
Going over the long list of jazz releases from 2010 has been an exhausting but exhilarating experience, and I finally managed to scale things down to a list of 20 albums that are at least partially representative of the vast modern jazz landscape.
Artists as diverse as Brad Mehldau and Esperanza Spalding show that jazz musicians have always drawn inspiration from a large well that includes classical music, folk traditions and pop trends (examples being that Mehldau is known for bringing indie rock songs into jazz; Spalding is slated to make a crossover soul album). The intense Mehldau went orchestral, and the bright-eyed Spalding took a chamber music detour. Pianist Fred Hersch dove deep after a horrifying near-death experience. Wynton Marsalis threw caution (and tradition) to the wind for an extended Iberian party that cast away any barriers between America and Spain, East and West, and then and now. Likewise, America's Stacey Kent took her American sass and British band to France (Canada's Jay Phelps also leads a U.K. group, though he used his in celebration of styles originally created in the good ole U.S. of A). Jason Moran deservedly won a 2010 MacArthur Genius grant, and guitarist John Pizzarelli should get some sort of comedy award for his priceless between-song patter, which brings me as much joy as old Bugs Bunny cartoons (big bonus time: Pizzarelli's music is just as fun).
Jazz has always been art and it has always been entertainment. Today, it is becoming more of a brotherhood of international musicians than ever. Jazz musicians are going bluegrass, country musicians are going jazz, and classical virtuosos like
Nigel Kennedy play acoustic/electric fusion bop without blinking an eye. The most jaw-droppingly energizing concert I saw in 2010 was by the
Punch Brothers, a bluegrass band that dazzled a crowd of jazz and classical fans (and even country-folk hounds) before they changed gears and lovingly covered
Radiohead to equal applause. Charles Lloyd spearheaded the most moving concert, uniting a room full of strangers and connecting them with The Music of the Spheres (try that,
Lady Gaga!).
Twenty-ten has also offered up plenty of hard times, and perhaps only poetry is less respected than jazz in the American marketplace (people — the marketplace wasn't right on the housing bubble, it's not right on executive pay and it sure isn't right about jazz). Ironically, most of this has to do with the loss of retail space given to jazz. Over in Europe, a gorgeous instrumental duets release by Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden (both Yanks, by the way) sailed up the pop charts. Likewise, jazzy singer-songwriter Melody Gardot joined a number of mainstream artists in moving to Europe, where she gets played on the radio and sells out large concert venues across the continent.
Ironically, the sinking of the smooth jazz market has really upped the quality of the music, with
David Sanborn getting his gritty groove back,
Kirk Whalum releasing his best platter yet and
Lee Ritenour celebrating his favorite living guitarists with
6 String Theory.
Herbie Hancock went on a global pop/rock and blues exchange that explored our common humanity, and
Gil Scott-Heron came back from the dead (sort of) with a powerful, if dispiriting, return to studio recording.
Two of the record labels that seemed to release the greatest number of quality albums this year were ECM and Sunnyside Records. ECM is famous for crafting intense but often quiet music that blurs the boundaries between the avant-garde and easy listening (art doesn't have to hurt, people). Sunnyside's only guiding principle seems to be an unending appetite for mainstream jazz in any and all forms. Both labels got two albums each on the list ... and there could have been more. There are also two releases featuring The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which shows its value by giving an artist such as Ted Nash the opportunity to work across a larger canvas than he ever has before (literally "canvas" in Nash's case, as he composed a sweeping tribute to his favorite painters).
Rhapsody may have dropped the ball on jazz from time to time in 2010, but we are doubling down our efforts in the new year.
The Jazz Spot is our weekly roundup of new jazz releases and reissues,
The New Breed (just one of our dozens of genre radio stations) spotlights today's jazz generation, and our weekly jazz newsletter celebrates artists, themes, trends and labels.
While reading, check out our playlist of the
Best Songs of 2010: Jazz.