A night Bass'd on a True Story

The Barrel Room at the Twisted Vine Bistro in downtown Fort Myers was packed on Saturday, September 28 for bassist Brandon Robertson's CD release gig/celebration. By my head count, it was standing-room-only and then some.  In addition to those fortunate to get seats at tables or the bar,people were standing wherever they could find space.
 
 It was a well-deserved turnout to note the release of Bass'd on a True Story (Slammin' Media). 

The Barrel Room was the natural choice for this, since Brandon performs weekly at the club as an integral part of the Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quartet each Thursday night. He's built quite a following since settling in the area. He performs frequently in a variety of contexts and directs the jazz program at nearby Florida Gulf Coast University.

Brandon Robertson

While the CD includes two terrific jazz standards (Brooks Bowman's "East of the Sun (West of the Moon" and Benny Golson's "Stablemates"), the other eight tracks are Robertson originals. Each was inspired by a profound moment in the leader's musical or personal life, hence the clever CD title.

The band for the evening included Miller on trumpet, Del Gatto on tenor sax, Zach Bartholomew on piano and Josh Platt on drums. Bartholomew, a longtime collaborator with Brandon since their Florida State undergrad days, earned his doctorate and teaches at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. Platt is a Frost student.

2018's best jazz recordings

‘Tis the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists tend to have a lot of variation depending on the individual reviewer's personal tastes, as well as what he or she listened to during the year.* Bottom line, all are extremely subjective.

These choices below (aside from top 10 new songs of the year) were submitted to the Jazz Journalists’ Association and NPR Music 2018 compilations. (The latter is the annual Francis Davis-produced poll that previously was published by The Village Voice and Rhapsody.com).

As I begin preparing my review of significant events and trends in jazz in 2018 for All About Jazz, I thought I'd share my "best of 2018" lists. *Always keep in mind the above caveats.

The 10 best new jazz releases of 2018

1. Jeff Hamilton Trio, Live from San Pedro (Capri)
   
2. Benjamin Boone and Philip Levine, The Poetry of Jazz (Origin)
3. Lynne Arriale Trio, Give Us These Days (Challenge)
4. Eric Alexander, Song of No Regrets (HighNote)
5. Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet Passion Reverence Transcendence (Whaling City Sound)
6. Fred Hersch Trio, Live in Europe (Palmetto)
7. Yelena Eckemoff, Desert (L&H)
8. Mica Bethea Big Band, Suite Theory (self-produced)
9. Roxy Coss, The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone)
10. Dongfeng Liu, China Carib (Zoho)

2018’s best vocal recording:

Amy Cervini, No One Ever Tells You (Anzic)

The best historical/reissues of 2018 (includes any recordings made over 10 years ago, whether newly released or reissued):

1.     John Coltrane, Both Directions at Once: The Lost Sessions (Verve)

2.     Esbjorn Svensson Trio, E.S.T. Live in London (ACT)

3.     Fred Hersch Trio, '97 @ The Village Vanguard (self-produced)

2018’s best Latin/Brazilian jazz recordings:

1.     Dafnis Prieto Big Band, Back to the Sunset (Dafnison)

2.     Bobby Sanabria, West Side Story Revimagined (JazzHeads)

3.     Antonio Adolfo, Encontros - Orquestra Atlantica (AAM)

4.     Akira Tana, JAZZaNOVA (Vega)

5.     Eddie Daniels, Heart of Brazil (Resonance)

The 10 best new compositions from CDs released in 2018, listed alphabetically:

• Lynne Arriale, “Appassionata” from Give Us These Days (Challenge)
• Benjamin Boone, The Unknowable (Homage to Sonny Rollins)” from Benjamin Boone and Philip Levine, The Poetry of Jazz (Origin)
• Roxy Coss, “Females are Strong as Hell” from The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone)
• Yelena Eckemoff, “Bedouins” from Desert (L&H)
• Thomas Fonnesbæk, “Panic Attack” from Fonnesbæk and Kauflin, Synesthesia (Storyville)
• Ken Fowser, “Coming Up Shorter” from Don’t Look Down (Posi-Tone)
• Benito Gonzalez, “Brazilian Girls” from Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet Passion Reverence Transcendence (Whaling City Sound)
• Fred Hersch, “Newklypso” from Fred Hersch Trio, Live in Europe (Palmetto)
• Monika Herzig, “Nancy Wilson Portrait” from Sheroes (Whaling City Sound)
• Dongfeng Liu, “Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon” from China Carib (Zoho)

Looking back at 2017's best jazz recordings

‘Tis the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists always have a lot of variation depending on the individual reviewer's personal tastes, as well as what he or she listened to during the year.* Bottom line, all are extremely subjective.

