Last Two New AccuJazz Channels of the Decade!

Just in time for Christmas, we have two new channels to finish up both our "Jazz Holiday" roll-out and the decade. First, we have a channel that looks back on everything that happened in jazz over the last decade.

The last decade was by all accounts a great one for jazz. I don't know exactly how history will judge the time period, but I wouldn't be surprised if the last ten years or so were regarded as a high-water mark for creativity in jazz. There are too many artists, albums, labels, and mini-movements to detail in any justice right now, but the good news is that AccuJazz has a new channel playing all sorts of great jazz from the last 10 years!

We're launching "Decade: 2000s," the last and final channel in the decades category (for a while, anyway). It's playing over 3,000 songs from artists as diverse as Ray Brown and Rudresh Mahanthappa, Wynton Marsalis and Maria Schneider [pictured]. I really don't even know how to begin to express the breadth of the music involved, so, just listen and see what you think.

Also showing up just in time for the new decade is the latest addition to our composer channels, "Composers: Jobim," playing the timeless and gorgeous compositions of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Jobim was the compositional force behind the classic "Getz/Gilberto" album, which launched the international bossa nova craze. The gorgeous melodies and rich chords of tunes like "Desafinado" and "Corcovado" helped make him one of the most played composers in the history of jazz.

Our channel is playing over 200 versions of Jobim songs, including tribute albums by Frank Sinatra, Rosa Passos, Joe Henderson, and more. If you only know the hits, give the channel a listen and you'll no doubt fall in love with lesser-known tunes like "Zingaro" and "Inutil Paisagem."

Until next time, Happy Holidays and happy listening! Thanks so much for your support of AccuJazz!

The Best of 2009, According to People Older and Smarter than I

I knew that I wanted to create a Best of 2009 channel this year, but I still haven't made a top-10 list of my own yet. So, instead of relying on my own opinion, I looked to a whole bunch of people who are smarter, more experienced and better-listened than I am to guide the channel's programming.

Critics and bloggers have been posting best-of lists on their own websites as well as on the Jazz Journalists Association site for well over a month now. JazzTimes also conducted a critics poll, tallying up everyone's votes and aggregating the results into a top-50. I expect the Village Voice to publish their critics poll soon.

For the last few weeks, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for year-end lists and compiling the results in a spreadsheet, awarding an album one "point" for every list on which it appeared, and half a "point" if it was granted an honorable mention. The objective was to have a document that showed which albums were deemed the best by the largest number of experts, so that I could create a channel that reflected their opinions.

Now, I know this is an inexact method: some people published a top-10, others had a top-25, and one guy even had a top-130(!). One critic's #11 would be actually be as good as another critic's honorable mention. Also, the JazzTimes poll included the opinions of 40 different critics -- should I have awarded points based on every single critic's individual list, or make up some other points system based on the final results? In the end, I just made up the rules as I went along, and ended up with a spreadsheet that I think fairly accurately reflects the "critical consensus."

You can check out a document showing all of the lists I referenced here. Below is the list of high scorers. With my simplistic point system, many albums received the same amount of points, so I've indicated the ties with letters placed after the numbers. Also, I've only included albums that we have in the AccuJazz collection, so you [regrettably] won't see Miguel Zenon or John Hollenbeck -- gotta get on that. Without further ado, the heavyweight champions of Jazz in 2009:

1) Vijay Iyer - Historicity
2a) Darcy James Argue's Secret Society - Infernal Machines
2b) Steve Lehman Octet - Travail, Transformation and Flow
3) Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1
4) Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi
5a) Keith Jarrett - Paris/London: Testament
5b) Joe Lovano Us Five - Folk Art
6a) Fly - Sky & Country
6b) Darius Jones Trio - Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing)
6c) Gary Burton/Pat Metheny/Steve Swallow/Antonio Sanchez - Quartet Live
7a) Linda Oh - Entry
7b) Matt Wilson - That's Gonna Leave a Mark
7c) Jeff "Tain" Watts - Watts
7d) Monterey Quartet - Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival

Total, there are 242 different albums on my spreadsheet, the majority of which are not in the AccuJazz collection. There are dozens more albums that received less points but were still singled out by critics as being among the best. You will hear many of these on the channel, too, but with less frequency. Chances are you'll hear a Vijay Iyer track within your first 6 songs, but it may take a while before you hear something from Mike Reed's About Us, an album that only received a half a point but which I personally place among the best.

There were exactly 2 albums that made it on the JazzTimes poll and which are in my collection but I didn't deem deserving of a place on the channel. What albums are they? I'd rather not publicly ridicule anyone on the blog. If you really, really want to know, you can DM me on Twitter.

I really love listening to this channel, and I sincerely hope you do too. It's as good of evidence as any that the art of jazz is alive and well in 2009. An hour of music from this channel is as good a rebuttal as any to NYT columnist Glenn Branca's recent claim that "Jazz has stopped evolving and become a dead art." From Henry Threadgill's brainy explorations of free improvisation to Darcy James Argue's fusion of big band tradition with modern rock sensibilities, jazz in 2009 was as varied and exhilarating as ever, perhaps moreso than ever.

