Now Playing on AccuJazz

There is a whole lot of new music playing on the many AccuJazz channels as of today. I've been importing new CDs for a little over a month while the tech guys have been transitioning to a new technology. That's why the player looks different from how it used to; see the old one in my post here. Here are all the new CDs now playing. I also imported a lot of less recent releases to build up some upcoming channels, but I'm just including new releases here. Click on the album title to purchase it from Amazon.

Benny Golson - New Time, New 'Tet (Concord)

Luba Mason - Krazy Love (Sunnyside)

Jeff Albert Quartet - Similar in the Opposite Way (Fora Sound)

Dena DeRose Trio - Live at the Jazz Standard, Vol. 2 (MaxJazz)

Joshua Redman - Compass (Nonesuch)

Phil Ranelin - Living a New Day (Wide Hive)

David S. Ware - Shakti (AUM Fidelity)

Mads Tolling Trio - Speed of Light (Self-Released)

The Devin Kelly Organ Trio - First Things First (DPK)

Jane Monheit - The Lovers, the Dreamers and Me (Concord)

Baron Tymas - Insight at Midnight (TymasMusic)

John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble - A Blessing (OmniTone)

Ravi Coltrane - Blending Times (Savoy Jazz)

John Beasley - Letter to Herbie (Resonance)

Lori Bell - The Music of Djavan (Resonance)

Bill Cunliffe - The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2 (Resonance)

Mike Garson - Conversations with My Family (Resonance)

Gene Harris Quartet - Live in London (Resonance)

Diego Goldsztein - Jewish Standards (Self-Released)

Toninho Horta - To Jobim with Love (Resonance)

Bill Henderson - Beautiful Memory: Live at the Vic (Ahuh Productions)

Christian Howes - Heartfelt (Resonance)

The Hot Club of San Francisco - Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt and the Impressionists (Azica)

Cathy Rocco - You're Gonna Hear from Me (Resonance)

Andreas Oberg - My Favorite Guitars (Resonance)

Featured Albums for February

A new addition to AccuJazz.com in the wake of our web site launch is a feature that highlights new releases, creatively titled "Featured Albums." We used to have a little box called "featured

albums this month," but it wasn't updated regularly and was just a random grab-bag of jazz albums from different time periods that I liked. This new-and-improved feature box will highlight exceptional new albums getting a lot of play on AccuJazz. Without further ado, the featured albums for February are:

1) Bill Cunliffe - The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2 (Resonance)
Tribute albums are not uncommon, but it's less often that you see one in the form of a re-creation of an entire album. This is the case with LA-based pianist/arranger Bill Cunliffe's magnificent "The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2," on which he pays homage to saxophonist/compose r/arranger Oliver Nelson's landmark album. Cunliffe's take on the classic album is quite personal, interesting and even witty at times, but nowhere near irreverent. The intricate arrangements clearly present the original melodies, taking small liberties that freshen up the familiar material just enough: an extended phrase here, a reharmonization there, an unpredictable orchestration here, a odd-time signature there. Cunliffe enlisted some of the best in the business to carry out his vision, with Terrell Stafford on Trumpet, Jeff Clayton guesting on alto sax, and a crew of top-notch LA studio players filling out the horn and rhythm sections. There's no wonder that this album has been at the top of the JazzWeek chart for 14 weeks. Thoroughly enjoyable modern mainstream jazz.

Listen for it on AccuJazz Main Channel, Piano Jazz, Everybody's Boppin', New School, and New Releases

Buy from Amazon

Reviews: All About Jazz; AllMusic; Audiophile Audition; JazzTimes

2) The Blue Note 7 - Mosaic (Blue Note, duh)
This is a really good time for tribute albums. "Mosaic," by the newly formed Blue Note 7, is another successful tribute to historic recordings of the past. In this case, it's all for the sake of a birthday party: Blue Note turns 70 this year, and central to the celebration is the release of this all-star group's album and their subsequent national tour. Led by pianist and Blue Note artist Bill Charlap, the group includes mostly non-Blue Note musicians: on the front line are trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Steve Wilson. Joining Charlap in the rhythm section are guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash. Sure, I could spout all sorts of praise for these fantastic musicians, but there really is no need; their reputation precedes them. The septet presents original arrangements of classic tracks from Blue Note's golden age. Much like the Bill Cunliffe album, the arrangements are engaging and clever without being irreverent. Payton's re-imagining of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" may be the most out-of-left-field of the bunch, with a fragment of the original melody acting as a rhythmically knotty ostinato that underlies the whole tune. Another no-brainer for the stations submitting to JazzWeek.

