cole Porter Mix (Blue Note)
- William Parker Quartet: Petit Oiseau (AUM Fidelity)
- Cassandra Wilson: Loverly (Blue Note)
- Donny McCaslin Trio: Recommended Tools (Greenleaf Music)
- Ulf Wakenius: Love Is Real (ACT)
- Steve Reid Ensemble: Daxaar (Domino)
- David Murray/Mal Waldron: Silence (Justin Time)
- Oleg Kireyev/Feng Shui Jazz Project: Mandala (Jazzheads)
- The Gust Spenos Quartet: Swing Theory (Swing Theory)
- Dick Hyman/Chris Hopkins: Teddy Wilson in 4 Hands (Victoria) %
- Satoko Fujii Trio: Trace a River (Libra)
- Jerry Bergonzi: Tenor Talk (Savant)
- Dave Douglas & Keystone: Moonshine (Greenleaf Music)
- Scott DuBois: Banshees (Sunnyside)
- Maceo Parker: Roots & Grooves (Heads Up, 2CD)
- The Microscopic Septet: Lobster Leaps In (Cuneiform)
- Steven Bernstein: Diaspora Suite (Tzadik)
- Mary Lou Williams: A Grand Night for Swinging (1976, High Note)
- Bill Cole's Untempered Ensemble: Proverbs for Sam (Boxholder)
- Anthony Braxton/Milford Graves/William Parker: Beyond Quantum (Tzadik)
- François Carrier/Michel Lambert/Jean-Jacques Avenel: Within (Leo)
- Raoul Björkenheim/William Parker/Hamid Drake: DMG @ the Stone: Volume 2 (DMG/ARC)
- Art Pepper: Unreleased Art, Vol. III: The Croydon Concert, May 14, 1981 (1981, Widow's Taste, 2CD)
- Duke Robillard: A Swingin' Session With Duke Robillard (Stony Plain)
- Paul Shapiro's Ribs and Brisket Revue: Essen (Tzadik)
- Dominique Cravic & Les Primitifs du Futur: Tribal Musette (Sunnyside)
- Horace Silver: Live at Newport '58 (1958, Blue Note)
As usual, Davis asked for three reissues, one vocal, one Latin jazz,
one debut. I hardly had anything to go on there, other than the obvious
Anthony Braxton box. In the reissues section I wound up throwing a bone
to Curlew: 1st Album/Live at CBGB, even though I haven't finalized
the grade. I'm not in a good position to identify debuts -- with so many
artists releasing their own work these days, it's often the case that
even unknown performers have several releases in their files.
Of course, much more is in the pipeline. Two records in the above
list weren't there yet when I submitted my ballot. I expect more will
show up by the real end of year.
