That should probably read “favorites for 08″ or something, because ‘best’ implies some sort of ordered list. Forget that. It was hard enough coming up with a list that wasn’t a mile long, as there was a ton of good stuff out this year.
In any event, the BC list includes much of what shows up on my Jazz.com list, with the addition of a bunch of other pop, rock and whatever stuff.
Oh, and Happy New Year.
I had to once again travel nearly an hour from the house because our Internet is still lying in our driveway (thanx Comcast!).
Anyway, it was a fabulous year for jazz and improvised music. Check it out.
Oh yes, now we have power!
But…no Internet access. This is thanks to the lovely people at Comcast, who deserve food poisoning for Christmas.
At least, that’s how I see it.
When this was written, power still had not been restored to our house. It was cobbled together at the cafe at a Borders Bookstore in Keene, New Hampshire.
Not being connected to any of the “modern” conveniences does make a person think.
Oh my, oh my, oh my….January 27th can’t come soon enough. That’s the Working On A Dream release date.
Check out the second single from the record:
If you haven’t heard the news yet, New England (and New Hampshire in particular) was flattened last Friday by an ice storm. My town, being at a higher elevation than most, was really pummeled: with an inch of ice. Trees fell or snapped in two, power lines came down, basements flooded. A big nasty mess. I still don’t have power and may not by the end of this week.
Just about the only thing functioning was my cell phone, so I asked friend, writer, and musical cohort Josh Hathaway to step in and deliver the Friday Morning Listen. Check it out.
And thanks Josh.
With the year coming to a close, the major labels have closed their doors. They’re either having a big party or maybe there’s just a lot of crying going on. The good news is that independent artists keep right on pushing. Just look at what I’ve discovered this week. Big band madness, gorgeous vocals, and some dude who I swear is not related to me. Check ‘em out:
Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York - Summer Suite
Sun Ra - Brainville
Jonatha Brooke - My Flowers Grow Green
Peter Sommer - Round Midnight
Bob McHugh - Jitterbug Waltz
Joani Taylor - Take Five
Patrick Rydman - A Heartache On The Side
Mark Zaleski Band - Care Free
This will definitely be making my best-of 2008 list.
There’s something very otherworldly about Ablaye Cissoko’s voice. Add to that the West African 21-string kora and Goetze’ warm trumpet tones and…well, maybe you should find out for yourself.
In the spirit of both the season and the task of trying to catch up on the writing backlog, I have started going through my pile of favorite 2008 releases.
For the next few weeks, I’m going to “unearth” items that I’ve written up for jazz.com only. There were a lot of cool recordings out this year. Check it out.