Enjoy.

Taking a Jazz Holiday

I know I used a Louis Armstrong photo at the top of my last post, but can you ever really see enough of that smile?

In case you didn't know, AccuRadio (AccuJazz's daddy) is well-known for its obscenely extensive Holiday music programming. In fact, said programming was even featured on Chicago Tonight, the nightly news program of Chicago's PBS affiliate, WTTW.

Being around so much Christmas radio cheer, I've naturally tried to think of ways to get AccuJazz in on the fun. Last year, I created an AccuJazz channel called "Swingin' Christmas." It was essentially AccuRadio's "Holiday Jazz" channel minus the smooth jazz, and it garnered lots of listeners. This year I thought I'd take the Holiday programming idea one step further and offer a whole lineup of new channels as a sort of gift basket to you, our faithful listeners. Thus, "Jazz Holiday" was born.





Before even creating any new channels, I took the time (and the company's credit card) to beef up our collection of Christmas jazz, hand-picking some choice tunes from the Amazon mp3 store and contacting record labels and artists who released Christmas albums this year. "Swingin' Christmas" is a much better listen this year than it was last year, with new CDs by Carla Bley, Hot Club of San Francisco, Typhanie Monique and more, as well as new-to-us CDs by Willie Pickens, Ramsey Lewis and Harry Allen among others.

For the first batch of new channels, I followed up on some listener suggestions I got through Twitter and Facebook and created three Swingin' Christmas subchannels: Christmas Vocals, Christmas Instrumentals, and New Christmas Jazz. Interestingly enough, there have been many points in the last week when I've noticed that the vocal and instrumental subchannels have each had more listeners than the main channel.

Now we're going to roll out some pretty awesome Non-Christmas channels, starting with one simply called "Best of 2009." This is not merely a compilation of my favorite music from 2009 (though I hope to create that channel in the coming weeks); the playlist is based on the results of over 20 critics' lists, including the JazzTimes critics poll. I compiled the results in a spreadsheet, awarding "points" based on how many lists selected an album and whether it was on the top or merely an honorable mention.

Vijay Iyer's Historicity was the top scorer, by far, with Steve Lehman and Darcy James Argue tied for second. Other high achievers include Joe Lovano, Henry Threadgill and Allen Toussaint. I programmed the channel based on the results, so it's very likely that you'll hear Vijay Iyer and a little less likely that you'll hear Bobby Broom, whose wonderful Monk tribute only appeared on a couple of lists. If you want to know what's been going on in jazz circa 2009, this channel is the place to start.

The rest of the Jazz Holiday roll-out includes a channel playing music from 2010 Grammy Jazz Nominees, a Decade: 2000s Channel, and one more surprise next week! I hope these gifts of music brighten up your season and help you discover some new favorite jazz artists. Please keep checking back for the updates, and have yourself a very, very happy Holiday!

2010 Grammy Jazz Nominations or: Dang, It's Been a While Since I've Written Anything Here

I was reminded last night by none other than my loving mother that I hadn't posted anything on the AccuBlog in an embarrassingly long time. Combine those pangs of guilt with the NARAS' unveiling of the nominations for the 2010 Grammy Awards, and here I am writing on Ye Olde AccuBlog. Fun fact: last year's take on the 2009 Grammy Nominations constituted the 4th post ever on the AccuBlog. Now wasn't that fact fun?

Each year there is plenty of griping among music fans about the awards: the voters are out of touch, the winners don't reflect artistic merit and innovation, results are influenced by money and marketing, etc. I, for one, take part in this griping as much as the next guy. Most of the nominations are for the biggest, most lucrative pop stars in the world, not necessarily for the "best" or "most accomplished" musicians. I don't know a whole lot about today's pop and rock scene myself, but I'm pretty sure that any song off of Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca is ten times more worthy of an award than any of the five Record of the Year nominees.

BUT: I'm not in any place to pass judgment on the non-jazz nominees, because, for better or for worse, I've mostly listened to jazz this year. So let's do as I do far too often in casual conversation and change the subject to JAZZ!

My personal list surely would look different from that of the Grammy folks, but that's a given. Under-the-radar and/or way-out-left-field artists simply won't be in the running, and that's just the way it goes. Much of the music that was nominated was worthy, however, and none of it is blatantly commercial (Michael Buble and Chris Botti are relegated to other categories).

The consensus among jazz fans seems to be that the Grammy folks made some solid choices this year. Super-blogger Peter Hum posted his opinions on the jazz nominations at some point Wednesday night, and JazzTimes has a bit of insight, too. NPR's Blog Supreme posted an interesting piece about jazz musicians whose work is represented in nominations for non-jazz categories.

So, does anything else need to be said about the nominations? Not really. But that's the point of having a blog, right? Nobody's making you write (except maybe my mom, a little bit), you just do it because you have something to say and an open forum in which to say it. So, behold: the list of jazz nominees with my opinions inserted into the mix. My favorites in each category are in bold.

Category 44
Best Contemporary Jazz Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of INSTRUMENTAL tracks.)