Listen for it on AccuJazz Main Channel, New School, and New Releases

Buy from Amazon

Reviews: All About Jazz; AllMusic; Pop Matters

3) Joshua Redman - Compass (Nonesuch)
And now for something that, for whatever reason, hasn't yet made a showing on the jazz radio charts, even though it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard jazz album chart: Joshua Redman's "Compass." It is a freewheeling and enchanting album featuring Redman alongside two piano-less trios. Redman mixes and matches the two bassists and two drummers, often creating a piano-less quintet. Save for a beautiful arrangement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, the songs are written either by Redman or his collaborators (Reuben Rogers and Larry Grenadier on bass; Gregory Hutchinson and Brian Blade on drums). There's free improvisation, Avant-Garde composition, and downright gorgeous songcraft here. "Faraway" is one of the most memorable melodies I've heard in a long while. The playing is superb, and the trio format allows for limitless group interaction. The two-bassists/two-drummers quintet can sometimes be a bit much to absorb, but for the most part it's enjoyably busy. I'm playing this on the AccuJazz channels like it's charting No. 1 on JazzWeek; I don't know what everyone else is missing.

Listen for it on AccuJazz Main Channel, Saxophone Jazz, New School, Cutting Edge, and New Releases

Buy From Amazon

Reviews: All About Jazz; AllMusic; Pop Matters

4) Toninho Horta - To Jobim With Love (Resonance)
And again with the tribute albums! This one comes to us from Brazilian guitar master Toninho Horta, who pays tribute bossa nova pioneer Antonio Carlos Jobim. Horta interprets nine Jobim chestnuts and also offers a few original tunes in homage. Some of the arrangements get a little close to kitsch in their utilization of backing choirs, synthesizers and string orchestras, but the playing by Horta and a star-studded cast of guests including Gal Costa, Bob Mintzer and Gary Peacock is consistently great. Of particular note is the incredible authentic rhythmic feel provided by a whole stable of Brazilian drummers and percussionists. Horta's singing is almost as strong as his guitar playing, for which he has been described by none less than Pat Metheny as "an incredible musician, the rare guitarist who understands harmony in its most intimate ways." Horta delivers on that promise here.

Listen for it on AccuJazz Main Channel, Guitar Jazz, Latin Jazz, and New Releases

Buy from Amazon

Reviews: Audiophile Audition; NPR; AllMusic

5) Keith Jarrett Trio - Yesterdays (ECM)
Does this really need a description? The greatest working piano trio in the world plays their favorite standards before an enthralled audience. Genius improvisations, sophisticated interplay, gorgeous piano voicings, Jack DeJohnette's full-force drumming, Gary Peacock's lyrical bass solos, etc. It's the Keith Jarrett trio, for cryin' out loud! You know it's going to be great. Like the Joshua Redman album, it's beating out plenty of smooth jazz for a spot on the Billboard chart, but isn't even on the JazzWeek radio chart. What's going on here?

Listen for it on AccuJazz Main Channel, Piano Jazz, Live Jazz, New School, and New Releases

Buy from Amazon

Reviews: All About Jazz; AllMusic; Audiophile Audition

New Look

Just in case you didn't notice, or if you're wondering whether I somehow didn't notice, yes, I changed the template for the AccuBlog. I wanted something that was narrower and more contained. All that white space in the old template just felt a little bit anarchic. Also, the green on this template pretty much perfectly matches the AccuJazz green.

By the way, have you checked out the new AccuJazz yet?

The New AccuJazz.com is Live!

After a lot of hard work (and plenty of procrastination, too) the new AccuJazz.com is finally here! What's so new about it, you ask? Well, it is sporting a new look, a new layout, and a dozen brand new channels.

The new channels are: Big Band, Composers: Ellington, Live Jazz, Groove Jazz, Decade: '50s, Give the Drummers Some, Decade: '60s, Cool Jazz, New Orleans, Trumpet Jazz, New Releases, and Cutting Edge. The channels are then broken up into six categories: "Jazz by Style," "Jazz by Instruments," "Jazz by Region," "Jazz by Composer," "Jazz by Decade," and "Other Channels."

