Best of 2007: Jazz

Forget the doom-and-gloom scenarios -- jazz is alive and well in 2007. It may not get much airplay or mainstream promotion, but amazing jazz releases just kept coming out all year long. As a matter of fact, there have been so many fantastic jazz albums this year that we've broke things down into 10 broad topics below. As you read, why not listen to cuts from Rhapsody's list of best jazz albums of 2007. We're so jazz-crazed over here, we even created a list of Rhapsody's favorite jazz reissues of 2007. Whew!

1. New Orleans Reverberations
Most of America may have pushed the aftershocks of Katrina out of their minds -- but jazz musicians haven't. New Orleans residents Terence Blanchard and Christian Scott are both horn players and composers. But Blanchard's A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) is mournful and elegiac while the younger Scott's Anthem is often angry and confused. Both reactions are equally valid. At the same time, Branford Marsalis' label has released many albums that remind you of that great city's musical vitality. Harry Connick Jr. released two distinct New Orleans albums and is featured on Bob French's bracing set. Alvin Baptiste (rest in peace!) also recorded a truly life-affirming work for Marsalis' label. 

2. Guitars! Guitars! Guitars!
This year, jazz guitar was at the fore. Pat Metheny's partnership with pianist Brad Meldau continues to pay off artistic dividends with their latest release. Another free-thinking guitarist, Bill Frisell, worked once more with Paul Motian and Joe Lovano on the brilliant Time and Time Again. Brazil's wonderful Lanny Gordin finally earned a Stateside solo release with Duos, where the guitarist is joined by old friends like Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso. Charlie Hunter kept converting jam-rockers to the jazz cause, and the ever-elegant Russell Malone scored with his second live set for Maxjazz.   

3. Elegant Pianos and Saxophones
Beauty was abundant this year, especially on releases featuring pianists and saxophonists. The ever mercurial Keith Jarrett came out with My Foolish Heart, a sublime double concert album. The pianist Steve Kuhn put out three impressionistic piano works this year, one for Blue Note and two for Sunnyside. Tenor sax star Joe Lovano and piano legend Hank Jones have continued their perfect partnership with a sumptuous live ballad set. Lovano also guests on Joshua Redman's Back East, a bracing tribute to Sonny Rollins and Redman's own recently departed father, saxophonist Dewey Redman (who ends the album with a tribute to his new grandson). Chris Potter put out two fine albums this year, with Song for Anyone proving that musicians can bring in pretty strings and still remain experimental.

4. Joni! Joni! Joni!
Joni Mitchell is more revered today than she's ever been, with young rock and soul artists now naming her as a key influence as often as younger jazz musicians do. The great Herbie Hancock grabbed Wayne Shorter and a number of star vocalists to pay tribute to Joni on his quiet stunner River: The Joni Letters. There was also a surprisingly rich tribute album that combined rock and jazz interpretations of Mitchell's work. Then, Joni returned with her brilliant original set (her first in years): Shine has received almost no press or airplay, and yet, it's still Mitchell's biggest seller in decades.

5. Vocals Front & Center
Stacey Kent cut her finest set to date with the effervescent Breakfast on the Morning Tram, while two veterans, Abbey Lincoln and Andy Bey, moved us by looking back on their lives. The usually experimental Luciana Souza went mainstream with class on her Verve debut and then guested on this classical stunner. The lovely Roberta Gambarini brought Old World class and a Continental love of American jazz to the vocal scene. There was also 'Tis Autumn, the feature length documentary about under-valued cult singer Jackie Paris (watch the trailer here). Dianne Reeves and an all-star band cut new versions of Billy Strayhorn classics for a PBS documentary, and Clint Eastwood honored Tony Bennett with a feature length doc that also aired on PBS.