Urbanus
Stefon Harris & Blackout
[Concord Jazz]

Sounding Point
Julian Lage
[Emarcy/Decca]

At World's Edge
Philippe Saisse
[E1 Music]

Big Neighborhood
Mike Stern
[Heads Up International]

75
Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate
[Heads Up International]

My take: I'm assuming "Contemporary Jazz" implies some sort of jazz/funk influence. In that case, Stefon Harris' Urbanus is the undisputed champ of this category. His longstanding ensemble, Blackout, is a heaven-sent mixture of sophisticated post-bop and hard-grooving hip-hop. The CD is great, but, as I've witnessed on 3 separate occasions over the last 4 years, the band is just SICK in live performance. SICK. So I'm going to let that skew my judgment.

Oh dang, you know what else skewed my judgment? I haven't heard three of the other nominated CDs. Whoops. I'm pretty sure I'd still think Stefon should win, though. The other one I have heard, Sounding Point by wunderkind-turned-genuinely-talented-mature-musician Julian Lage, is also worthy of recognition. I do, however, find it a little bit strange to lump Lage in with the more funky, electric sounds of the other "Contemporary Jazz" artists. His disc is often pensive and hushed. The percussion is limited mostly to delicate djembe playing (no drum set), and many of songs are for acoustic stringed instruments only. Not exactly the funky fusion of Zawinul or Stern.

Category 45
Best Jazz Vocal Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

No Regrets
Randy Crawford (& Joe Sample)
[PRA Records]

Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings The Music Of Coltrane And Hartman
Kurt Elling
[Concord Jazz]

So In Love
Roberta Gambarini
[Groovin' High/Emarcy]

Tide
Luciana Souza
[Verve]

Desire
Tierney Sutton (Band)
[Telarc Jazz]

My take: I've actually listened to all but one of the vocal nominees (Sutton never made it to my desk), and my vote for the win would go to Kurt Elling. I really enjoyed Souza's tranquil Tide and Gambarini's tastefully traditional So In Love, but I've long held an affinity for Elling's aesthetic, and my fondness remained when he produced the live tribute album Dedicated to You (a big departure from his sprawling, imaginative studio efforts like The Messenger and Man in the Air).

There's just something about the guy's voice that says "No one has ever possessed an instrument like mine, and no one else ever will." Plus, the arrangements for string quartet and the tight, swinging backing band are perfectly matched to the alternately exhilarating and reflective mood of the album. JazzTimes columnist Nate Chinen recently wrote that Elling is the "most influential jazz vocalist of our time," and got a bit of flack in the comment section for his claim. What do you think? Is Elling over-rated? It might be partly Chicago pride, but I think he's a remarkable vocalist whose music will stand the test of time.

Related: Elling's personal recollections of performing at President Obama's state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Category 46
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
(For an instrumental jazz solo performance. Two equal performers on one recording may be eligible as one entry. If the soloist listed appears on a recording billed to another artist, the latter's name is in parenthesis for identification. Singles or Tracks only.)

Dancin' 4 Chicken
Terence Blanchard, soloist
Track from: Watts (Jeff "Tain" Watts)
[Dark Key Music]

All Of You
Gerald Clayton, soloist
Track from: Two-Shade
[ArtistShare]

Ms. Garvey, Ms. Garvey
Roy Hargrove, soloist
Track from: Emergence
[Groovin' High/Emarcy]

On Green Dolphin Street
Martial Solal, soloist
Track from: Live At The Village Vanguard
[CamJazz]

Villa Palmeras
Miguel Zenón, soloist
Track from: Esta Plena
[Marsalis Music]

My take: This is a curious category. Thousands of jazz albums were released during the Grammys' window, with thousands more solos on those albums. How to single out the one "best" solo out of all of this musical material? I don't know. I'd really like to know what goes through a voter's mind when considering this category. Do they go for the solo with the most immediate emotional impact, or do they consider external factors like an artist's reputation or the overall quality of the album in question? If anybody knows, or is a voting member of the Academy, let me know.

I'm going with Miguel Zenon. Esta Plena is an ambitious album, a prodigious young musician's exploration of his Puerto Rican roots. Zenon's solo on "Villa Palmeras" is an expertly crafted statement, running the gamut from plain-spoken motifs to breakneck polyrhythmic runs. The solo also does that thing that every jazz combo director has told their students to do: it builds. Zenon interacts with the rhythm section with empathy, ramping up the intensity towards the end of the solo, with drummer Henry Cole following Zenon every step of the way.

As for the other nominees that I've heard, Blanchard's solo (on drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts' Watts album) takes second place. It's a freewheeling, open-ended showcase of the trumpeter's technical prowess, accompanied by the brawny freebop time-keeping of drummer Watts and bassist Christian McBride. As for the Hargrove solo, I don't think it deserves the nod. Hargrove is undoubtedly one of the best trumpet players in recent times, but this is nowhere near his best work. 52-seconds of predictable blues licks, on the most straight-ahead track on his most straight-ahead album in some time, it offers nothing new or notable. It's good, it's swinging, and it calls to mind past trumpet giants like Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, but it's nothing to write home about.

Category 47
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of INSTRUMENTAL tracks.)