The really exciting part: starting next Tuesday, 2/10, a new channel will be rolled out every week. Look for more channels from every category in the coming months, including style channels like "Straight-Ahead" and "Avant-Garde," instrument channels like "Trombone Jazz" and "Good Vibes," more composer, region and decade channels, and creative concoctions, such as a channel that only plays music by people who were in the historic "Great Day in Harlem" photograph.

Our official new slogan is "The future of Jazz Radio." Even though our design scheme happens to be a little retro (it's based on Cannonball Adderley's classic "Somethin' Else"), I think the tagline is more than apt. What is the past and present of jazz radio? One person in a DJ booth deciding what gets played. This isn't necessarily a bad thing: if it's a good DJ, you will likely hear a great combination of timeless favorites and pleasant new discoveries. But you have no say in what music you hear, and if you don't like a particular song, you're stuck with it for the next 5-9 minutes. With AccuJazz, you can pick a channel that suits your tastes (my favorite right now is "Cutting Edge," this week's featured channel).

On top of that, you can "deselect" an artist form the artist list in the AccuJazz player if you don't want to hear them anymore. Say you like an artist enough to keep them in the list, but you don't like a song of theirs that comes up? Just skip to the next song.

Also, you will find a lot of music on AccuJazz that would never make it on the playlists of a traditional radio station because we have so many places to put it. Pretty much every song on the upcoming Avant-Garde channel would be deemed too "out" to make it on the fm dial, but there are plenty of listeners out there (maybe you?) who love that music. I think you get the idea. Jazz radio is great and all, but the future is here.

While You're Listening to AccuJazz... (#2)

In the last installment of "While You're Listening to AccuJazz..."(I changed it from "While You're NOT Listening..." because, duh, you can probably look at other jazz stuff while listening, right?) I highlighted the work of Jazz PR Guy/Videographer Bret Primack's oeuvre of jazz videos on YouTube and elsewhere. I'll quickly note that one of the more recent installments in his jazzvideoguy.tv video podcast was an intriguing look behind the scenes of Joe Lovano's newest project, "Us Five," with whom Lovano will release a Blue Note CD later this year. The video includes candid interviews and priceless fly-on-the-wall footage of Lovano and his coterie backstage at a Village Vanguard gig.

For this installment, I'll be pointing you in the direction of some of the other great jazz-related blogs I've come across. No doubt many jazz fans are familiar with many of these, but I'm sure some are unfortunately unaware of how much great jazz writing is happening exclusively on the internet. A few of my favorites:

Do the Math
DTM is written by Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson. Iverson is extremely knowledgeable and articulate, with incredible insight into the past and present of jazz. He also includes plenty of updates on his fantastic band. One of DTM's highlights was an surprisingly in-depth interview with Wynton Marsalis. Considered by the jazz chattering class to be ideological opposites, Iverson and Marsalis engage in some serious talk about Marsalis' current projects, musical inspirations, and worldview.

JazzWax
JazzWax is written by Marc Myers, a journalist, corporate consultant and longtime jazz aficionado. His blog mostly focuses on Pre-1960's jazz, writing in-depth analyses of rare recordings, illuminating dark corners of jazz history, and engaging in extended interviews with jazz legends, like this one with Jimmy Cobb.

Jazz Beyond Jazz
Written by Jazz Journalist Association president Howard Mandel, Jazz Beyond Jazz covers the current New York jazz scene and anything else on Mandel's mind. Recent posts have tended towards the political events on every one's mind, usually with a tie-in to some jazz news.

Thriving on a Riff
I don't even remember how I happened upon Thriving on a Riff, but I'm glad I did. Ottawa Citizen jazz critic Peter Hum writes more prolifically than any other jazz blogger I know of, and every single post is packed with useful information and thoughtful opinions. He almost always includes one or more youtube clips privy to the topic at hand. Lately his posts have tended towards the political, too, with a recurring series called "Jazz for Obama," currently in its 10th installment.