These choices below (aside from top 10 new songs of the year) were submitted to the Jazz Times, Jazz Journalists’ Association and NPR Music 2016 compilations (the latter is the annual Francis Davis-produced poll that previously was published by The Village Voice and Rhapsody.com).

As I begin preparing my review of significant events and trends in jazz in 2017 for posting on allaboutjazz.com, I thought I'd share my "best of 2017" lists. *Always keep in mind the above caveats.

The 10 best new jazz releases of 2017

1.   Jimmy Scott, I Go Back Home (Eden River)

2.   Hudson, Hudson (Motéma)

3.   Matt Wilson, Matt Wilson’s Honey and Salt (Palmetto)

4.   Jeff Rupert and Richard Drexler, Imagination (Rupe Media)

5.   Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Infinitude (Whirlwind)

6.   Benedikt Jahnel Trio, The Invariant (ECM)

7.   Yoko Miwa Trio, Pathways (Ocean Blue Tear Music)

8.   Joachim Kühn New Trio, Beauty & Truth (ACT)

9.   Gary Meek, Originals (self-produced)

10. University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I, The Romeo and Juliet Project (Artist Alliance)

   

2017’s best vocal recording:

Jimmy Scott, I Go Back Home (Eden River)

The best historical/reissues of 2017 (includes any recordings made over 10 years ago, whether newly released or reissued):
 

1.  Wes Montgomery / Wynton Kelly Trio, Smokin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1966) (Resonance)

2.  Thelonious Monk, Les Liaisons Dangerouses 1960 (Sam/Saga)

3.  The Three Sounds featuring Gene Harris, Groovin’ Hard: Live at the Penthouse 1964-1968 (Resonance)

4.  Nat King Cole Trio, Swiss Radio Days Vol 43 – Zurich 1950 (TCB)

5.  Art Pepper, Art Pepper Presents West Coast Sessions! Vol. 3: Lee Konitz (Omnivore)

2017’s best Latin/Brazilian jazz recordings:

1.  Eliane Elias, Dance of Time (Concord Jazz)

2.  Ignacio Berroa, Straight Ahead from Havana (Codes Drum)

3.  Antonio Adolfo, Hybrido – From Rio to Wayne Shorter (AAM)

4.  Steve Khan, Backlog (Tone Center)

5.  Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Septet, Diablo en Brooklyn (Saponegro)

The 10 best new compositions from CDs released in 2017, listed alphabetically:   

• Ambrose Akinmusire, “Withered” from A Rift in Decorum (Blue Note)
• Lili Añel, “Another Place, Another Time” from Another Place, Another Time (Wall-I)
• Roxy Coss, “Free to Be” from Chasing the Unicorn (Posi-Tone)
• Jack DeJohnette, “Song for World Forgiveness“ from Hudson (Motéma)
• Akua Dixon, “Let’s Dance” from Akua’s Dance (Akua’s Music)
• Miles Donahue, “The Bug” from The Bug (Whaling City Sound)
• Art Hirahara, “Kin-Ka: Gold Coin” from Central Line (Posi-Tone)
• John Hollenbeck, “The Kiss” from University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I, The Romeo and Juliet Project (Artist Alliance)
• Benedikt Jahnel, “The Circuit” from The Invariant (ECM)
• Mike Longo, “Only Time Will Tell” from Mike Longo Trio, Only Time Will Tell (Consolidated Artists Productions)

Looking back at the year's best jazz recordings

‘Tis the season for the outpouring of Top 10 lists, and their many variations, for jazz, world events, etc. The jazz lists always have a lot of variation depending on the individual reviewer's personal tastes, as well as what he or she listened to during the year.* Bottom line, all are extremely subjective.

Boxing Miles

Miles Davis, 1986*

Jazz legend Miles Davis passed away 25 years ago today at age 65. On September 28, 1991, less than eight weeks after historic concerts in Montreux, Switzerland and Paris in which he revisited classic material, he died in a southern California hospital of pneumonia and heart failure. In addition to being a trumpeter, bandleader and style shaper, he had a strong interest in boxing - and worked out in the ring to keep fit.It hardly seems possible he’s been gone a quarter century. 

One reason is the continued high profile of his music. Within five years of his passing, the labels with which Davis was affiliated began reissue projects of just about everything available from his multi-faceted career. The prolific variety of at least 25 boxed sets and reissues may seem overwhelming to casual fans, but the relentless boxing of Miles is a delight to the jazz world’s compleatists, or at least the Davis contingent. And for that, Miles might smile, or not.

A lengthy rundown of those projects follows.