Quartet Live
Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow & Antonio Sanchez
[Concord Jazz]

Brother To Brother
Clayton Brothers
[ArtistShare]

Five Peace Band — Live
Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band
[Concord Records]

Remembrance
John Patitucci Trio
[Concord Jazz]

The Bright Mississippi
Allen Toussaint
[Nonesuch]

My take: Yes! Finally a category where I'm really familiar with all of the nominees. I'm going with my gut on this one and rooting for Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi. Wait, didn't I just chastise Roy Hargrove for being too traditional, and now I'm praising an album on which most of the songs were written over 80 years ago? Yup.

Just listen to it and you'll hear what I hear. I couldn't take this CD out of my player for weeks. Where much of the music I enjoy is food for the brain, this was good old home cooking for my soul. Warm and cozy, but also totally new and intriguing in a way. Toussaint and his all-star band (featuring heavyweights like Nicholas Payton, Don Byron and Marc Ribot), approach the ancient music of Toussant's native New Orleans with sincerity and heartfelt emotion. The alt-country rhythm section team of David Piltch and Jay Bellerose add some grease to the proceedings. Piltch's minimalist solo on the title track just might be my vote for best solo of the year, over Zenon.

As for the others: all strong efforts, with the Clayton Brothers and John Patitucci rising above the two all-star live albums, but nothing from this year stands out in my mind like The Bright Mississippi.

Category 48
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
(For large jazz ensembles, including big band sounds. Albums must contain 51% or more INSTRUMENTAL tracks.)

Legendary
Bob Florence Limited Edition
[MAMA Records]

Eternal Interlude
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble
[Sunnyside]

Fun Time
Sammy Nestico And The SWR Big Band
[Hänssler Classic]

Book One
New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
[World Village]

Lab 2009
University Of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band
[North Texas Jazz]

My take: Wow. I haven't heard any of these CDs. However, John Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble produced one of my favorite albums of the last few years with A Blessing, so I'd assume that I would end up voting for Hollenbeck's Eternal Interlude. But I can't say. I'd appreciate input from anyone who has heard any of the nominees.

Category 49
Best Latin Jazz Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Things I Wanted To Do
Chembo Corniel
[Chemboro Records]

Áurea
Geoffrey Keezer
[ArtistShare]

Brazilliance X 4
Claudio Roditi
[Resonance Records]

Juntos Para Siempre
Bebo Valdés And Chucho Valdés
[Sony Music/Calle 54]

Esta Plena
Miguel Zenón
[Marsalis Music]

My take: I haven't heard the Valdes or Corniel records, but of the three with which I'm familiar, I was most taken with Keezer's Áurea. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little bit weird about picking a white fellow from Wisconsin over natives of Brazil (Roditi) Puerto Rico (Zenon), but, just hear me out.

Áurea is Keezer's personal take on the music of Peru, and he staffs his band with both Peruvian musicians and fellow Americans. He fell in love with Peruvian music while playing at Festival Jazz Peru in Lima with the Maria Schneider Orchestra. (Side note: my college roommate at the time was a trombone sub in the orchestra at the festival, and has fond memories of hanging out with Schneider and Keezer).

Áurea is a wonderfully diverse album, ranging from the offbeat funk of "Una Bruja Buena" to the tender ballad singing of vocalist Sofia Rei Koutsovitis on "La Flor Azul." The common thread is lyricism -- every tune is singable, melodic, and just downright pretty, in the best possible way.

As I already mentioned, Esta Plena is also very worthy. The Roditi is a strong modern Brazilian jazz outing, but doesn't have the same ambition or sheer beauty of the Zenon and Keezer discs.

Now Playing on AccuJazz - 10/30

The biggest part of my job at AccuRadio is getting new music, putting it on our server, and deciding what channels should play it. This process of discovering new music is also the most rewarding part of my job, so it's always a pleasure to let you, the listeners, know exactly what great new stuff is playing on AccuJazz.

This update is pretty big, as always, and includes mostly recent releases, though there is a section of older discs that recently came in to our possession at the bottom of the post. You can purchase the CDs online by clicking the titles, and discs that come heavily recommended are adorned with the envied double asterisk (**). To hear all of these new releases and lots of other great ones from the last 7 months, listen to the New Releases channel on AccuJazz.com while you peruse the post.

Without further ado:

New Releases:

Poncho Sanchez - Psychedelic Blues (Concord Records)
Latin Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream

**Keith Jarrett - Paris/London: Testament (ECM)**
Piano Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Live Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz

Gerald Wilson Orchestra - Detroit (Mack Avenue)
Straight Ahead, New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Big Band, Nothin' But the Blues

**Robert Glasper - Double Booked (Blue Note)**
Piano Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Groove Jazz, Jazz Fusion

Ramsey Lewis - Songs From the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey (Concord Records)
Piano Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: Chicago, Mellow Jazz

**Jackie Ryan - Doozy (Openart)**
Vocal Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Mellow Jazz, Women of Jazz

**Mike Reed's People, Places and Things - About Us (482 Music)**
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, Regions: Chicago, Avant-Garde Jazz, Give the Drummers Some