FreeJazz Stef
I don't know how this guy does it, but he reviews a startling amount of avant-garde jazz releases on the market as they come out. With updates almost every day and a well-organized archive, this is the spot for folks curious about free jazz and related forms. He rates records from 1-to-5 stars, and tags the ones befitting the 5-star honor so that you can see the best of the best all in one place.

Jazz.com
The folks behind Jazz.com must feel a sense of duty to uphold the prestige of their URL, because they're running a wonderful website. There is a constant flow of new content, from the anything-goes Jazz.com Blog to the many impressive interview subjects to their own unique feature, "The Dozens," wherein a guest columnist presents 12 tracks essential to appreciating a given artist or tradition (ex: Ethan Iverson recommending his 12 favorite stride piano tracks). The only problem here (as well as the other blogs listed) is that there simply aren't enough hours in the day to appreciate everything there is to read.

Oh, and then of course there's the AccuJazz AccuBlog, but I have a feeling you might already be hip to that one.

New Year's Random Bits

Happy New Year, Jazz fans! It's good to be back in the AccuRadio offices, working on ways to improve and promote AccuJazz in '09. I enjoyed some relaxing time with my family in my hometown of Tucson, AZ, surely a good place to retreat from the Chicago winter (though I must note that for one day, Saturday, Dec. 27, it was actually warmer in Chicago than in Tucson).



First things first: in case you haven't yet heard (and shame on you if you haven't), jazz giant Freddie Hubbard passed away on Dec. 29 at the age of 70. There have been countless tributes and remembrances written about him in the last week. I have nothing new to add, but I'd like to take a quick moment to express my own experiences and memories of his music.

I probably first heard Hubbard on a Herbie Hancock compilation CD called Cantaloupe Island that my parents gave me for Christmas when I was 11 or 12 years old. I remember particularly loving Hubbard's funky trumpet solos on "Watermelon Man" and "Driftin'." I listened to them enough that I could sing along to the record before I even knew that was something we "jazz students" were supposed to do.

Being a drummer, I was naturally a collector of Art Blakey records, and have always enjoyed the Hubbard/Shorter/Fuller frontline the best of all (Caravan was another record given as an early gift, and has stuck with me ever since). Among the releases under Hubbard's own name, Hub-Tones is a favorite, but I confess to never having mined the depths of his catalog as a leader.

One final note: I feel fortunate to have been in the same small hotel ballroom with a 67-year-old Hubbard at the 2006 IAJE conference in New York, where I was in the audience for a roundtable conversation with a host of NEA jazz masters including the late Ray Barretto, who passed away just over a month later. I really felt like I was in the presence of royalty in that room, and was most excited to see Hubbard out of all of the legends on the stage. Freddie's music will surely be with us for a long, long time.

Here are some good remembrances and tributes, if you haven't already checked them out yourself:

NPR Morning Edition
New York Times
Marc Myers' JazzWax
Jazz.com Tracks Selected by Randy Brecker

OK, in other news...

I was welcomed to the office yesterday by a huge stack of CD's that included, among others, nine releases from the young West Coast jazz label Resonance Records.

Every once in a while a label head is intrigued by the AccuJazz idea and takes it upon him/herself to send all or most of the label's catalog my way. Resonance head George Klabin is a very enthusiastic, passionate promoter and producer of music, and kindly sent the whole catalog. I spent a lot of time yesterday sifting through the Resonance CD's and so far my favorites are Conversations With my Family by Mike Garson (which includes a really nice performance DVD), Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2 by Bill Cunliffe, and a new release of a Gene Harris concert from 1996, Live in London. The music on all of the CD's is immaculately arranged, performed and recorded, and the discs feature entertaining liner notes. This Klabin guy is serious about building a catalog of memorable releases, and he's off to a great start.

Other CD's waiting for me that I'm excited to give a closer listen:
Blending Times by Ravi Coltrane
Similar in the Opposite Way by New Orleans trombonist Jeff Albert
Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt and the Impressionists by The Hot Club of San Francisco

AccuJazz News!

