2020: The Year in Jazz

All About Jazz has just posted my comprehensive annual look back at the past year in the jazz world.  

In short: The COVID-19 pandemic put the jazz world in a tailspin, just like the world at large, in 2020. And there is plenty of uncertainty going into the new year about what “new normal: might emerge from the darkness. International Jazz Day, like so many other things, became a online virtual event this time around.

Pianist Keith Jarrett disclosed that he might never perform in public again because of lingering health issues. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA Jazz Masters and said farewell to nine others who were among the many industry-associated musicians and figures passing away during the year.

But there was much, much more, in a year like we've never seen before. 

With some 20/20 hindsight, there's a lot more to learn about or refresh your memory right here.

A jazz project with important messages [updated]

Miami-based trumpeter and educator John Daversa's newest recording project is important on many levels that stretch far beyond jazz - or music.

American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom (BFM Jazz) was recorded by the John Daversa Big Band supplemented by 53 so-called "Dreamers" - undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as children and have grown up with American culture and values.

Daversa and his production team worked with nonprofit immigrant organizations to find Dreamers who could share their stories through music. The young singers, rappers and instrumentalists who signed on for the project live in 17 states - and had roots in 17 different countries around the globe. Those homelands are Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Venezuela.

Daversa, who chairs the Studio Music and Jazz Department at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, drafted professional musicians from Miami, Los Angeles and New York for his big band.

The Dreamers performed solos, instrumental accompaniments, spoken word poetry, percussion grooves, lead vocals, choruses and some raps. Each of the nine tunes on the CD is preceded by a Dreamer's narration of his or her individual story.

The featured music includes "Living in America," "Don't Fence Me In," Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," Woody Guthrie's "Deportee" (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos), two patriotic classics - John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" and Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel Ward's "America the Beautiful," "America" from West Side Story, and two Daversa originals - the hopeful and optimistic "All is One" and "Red White and Remixed."

The project's treatment of "America" from West Side Story - is unusual and stunning. It's an all-percussion version, on which big band member Murph Aucamp brought together more than a dozen Dreamers who add multiple layers of exotic rhythm.

Many of the stories will make you pause and think about the challenges these talented young people have endured and continue face.Six years ago, the so-called Dreamers received temporary statues through the Deferred Action for Childhood Early Arrivals policy. It was rescinded last year, creating a limbo of sorts for 800,000 DACA recipients, 90 percent of whom are in school or have jobs.

Juan Carlos Alarcon Moscoso, who performs here on pipe organ, piano and percussion, talked about his challenges as a student musician and a Dreamer. "I don't think unity comes from everybody being the same, but respecting people's differences. I think that's the real unity of America."

Another Dreamer musician, trombonist Denzel Mendoza from Oregon, who came to the U.S. at age 5 with his family from Singapore, says the project "opened my eyes on how far I could take my musical career."

This project is a balm of sorts amid the challenges and rage going on across the US about immigration in general - both legal and illegal. That tragic situation is not what America is deep down inside.

The project endorsements include warm and positive words from both US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA,  and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC. It's a shame that Congress and the White House have been unable to solve the Dreamers' legal quandary - and take a more welcoming stance for other people who come here seeking to better their lives and contribute to its multi-cultured fabric. 

In December, John Daversa’s American Dreamers recording received three Grammy Award nominations – for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Best Jazz Solo ("Don't Fence Me In") and Best Arrangement ("Stars and Stripes Forever").

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.