**Fred Anderson - 21st Century Chase (Delmark)**
New School, Live Jazz, Regions: Chicago, Avant-Garde Jazz

**Henry Threadgill - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 (Pi Recordings)**
New School, Cutting Edge, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz

**Jon Irabagon - The Observer (Concord Records)**
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, Regions: Chicago, New York Now

**John Wojciechowski - Lexicon (Self-Released)**
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: Chicago

**Joe Morris - Today on Earth (AUM Fidelity)**
Guitar Jazz, New School, Avant-Garde Jazz

Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings - Madeleine Dreams (Firehouse 12)
New School, Cutting Edge, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz, Third Stream

**Chad Taylor - Circle Down (482 Music)**
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, Regions: Chicago, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz, Give the Drummers Some

Sachal Vasandani - We Move (Mack Avenue)
Vocal Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, Composers: Monk

Fay Victor - The Freesong Suite (Greene Avenue Music)
Vocal Jazz, New School, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz

**Curtis Stigers - Lost in Dreams (Concord Records)**
Vocal Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Pop Composers

**Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - One Day in Brooklyn (Kinnara Records)**
New School, Cutting Edge

**Josh Moshier & Mike Lebrun - Joy Not Jaded (OA2 Records)**
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, Regions: Chicago

**Laurent Coq - Eight Fragments of Summer (88 Trees)**
Piano Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Regions: Europe

The Fonda/Stevens Group - Memphis (Playscape Recordings)
New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz

Quartet San Francisco - QSF Plays Brubeck (Violinjazz Recordings)
New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern Mainstream, Third Stream

Jason Stein - In Exchange for a Process (Leo)
Avant-Garde Jazz

John David Simon - John David Simon and Friends (WarmGroove Records)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Composers: Ellington

**Jacam Manricks - Labyrinth (Manricks Music)**
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Third Stream

Chris Schreiner - Only Human (Furious)
Guitar Jazz, New School, Emerging Voices, Fusion

Pamela Rose - Wild Women of Song (Three Handed Records)
Vocal Jazz, Modern West Coast, Women of Jazz

Benny Reid - Escaping Shadows (Concord Records)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices

Plunge - Dancing on Thin Ice (Immersion Records and Media)
New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: New Orleans, Trombone Jazz

Doug MacDonald - Fourth Stream (Blujazz Records)
Guitar Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Third Stream

Ben Perowsky - Moodswing Orchestra (The Royal Potato Family)
New School, Cutting Edge, Avant-Garde Jazz, Give the Drummers Some

Mark Levine - Off & On (Left Coast Clave)
Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast

Ithmara Koorax & Juarez Moreira - The Complete Joao Gilberto Songbook (Motema Music)
Guitar Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz

Jason Parker Quartet - No More, No Less (Broken Time Records)
New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Trumpet Jazz

Mark Isham and Kate Ceberano - Bittersweet (Earle-Tones Music, Inc.)
Vocal Jazz, Composers: Ellington, Mellow Jazz, Women of Jazz

Mike DiRubbo - Repercussion (Positone)
Straight-Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Nothin' But the Blues

**Brian Charette - Upside (SteepleChase)**
Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Organ Jazz, Composers: Ellington

Agustin Barreto - Between My Walls (Blending Fusion)
Covering all the Bassists, Jazz Fusion

Lilly Abreu - Brasileira (Self-Released)
Vocal Jazz, Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz

Darius Jones - Man'ish Boy (A Raw and Beautiful Thing) (AUM Fidelity)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz

Kelley Suttenfield - Where Is Love? (Rhombus Records)
Vocal Jazz, New School, Composers: Beatles, Women of Jazz

Massimo Sammi - First Day (Self-Released)
Guitar Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Avant-Garde Jazz

**David Ashkenazy - Out With It (Positone)**
New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Give the Drummers Some

Jared Gold - Supersonic (Positone)
New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Organ Jazz, Groove Jazz

Eldad Tarmu Chamber Jazz Ensemble - Songs for the Queen of Bohemia (Queen of Bohemia Productions)
Regions: Europe, Good Vibes, Third Stream

Mario Adnet - Afro Samba Jazz (Adventure Music)
Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream

The Manhattan Transfer - The Chick Corea Songbook (Four Quarters)
Vocal Jazz

Carol Welsman - I Like Men (Welcar Music)
Vocal Jazz, Women of Jazz

Mimi Jones - A New Day (Hot Tone Music)
Vocal Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Covering All the Bassists, Women of Jazz

Terry Waldo's Gutbucket Syncopators - The Ohio Theatre Concert (Delmark)
Old School

Petra Van Nuis & Andy Brown - Far Away Places (String Damper Records)
Vocal Jazz, Regions: Chicago

Paul Wertico - Impressions of a City (Chicago Sessions)
New School, Modern Mainstream, Chicago, Avant-Garde Jazz, Give the Drummers Some

Ratko Zjaca - Continental Talk (In and Out Records)
Guitar Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: Europe

Howard Levy - Tonight and Tomorrow (Chicago Sessions)
Piano Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: Chicago

Angela Hagenbach - The Way They Make Me Feel (Resonance Records)
Vocal Jazz, Women of Jazz, Mellow Jazz, Third Stream