6. The World at Large
The American jazz chanteuse Dee Dee Bridgewater went to Mali and scored an international hit with the joyful Red Earth. A different Mali presents itself on Tinariwen's amazing Aman Iman: Water Is Life (the guitar sound alone is worth studying). Cuba's Ibrahim Ferrer passed away but not before recording the achingly romantic Mi Sueño. Brazil's brilliant Caetano Veloso has been wowing jazz fans for years now, but with the starkly rocking Cê, he seemed to deal with a divorce by getting into his son's collection of old NYC art-punk records.   

7. The Rebirth of Smooth
How strong is jazz in 2007? Well, even smooth jazz is better! Chris Botti is a refreshing change of pace and a smooth-jazz role model superior to Kenny G (listen to Botti do his Chet/Miles thing live to hear the difference). Germany's Till Bronner has a similar Chet/Miles formula, but his fine crossover album Oceana flexes a bit more jazz muscle than Botti's work. Likewise, Jeff Lorber's He Had a Hat skillfully combines smooth jazz and hard-bop stars together. (Don't believe us? Listen to this cut from the album.) Lorber is also prominently featured on the year's best smooth-jazz set, Brian Bromberg's delightful Downright Upright . This album lets smooth musicians toughen up on a tribute to '60s soul-jazz and '70s funk. It's nice to see the drippy synths and bleating soprano saxes loose some of their hold on the smooth-jazz market. 

8. The Possibilities Are Limitless
Jazz has always balanced mainstream appeal and cerebral artistry. Robert Glasper's In My Element brings some undercurrents of hip-hop to what is basically a superb piano trio set (no roped-in electro beats for Glasper). The Europeans Erik Truffaz and Ilhan Ersahin show that electronics are part of their jazz plan on their collaboration Our Theory (Ersahin also released a number of interesting explorations under the Wax Poetic banner). Guitarist Bill Frisell also explored studio electronics with the Floratone collaboration, though we were moved much more by William Parker's Corn Meal Dance. Parker's emotionally rich theme album combines jazz, soul, gospel and poetry in a way that shows that boundaries in music are made by listeners and not by artists.   

9. Reissue Madness
The box set reissue of Miles Davis' The Complete On The Corner Sessions got 100 percent of the jazz reissue attention from the rock and hip-hop press this year. Thanks for giving Miles a little love, people. Now, why not try listening to any of Davis' other 50,000 brilliant records? John Coltrane's box set Interplay illustrated two years in 'Trane's evolution as a valued sideman and jam-session participator. A number of wonderful Charles Mingus concerts have been unearthed lately; this year saw a fine one from Blue Note Records and a two-CD set from Sunnyside. While everyone knows about Miles and Mingus' towering stature, Frank Foster's long-lost LP Manhattan Fever shows off an under-appreciated artist succeeding with soul-jazz, hard bop and more experimental forms. Our favorite reissue series of 2007 has been Concord Records' Keepnews Collection which lets the veteran jazz  producer Orrin Keepnews remaster his favorite albums across five decades of era-defining work. 

10. The Rebirth of the Indies
With jazz getting pushed further out by America's corporate youth culture, many indie labels have stepped in to pick up the slack. Concord is now the biggest indie on the block by a country mile, while Palmetto and Sunnyside release quality jazz at swift clip. Mack Avenue and Maxjazz lovingly represent the mainstream while ECM seems to put out ethereal albums just about every other day. Aum Fidelity is more adventurous (and slower) then even ECM while ARTizen Music is the latest smooth-jazz indie to pop up. Ropeadope has added "digital only" releases to its schedule, which is something everyone will probably be doing soon. And finally, R.I.P. to Joel Dorn, the beloved producer whose latest label was Hyena Records.

Further Listening:
Rhapsody's Year in Jazz Playlist

Comments

[Clarke Isackson]

I am really pleased that Rhapsody has put so much into obtaining and maintaining their Jazz component. I subscribed to Rhapsody in about 15 seconds (as soon as possible) after seeing their selectable list of tracks for 'Nardis'. That told me they were really on top of things. The Best of 2007 is another fine example. Thanks, folks.