The Jazz Loft Radio Project
The Jazz Loft Project is one of the most fascinating documents of multiple obsession—an obsession about an obsessive’s obsession—and it’s worth checking out in multiple media.
Fred Kaplan
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Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Toward the end of 2009, I read a lot about Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, an 18-piece big band, and its debut CD, <I>Infernal Machines</I>, which was showing up on several best-of-the-year lists. But I never received a copy of the album and couldn’t figure out how to contact the label, New Amsterdam. Finally, I <I>bought</I> a copy from Downtown Music, a terrific alt-jazz record store in Manhattan, and, it turns out, the excitement is justified.
Fly at the Jazz Standard
I caught Fly—the trio consisting of Mark Turner on tenor and soprano saxophones, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums—at the Jazz Standard Thursday night.
World Saxophone Quartet + M'Boom
The World Saxophone Quartet and the five-piece percussion group M’Boom play together at Birdland in midtown Manhattan through Sunday. It’s music to make your head sweat and spin.
Fred Hersch, Drew Gress, Paul Motian
Pianist Fred Hersch plays at the Village Vanguard this week, joined by bassist Drew Gress and drummer Paul Motian. I was at last night’s early set, and it was one of the most bracing I’ve seen in a long while.
The Blues and the Abstract Truth at 45
With Analogue Productions’ new 45 rpm vinyl pressing of Oliver Nelson’s <I>The Blue and the Abstract Truth</I>, we finally have a reissue of this great album that’s worth buying.
Charlie Parker's "White Christmas"
I’m a little late with this, but if you’re still in holiday spirits, can’t stand to hear Paul McCartney’s ditty or Mel Torme’s jingle one more time, and cringe, thoroughly bummed out, at Bob Dylan’s piss-brew of raspy cheer, take a listen to Charlie Parker’s take of “White Christmas.”
The Jazz Book of the Year
The jazz book of the year is called, simply,<I>Jazz</I>. Written by Gary Giddins, the best living jazz critic, and Scott DeVeaux, one of the most astute jazz historians, it’s a vital reference for those well versed in the subject and an essential guide for those who get lost in its thickets and want to know how to listen to the music so that it at least makes sense.
Best Jazz of the Year (and the Decade)
My annual piece on the Best Jazz Albums of the Year appears in today’s edition of <I>Slate</I> (for which I write a regular column, though usually on foreign and military policy). This time, I also drew up two lists of the Best Jazz Albums of the Decade—one for new recordings, the other for previously unreleased historical recordings (treasure troves of which were excavated this past 10 years). Readers of this blog may recall reading about most of these albums in this space.
Miles of Miles and Ella
I’ve published two music articles elsewhere in the past couple weeks.