Tessa Souter - Obsession (Motema Music)
Vocal Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Pop Composers

Older Releases:

**Empty Cage Quartet - Stratostrophic (Clean Feed)** 2008
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern West Coast, Avant-Garde Jazz

Tin/Bag - And Begin Again (Evander Music) 2007
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern West Coast, Avant-Garde Jazz, Trumpet Jazz

Salsamba - Brazilia (North Star) 2007
Brazilian Jazz

Tiner / Phillips / Schoenbeck Trio - Breathe In, Feed Out (pfMentum) 2004
Cutting Edge, Modern West Coast, Avant-Garde Jazz

Bryan Vargas y Ya Esta - Afro Latino Soul (Mofongo Music) 2004
Latin Jazz

Salsamba - The Traveler (Clave Records) 2003
Latin Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Composers: Monk

Chris Greco - Well You Needn't: Standards, Vol. 1 (GWSFourwinds Records) 1999
Straight Ahead, New School, Modern Mainstream, Composers: Monk

**Plunge - Falling With Grace (Accurate Records)** 1997
New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: New Orleans, Trombone Jazz, Groove Jazz

Nicolai Panov - Jazz Gallery (PanovMusicProduction) 1995
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Regions: Europe, Third Stream

Chris Greco - Trane of Thought (GWSFourwinds Records) 1994
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Blacknuss (Collectables) 1971
New School, Pop Composers, Groove Jazz, Decade: '70s

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery (Collectables) 1969
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Groove Jazz, Decade: '60s

New Channels: "Composers: Beatles" and "Pop Composers"

We're a little late to the party, but AccuJazz is now officially part of the resurgent Beatlemania sweeping the world right now. We've just launched a new channel called "Composers: Beatles," playing over 150 jazz covers of Beatles songs. Accompanying the Beatles channel is "Pop Composers," which includes the Beatles material plus jazz versions of other "non-jazz" composers, like Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Burt Bacharach and more.

"Composers: Beatles" includes everything from Buddy Rich's screaming big band doing "Norwegian Wood" to Gene Harris laying down the funk on "Get Back" and Baptiste Trotignon getting all sensitive on "Julia." It really makes for a fun and interesting listen, and it has quickly become one of the most-listened-to channels on AccuJazz.

It was also a lot of fun to create. It was the first new channel where I had the go-ahead to take AccuRadio CEO Kurt Hanson's credit card to the Amazon mp3 store and go crazy. Thanks to my faithful Twitter followers who made a lot of great suggestions about worthwile Beatle covers. I never knew quite how many Beatles covers there were out there, and I'm sure there are thousands more. The channel was also fun for me because I've totally fallen victim to the wider Beatle craze. I think I've listened to Abbey Road, Revolver, Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Pepper's a combined 20 times in the past couple of weeks.

Go on now and listen. Then, if you're so inclined, let your friends know about it, and let me know what you think!

Now Playing on AccuJazz - 9/21/09

Uh oh, it's been a long time since the last update. That means there's a LOT of new music playing on AccuJazz's many channels.

This update includes plenty of big-name new releases, like those by John Patitucci, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gambarini, John Abercrombie, Terence Blanchard, Eldar, Stefon Harris, the Monterey Quartet (Holland, Rubalcaba, Potter, Harland), Matt Wilson, and Luciana Souza. Some more under-the-radar discs that have really impressed me include those by Ben Perowsky, Jesse Elder, Linda Oh, Ryan Blotnick and Tyshawn Sorey.

As usual, new releases are listed first, with a section at the bottom of older stuff just now added. Fans of our Avant-Garde Jazz channel should be excited to see 10 ESP Disk albums now playing, including discs by Ornette Coleman, Steve Lacy, Sun Ra, and more.

The "Older Releases" section in this post is larger than usual because I also looked to my personal collection to beef up some of the classic jazz offerings on AccuJazz with music by Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, Wynton Kelly, Eric Dolphy, and more. Now that I'm receiving soooo much newer jazz, the balance in programming is tipping pretty heavily toward this decade, and, while I'm as enthusiastic an advocate as anybody for the promotion of new jazz, I also want the scope of jazz history to be accurately reflected in our programming.

I also purchased a lot of mp3's to create a listenable "Composers: Beatles" channel. The albums containing those songs are included beneath the Older Releases section. For albums from which only one song was selected, I also included the title of that song, so you can listen for it on the channel.

There were also plenty of albums already in our collection that had Beatles covers, and even a few new releases in this post (Gambarini and Perowsky, off the top of my head) that feature great Beatles tunes. Thanks to my awesome Twitter followers for tipping me off to a bunch of great Beatles covers I wouldn't have been able to find otherwise, especially @ryshpanmusic. So, all you Twitter skeptics out there, it really is useful for something!

As usual, double stars (**) adorn releases that come with a particularly high recommendation. Also as usual, I didn't have the time to listen deeply to every single release, so there are surely some discs worthy of stars that I just haven't had the time to absorb.

