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| Snowman, rooster, gryphon, Lady Liberty, and a horse. |
Ok, so 2,110,000 page views and several hundred reviews between the bookends of year start and end, it has been a busy year on the Free Jazz Blog. We've welcomed new writers, heard over 2,000 new recordings, and tried to navigate the dicey world of mid-pandemic concerts and festivals. Live streams may be so 2020, but Omicron just doesn't care.
As always at this time of year, we are thrilled to bring you, dear readers, the top albums of 2021 from the writers of the Free Jazz Collective. Below are the individual lists for your perusal and fun, but first is the top 15, which the writers will vote on to pick the album of the year. We will post the results on January 1st.
We look forward to your comments and suggestions - let us know what we have missed. Stay safe, do your part to help end this pandemic, and continue to enjoy music. Let's hope we get through this before we get to Pi (or Rho).
Top 10 15 Albums of 2021
- أحمد [Ahmed] - Nights on Saturn (Communication) (Astral Spirits)
- Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12 Records)
- Binker Golding, John Edwards, Steve Noble - Moon Day (Byrd Out)
- Ches Smith and We All Break – Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic Records)
- Dave Rempis with Reid, Abrams, Daisy, Damon- The Covid Tapes (Aerophonic)
- Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
- Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem)
- James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- Joëlle Lèandre, George Lewis, Pauline Oliveros - Play as you go (Trost)
- Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure Of The Text Records)
- Natural Information Society with Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite)
- Rodrigo Amado Motion trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach - The Field (No Business)
- Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet – Let The Free Be Men (Trost)
- Vijay Iyer/Linda May Han Oh/Tyshawn Sorey - Uneasy (ECM)
- William Parker, Daniel Carter, Hamid Drake - Painter’s Winter (AUM Fidelity)
Top 10 lists from the writers of the Free Jazz Collective:
All recordings, unless otherwise noted, have been reviewed on the Free Jazz Blog. We trust you to use the search engine to locate them!
Paul Acquaro
- Vijay Iyer/Linda May Han Oh/Tyshawn Sorey - Uneasy (ECM)
- Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem)
- Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach - The Field (NoBusiness)
- Paul Dunmall & Mark Sanders - Unity (577 Records)Ava Mendoza - New Spells (Relative Pitch/Astral Spirits)
- Anna Webber - Idiom (PI Recordings)
- The Selva + - Barbatrama (Shhpuma)
- Duck Baker - Confabulations (ESP Disc)
- James Brandon Lewis' Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- José Lencastre Nau Quartet + Pedro Carneiro - Thoughts Are Things (Phonogram Unit)
- John Coltrane: A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
- Total Music Association - Walpurgisnacht (NoBusiness)
- Marc Ribot - Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus (Knowckwurst)
Kenneth Blanchard
- Jeff Cosgrove - History Gets Ahead of the Story (s/r)
- James Brandon Lewis' Red Lilly Quintet - Jessup Wagon (AUM Fidelity)
- Mario Pavone - Isabella (Clean Feed)
- Ches Smith We All Break - Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
- William Parker - Painter's Winter (AUM Fidelity)
Historic/Re-release
- Total Music Association - Wallpurgisnacht (NoBusiness)
Stuart Broomer
- أحمد [Ahmed] - Nights on Saturn (communication) (Astral Spirits)
- Rodrigo Amado's This Is Our Language Quartet - Let the Free Be Men (Trost)
- Anthony Braxton 12 COMP (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12).
- John Butcher/ Dominic Lash/ John Russell/ Mark Sanders. Discernment (Spoonhunt)
- Disquiet - Disquiet (Trost)
- Le GGRIL - Sommes (CircumDisc/ Tour de Bras) Reviewed: SB, The WholeNote, November, 2021, available online.
- Joëlle Léandre/ Pauline Oliveros/ George Lewis - Play as You Go (Trost)
- Natural Information Society with Evan Parker - Descension (Eremite)
- Iain Sinclair & London Experimental Ensemble - Dark Before Dark (577 Records)
- Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text)
- Albert Ayler, et al. - New York Eye and Ear Control Revisited (Ezz-thetics) Reviewed: SB, Point of Departure Issue 77, December 2021: “Ezz-thetics”, available on-line.
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
- Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and Sainkho Namtchylak Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas (Victo) (Disclosure: I wrote the liner note)
Tom Burris
- Dave Rempis w/ Reid, Damon, Daisy, Abrams – The COVID Tapes (Aerophonic)
- Jaimie Branch – Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem)
- Vijay Iyer – Uneasy (ECM)
- Kuzu – All Your Ghosts In One Corner (Aerophonic)
- Benoit Delbecq – The Weight Of Light (Pyroclastic)
- Irreversible Entanglements – Open The Gates (International Anthem)
- Rempis Percussion Quartet – Sud Des Alpes (Aerophonic)
- Henry Threadgill Zooid – Poof (Pi)
- Whit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp – Village Mothership (Tao Forms)
- Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet – Let The Free Be Men (Trost)
Gary Chapin
- Greg Belisle-Chi, Koi: Performing the Music of Tim Berne (Relative Pitch)
- Rob Mazurek and the Exploding Star Orchestra - Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem, 2020)
- Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - Hope (International Anthem)
- Wadada Leo Smith - A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)
- Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (Zim) (Firehouse 12)
- Playfield, Vols. 1 - 3 (577 Records)
- John Zorn - Bagatelles (Tzadic)
- Butch Morris and Nublu Orchestra - Live in Paris (Nublu Records, 2020)
- Whit Dickey, William Parker, Matthew Shipp - Village Mothership (Tao Forms)
- Andrew Cyrille Quartet - The News (ECM)
- Tim Berne's Bloodcount - 5 (Screwgun)
- Tim Berne's Bloodcount - Attention Spam (Screwgun)
Troy Dostert
All reviews marked [AAJ] posted on All About Jazz.
- East Axis - Cool With That (ESP) [AAJ]
- Wild Up - Julius Eastman Vol. 1: Femenine (New Amsterdam) [AAJ]
- James Brandon Lewis - Code of Being (Intakt) [AAJ]
- Ivo Perelman, Brass and Ivory Tales (Fundacja Sluchaj) [AAJ]
- Vijay Iyer - Uneasy (ECM)
- Silke Eberhard - Being the Up and Down (Intakt)
- Trondheim Jazz Orchestra with Ole Morten Vågen - Plastic Wave (Odin) [AAJ]
- Hafez Modirzadeh - Facets (Pi) [AAJ]
- Wadada Leo Smith, Jack DeJohnette and Vijay Iyer - A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM) [AAJ]
- Irreversible Entanglements - Open the Gates (International Anthem) [AAJ]
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
- Julius Hemphill - The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (New World Records)
- Lee Morgan - The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note)
Lee Rice Epstein
- أحمد [Ahmed] - Nights On Saturn (Communication) (Astral Spirits)
- Scott Clark - This Darkness (Out of Your Head)
- Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile - Snark Horse (Pi Recordings)
- PUNKT.VRT.PLASTIK (Kaja Draklser, Petter Eldh, Christian Lillinger) - Somit (Intakt Records)
- Koma Saxo - Live (We Jazz Records)
- Charlotte Keeffe - Right Here, Right Now (Discus Records)
- Ikizukuri + Susana Santos Silva - Suicide Underground Orchid (Multikulti Project)
- James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- Lina Allemano & Nick Fraser + Remixes by Mira Martin-Gray, Bryan Qu, Karen Ng, Nick Dunston - Trumpet & Drums REMIX Festival (Lumo Records)
- Ches Smith & We All Break - Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic Records)
Stef Gijssels
- Chamber 4 - Dawn To Dusk (JACC Records)
- Wadada Leo Smith - Trumpet (TUM)
- Susana Santos Silva & Torbjörn Zetterberg — Tomorrow (Porta Jazz)
- Futari – Beyond (Libra, 2020)
- Benoît Delbecq - The Weight Of Light (Pyroclastic)
- In Layers - Pliable (FMR, 2020)
- José Lencastre Nau Quartet + Pedro Carneiro - Thoughts Are Things (Phonogram Unit)
- Ingrid Schmoliner, Adam Pultz Melbye & Emilio Gordoa - Griff (Inexhaustible Editions, 2020)
- Thomas Heberer, Joe Fonda & Joe Hertenstein - Remedy (Fundacja Słuchaj)
- Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra - Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem, 2020)
- Tim Berne’s Bloodcount – Attention Spam (Screwgun, 1997/2021 Re-issue)
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle(Impulse!)
