As 2023 winds down, I gaze in awe upon a particularly robust stack of jazz- and improv-oriented releases. It would be easier to compile a list of my 30 or 40 favorites, but there’s only so much space.
It’s worth mentioning that most of what I found exciting was released on independent labels, and it hasn’t always been that way. While Blue Note, Impulse! and others attached to the big corporations are still releasing creative music, it’s the scrappy little guys who will truly fill your mind with the joy of discovery. Thank you to Pi Recordings, ESP-Disk, Pyroclastic Records and more for keeping the flame burning this past year.
Kris Davis, “Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard” (Pyroclastic): Davis follows through on her remarkable promise as a pianist, composer and bandleader with a double-length set recorded on-stage, even though the samples and other sonic additions are typically more the kind of thing realized in a studio. There’s something delightful to be savored here every time you listen.
Wadada Leo Smith and Orange Wave Electric, “Fire Illuminations” (Kabell): Instead of issuing box sets of his numerous sonic achievements, the trumpeter stuck to digital-only releases this year. This is simply some of the most enthralling jazz-rock fusion to be released in recent times. (I’d also like to mention that I finally got to shake the great man’s hand at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville this year. It was as much of a high point for me as this perfectly realized music.)
Mendoza Hoff Revels, “Echolocation” (Aum Fidelity): Guitarist Ava Mendoza is a force of nature. This satisfyingly noisy quartet date, with excellent tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis pushing against Mendoza up front, is this year’s best cathartic answer to stress overload.
Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry, “Our Daily Bread” (ECM): We need this kind of music, too: soothing without being saccharine. Veteran saxophonist Lovano creates a resonant world with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi. The camaraderie on display is reassuring.
Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, “In The Dark” (ESP-Disk): The tenor sax man and scholar stretches out over the course of about three hours, demonstrating his mastery of multiple styles.
Illegal Crowns, “Unclosing” (Out Of Your Head Records): This quartet continues to develop into one of the most dynamic in current jazz, and any showcase for guitarist Mary Halvorson and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum is a must-hear every time out.
Steve Lehman/Orchestre National De Jazz, “Ex Machina” (Pi Recordings): Lehman has always been an imaginative alto saxophonist, and he meets his match with this French big band. There’s a lot of new technology at play on this recording, but it’s the intriguing performances of the actual humans involved that make it a success.
Irreversible Entanglements, “Protect Your Light” (Impulse!): Really, I do like vocal jazz albums – especially when the singing and lyrics (courtesy of Camae Ayewa, sometimes known as Moor Mother) looks to the future, as opposed to romanticizing the past.
David Murray, Questlove & Ray Angry, “Plumb” (J.M.I. Recordings): Is there anything Questlove can’t do? The drummer found some time to head into the studio with the inexhaustible saxophonist David Murray and keyboardist Ray Angry, and the result is a couple of hours’ worth of mind-bending explorations. This is the best enjoyed on a long drive, with no interruptions.
Kate Gentile, “Find Letter X” (Pi Recordings): Yet another multi-faceted collection of highly inventive sounds from the New York-based drummer and composer.
Some live jazz this month: Nocturne presents a “Swinging Holiday Songbook” with various local artists Dec. 20-23. … Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors celebrate a Cool Yule at Dazzle on Dec. 17.
Bret Saunders is a freelance writer and DJ on KBCO-97.3 FM.
