Awards,
Jazzwise Albums of the Year 2019
Jazzwise recently revealed their top albums of 2019, and the list paints a very positive picture of the diversity and creativity currently coming out of the global jazz scene. Their overall Album of the Year is the Branford Marsalis Quartet's The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, a deserved win for a record that sets an incredibly high bar for jazz in the 21st century.
It's good to see Michael Janisch's Worlds Collide near the top of the list, a brilliantly vivid musical depiction of London life that I enjoyed back in September, and Gwilym Simcock's solo piano odyssey, Near and Now also gets a high placing - you can read my interview with Gwilym here.
There are several things I am looking forward to catching up on too, and the usual list of releases that I enjoyed and hoped to see included... where's Herlin Riley's Perpetual Optimism or Daniel Herskedal's Voyage? At the end of the day that's the point of lists though, it's all grist for the mill.
Read on for the list, in descending order, and at the bottom I have included the Jazzwise Top 5 Reissues of the Year, which sees John Coltrane's Blue World in the top spot, and the Tubby Hayes Quartet's incredible lost Fontana album Grits, Beans and Greens running a close second.
Album of the Year
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The runners up...
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Bill Frisell - Harmony
Bill Frisell (guitar), Petra Haden (vocals), Hank Roberts (cello), Luke Bergman (guitars/electric bass/vocals)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Available Format: 2 CDs
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Roma
Enrico Rava (flugelhorn), Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone/tarogato), Giovanni Guidi (piano), Dezron Douglas (double bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Format: 2 Vinyl Records
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Trio Tapestry
Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone/tarogato/gongs), Marilyn Crispell (piano), Carmen Castaldi (drums/percussion)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Trio Tapestry - Vinyl Edition
Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone/tarogato/gongs), Marilyn Crispell (piano), Carmen Castaldi (drums/percussion)
Available Format: Vinyl Record
The Jazzwise Top 5 Reissues of 2019...
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Available Format: 2 CDs
The Jewell In The Lotus
Bennie Maupin (reeds/voice/glockenspiel), Herbie Hancock (piano/electric piano), Buster Williams (bass), Freddie Waits (drums), Billy Hart (drums), Bill Summers (percussion), Charles Sullivan (trumpet)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC