Overlooked Alternatives: 2006 Spotlight Part 2 - Jazz

I took a breather from jazz for a while, it seems, and missed out a bunch of great releases. I'm still catching up and still have some notable releases to pick up. That doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on which of last year's releases that I did pick up were the best, however. Read on:

1. Bill Frisell/Ron Carter/Paul Motian: Frisell heads back to his jazzier roots with this collaboration after years of exploring Americana, or, more accurately, it seems that drummer Motian and bassist Carter steered him toward jazzier material. That said, Frisell is still typical Frisell, but we get to hear him in a less wheat-fields and dirt-roads setting and more of a smoky jazz club sounding atmosphere, where his typical twang has some interesting textures to work against. Let's hope this trio works together more (there is a fantastic little downloadable EP of four leftover tracks from these sessions available on Frisell's website if you can't get enough that comes highly recommended.)


2. Dave Douglas - Meaning And Mystery: Another year, another great Dave Douglas release. The trumpeter may have made a slight mistake in releasing this solely on his Greenleaf imprint on the Musicstem website early in the year rather than through traditional routes, keeping it out of more ears than it deserved to reach, but it finally made its way to stores in the fall. Like many of my favorites of the year, I found myself initially slightly cold to this one - and then I warmed up very nicely to it. It's a true grower. Given time, this thing spawns deep roots. It may not quite live up to predecessor, Keystone, but it's cool soul may just burrow a little further under listeners' skin.


3. Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau - Metheny Mehldau:Quiet and reserved as Metheny Mehldau may be, my first reaction to it was damn. Cool, beautiful and quiet, this primarily duet-based album features the pianist and guitarist Metheny together for the first time in one of those matches that seem a little worrisome at first - are they too similar, will their styles simple ooze together and produce nothing of note? - and proved to be a perfect match. They function almost like twins - finishing each other's musical sentences, complimenting each other in ways that couldn't have been imagined. Things get even more interesting when Ballard and Grenadier from Mehldau's trio appear for two tracks to turn up the heat - a setting that is promised as the second Metheny Mehldau album sometime early this year. I can't wait. I've already got a slot in my best of 2007 list open for it.


4. Branford Marsalis - Braggtown: Marsalis can burn it up with the best of them, and I typically love that most about him, but this time around it's the haunting and lyrical "Hope" that has snared me. That's not to say there isn't hard-edged material, because there is - "Black Elk Speaks" is angular avant-garde, "Blakzilla" gets your blood pumping - but the heart of Braggtown lies in its quiet work, and the "Hope" sets up the listener early on for the quiet darkness that surrounds these pieces. It's a two-faced album, almost - you get two distinct sides of Marsalis' Quartet and that's what makes it so compelling and dynamic.


5. Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar: It's astounding that Coleman could come back after 10 years and sound this fresh - time is clearly good to this man, creatively-speaking. Sound Grammar ranks among Coleman's greats when most musicians are just cranking out music because that's all they know how to do. If you ever liked Ornette, you'll love this.

Article Author: Tom Johnson

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