Just a quick news round-up before I leave the Winter Wonderland of Chicago for almost comically warm and sunny Tucson, AZ:

AccuJazz Player Sports New Look

After scouring the jazz news for a little bit this morning and listening to an NPR broadcast of a live performance by a buzz-worthy Chicago band that includes a couple college friends of mine, I headed on over to AccuJazz.com to listen to some good jazz, of course. Upon clicking on my desired subchannel, "New School," I became aware of a new development that I had absolutely no part in: our player got a facelift! Check it out:



Besides looking quite nice, the new player is easier to navigate. There are three tabs to select: "Now Playing," gives you all the info you could want about the song currently playing, including a link to the album's page on amazon; "Artist List," is a list of all artists slated to play on the particular subchannel, with the option of "deselecting" any artist you'd rather not hear; and "Other Channels" has links to all of the AccuJazz subchannels, in case you want a change. The old player, shown below, had all of these features, too, but I think this one is easier to use and much nicer to look at. Let me know what you think.



Well, that's it for the AccuJazz news. Have a very happy, and very jazzy Holiday, everyone!

This Just in at AccuJazz (#2)

For the second installment of "This Just in at AccuJazz," I'll resist the temptation to go way back and make an '08 Top-Ten List and instead just cover a few recent additions worth noting. That's the purpose of the time-honored tradition we call "This Just in at AccuJazz," after all. Today I'll cover a stylistically disparate batch of releases by McCoy Tyner, Tony Malaby, and the duo of Dan Baraszu and Joseph Patrick Moore.

1) McCoy Tyner - Guitars



McCoy Tyner. The last living member of the great John Coltrane Quartet. The mere mention of his name stirs up admiration in any jazz fan's heart. Any new CD he releases is worth a listen, right? Yeah, it is. The concept behind his newest one (which has staked out a comfy spot at the top of the jazz charts for quite a while now) is given away pretty easily by the title: it's McCoy jamming with a bunch of different guitarists. The attendance sheet is surprising at first: Bela Fleck (playing banjo, not guitar), Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, John Scofield and Derek Trucks. For some reason I thought he would have picked a more conventional lineup of solid straight-ahead players -- in my mind the list was going to read something like: Peter Bernstein, Russell Malone, Dave Stryker, and probably Scofield, too. But instead, he picks a group of iconoclasts, each with a strong vision and personal identity.

With a rhythm section of Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, you have a room full of larger-than-life musical personalities. And instead of making it some big Grammy-ready production, the guys pretty much conduct a straight-up jam session. Each guitarist picked two or three tunes to play with the trio. It sounds rough and unrehearsed, but ultimately engrossing. The combination of such great players essentially just having a ball in the studio couldn't have been anything less. DeJohnette is absolutely on fire, as always, Carter lays it down as only he knows how, and Tyner's individual voice shines through. One observation: Frisell and Scofield posses two of the most distinctive guitar sounds in modern jazz, and they seemed to have flattened them out a little bit for this recording.

Track picks:
Blues on the Corner
Contemplation
Trade Winds

Guitars Reviews:
Rifftides
AllMusic

Hear Guitars on these AccuJazz Channels:
Main Channel
Piano Jazz
Guitar Jazz
New School

Publicity Video:


2) Tony Malaby Cello Trio - Warblepeck



Saxophonist Tony Malaby has been steadily gaining stature in the creative jazz world over the last decade-and-a-half or so. I have a special place in my heart for the guy because he's from my hometown, Tucson, AZ (I know I already alluded to the place in another post -- sorry, I guess the Holidays are making me homesick) and because the first clinic/concert by a guest artist I attended as a young jazz student at Northern Illinois University was Mark Helias' Open Loose, a wonderful trio with Malaby on sax. Apart from that, he possesses a singular inventiveness that saturates his rhythmic and melodic ideas as well as the way he manipulates his remarkably brawny tone.

On the disc in question, "Warblepeck," Malaby couples his saxophone with the cello of indie-rock and avant-jazz mainstay Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer/composer extraodinaire John Hollenbeck. Sonically, the disc is a major departure from anything close to mainstream jazz. At times Lonberg-Holm's distorted cello, sounding more Metallica than Rostropovich, plays counterpoint to Hollenbeck's xylophone and desert-dry snare drum while Malaby spins some serpentine melody on top. There are some accessible grooves here, but a lot of it is pretty freely improvised. The musicality of the players and sheer freshness of the group sound lead me hopefully to believe that ears less prone to the Avant-Garde might still enjoy a listen.