One more thing! It's a little late, but the Guitar Jazz channel is now playing a lot of early Les Paul Trio tracks, in tribute to the late guitar master, and the Avant-Garde Jazz channel is recognizing the great talent of late drummer Rashied Ali by featuring his collaborations with John Coltrane, Interstellar Space, Meditations, and Stellar Regions.

Without further ado, the list:

New Releases

**John Abercrombie Quartet - Wait Till You See Her (ECM)**
Guitar Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Mellow Jazz

Roberta Gambarini - So In Love (Emarcy)
Vocal Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, European Jazz, Composers: Beatles, Women of Jazz

**Roy Hargrove Big Band - Emergence (Emarcy)**
Straight Ahead, Vocal Jazz, Latin Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Big Band, Trumpet Jazz, Mellow Jazz

**Stefon Harris - Urbanus (Concord Records)**
New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Good Vibes, Groove Jazz

Count Basie Orchestra - Swinging, Singing, Playing (Mack Avenue)
Straight Ahead, Vocal Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Big Band, Nothin' But the Blues

John Surman - Brewster's Rooster (ECM)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Europe

**Luciana Souza - Tide (Verve)**
Vocal Jazz, Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Mellow Jazz, Women of Jazz

**The Monterey Quartet - Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival Records)**
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, Live Jazz, Covering All the Bassists

Eldar - Virtue
Piano Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Jazz Fusion

**Matt Wilson Quartet - That's Gonna Leave a Mark (Palmetto)**
New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Give the Drummers Some

**John Patitucci - Remembrance (Concord Jazz)**
New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Covering All the Bassists, Groove Jazz

**John Irabagon - Outright! (Innova)**
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, Chicago, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz, Composers: Bird and Diz

**Fred Anderson - Staying in the Game (Engine)**
New School, Chicago, Avant-Garde Jazz, Chicago Jazz Festival 2009

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall - Anything Goes (Concord Jazz)
Vocal Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, Latin Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Live Jazz, Modern West Coast, Trumpet Jazz, Groove Jazz

Andy Martin - Setting the Standard (Drewbone Music)
Straight Ahead, Everybody's Boppin', New School, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Trombone Jazz

**Ben Perowsky - Esopus Opus (Skirl Records)**
New School, Cutting Edge, New York Now, Give the Drummers Some, Composers: Beatles

Quartet Offensive - Carnivore (Self-Released)
New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices

Jesse Elder - The Winding Shell (Off)
New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz

**Terence Blanchard - Choices (Concord Records)**
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, New Orleans, Trumpet Jazz

Pauline Jean - A Musical Offering (SJR Sekonsa Jazz Records)
Vocal Jazz, Mellow Jazz, Women of Jazz

Lisa Hilton - Twilight & Blues (Ruby Slippers Productions)
Piano Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Women of Jazz

**Linda Oh - Entry (Self-Released)**
New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Covering All the Bassists, Women of Jazz

**Ryan Blotnick - Everything Forgets (Songlines)**
Guitar Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz, Groove Jazz

Gordon Grdina's East Van Strings - The Breathing of Statues (Songlines)
New School, Cutting Edge, Avant-Garde Jazz, Third Stream

Benjamin Taubkin / Sergio Reze / Zeca Assumpcao / Joatan Nascimento - Trio + 1 (Adventure Music)
Piano Jazz, Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream

Marbin - Marbin (Self-Released)
Cutting Edge, Chicago

John Proulx - Baker's Dozen (MaxJazz)
Straight Ahead, Vocal Jazz, Modern Mainstream

**Tyshawn Sorey - Koan (482 Music)**
New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Avant-Garde Jazz, Give the Drummers Some

Kobie Watkins - Involved (Origin Records)
New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, Chicago, Give the Drummers Some, Groove Jazz

David Gibson - A Little Somethin' (Positone)
Straight Ahead, New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now, Trombone Jazz, Groove Jazz

Cory Weeds - Everything's Coming Up Weeds (Cellar Live)
Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', New School, Modern Mainstream

Sinan Bakir - On My Way (Self-Released)
Guitar Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, European Jazz

Ben Dowling - World Rising (Vision Sound)
Piano Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Modern West Coast, Jazz Fusion, Groove Jazz

Older Releases

Tim Collins featuring Charlie Hunter - Fade (Ropeadope Digital)
New School, Cutting Edge, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Good Vibes, Jazz Fusion, Groove Jazz

Tim Collins - Valcour (Arabesque)
New School, Cutting Edge, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, New York Now, Good Vibes

Diane Delin - Talking Stick (Blujazz)
New School, Modern Mainstream, Chicago, Mellow, Third Stream, Women of Jazz, Chicago Jazz Festival 2009

Diane Delin - Duality (Blujazz)
New School, Chicago, Third Stream, Women of Jazz, Chicago Jazz Festival 2009

Ben Paterson Trio - Breathing Space (Origin Records)
Straight Ahead, Piano Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Emerging Voices, Chicago, Mellow Jazz, Chicago Jazz Fest 2009

Steve Coleman - Curves of Life (RCA)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Live Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Groove Jazz, '90s

Steve Coleman - Motherland Pulse (Winter & Winter)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, Jazz Fusion, '80s

Eric Dolphy - Live at the Five Spot Vol. 1 (Prestige)
Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Live Jazz, '60s