- Human Feel - Speak To It (Songlines)
- Dave Rempis with Reid, Abrams, Daisy, Damon- The Covid Tapes (Aerophonic)
- Binker Golding, John Edwards, Steve Noble - Moon Day (Byrd Out)
- William Parker, Daniel Carter, Hamid Drake - Painter’s Winter (AUM Fidelity)
- Sylvie Courvoisier, Ned Rothenberg, Julian Santorius - Lockdown (Clean Feed)
- Evan Parker - Winns Win (Byrd Out)
- Roots Magic - Take Root Among the Stars (Clean Feed, 2020)
- Kuzu - All Your Ghosts in One Corner (Aerophonic)
- Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach - The Field (NoBusiness)
- Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, Tyshawn Sorey - Uneasy (ECM)
- Natural Information Society & Evan Parker - decension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite)
- BBQ with Fred Frith - Free Postmodernism USA 1982 (SÅJ)
- Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with Sainkho Namtchylak - Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas (Victo)
- Instant Composers Pool - Incipient ICP (1966-71) (Corbett vs Dempsey)
Eyal Hareuveni
- Disquiet (Trost)
- Jakob Bro, Arve Henriksen & Jorge Rossy - Uma Elmo (ECM)
- Frode Haltli - Avant Folk II (Hubro)
- Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text)
- Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language - Let The Free Be Men (Trost)
- Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach - The Field (NoBusiness)
- Joëlle Léandre/Pauline Oliveros/George Lewis - Play As You Go (Trost)
- Magda Mayas’ Filamental - Confluence (Relative Pitch)
- Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12)
- Gregg Belisle-Chi – Koi: Performing The Music Of Tim Berne (Relative Pitch/Screwgun)
Historic/Re-release
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
- René Lussier – Complètement Marteau (ReR MegaCorp/Circum Disc)
Jim Marks
- Miguel Ângelo - Dança dos Desastrados (Porta Jazz)
- Baptiste Boiron - Là (Ayler Records)
- Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few - Cosmic Transitions (Division 81)
- Ben Goldberg - Everything Happens to Be (BAG)
- Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
- Hearth Melt (Clean Feed)
- James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quintet - The Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- William Parker - Painters Winter (AUM Fidelity)
- Ritual Habitual - Pagan Chant (Clean Feed)
- Thumbscrew - Never Is Enough (Cuneiform)
- Tim Berne et al. Broken Shadows (Intakt) (Previously released on Newvelle Records 2018)
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme in Seattle (Impulse!)
- Hasaan Ibn Ali - Metaphysics (Omnivore Recordings)
Nick Metzger
- John Blum & Jackson Krall - Duplicity (Relative Pitch, 2020)
- Roscoe Mitchell & Mike Reed - the Ritual and the Dance (Astral Spirits)
- Melting Mind - Melted Mind (Troglosound)
- James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- Natural Information Society with Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite)
- Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12)
- Michael Bisio/Kirk Knuffke/Fred Lonberg-Holm - The Art Spirit (ESP Disk)
- Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few - Cosmic Transitions (Division 81)
- Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out of Sound (Palilalia)
- Johansson/Fite/Grip - Swinging at Topsi’s (Astral Spirits)
- Bergisch-Brandenburgisches Quartett (BBQ) - vorwiegend blaues Gezwitscher (SÅJ)
- Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble - Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas (Victo)
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, Live in Seattle (Impulse)
Gregg Miller
- Bruno Duplant, Frédéric Tentelier - Nocturnes (3 Études) ( Inexhaustible Editions)
- Luís Lopes Lisbon Berlin Quartet - Sinister Hynotization (Clean Feed)
- Natural Information Society with Evan Parker - descension (Out of our Contrictions) (Eremite)
- Joëlle Lèandre, George Lewis, Pauline Oliveros - Play as you go (Trost)
- Magda Mayas and Tina Douglas - Objects of Interest (Room40)
- Rodrigo Amado Motion trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach - The Field (No Business)
- Ikizukuri with Susana Santos Silva - Suicide Underground Orchid (Multikulti Project)
- Fred Frith and Ikue Mori - A Mountain Doesn't Know It's Tall (Intakt)
- Jane Ira Bloom and Marx Helias - Some Kind of Tomorrow (self-released)
- East Axis (Matthew Shipp, Allen Lowe, Gerald Cleaver, Kevin Ray) - Cool with That (Esp-Disk')
Fotis Nikolakopoulos
- Polyorchard - An Excess of Primary Forms (Out & Gone Records)
- Annette Krebs – Konstruktion 1&2 Sah (self released)
- Jean-Luc Guionnet/Will Guthrie –Electric Rag (Ali Buh Baeh Records / Editions Memoire)
- Akira Sakata/Giovanni Di Domenico – And Life Also Same (Holidays Records)
- Sue Lynch/N. O. Moore/Crystabel Riley – Secant | Tangent (dxdy Recordings)
- Jeph Jerman – Keep The Drum (Concussion Solos) (New Forces)
- أحمد [Ahmed] - Nights on Saturn (Communication) (Astral Spirits)
- Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood – Live (International Anthem Recording Company)
- Barre Phillips/John Butcher/Ståle Liavik Solberg – We Met - And Then (Relative Pitch Records)
- Skronk GBG – Majornas Mörker (OUTERDISK)
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
- Marion Brown – Le Temps Fou (Le Très Jazz Club)
- Musica Elettronica Viva – Spacecraft (Our Swimmer)
Nick Ostrum
- Alexey Kruglov, Caroly Hume, Paul May & Oleg Yudanov - The Last Train from Narvskaya (Leo)
- Nate Wooley – Mutual Aid Music (POTR)
- Baptiste Boiron, Bruno Chevillon, Frédéric Gastard – Là (Ayler)
- Wadada Leo Smith, Bill Laswell, Milford Graves – Sacred Ceremonies (TUM)
- Luís Lopes Lisbon Berlin Quartet – Sinister Hypnotization (Clean Feed)
- Elisabeth Coudoux – Emißatett: Earis (Impakt)
- Max Bober - Somos (Edition Wandelweiser) (reviewed on The Squid’s Ear)
- Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
- Anthony Braxton – 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12)
- Linda Caitlin Smith – Ballad (Another Timbre) (forthcoming review on The Squid’s Ear)
- Instant Composers Pool – Incipient ICP (1966-1971) (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
- Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and Sainkho Namtchylak - Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas (Victo)
- Total Music Association - Walpurgisnacht (NoBusiness)
Keith Prosk
- Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12 Records)
- gabby fluke-mogul - threshold (Relative Pitch Records)
- Annette Krebs - Konstruktion#1 & 2 | Sah (Graphit)
- Charmaine Lee - KNVF (ERRATUM MUSICAL) - Reviewed on harmonic series
- Joanna Mattrey - Dirge (Dear Life Records) - Reviewed on harmonic series
- Magda Mayas & Tina Douglas - Objects Of Interest (Room40)
- Han-Earl Park - Of Life, Recombinant (New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings) - Reviewed on harmonic series
- Erin Rogers - 2000 Miles (Relative Pitch Records)
- Patrick Shiroishi - Hidemi (American Dreams)
- Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure Of The Text Records)
Martin Schray
- Vijay Iyer/Linda May Han Oh/Tyshawn Sorey - Uneasy (ECM)
- Dave Rempis/Avreeayl Ra - Bennu (Aerophonic Records)
- Kuzu - The Glass Delusion (Astral Spirits)
- Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text Records)
- Darius Jones - Raw Demon Alchemy (A Lone Operation) (Northern Spy)
- The Underflow – Instant Opaque Evening (Blue Chopsticks)
- Olaf Rupp - NOBEACH (Audiosemantics)
- Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem)
- XPACT - XPACT II (FMR)
- Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
- John Coltrane: A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
- Total Music Association - Walpurgisnacht (NoBusiness)
- Cecil Taylor Quintet - Lifting the Bandstand (Fundacja Słuchaj)
Anthony Simon
- Anna Webber – Idiom (Pi Recordings)
- Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke, Fred Lonberg-Holm – The Art Spirit (ESP-Disk')
- Ches Smith and We All Break – Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic Records)
- James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet – Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- Natural Information Society with Evan Parker – descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite Records)
- The Claudia Quintet with special guest: Eileen Myles – Evidence-based (Flexatonic Records)
- Binker Golding, John Edwards, Steve Noble – Moon Day (Byrd Out)
- Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue – Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses (Pi Recordings)
- John Zorn – Bagatelles (Tzadik)
- Dave Rempis with Reid/Abrams/Daisy/Damon – The COVID Tapes (Aerophonic)
Sammy Stein
- The Underflow - Instant Opaque Evening (Blue Chopsticks)
- Olie Brice, Binker Golding, Henry Keiser, N.O.Moore, Eddie Provost - The Secret Handshake of Danger (577 Records)
- Binker Golding, John Edwards, Steve Noble - Moon Dog (Byrd Out)
- Even Parker Quartet - All Knavery and Collusion (Cadillac records)
- Ivo Perelman and Nate Wooley - Polarity (Burning Ambulance)
- Rachel Musson - Dreamsing (577 Records)
- Matt Shipp and William Parker - Re-Union ( Rogue Art)
- Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future (Impulse)
- Lol Coxhil - Coxhill '85 (SLAM)
- Polyorchard - An Excess of Primary Forms (Out and Gone Records)
- John Coltrane - Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
28 comments:
I look forward to new suggestions from our readers, I'm sure we've missed some great music. At this point, however, it's also important to praise and pay respect to the man who keeps this blog going: Paul Acquaro. The work he puts into this thing for free can hardly be appreciated enough. For many readers and musicians, that is priceless. Cheers to you, Paul.
Great lists!
I would like to add 10 more records that deserve a mention…
Top albums of 2021:
- Jeremiah Cymerman “A Horizon Made of Canvas” (Astral Spirits)
- Ken Vandermark “Momentum 5: Stammer (triptych)” (Audiographic)
- Fire! “Defeat” (Rine Grammofon)
- Marco Colonna / Miranda /Spera “N-EST” (Fundacja Sluchaj)
- Wadada Leo Smith “The Chicago Symphonies” (TUM)
- Danilo Gallo Dark Dry Tears “A View Through a Slot” (Clean Feed)
- Gianluigi Trovesi NRG Bridges “Intertwined Roots” (Parco della Musica)
- Luis Vicente Trio “Chanting In The Name Of” (Clean Feed)
- William Parker “Mayan Space Station” (AUM)
- Kahil El’ Zabar “A Time for Healing” (Spiritmuse)
Ciao!
Gennaro
I agree enthusiastically. Cheers, Paul!
Thank you for the great lists, there's much to dive into, as this was an (all things considered) another fantastic year. Here's my (albeit a bit long) list:
Esperanza Spalding - Songwrights Apothecary Lab (Concord)
Chris Abrahams, Clayton Thomas & Miles Thomas (Hospital Hill)
Christopher Otto & JACK Quartet - rag'sma (greyfade)
Matthew Shipp & Whit Dickey - Reels (Burning Ambulance)
Caroline Davis - Portals, vol 1: Mourning (Sunnyside Communications)
Warped Dreamer - Live at Bimhuis (RAT)
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson - Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force - Dear Love (Empress Legacy)
Gabriel Zucker - Leftover Beats from the Edges of Time (ESP Disk)
De Beren Geren - Less is Endless (Sdban Ultra)
Sputnik Trio - What the Hate (Raw Tonk)
Christer Bothén 3 - Omen (Bocian)
Cranes (Matthias Müller, Eve Risser & Christian Marien) - Formation < Deviation (Relative Pitch)
Big Bad Brötzmann Quintet - Bambule! (Euphorium)
Allen Moore, Ishmael Ali & Bill Harris - Hearsay (Amalgam)
Yes, cheers Paul!! Your tireless efforts keep this whole thing afloat.
It's my favorite day of the year! List day! Thanks to everyone at FJB for all the great music. Here's mine:
1-Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017
2-Pat Thomas & The Locals: Play the Music of Anthony Braxton
3-fluke-mogul / Liberatore / Mattrey / Mendoza: Death In the Gilded Age
4-Edwards / Lisle / Serries / Webster: Peck and Fleet
5-Almeida / Gibson / Melo Alves / Trilla / Vicente: Dog Star
6-Brice / Golding / Kaiser / Moore / Prévost: The Secret Handshake with Danger, vol. one
7-Maneri / Kalmanovitch / Jacobson / Osgood: Variations on No Particular Theme, Pt. 1
8-Rosaly / Warelis / Lumley / Dikeman: Sunday at De Ruimte
9-Abrahams / Thomas / Thomas: Words Fail
10-Fail Better!: The Fall
11-Carneiro / Zingaro: Elogio das Sombras
12-Camila Nebbia: Corre el río de la memoria sobre la tierra que arrastra trazos, ...
13-Garcia / Pitsiokos: Uanmortaim
14-Adoct: Ouvre-Glace
15-Satoko Fujii: Moon On The Lake
16-Martínez / Fernández / Guy: Bosque de niebla
17-Combat Astronomy: Shamanic Insurgency
18-Castrillón / Castrillón / Muruaga: Ärnär
19-Jazz from the Underground Nightclubs of Aotearoa
20-Parkins / Rasmussen / Sawyer: The Glass Triangle
Cheers to Paul and his tireless efforts!
An old horse will not spoil the furrow
Fantastic thank you
Hurrah to Paul, thanks for everything you do to keep us going.
Gennaro, Börje, and Richard, thanks for sharing your lists! Love seeing which music most excites our readers, too.
Thanks to everyone involved in this blog.
I'm no expert but there's two I know for certain I'll still be coming back to in 10, 20 years time that aren't getting a lot of love here
Irreversible Entanglements - Open the Gates
Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few - Cosmic Transitions
I also enjoyed more than most of you it seems
Alexander Hawkins - Togetherness music
Fire! - Defeat
And from the world of music that skirts the boundaries of the remit of this blog I'd highly recommend
Karkhana - Al Azraqayn
Maurice Louca - Saet El Hazz (The Luck Hour)
Wukir Suryadi - Menolak Tunduk
Plus the multiple great releases from Crazy Doberman and Mako Sica on Astral Sprits and elsewhere.
Thanks all for your comments, as well as your lists. I certainly enjoy seeing all the recommendations from our readers as much as I do the writers. - Paul
My favourite album of the year is 'Defeat' by Fire! I think it's their best yet. Gustafsson is a revelation on flute.
I also need to commend you for bringing 'Electric Rag' by Guthrie/Guionnet to my attention. Amazing sounds.
In the 'for your consideration' category I'd mention two archival releases - Neil Ardley/Nucleus 'Kaleidoscope of Rainbows - QEH 20 October 1975' on the great 'Jazz in Britain' label, and Roberto Miranda Home Music Ensemble 'Live at Bing Theatre, Los Angeles, 1985' on Dark Tree label.
Third and last time I try to get my list through (my list for today)
In no particular order I've enjoyed especially:
- Agustí Fernández & Amidea Clotet – Spontaneous Combustions (Sirulita)
- Debacker | Zwißler | Hübsch | Nillesen – Live At Mœrs Festival '20 (Impakt)
- Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile – Snark Horse (Pi Recordings)
- Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp And William Parker – Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 1 (577 Records)
- Hearth – Melt (Clean Feed)
- Steph Richards With Joshua White – Zephyr (Relative Pitch Records)
- Mark Solborg / Susana Santos Silva / Lars Greve / Paul Lovens – Tungemål III (ILK Music)
- Punkt.Vrt.Plastik – Somit (Intakt)
- Nate Wooley – Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure Of The Text Records)
- Ingrid Schmoliner / Adam Pultz Melbye / Emilio Gordoa – GRIFF (Inexhaustible Editions)
- Big Bad Brötzmann Quintet - Bambule! (Euphorium)
- Barre Phillips, John Butcher, Ståle Liavik Solberg – We Met - And Then (Relative Pitch Records)
- Borderlands Trio, Stephan Crump, Kris Davis, Eric McPherson – Wandersphere (Intakt)
- Joëlle Léandre, Pauline Oliveros, George Lewis – Play As You Go (Trost Records)
- The Selva + Machinefabriek – Barbatrama (Shhpuma)
- Lucía Martínez, Agustí Fernández, Barry Guy – Bosque De Niebla (Fundacja Sluchaj)
- Klaus Treuheit With Lou Grassi Feat. Georg Wissel – s/t (KTMP)
- Dell, Lillinger, Westergaard Feat. Bob Degen – Supermodern Vol. 1 (HGBS Blue Records)
- Anna Webber – Idiom (PI Recordings)
- Craig Taborn – Shadow Plays (ECM)
- Ikizukuri + Susana Santos Silva - Suicide Underground Orchid (Multikulti Project)
- Xpact – Xpact II (FMR)
- Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet – The Chicago Symphonies (TUM Records)
أحمد [Ahmed] – Nights On Saturn (Astral Spirits)
Historic/Re-release:
- Instant Composers Pool – Incipient ICP (1966-1971) (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
- Cecil Taylor Quintet – Lifting The Bandstand (Fundacja Sluchaj)
- Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and Sainkho Namtchylak - Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas (Victo)
- Creative Construction Company – Creative Construction Company Vols. 1 & 2 (Jazz District)
- Tom Prehn Quartet – Centrifuga & Solhverv (Corbett vs Dempsey)
- Tony Oxley / Alan Davie – Elaboration Of Particulars (Confront)
- Bergisch-Brandenburgisches Quartett - Vorwiegend Blaues Gezwitscher (SAJ)
- Alexander von Schlippenbach & Sven-Åke Johansson Quartet – Scheinwerfer Suite (SAJ)
- John Coltrane – A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle (Impulse!)
- Albert Ayler – New York Eye And Ear Control (ezz-thetics)
- Hans Koller Free Sound Quintet – Free Sound Quintet (Jive Music)
- Dollar Brand, Don Cherry, Carlos Ward – The Third World-Underground (Ultra-Vybe)
- Julius Hemphill – The Boyé Multi-National Crusade For Harmony (New World Records)
- Laurence Cook, Jacques Coursil, Warren Gale, Perry Robinson, Steve Tintweiss – Ave B Free Jam (INKY DoT MEDIA)
- Eero Koivistoinen With Friends – Jappa - The Complete Jazz At The Polytechnicum Recordings 1967–1968 (Mondo Svart)
Plus 2 more
New: Phill Niblock - Exploratory I - II (Matière Memoire)
Reissue: Iannis Xenakis – Electroacoustic Works (Karlrecords)
Don't know what went wrong, Ernst. We're always looking forward to your lists. This year's list is also full of stuff I need to discover. Thanks a lot.
