What were the best jazz albums from this year?

I would've liked to develop a list this year but jazz has way too few previews available like spotify and then is way too expensive for a blind buy. Then the exact opposite is true for most other genres. At least that's why I think this thread is dead. It's not because people don't like it or don't care. I only heard about ten albums this year and despite enjoying most of them, none really made it into rotation. Personally the only classic for me was Lisa Hilton covering the Pixies which admittedly is just for a little meme value.

>>69969907
I use slsk to see if I like an album and then buy it

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jazz doesnt seem to be doing too well on /mu/ in the latter half of 2016, im just hoping jtg will still do his year-end list so i can catch what i missed

>>69972851
This is what he's been posting as his list
https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/jazzthreadguy/strm_relyear,ss.rd/2016

>>69973290
cheers famn

>>69969603

The NPR Jazz Critics Poll is generally the best end-of-year list for noteworthy American jazz releases:

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/12/21/506093073/the-2016-npr-music-jazz-critics-poll

>>69969603
here are the albums I picked from what I listened to from this year

Moutin factory quintet - Deep
Ingrid Laubrock - Serpentines
Thierry Maillard - Il canto delle montagne
Joona Toivanen - Lone room
Henri Texier - Dakota mab
Christophe Dal Sasso - Les nébuleuses
Joachim Kühn - Beauty & truth
Joëlle Léandre - Can you hear me ?
Dré Pallemaerts - Coutances
Claude Tchamitchian - Traces

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best jazz vocal album of 2016 coming through

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Anna Högberg Attack is amazing and Wisdom of Elders is pretty good too

Blades of Love is also worth mentioning, even though it's more avant garde than jazz

>>69969603
Still working through it, but it seems pretty good so far

>>69975273
Can vouch for this too

>>69972851
Looks pretty cool, never heard of it

Peter Evans' Lifeblood is a pretty great slice of solo trumpet for fans of unconventional playing techniques and experimental music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDxAQ_gBbn0

haven't really seen it mentioned anywhere - probably partly due to it being a digital only release

>>69973290
There are reviews for all of them too

>>69975693
This is really good, ty lad

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I've been listening to this one this week.

I haven't liked Dave Douglas' work outside of Zorn's Masada much, but this seems very good to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KRRmGcHaGs

>>69976100
Cool

Blackstar
>"that's not jazz"
fuck you dude

>>69976536
It isn't tho

Next you're going to say that THE EPIC is a jazz hahahahaha

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Anybody heard this? JTG apparently says it's the best of the year

>>69976606
cool b8

>>69976536
Dood
Dood
You just cant fucking be this dumb

>>69976536
>but but but it contains saxophones

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>>69976754
well, the band is all jazz musicians so there's that

take away Bowie and you can present it as contemporary jazz just fine (pic related)

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Is this album The Epic of 2016?

>>69976982
kind of but not really because it hasn't had genre crossing popularity but is pretty much just enjoyed by people who like spiritual jazz and Gilles Peterson related things

The Epic wouldn't be a meme if it had the same reception as Wisdom of Elders

>>69976982
>>69977034
The only reason the Epic got any attention at all is because Kamasi had just played on releases by FlyLo and Kendrick. Otherwise I'm pretty sure nobody would have even cared about it.

>>69976606
The Epic does qualify as jazz, but fuck me, it's awful.

>>69969603
Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau - Nearness
BBNG - IV
Joe Lovano Quartet - Classic! live at Newport
David Bowie - Blackstar

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post more interesting 2016 jazz and shut up about Kamasi and Bowie and other jazz-bait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb1Ce6V7coQ

Who /didn'tlikeguitarjazzuntiltheyheardmaryhalverson/ here?

>>69978201
literallywho.png

>>69976982
This albums not that great but still much better than the epic

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This was really fucking good.

get out scaruffster

>>69976618
anybody have a link for this?

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That feel when I wanted this to be good.

Kind of a disappointment, even compared to the other Fire! and Fire!Orchestra releases.

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>>69976982
Why do you hate comfy albums, anon? WoE was cozy and had a few pretty good tracks.

I'm even still confident that The Epic is going to get some people into jazz, so there's that.

>>69979394
Yeah, I've been hopeful for a while that the popularity of players like Kamasi and Christian Scott will get more people listening to other, frankly much better music from the idiom. Unfortunately I personally haven't seen many examples of that. I think a lot of people (mostly kids) who enjoy The Epic aren't willing to branch out and give other jazz artists a chance for some reason.

I posted the top jazz albums for you but no-one cared

>>69979959
jtg ? I haven't listened to much of your list but I took note of some of the stuff you posted and will take a listen

>>69979855
>>69979394

actually, The Epic DID get me into jazz, or at least a lot more into it then I used to be. not gonna lie The Epic blew my mind when I first heard it but now that I've heard other "better" stuff I haven't really gone back to it and I just keep exploring more.

it's crazy how much jazz just from the 50s-60s that there is worth listening to, let alone everything that comes after. it's kind of an intimidating genre to get into but I've found it extremely rewarding.

>>69980099
What?

>>69979337
Yeah Ritual was disappointing, but I will say it's one of their best coverarts

>>69980409
>it's crazy how much jazz just from the 50s-60s

This desu. I spent almost a year just getting through Coltrane's discography. Definitely rewarding though

>>69980409
I'm glad to hear that-- frankly knowing that some people do leave guys like Kamasi behind and take their listening in new directions gives me hope for the future of the music's listenership.

And yeah, it's certainly intimidating getting into jazz, especially if you didn't grow up listening to it. I consider myself relatively knowledgeable/well-listened, but I know I still have an essentially infinite amount of listening and learning to do. As you said though, it's incredibly rewarding; I feel like even now I'm getting more and more satisfaction out of the music every day!

