2024 listening list
I don’t focus much on new music, nor do I prioritize listening to something based on its being newly released. That being said, here’s a random list of some of the stuff I’m listening to which happened to come out in 2024, in no particular order:
Planetarium – Ben Monder (a monster of a record – (3 CDs and stays coherent and focused all the way thru)
Touch of Time – Arve Henriksen, Harmen Fraanje – (quiet, meditative sound paintings)
Milton and Esperanza – Milton Nascimento and Esperanza Spalding -( joyous, affectionate and intimate music)
Moondial – Pat Metheny – (soothing, calm pieces played on a lovely sounding baritone guitar)
Y’ Y – Amaro Frietas – (earthy, impressionistic, Amazonian jungle sounds)
Little Big III – Aaron Parks – (Little Big’s third album might be their best so far – trippy “jam band” music with great writing.)
Balalake Sissoko and Derek Gripper – Balalake Sissoko and Derek Gripper (Kora master with classical guitarist who has beautifully brought Malian kora repertoire to the guitar)
Taking Turns – Jakob Bro – (lovely stuff, much of which is related to Black Pigeons.)
Celebration – Wayne Shorter (perhaps the best live last quartet album)
First Song – Soren Bebe Trio (another beautiful, understated album by the quiet Danish pianist.)
The Sky Will Still Be Here Tomorrow – Charles Lloyd – (a gorgeous album by the master of subtlety.)
Out of Into – Motion I – Joel Ross, Gerald Clayton, Immanuel Wilkins, Matt Brewer and Kendrick Scott – (cutting edge burning state of the art jazz from the next generation of masters.)
I’ve been following Joel Ross’s career for a long time, as well as Gerald Clayton’s. I’ve seen both of them together and separately a number of times and in different contexts. They are both incredible bearers of the flag, steeped in the history and yet looking forwards, as are all their compatriots. Fearless, essential stuff.
17 Kommentare
Michael Engelbrecht
Yesterday, on a car trip to Essen, I heard Little Big iii, and i felt like in a time machine to the 70’s. An album full of deliberately created deja vues mixed with an own vision! m.e. 🎡
Olaf Westfeld
The Charles Lloyd Album seems to be something we all can agree on, will check some of the other titles,
.
flowworker
Olaf, this is really a „Whistler list“!
Often soft, always deep stuff…
flowworker
Charles Lloyd, of course, a fantastic album, with my „sideman of the year“, pianist Jason Moran. Pure understatenment and inventiveness. ou can hear him, too, on Jakob Bro’s „Taking Turns“.
ijb
Jason Moran recording for Red Hook in Brooklyn, late October 2024
Michael
And who are the other guys in the room?
Will it be out in March?
ijb
Die zweite Platte des Refract-Trios. Alles waren schwer begeistert, es wurde sehr viel aufgenommen, teils dynamischer und freier als beim ersten Mal, teils längere Impros. Sun meinte am Ende (halb scherzhaft?), „Leute, das wird ein Triple-Album!“
Kommt wahrscheinlich im Herbst.
Im Frühjahr erstmal das Soloalbum von Amina Claudine Myers.
Brian Whistler
I think the Ben Monder is a must listen. Its a lot of material, but really impressed me with its vision. I think it’s his best and most ambitious album yet.
flowworker
Completely missed that MONDER box. Will be changed immediately.
My luck I know the german distributor,
and he will send it so soon it will probably land
under the Christmas Tree🌠
Brian Whistler
I added one more to the lost. If you haven’t hear Joel Ross, he’s a fabulous vibist. And Gerald Clayton is one of the most refined pianists to come up in a while. He’s been playing with Charles Lloyd for the last few years. The whole band on this recprdkng is great.
flowworker
Das Soloalbum von Amina Claudine im Frühjahr?
Hopefully in March, then it would have its place safe and sound
In Horizons of Sound.
