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Friday, December 5, 2014
Jazz Poll Ballots
I voted in a couple jazz polls today. (Does Jazz Times know
who I am? Do they care?) I submitted the following to Francis Davis for
NPR's Jazz Critics Poll this year:
Your choices for this year's ten best New Releases (albums
released between last Thanksgiving and this, give or take)
listed in descending order one-through-ten.
- Steve Lehman Octet: Mise en Abîme (Pi)
- Paul Shapiro: Shofarot Verses (Tzadik)
- Digital Primitives: Lipsomuch/Soul Searchin' (Hopscotch, 2CD)
- Velkro: Don't Wait for the Revolution (Clean Feed)
- Revolutionary Snake Ensemble: Live Snakes (Accurate)
- Ivo Perelman: The Other Edge (Leo)
- Rent Romus' Life's Blood Ensemble: Cimmerian Crossroads (Edgetone)
- Kris Davis Trio: Waiting for You to Grow (Clean Feed)
- Craig Handy: Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith (Okeh)
- Allen Lowe: Mulatto Radio: Field Recordings: 1-4 (Constant Sorrow, 4CD)
Your top-three Reissues or Historical albums, again in descending
order:
- Ted Daniel's Energy Module: Interconnection (1975, NoBusiness, 2CD)
- Sun Ra & His Arkestra: In the Orbit of Ra (1957-78, Strut, 2CD)
- The Buddy Tate Quartet: Texas Tenor (1978, Sackville/Delmark)
Your choice for the year's best Vocal album:
- Barbara Morrison: I Love You, Yes I Do (Savant)
Your choice for the year's best Debut album:
- Velkro: Don't Wait for the Revolution (Clean Feed)
Your choice for the year's best Latin jazz album:
I think I voted for Ivo Perelman under Latin jazz last year. He's
from Brazil, ergo Latin, but plays free jazz, so not what you'd recognize
as Latin jazz. I also have a few A-list players from Spain and Portugal
(Ridrigo Amado, Luis Lopes) I'd be happy to plug. Not sure why I don't
find more Latin jazz, other than that very little finds its way to me.
I have several A-list Latin pop records (Shakira, Ricardo Lemvo, Fumaça
Preta).
I should also note that I've been counting Jenny Scheinman's The
Littlest Prisoner as a non-jazz album (where it's currently number
two on my list). Obviously would have made the top-ten here had I gone
that way.
Not sure when the results will be posted, but I'll be hosting the
ballots again this year, so I'll probably know more before it happens.
Some preliminary stats: 60 new A-list albums, 124 new B+(***) [HM],
368 other albums for total of 552; 10 old A-list, 5 old B+(***) [HM],
11 other for total of 26. Didn't find many late-graded 2013 albums:
23 (3 new + 1 old A-list).
In 2012 (at roughly this time), I had 556 new jazz records (similar,
but with 80 ungraded in queue, vs. 15 now), and 36 old records (plus 2
undgraded), so the falloff this year is less than I expected. (Not sure
about 2013, as I don't seem to have the data readily available.)
I also have a request from Sergio Piccarilli to vote in El Intruso's
"8th Creative Music Critics Poll 2014." I've voted in it before, but
procrastinated last year and missed the deadline date (January 5th
this year).
It will be a pleasure for us to know your opinion about your
favorites in these categories (no more than three choices in each
category)
- Musician of the year: Anthony Braxton, William Parker,
Ivo Perelman
- Newcomer Musician: Ben Flocks, James Brandon Lewis
- Group of the year: Mostly Other People Do the Killing,
Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, Angles 9
- Newcomer group: Velkro
- Album of the year: Steve Lehman: Mise en Abime (Pi);
Digital Primitives: Lipsomuch/Soul Searchin' (Hopscotch);
Revolutionary Snake Ensemble: Live Snakes (Accurate)
- Composer: John Zorn, Adam Lane, Allen Lowe
- Drums: Gerry Hemingway, Tom Rainey, John Hollenbeck
- Acoustic Bass: William Parker, Adam Lane
- Electric Bass:
- Guitar: Luis Lopes, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Anders Nilsson
- Piano: Irene Schweizer, Matthew Shipp, Kris Davis
- Keyboards/Synthesizer/Organ: Brian Charrette, Jamie Saft
- Tenor Saxophone: Ken Vandermark, Ivo Perelman, Jonas Kulhammar
- Alto Saxophone: Francois Carrier, Steve Lehman, Oliver Lake
- Baritone Saxophone: Scott Robinson, Brian Landrus
- Soprano Saxophone: Sam Newsome, Liudas Mockunas
- Trumpet/Cornet: Wadada Leo Smith, Dave Douglas, Ralph Alessi
- Clarinet/bass clarinet: Rudi Mahall, Andy Biskin
- Trombone: Roswell Rudd, Steve Swell, Samuel Blaser
- Flute: Juhani Aaltonen
- Violin/Viola: Jason Kao Hwang, Jenny Scheinman, Regina Carter
- Cello: Fred Lonberg-Holm
- Vibraphone: Matthias Stahl, Jason Adasiewicz
- Electronics: Kieran Hebden
- Other Instruments: Richard Galliano (accordion),
Cooper-Moore (diddley-bow)
- Female Vocals: Barbara Morrison, Marlene VerPlanck,
Catherine Russell
- Male Vocals: Freddy Cole
- Best Live Band: ICP Orchestra
- Record Label: Clean Feed, NoBusiness, Pi
Names were mostly plucked off this year's top album list, with a
few reminders from last year and a few more names from memory --
certainly doesn't constitute any serious, deep thinking: pretty sure
everyone mentioned deserves mentioning, but many of those unmentioned
don't deserve the slight. Several slots could have gone much deeper:
drums, bass, alto sax, tenor sax, piano, trumpet. I dropped my number
two and four albums somewhat arbitrarily.
Ask a question, or send a comment.
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