Track picks:
Warblepeck
Two Shadows
Scribble Boy

Warblepeck reviews:
Free Jazz Stef
All About Jazz

Hear Warblepeck on these AccuJazz channels:
New School

Related Video (Malaby and Hollenbeck with Tubist Marcus Rojas):


3) Dan Baraszu and Joseph Patrick Moore - Christmas Time is Here



I can't do a whole post about new CD's without injecting a little bit of Christmas cheer, now, can I? We get a lot of random stuff here at the AccuJazz offices, and a Christmas album by a duo I've never heard of usually doesn't get me too excited. But, alas, my gut can't always be right. This is a seriously enjoyable album of Christmas jazz. I don't know much about the guys involved, but I know they are both well-traveled journeymen with a handful of recordings to their credit who reside in Atlanta, GA, where the label backing this release, Blue Canoe Records, is also based.

There is wise use of overdubs on the CD, allowing for rhythm/lead guitar textures and even light percussion at times. The duo also makes tasteful use of effects, as on the leadoff track, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." A jazzy Afro-Cuban 6/8 bassline pulses along while a reverb-drenched nylon-string guitar picks the melody and ambient background noises lay down a pleasing cushion of white noise. This economical inventiveness permeates the album. On the other side of the spectrum, the two musicians show off their impressive bebop chops in an unadorned, live-in-the-studio take of "Blue Christmas." I have to say I'm a little bit surprised at how much I enjoyed Christmas Time is Here. Highly recommended for jazz fans at their wit's end when it comes to Christmas music.

Track Picks:
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Blue Christmas
Christmas Time is Here

Hear Christmas Time is Here on these AccuJazz channels:
Main Channel (until December 26th, of course)
Swingin' Christmas

Publicity Video:

2009 Jazz Grammy Noms are In

I might as well make a blog post about the recently announced jazz Grammy nominations... everyone else is doing it. A few comments from me, a not at all recognized authority on these types of things, but someone who has listened to a lot of jazz in the last year due to his job as an internet radio programming director:

A couple of noms that make me particularly happy (I like some others, too, but I don't have all day here):

Carla Bley - Appearing Nightly (Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album)

I was so happy when I heard about this release and got the high quality full-album download from the radio people at ECM. Carla Bley (pictured) is one of the great jazz composer-arrangers working today, and has one of the most distinctive points of view of any big-band composer in jazz history. This CD is full of her signature quirky arrangements and great performances by the members of her band. (I'm a particular fan of Billy Drummond's drumming behind Bley in the past few years).

Kate McGarry - If Less Is More... Nothing is Everything (Best Jazz Vocal Album)

McGarry's voice may take a little getting used to for folks who've only ever listened to Ella, Sarah, and Billie, but contains rich beauty for those willing to listen. Her nominated disc features a top-shelf backing band, with Gary Versace on organ and accordion, Clarence Penn on drums, Keith Ganz on guitar, Reuben Rogers on bass, and a special guest spot by tenor giant Donny McCaslin. What I really dig about this CD, and why I played it heavily on the main AccuJazz channel even when it wasn't making the best showing in the JazzWeek or CMJ jazz charts, was the inventive arrangements of contemporary songs. Her takes on Bob Dylan, The Cars and Crosby Stills and Nash are surprisingly tasteful and un-gimmicky. The playing by Versace and Penn is particularly sympathetic.

Nom that deserves a laugh:

Nominating two solos from the same live track? Terence Blanchard and James Moody are both nominated for their solos on the tune "BeBop" from the album Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival by the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars. I haven't heard the recording in question, but it just makes the voting members of the academy look lazy. I mean, really? Two out of the five BEST solos in all of 2008 are on the SAME SONG, from the SAME CONCERT?

Here they all are, copied and pasted in all their glory:

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

• Randy In Brasil
  Randy Brecker
  [MAMA Records]

• Floating Point
  John McLaughlin
  [Abstract Logix]

• Cannon Re-Loaded: All-Star Celebration Of Cannonball Adderley
  (Various Artists)
  Gregg Field & Tom Scott, producers
  [Concord Jazz]

• Miles From India
  (Various Artists)
  Bob Belden, producer
  [4Q/Times Square Records]

• Lifecycle
  Yellowjackets Featuring Mike Stern
  [Heads Up International]
  

Category 46

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

• Imagina: Songs Of Brasil
  Karrin Allyson
  [Concord Jazz]

• Breakfast On The Morning Tram
  Stacey Kent
  [Blue Note]

• If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything
  Kate McGarry
  [Palmetto Records]

• Loverly
  Cassandra Wilson
  [Blue Note]

• Distances
  Norma Winstone
  [ECM]

Category 47

Best Jazz Instrumental 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.)