If you haven't, you should check out Pharaoh Sanders' solo work. I think it's the basis for a lot of Kamasi's schtick.

>>69981007

Karma is probably my favorite "spiritual jazz" album, actually.

I really like how the jazz people on /mu/ are by far one of the friendliest sub-communities here.

>>69981877
Ah nice, I'm glad you like Pharaoh.

And yeah, I guess the excitement of finding someone else who actually listens to jazz must shock people into being nice... And if I had to guess the jazz people on /mu/ are probably a little older on average than the rest of the board

>>69981877
The /mu/ jazz and dungeon synth communities are some of the best on the internet. Shame they're so small here.

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>>69969603

>>69981132
SO TRUE

>>69982267
>>69981877
ily lads

Am I the only one who hates Pharoah Sanders

>>69983859
Why do you hate him?

>>69984080
I've listened to at least 10 of his albums and never enjoyed a single one.

>>69984171
Hmm, just not for you then. I don't enjoy Miles much, so we all have odd tastes

All you need to know really
Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM)
Ken Vandermark: Site Specific (Catalytic)
Bathysphere: Bathysphere (Driff)
SLM (Mark Dresser and Sarah Weaver): Source (Liminal)
Peter Broetzmann: Beautiful Lies
Barry Guy: The Blue Shroud
Rob Mazurek: Alien Flower Sutra
Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter The Plus Tet
Peter Evans: Lifeblood
Martin Archer: Story Tellers
Michael Formanek's Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance (ECM)
Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum Of Variables (Pi)
Nels Cline: Lovers
Nate Wooley: Argonautica
Henry Threadgill's Ensemble Double-Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs

>>69985835
Bathysphere is pretty cool, I never heard of it.

It's wierd to see Brotzmann playing with an electronics ensemble, I remember seeing an interview with him where he said "I don't believe in the electronics".

>>69979855
I've listened to a few of Christian Scott's tunes, and they're pretty dece. His playing is certainly up to snuff even if you don't like his writing.

>>69987043
Chops-wise he can play, but horn players with chops come a dime a dozen. Personally I think his improvising is soulless, uninteresting and masturbatory.

http://jazzistheworst.blogspot.com/2014/07/christian-scott-atunde-adjuah.html?m=1

This review of one of his records does a better job of taking him down than I ever could.

>>69969603
anyone have a dl for this? sounds beautiful so far. very ecm/thirdstream

>>69987043
To add to that: crafting an engaging, memorable melody is an integral part of improvising, but that fact seems to be lost on Christian Scott.

>>69976618
>>69979322
d/ling now so i'll upload when i get a chance

>>69988629
I don't like Christian Scott but this is a terrible "review"

>>69992055
If you're looking for an objective, level headed review of his music look elsewhere. I posted it because a) it's funny as fuck and b) it pretty much describes how I felt the first time I listened to Christian Scott

>>69990624
>>69979322
>>69976618

heard it, pretty damn siq
download link thru here >>69992456

>>69980260
XD

>>69988629
>>69988680

Fair enough. I haven't listened to enough of his stuff to really argue.

(Replying to my own comment cause I forgot to mention this)
>>69995113
Well we're on the subject listen to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktU_X7CDaBM

Most of the solo is double tracked and at some points his double track gets really (relatively) far away from the original resulting in some neat intentional comb filtering, almost like an intentional harmonic dissonance. What do you guys think of incorporating more studio techniques into jazz? It's obviously not a new idea, but it seems like a very unexplored area to me with some cool possibilities.

>>69995314
I think live electronics and live loops are cool, but extensive editing, postproduction and additional tracks seem antithetic to jazz - I kind of feel like these days with all sorts of new ideas and genre-mixing going on in jazz, the focus on musicians creating the music in the moment vs. polished studio production is one of the key qualities of jazz

still, I don't think any less of Bitches Brew for it's studio edits, but it just seems like very little meaningful substance for jazz has come from incorporating more studio techniques

>>69995314
I think it's a cool idea, and I don't see anything wrong with it as long as it's done well. I think Scott actually executes the effect in that song rather well, although his playing still leaves much to be desired.

A couple other, (and personally, I think, better) examples of odd studio techniques I can think of:

>Bill Evans' Conversations With Myself and Further Conversations With Myself
In these famous recordings Bill overdubs himself twice, making it sound like he's playing three pianos at once.

>Sonny Rollins' The Standard Sonny Rollins
A bunch of the tunes on this record end in fade outs; I'm not sure why, although I assume it was because they had to pare down the tunes so they could fit on an LP.

>Sun Ra's God Is Greater Than Love Can Ever Be
On the first track on this record, Sun Ra overdubs another piano part. This one is very odd, considering the second piano part is much quieter than the main one.

I'm sure there are more examples, but these are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. I highly recommend listening to all three of those records if you haven't.

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>>69995696

Lennie Tristano's self-titled album from 1956 has some tape speed changes and multitracking

Turkish Mambo for example has three overdubbed piano parts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6dQHdBfkmg

>>69995696
I'm a big fan of the Bill Evan album, but I haven't heard the others. I'll check em out.

>>69995775
Ya I know Tristano did some overdub stuff, but I'm not really hip to his music. I also heard he did some overdubs of himself over drums and bass playing time.

Any recommendations for Tristano albums to check out?

>>69995775
Good stuff... I'd forgot about Tristano. Man, he was a true visionary. In case you haven't heard it, here's an even crazier recording of Lennie using multitracking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UTNVHLgEk

Quite frankly it might be one of the most intensely avant garde recordings out there.

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>>69996104
Tristano's record "Intuition" is probably a good place to start. It contains the first ever recorded instance of free collective improv.