Thanks Ernst, always something great to discover in your lists!
This year in music was amazing. This is my list of 2021s interesting music (no order):
Polyorchard - An Excess of Primary Forms
Ruth Goller - Skylla
XT – Deorlaf X
Cecilia Lopez - Red (DB)
Durman/Posejpal - Call For The Angels
Gabi Losoncy - Cloister
Han-Earl Park - Of Life, Recombinant
Les Filles de Illighadadv- At Pioneer Works
Katharina Ernst - le temps - a solo for drums and metal objects in five states
Darius Jones — Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation)
Farida Amadou & Pavel Tchikov – Mal De Terre
Jane in Ether – Spoken/Unspoken
fluke-mogul / Liberatore / Mattrey / Mendoza - Death In the Gilded Age
The Emma Goldman Bust-Out Brigade - The Emma Goldman Bust-Out Brigade
Jessica Ackerley and Daniel Carter - Friendship: Lucid Shared Dreams and Time Travel
Teufelskeller – Live at WIP
Masaaki Yamazaki, Naoyasu Takahashi, Yasushi Ishikawa - MAY 23RD, 2021
Melted Mind – Melted Mind
Giménez López / Bass / Suarez / Scampino - Reunión en la granja
Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out Of Sound
Jeremiah Cymerman / Charlie Looker - A Horizon Made Of Canvas
As always after List Day, I'm examining all the lists, looking for stuff I missed. Skronk GBG, Disquiet and especially Caroline Davis are all excellent finds.
I also wanted to call attention to the Chris Abrahams album, Words Fail, which was on my list and Börje Fridolf's list, but wasn't reviewed here. It's really good.
What a joy to have this blog and 2021-list!
My list / no order:
- Susana Santos Silva & Torbjörn Zetterberg / Tomaorrow / Porta Jazz
- Hearth / Melt /Clean Feed
- Courvoisier & Rothenberg & Satorius / Lockdown / Clean Feed
- Rodrigo Amado - This Is Our Language / Let The Free Be Men / Trost
- KUZU / All Your Ghosts In One Corner / Aerophonic
- Moor Mother - Irreversible Entanglements / Open The Gates / International Anthem
- Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra / Dimensional Stardust / International Anthem
- Dickey & Parker & Shipp / Village Mothership / TAO Forms
- Perelman / Brass and Ivory Tales / Fundacja Sluchaj
- The Silva + Machinefabriek / Barbatrama / Shhpuma - Clean Feed
- Luis Vicente Trio / Chanting In The Name Of / Clean Feed
- Chamber 4 / Dawn To Dusk / Jacc Records
- In Layers / Pliable / FMR
- Ikizukuri & SSS / Suicide Underground Orchid / Multikulti Project
- Grdina & Black / Martian Kitties / Astral Spirits
- Shipp & Parker / Leonine Aspects / RogueArt
- Carter & Shipp & Parker & Cleaver / Welcome Adventure! / 577 Records
- Musson / Dreamsing / 577 Records
- Parker / Mayan Space Station / AUM Fidelity
- East Axis - Shipp & Lowe & Cleaver & Ray / Cool with That / ESP Disk
- Darius Jones / Raw Demon Alchemy ( A Lone Operation) / Northern Spy
- Smith & Laswell & Graves / Sacred Ceremony / TUM
Thanks for publishing my list - Emile Quanjel
My favorite albums of the year. Congratulations for the blog, greetings to everyone and happy new year, serenity and good music.
Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few - Cosmic Transitions (Division 81)
James Brandon Lewis' Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
Henry Threadgill Zooid - Poof (Pi Recordings)
Ivo Perelman - Brass & Ivory Tales (box set 9 cd Fundacja Sluchaj)
Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp - Special Edition Box (Cd/Blue Ray /book SMP)
Kuzu - All Your Ghosts in One Corner (Aerophonic)
Darius Jones - Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation) (Northern Spy)
Ill Considered - Liminal Space (New Soil)
Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem)
Natural Information Society & Evan Parker - Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Aguirre/Eremite)
Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – We’re OK. But We’re Lost Anyway (Bongo Joe Records)
Craig Taborn - Shadow Plays (ECM)
Artifacts - …and Then There’s This (Astral Editions)
Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog - Hope (Northern Spy)
Jeff Parker - Forfolks (International Anthem)
John Zorn – John Zorn’s Bagatelles vol.1-4 (Tzadik)
Tim Berne/Chris Speed/Reid Anderson/Dave King - Broken Shadows (Intakt Records)
Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out of Sound (Palilalia)
Vijay Iyer- Uneasy (ECM)
REISSUES/HISTORICAL
John Coltrane A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle (Impulse!)
