Monday, July 24, 2017

Music Week

Music: Current count 28462 [28428] rated (+34), 364 [364] unrated (+0).

Very little new jazz in the queue, so I spent most of the week looking elsewhere -- including some old music by Taj Mahal and the late Larry Coryell following their latest albums. Seems like I'm increasingly diverging from Robert Christgau, although for once I like the Peter Perrett album more than he did (but Jay-Z less). He has yet to review my other A- records this week (Alison Krauss and Waxahatchee, though I'll be surprised if he doesn't like the latter). Only three records this week came from CDs.

On the Jazz Guides project, I managed to get 73% of the way through my Vocals 2000- file, bringing the 21st Century guide to 911 pages (vs. 746 for 20th Century). That's up 84 pages in one week. Some quick envelope math based on the remaining Jazz 2000- file suggests I'll wind up with about 1450 pages about three weeks into September. With some stragglers, probably best to nudge those figures out/up a bit: probably 750 + 1500 pages shortly after October 1. Assuming, of course, I keep at it reasonably hard, as I did last week.

I should publish Streamnotes on Friday or Saturday, before the usual Weekend Roundup and Music Week posts on Sunday and Monday (the last two days of July). Currently 121 records (94 new + 4 recent comps) in the draft file.

I filled out a ballot for the 82nd Annual DownBeat Readers Poll. So should you. Tried to spend as little time as possible here. Came up with this:

  • Hall of Fame: George Russell
  • Jazz Artist: Wadada Leo Smith
  • Jazz Group: Mostly Other People Do the Killing
  • Big Band: Satoko Fujii Orchestra
  • Jazz Album (since 2016-06-01): Houston Person & Ron Carter, Chemistry (HighNote -16)
  • Historical Album (since 2016-06-01): Don Cherry/John Tchicai/Irene Schweizer/Leonn Francioli/Pierre Favre, Musical Monsters (Intakt -16)
  • Trumpet: Wadada Leo Smith
  • Trombone: Steve Swell
  • Soprano Saxophone: Jane Ira Bloom
  • Alto Saxophone: François Carrier
  • Tenor Saxophone: Houston Person
  • Baritone Saxophone: Ken Vandermark
  • Clarinet: Michael Moore
  • Flute: Nicole Mitchell
  • Piano: Matthew Shipp
  • Keyboard: Craig Taborn
  • Organ: Gary Versace
  • Guitar: Mary Halvorson
  • Bass: William Parker
  • Electric Bass: Steve Swallow
  • Violin: Jenny Scheinman
  • Drums: Andrew Cyrille
  • Vibraphone: Jason Adasiewicz
  • Percussion: Hamid Drake
  • Miscellaneous Instrument: Erik Friedlander (cello)
  • Male Vocalist: Freddy Cole
  • Female Vocalist: Catherine Russell
  • Composer: Carla Bley
  • Arranger: Steven Bernstein
  • Record Label: Intakt
  • Blues Artist or Group: Taj Mahal
  • Blues Album (since 6/1/2016): David Bromberg Band, The Blues, the Whole Blues and Nothing but the Blues (Red House)
  • Beyond Artist or Group: Parquet Courts
  • Beyond Album (since 6/1/2016): A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It From Here . . . Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic/Sony)

That took about an hour, as compared to the 8-10 hours I usually spend on the Critics Ballot. I did look at my 2017 crib sheet about midway through, which encouraged me to be more consistent. I had also looked at Tim Niland's ballot, although I only wound up agreeing on 5-6 picks (for one thing, unlike Tim I didn't do any write-ins). The one thing that took some extra time was that I copied down the Album of the Year nominees, checked my grades, and added things I wasn't aware of to my 2017 music tracking file. I found that I haven't heard 40 of the nominated new jazz albums (of 126, so 31.7%). My grade breakdown was A: 1, A-: 12, ***: 17, **: 25, *: 19, B: 6, B-: 6.

I also copied down the nominated "historical albums": I've heard 9/43 (20.9%), which is probably better than in recent years (although the new album share is probably worse). I didn't bother with blues albums -- indeed, my pick there wasn't even an A- record. "Beyond" is a concept I don't find meaningful, even trying to pictures it from the magazine's jazz/blues perspective.

Recommended links:

New records rated this week:

  • 21 Savage: Issa Album (2017, Slaughter Gang/Epic): [r]: B+(n*)
  • Ryan Adams: Prisoner (2017, Blue Note): [r]: B+(*)
  • Big Boi: Boomiverse (2017, Epic): [r]: B+(***)
  • Benjamin Booker: Witness (2017, ATO): [r]: B+(***)
  • Larry Coryell's 11th House: Seven Secrets (2016 [2017], Savoy Jazz): [r]: B+(*)
  • Laszlo Gardony: Serious Play (Solo Piano) (2017, Sunnyside): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Haim: Something to Tell You (2017, Columbia): [r]: B+(**)
  • Arve Henriksen: Towards Language (2016 [2017], Rune Grammofon): [r]: B
  • J Hus: Common Sense (2017, Black Butter/Epic): [r]: B+(**)
  • Jay-Z: 4:44 (2017, Roc Nation): [r]: B+(**)
  • Jonwayne: Rap Album Two (2017, The Order Label): [r]: B+(***)
  • Alison Krauss: Windy City (2017, Capitol): [r]: A-
  • Brian Landrus Orchestra: Generations (2017, BlueLand): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Nikki Lane: Highway Queen (2017, New West): [r]: B+(**)
  • Carmen Lundy: Code Noir (2017, Afrasia Productions): [r]: B
  • Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo': TajMo (2017, Concord): [r]: B
  • Mura Masa: Mura Masa (2017, Polydor): [r]: B+(*)
  • Spoek Mathambo: Mzansi Beat Code (2017, TEKA): [r]: B+(*)
  • Ozomatli: Non-Stop: Mexico to Jamaica (2017, Cleopatra): [r]: B+(*)
  • Peter Perrett: How the West Was Won (2017, Domino): [r]: A-
  • Troy Roberts: Tales & Tones (2017, Inner Circle): [r]: B+(**)
  • Mavis Staples: I'll Take You There: An All-Star Concert Celebration (2014 [2017], Blackbird Production Partners, 2CD): [r]: B+(**)
  • Dave Stryker: Strykin' Ahead (2016 [2017], Strikezone): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Waxahatchee: Out in the Storm (2017, Merge): [r]: A-
  • Wizkid: Sounds From the Other Side (2017, Starboy/RCA): [r]: B+(**)

Old music rated this week:

  • Larry Coryell: Lady Coryell (1968 [1969], Vanguard): [r]: B
  • Larry Coryell: Introducing the Eleventh House With Larry Coryell (1972 [1974], Vanguard): [r]: B+(*)
  • Larry Coryell: The Restful Mind (1974 [1975], Vanguard): [r]: B+(***)
  • Taj Mahal: Taj Mahal (1968, Columbia): [r]: B+(***)
  • Taj Mahal: The Natch'l Blues (1968, Columbia): [r]: B+(***)
  • Taj Mahal: Happy Just to Be Like I Am (1971, Columbia): [r]: B+(**)
  • Rising Sons: Rising Suns Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (1965-66 [1992], Columbia/Legacy): [r]: B

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Paul Jones: Clean (Outside In Music): August 4
  • Elan Pauer: Yamaha/Speed (Creative Sources)
  • Oliver Schwerdt: Prestige/No Smoking (Euphorium, 2CD)
  • Reggie Young: Forever Young (Whaling City Sound)

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