• Be-Bop
  Terence Blanchard, soloist
  Track from: Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars)
  [Monterey Jazz Festival Records]

• Seven Steps To Heaven
  Till Brönner, soloist
  Track from: The Standard (Take 6)
  [Heads Up International]

• Waltz for Debby
  Gary Burton & Chick Corea, soloists
  Track from: The New Crystal Silence
  [Concord Records]

• Son Of Thirteen
  Pat Metheny, soloist
  Track from: Day Trip
  [Nonesuch Records]

• Be-Bop
  James Moody, soloist
  Track from: Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars)
  [Monterey Jazz Festival Records]
  

Category 48

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

• The New Crystal Silence
  Chick Corea & Gary Burton
  [Concord Records]

• History, Mystery
  Bill Frisell
  [Nonesuch Records]

• Brad Mehldau Trio: Live
  Brad Mehldau Trio
  [Nonesuch Records]

• Day Trip
  Pat Metheny With Christian McBride & Antonio Sanchez
  [Nonesuch Records]

• Standards
  Alan Pasqua, Dave Carpenter & Peter Erskine Trio
  [Fuzzy Music]
  

Category 49

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

• Appearing Nightly
  Carla Bley And Her Remarkable Big Band
  [WATT]

• Act Your Age
  Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
  [Immergent]

• Symphonica
  Joe Lovano With WDR Big Band & Rundfunk Orchestra
  [Blue Note]

• Blauklang
  Vince Mendoza
  [Act Music and Vision (AMV)]

• Monday Night Live At The Village Vanguard
  The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
  [Planet Arts Recordings]
  

Category 50

Best Latin Jazz Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

• Afro Bop Alliance
  Caribbean Jazz Project
  [Heads Up International]

• The Latin Side Of Wayne Shorter
  Conrad Herwig & The Latin Side Band
  [Half Note Records]

• Song For Chico
  Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
  [Zoho]

• Nouveau Latino
  Nestor Torres
  [Diamond Light Records]

• Marooned/Aislado
  Papo Vázquez The Mighty Pirates
  [Picaro Records]

When You're Not Listening to AccuJazz...

Every once in a while I'll use this blog to point my faithful listeners/readers' ears and eyes toward some jazz-related internet fun other than the various manifestations of AccuJazz.


Yes, there is other jazz-related internet fun out there.

Today's destination: the online video oeuvre of Bret Primack, self-proclaimed "Jazz Video Guy." Looks can be deceiving; the screen shot above makes him look like a goofy, self-conscious bohemian. Maybe he's just that, but he's also an invaluable creator of unique jazz content on the web.

Essentially Web 2.0 Jazz PR, Primack's videos are the results of work for his clients, which include names like Sonny Rollins, Joe Lovano, Concord Music Group, and Billy Taylor. The videos' classification as PR doesn't make them uninteresting. Where else will you see Sonny and Roy Haynes having an intimate conversation about their first recordings together in the late 40's? Or Orrin Keepnews talking about the legendary Monk Town Hall concert? When Joe Lovano came out with his Streams of Expression album, he hired Primack to work some 'net video magic and out came eight behind-the-scenes videos from the recording of the album. I don't know of anyone else out there creating so much professionally-produced jazz video content.

While his jazzvideoguy.tv site is a new venture and only has his most recent video up (presented as the beginning of a new vlog to which visitors are encouraged to subscribe), his personal website includes most of his original videos. The JazzVideoGuy YouTube channel has those productions plus hours worth of rare jazz footage from throughout jazz history.

I've been aware of Primack for a few years now because I was assigned to read a book of his, How to Make it Big in the New Music Biz, for my music business class in college, and he currently resides in my hometown of Tucson, AZ. Strangely, I've never actually heard anybody in the Tucson jazz scene mention this guy's name. He must always be on the road, interviewing fantastic jazz musicians in his crazy leather hat and big sunglasses.

Next time you're bored and in front of a computer, and you've already spent hours listening to the wonderful programming on AccuJazz, check out Primack's stuff.