Jeanne Lee - Conspiracy ( Moved By Sound)
Julius Hemphill - The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (7Cd boxset New World Records)
Don Cherry - The Summer House Sessions (Blank Forms Editions)
Don Cherry’s New Researches featuring Naná Vasconcelos - Organic Music Theatre - Festival de jazz de Chateauvallon 1972 (Blank Forms Editions)
Lee Morgan -The Complete Live at the Lighthouse Hermosa beach California ( box set 8 cd Blue Note)
New Life Trio (Brandon Ross/Steve Reid/ David Wertman) - Visions of the Third Eye (Early Future Records)
Joe Harriott Quintet - Free Form & Abstract Revisited (1960-62, Ezz-Thetics)
Charles Mingus - Mingus at Carnegie Hall [Deluxe Edition] (Atlantic)
Cecil Taylor - Music From Two Continents - Live at Jazz Jamboree 84(Fundacja Sluchaj)
Joe Henderson - The Complete Blue Note Studio Sessions ( box set 5 Cd Mosaic )
Alice Coltrane - Kirtan: Turaya Sings(Impulse!)
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings (Blue Note 2021)
Kohsuke Mine - First (BBE Music)
Khan Jamal - Infinity (Jazz Room Records)
Roy Brooks – Understanding (Reel to Real)
Sun Ra – Lanquidity - Definitive Edition(Strut Records)
Miles Davis - Merci Miles! Live in Vienne( Rhino)
Juju – Live at 131 Prince Street ( Strut Records)
Bill Evans- Behind The Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings (Elemental)
Bill Evans - On a Friday Evening (Craft Recordings)
Splinters - Inclusivity (3 cd Box + Book Jazz In Britain)
EDQ (Elton Dean Quartet w/Keith Tippett, Chris Laurence, Louis Moholo-Moholo)-They All Be On This Old Road (Ogun Records)
Hasaan Ibn Ali- Metaphysics: the Lost Atlantic Album(Omnivore)
Great list contributions from both reviewers and readers as usual. I really liked this one this year, and I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it - Eric Plande/Hasse Poulsen/Claude Tchamitchian - Beyond Dreams (Leo Records)
My favorite albums>
-FIRE! - Defeat [Rune Grammofon, 2021]
-Benoît Delbecq - The Weight of Light [Pyroclastic, 2021]
-Jeremiah Cymerman & Charlie Looker - A Horizon Made of Canvas [Astral Spirits, 2021]
-Natural Information Society with Evan Parker - Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) [Eremite, 2021]
-The Selva & Machinefabriek - Barbatrama [Clean Feed, 2021]
-Binker Golding, John Edwards, Steve Noble - Moon Day [Byrd Out, 2021]
-Susan Alcorn, Leila Bordreuil & Ingrid Laubrock - Bird Meets Wire [Relative Pitch, 2021]
-Luís Vicente Trio - Chanting In The Name Of [Clean Feed, 2021]
-Adoct - Ouvre-Glace [Circum-Disc, 2021]
-Chamber 4 - Dawn to Dusk [JACC, 2021]
-Ingrid Schmoliner _ Hamid Drake - Awon Ona [Klanggalerie, 2021]
-Paweł Szamburski - Uroboros [Self-Released, 2021]
-Chris Abrahams, Clayton Thomas, Miles Thomas - Words Fail [Hospital Hill, 2021]
-The Claudia Quintet with special guest _ Eileen Myles - Evidence-Based [Flexatonic, 2021]
-Jeremiah Cymerman - Citadels & Sanctuaries [5049 records, 2021]
-Jane in Ether - Spoken, Unspoken [Confront, 2021]
-Ayumi Tanaka Trio - Subaqueous Silence [ECM, 2021]
End-year lists, that's for sure one of my favourite things, as we get to discover so much. Here's my two cents:
Karoline Wallace - Stiklinger
Francesca Remigi - Archipélagos - Il Labirinto dei Topi
Linda Fredriksson - Juniper
Thanks for your efforts, your site is invaluable to me.
Have a great new year!
Most of the albums I enjoyed in 2021 can be found in the various lists here, but not the one I loved most of all - (Exit) Knarr - Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. Am I alone in finding this to be a masterpiece?
Well, at least there are two of me :)
love Sara Schoenbeck but she hardly gets a mention anywhere ?
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