Stan Getz - Serenity (Emarcy)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Modern Mainstream, Live Jazz, '80s

Stan Getz - Sweet Rain (Verve)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', '60s

Dexter Gordon - Gettin' Around (Blue Note)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', '60s

Dexter Gordon - The Panther (OJC)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Nothin' But the Blues, '70s

Herbie Hancock - The Prisoner (Blue Note)
New School, Modern Mainstream, '60s

Joe Henderson - The Kicker (OJC)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Nothin' But the Blues, '60s

Fred Hersch - Fred Hersch Trio + 2 (Palmetto)
Piano Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, New York Now

Wynton Kelly - Piano (OJC)
Straight Ahead, Piano Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', '50s

Hank Mobley - No Room for Squares (Blue Note)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', '60s

Hank Mobley - Workout (Blue Note)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', '60s

Don Pullen - Kele Mou Bana (Blue Note)
Piano Jazz, New School, Modern Mainstream, '90s

Wayne Shorter - High Life (Verve)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Jazz Fusion, Groove Jazz, '90s

Pepper Adams - 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot (OJC)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Live Jazz, Nothin' But the Blues, '50s

Steve Coleman - Drop Kick (BMG)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, Jazz Fusion, Groove Jazz, '90s

Duke Ellington and John Coltrane - Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (Impulse!)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Composers: Ellington, Nothin' But the Blues, Mellow Jazz, '60s

Red Garland - Can't See For Lookin' (OJC)
Straight Ahead, Piano Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Mellow Jazz, '50s

Dexter Gordon - A Swingin' Affair (Blue Note)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Nothin' But the Blues, '60s

Barry Harris - For the Moment (Uptown Jazz)
Piano Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', Live Jazz, Composers: Monk, '80s

Johnny Hodges - Everybody Knows (GRP/Impulse!)
Straight Ahead, Saxophone Jazz, Old School, Big Band, Composers: Ellington, Nothin' But the Blues, Mellow Jazz, '60s

Carmen McRae - Carmen Sings Monk (RCA)
Straight Ahead, Vocal Jazz, Modern Mainstream, Composers: Monk, Women of Jazz, '80s

Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple (Blue Note)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, Nothin' But the Blues, '60s

Wayne Shorter - Etcetera (Blue Note)
Saxophone Jazz, New School, '60s

Ornette Coleman - Town Hall 1962 (ESP Disk)
New School, Avant-Garde Jazz

Steve Lacy - The Forest and the Zoo (ESP Disk)
Avant-Garde Jazz

New York Art Quartet - New York Art Quartet (ESP Disk)
Avant-Garde Jazz, '60s

Albert Ayler / Don Cherry / John Tchicai / Roswell Rudd / Gary Peacock / Sonny Murray - New York Eye and Ear Control (ESP Disk)
Avant-Garde Jazz

Paul Bley - Barrage (ESP Disk)
New School, Avant-Garde Jazz, '60s

Ronnie Boykins - The Will Come, Is Now (ESP Disk)
New School, Avant-Garde Jazz, '70s

Don Cherry - Live at Cafe Montmartre Volume Two (ESP Disk)
New School, Avant-Garde Jazz, '60s

Henry Grimes - The Call (ESP Disk)
Avant-Garde Jazz, '60s

Frank Lowe - Black Beings (ESP Disk)
New School, Avant-Garde Jazz, '70s

Sun Ra - Featuring Pharoah Sanders & Black Harold (ESP Disk)
Avant-Garde Jazz, '70s

Special to the Beatles Channel

Bill Anschell - A Different Note All Together (Accurate) "Nowhere Man"

Lynne Arriale Trio - Come Together (Motema) "Come Together"

Count Basie - Basie's Beatle Bag (Verve)

Beatle Jazz - All You Need (Lightyear)

Erin Bode - Don't Take Your Time (MaxJazz) "Here, There and Everywhere"

Don Byron - Romance With the Unseen (Blue Note) "I'll Follow the Sun"

Avishai Cohen - Lyla (Sunnyside) "Come Together"

Julie Hardy - The Wish (World Culture Music) "I'm Looking Through You"

Matt Jorgensen + 451 - Another Morning (Origin Records) "Helter Skelter"

Brad Mehldau - Day is Done (Nonesuch) "She's Leaving Home"

Lee Morgan - Delightfulee (Blue Note) "Yesterday"

John Pizzarelli - John Pizarrelli Meets the Beatles (RCA)

Lonnie Smith - Turning Point (Blue Note) "Eleanor Rigby"

Curtis Stigers - You Inspire Me (Concord Records) "I Feel Fine"

Baptiste Trotignon - Solo II (Naive) "Julia"

George Benson - The Other Side of Abbey Road (A&M)

Various Artists - Step Inside Love: A Jazzy Tribute to the Beatles (Esc)

Various Artists - Day Tripper: Jazz Greats Meet The Beatles (Verve)

Various Artists - Come Together: A Guitar Tribute to the Beatles (NYC)

Various Artists - I Got No Kick Against Modern Jazz (GRP)

Various Artists - Blue Beat: the Music of Lennon and McCartney (Blue Note)