Best Album Of 2009 Over the last week we have discussed the albums that have been spinning continuously on our stereo over the past year. I said that these were in no particular order. The only part about this statement that is incorrect is my final entry for the year. Today's entry is truly my Album Of The Year.
Acoustic Ladyland Living With A Tiger (Strong and Wrong)
I decided to sit down and listen to Living With A Tiger again for about the 3rd time this week to see if it held up from last week. As you can tell I probably have listened to this record at a miminal of twice a week since it came out. This is Acoustic Ladyland's fourth album and is definitely their most aggressive and adventurous. A jazz, indie rock, art rock hybrid--like John Zorn and Frank Zappa fronting Sonic Youth distorting your speakers and disturbing your neighbors is how Acoustic Ladyland will feel. Once you tear all that aside, Acoustic Ladyland is a quartet that has quickly become revered and acknowledged in the European jazz circles as one of the most exciting bands on record and live--in just a few short years.
As with The Vandermark 5 stateside, Acoustic Ladyland are setting dynamite to what we know as jazz or free jazz. Their incorporation of rock idioms is nothing new but it certainly hasn't been done this well since possibly the Zappa era. From the opener, "Sport Mode" to the closer "You and I" and my personal favourite "Have Another Go", Living With A Tiger demolishes every musical category and leaves you with the most important thing--The Music.
The collision of frenetic saxophone, grinding guitars, pulsating bass lines and ambulance-inducing drummers makes for a considerable dedication of the listener from the outset for this London based band. But they more than meet every challenge with each record. Acoustic Ladyland is a shot in the arm (or face) for jazz and will continue to be an exciting and refreshing reward for anyone who takes the time to open their mind to this journey with a Tiger. Happy New Year.
Best Albums Of 2009 Each day until the end of the year we will discuss the albums that have been on repeat on our stereo for the past 12 months (in no particular order).
Joshua Redman Compass (Nonesuch)
With Compass, Joshua Redman has made an in depth and fully realized masterpiece that does remind me of his first three albums. The double trio exploration with two bassists and two drummers on paper sounds like a wall of cacophony. Compass is nothing of the sort. Its is an album filled with just the right amount of muscle and tranquility that you will undoubtedly listen to again and again. Inspired by his great father Dewey Redman, but sounding more and more like one of his other inspirations, Sonny Rollins, Compass take another step forward in making Joshua Redman one of the best saxophonists on his generation. He continues to be highly inventive and pushes rhythm into new directions. Compass is the place to start if you haven't listened to Joshua Redman before.
Bugge Wesseltoft Playing (Jazzland Records)
Sparse, introspective and hauntingly beauty are the images that come to mind when listening to Bugge Wesseltoft's latest release, simply titled Playing. Wesseltoft has been conjuring up alluring and futuristic imagery for over 10 years now as a solo artist, with his collective New Conception Of Jazz, and as sideman (Nils Petter Molvaer, Joyce, among others). He is a mainstay on the Norwegian and European jazz scene but only a cult figure in the U.S. (more due to the small distribution of his albums than his willingness to tour here). Bugge Wesseltoft has been compared to Keith Jarrett in his ability to create a full emotion of sound from a single piano setting as well as Jarrett's manner of forcing the listener to experience every note. Playing features an almost playful version of Brubeck/Desmond's legendary "Take Five" as well as wonderful gospel-tinged version of "Many Rivers To Cross". Wesseltoft may not be the European Keith Jarrett but he is a master at creating a mood that will resonate with almost anyone. Enjoyed with a nice glass of Merlot, Playingwill be probably be one of your favourite albums of 2010.
Best Albums Of 2009 Each day until the end of the year we will discuss the albums that have been on repeat on our stereo for the past 12 months (in no particular order).
Portico Quartet Isla (RealWorld Music)
Portico Quartet have created a rousing and hypnotic second album, Isla, that combines their love of African rhtyms and distinct musicianship into a haunting yet beautiful opus. Where there 2007 debut clearly showed their influences (Steve Riech, Coltrane, et al), Isla has taken a leap forward with deep concentration of song structure and the balance of each musicians contribution. Atmospheric, emotional, rich and delicate--all quite comfortable and appropriate words for this album but Isla demonstrats so much more. On tracks like the opener, "Paper Scissors Store" "Dawn Patrol" and "Line" show a quartet that definitely loves what they do and are looking forward to what comes next. Very few bands today can create such an ethereal element throughout an entire album and still leave you wanting more. Portico Quartet have done just that.
For those who've enjoy E.S.T. over the last decade, Portico Quartet might be a good alternative to follow and they will be addicting. Isla is an expensive import CD but you can find it for download for a little less.
Best Albums Of 2009 Each day until the end of the year we will discuss the albums that have been on repeat on our stereo the past 12 months (in no particular order).
Jon Hassell Last Night The Moon Came Dropping It's Clothes in the Street (ECM)
Jon Hassell's muted, electronically enhanced trumpet style has been directly related to the experimental work of Miles Davis in the 70s. Jon Hassell's early work with electronic/ambient pioneer, Brian Eno are now considered benchmark recordings for the electronic/ambient and new age genres. Hassell's work has always combined the beauty of jazz and the wonder of eastern philosophy. Last Night The Moon Came Dropping It's Clothes In The Street continues Jon Hassell marvellous use of soundscapes that are not just mood setting but highly involved experiments in world music with jazz and poetry as its foundation.
This is an album you need to discovery and let melt into your system like medicine. There are times, as on the enchanting "Northline" that you can truly feel the Miles Davis influence with great effectiveness. The musicians Hassell has surrounded himself with (Eivind Aarset on guitar, Jan Bang (sampling) among others) for this recording add more cohesion and youthfulness to the proceedings than previous records. Jon Hassell has made one his best albums in over 20 years--a collage of sound, colours and atmosphere that is enjoyable from first listen.
David S. Ware Shakti (Aum Fidelity)
David S. Ware is probably the closest thing you will get to hearing John Coltrane. A declared influence on his development, David S. Ware has forged a career that has been built on spirituality and improvisation. His albums are always a step ahead of his contemporaries and challenge the listener to think and accept the different world that is around them and how it can influence you in more ways than just the music.
Shakti explores the Indian tradition in the same manner Coltrane did with his later work such as OM, Crescent and Interstellar Space, etc. One of the fascinating things about Shakti that I have enjoyed is Ware's use of guitar (provide by the versatile Joe Morris) which acts as the replacement for a pianist and makes the outing an highly inventive affair. The interplay between the quartet is sublime and their approach throughout the recording is both seductive and rewarding. I've found that Shakti and Ware's 2006 BalladWare make for the best primer for those wanting to discover the complex, fierce and yet accessible world of David S. Ware.
Acoustic Ladyland
