I Read Downbeat But I Didn't Vote
Published December 06, 2004
Well, there's a new Downbeat Reader's Poll out and McCoy Tyner has finally been inducted into the Hall of Fame. If I hadn't been too lazy, here's how I would have cast my votes:
Hall of Fame: McCoy Tyner. The one, the only.
Jazz Artist of the Year: Joe Lovano. He has participated in so many good recordings this year. You can't help but love his quirky, but fiery playing.
Jazz Album of the Year: Joel Frahm's Don't Explain. (My review of it is HERE.)
Acoustic Group: Dave Holland Quintet. Everyone in this group is great and together they're even better. The group has really developed its own sound - partly because of the unorthodox instrumentation (vibes, tenor, trombone, bass, drums) and partly because the arrangements are so unique that the musicians are forced to find new ways of expressing themselves.
Jazz Reissue: You know, I don't really care. I guess I'd go with Monk In Paris: Live At The Olympia, but I don't spend a whole lot of time listening to reissues.
Record Label: Marsalis Music. This label is just getting started, yet it has already produced a big percentage of my favorite recent CDs. Oh my god, I'm still trying to get over how good Branford's Footsteps of Our Fathers is.
Electric Group: Roy Hargrove's RH Factor. This music is funky as hell. I haven't gotten the new CD yet (part re-mix, part new material), but am looking forward to it.
Soprano Saxophone: Dave Liebman. This guy is a monster. His playing is passionate and original. He's also one of the funniest people I've ever met.
Alto Saxophone: Kenny Garrett. Part Coltrane, part gospel singer, part... himself. He is unlike any other musician around today. Like I said before, Kenny Garrett is my god.
Tenor Saxophone: I'm going to give it to Branford Marsalis. His playing reflects the immense knowledge he has of jazz history. Seeing him live is inspiring. I don't know how he manages to keep up his playing when he also runs a record label and a steady band.
- I Read Downbeat But I Didn't Vote
- Published: December 06, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Jazz
- Writer: js
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Yah, I've listened to James Newton a little and I've really liked what I heard. I just didn't want choose someone for the flute category because I don't know enough of them to really have an educated opion.
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I'm kind of out of it, but...well, the obvious flute guy has long been and still is James Newton, except that he can't play changes, well, he can sort of, if you consider apreggiating playing changes, but when he isn't doing that, he's pretty much ignoring them, but anyways his huge sound and soul, his sense of freedom and and adventure, and his mastery of the singing-through -the-flute thing make him still great; also he's a brilliant composer who's lately been leading the Luckman Jazz Orchestra which looks to be a fabulous group judging by its personnel, but I've never heard them, 'cause they always want like thirty bucks. Other jazz flautists I've enjoyed are Steve Kujala, whom I heard on a Henry Butler Album, and Lew Tabackin, but god only knows what their up to lately. Hubert Laws made a comeback of sorts a while back, too, it seems to me...
With one exception, all jazz musicians are TDWR.