Ot the producer allows to play a piece from it!!! A world premiere:)
ijb
Sun schrieb mir letzte Woche, es sei für Mai geplant. Ich habe allerdings noch nichts von den bearbeiteten Aufnahmen gehört (war allerdings ja bei den beiden Solo-Piano-Aufnahmen dabei, nicht aber bei den Orgelaufnahmen). Irgendwann im kommenden halben Jahr gibt es auch ein „Anniversary“-Release von den letzten Masabumi-Kikuchi-Aufnahmen, von denen ein Teil ja Red Hooks Katalognummer 1 ist. Zehnter Todestag im Jahr 2025.
flowworker
Im Mai habe ich ja auch wieder Klanghorizonte😉
Michael Engelbrecht
Joel Ross is noted.
Aaron Parks was my cd on the road music lately.
Now i am listening to it on my hifi. The ubiquitious Don Was produced it with Aaron, and, as I said, the sound is first class. I have not a heard a jazz album within the last years with so many dejavues – and yet being so inventive at the same time.
The time of time traveling. If you read reviews, all these names come up: Lyle Mays, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett, Steely Dan, Tom Waits (haha), and and and.
When Aaron has his Keith Jarrett moments on the album, it’s not about stealing, it’s a declaration of love. He is even humming like Jarrett on track number 9 … is it a bit too much Jarrett – in these special moments? I don’t think so.
But it sends me back in time. Again, the sound is so good, and I call myself an idiot for missing the band live in Cologne lately.
The music is easy on the ears, but really grabs me.
Brian Whistler
I really think Aaron Parks is a true original. And from the beginning, he showed his interest in out of the box thinking and an openness to different genres (just listen to his first Blue Note album, Invisible Cinema). In a weird way he is like Jarrett because of his love of, for lack of a better word, Americana (and unlike Keith, even pop music), and there is a certain kind of early Jarrett tune (of which there are many,) that shares this „folk jazz“ vibe. I personally love that period and play many of those tunes. I don’t think Jarrett gets nearly enough credit for the timeless tunes he wrote in that vein, mostly when he was on the Impulse label. I think that’s the meeting point, more than anything with those two. But of course Aaron Parks is also from a younger generation and has embraced electronics to an extent, Whereas Jarrett eschewed them. As for sounding like him sometimes on piano, well so what? That’s like saying someone sounds like Bill Evans.. Anyone who has reached that rarified status is impossible to ignore and one way or the other has to rub off on younger players. I personally love the fact that Parks has the chops of a Keith Jarrett, but employs them in an entirely different context.
I love all Little Big albums, and they all sound amazing. In terms of sound, I’m still partial to the first one on the Ropeadope label, which was recorded entirely analog. In my opinion, the new album on blue note sounds amazing, but I think that first album sounds even fatter, warmer and chunkier, especially on the bottom.
What I love the most about this band is, there’s a certain almost hippie-like freedom that demonstrate, and the tunes are for the most part launching pads for improvisation. And while the tunes sound simple, theres usually a lot more going on under the hood than one might think – subtle things that one doesn’t necessarily hear but nonetheless feels. I recently wrote out. Ashé, the closing track, thinking it would be easy. And it is, at least harmonically and melodically, yet there’s a lot more going on than I first understood – meter changes and subtle phrasing that sounded so natural one doesn’t even notice, and makes this deceptively simple sounding tune a bit more complex than one might first think. But that’s the thing about Aaron Parks – like the early Jarrett stuff, his tunes have more depth than first meets the ear. What makes Parks stand out, partially at least, is his signature compositional style, particularly his unique melodic phrasing. And when he repeats something, he almost always reharmonizes it or does something to alter it in order to give it an extra spin. That’s what separates this group from the rest – great writing.
Note that once again, Parks has recently put out a live album recorded on his phone. This time it’s Little Big on tour, and while the fidelity leaves something to desire, the performances are off the charts. Available on his bandcamp page for a $5 donation.
I too missed Little a big in a London recently. By just one day. My partner and her collaborator were on a book tour and I went along with them to Bristol the day before the show. A friend even offered me tickets to that show. Well I’m seeing Parks next April at SF Jazz. No word of the configuration though. Hoping it will be a a little Big Show but regardless, I’m looking forwards to seeing him again.
flowworker
A real treat, like they say in California😉
Michael Engelbrecht
Go here for more:
https://www.manafonistas.de/2018/12/23/aaron-parks-little-big/