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2011 'Best of' Lists

These are the 2011 "Best of Jazz" lists compiled by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association. It's up to each member to decide how many choices to include in his or her own list. Click the member's name after the date to view that member's profile. You can make your own comments on each list-- let us know what you think!  Enjoy.          
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  • Rob Johnson

    19 Feb 2012 12:28 AM | Rob Johnson
    A little late (new member), but:
     1.  Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian - Live at Birdland  (ECM)
     2.  Sonny Rollins - Road Shows, vol. 2  (Doxy)
     3.  Ambrose Akinmusire - When the Heart Emerges Glistening  (Blue Note)
     4.  Keith Jarrett - Rio  (ECM)
     5.  Miguel Zenon - Alma Adentro  (Marsalis)
     6.  Etienne Charles - Kaiso  (Culture Shock)
     7.  Colin Stranahan, Glenn Zaleski, Rick Rosato - Anticipation  (Capri)
     8.  Muhal Richard Abrams - SoundDance  (Pi)
     9.  Marcus Strickland - Triumph of the Heavy  (Strick Muzik) 
    10. Paul Motian - Windmills of Your Mind  (Winter & Winter)
    Historical
        Miles Davis Quintet - Live in Europe 1967, The Bootleg Series Vol.1 (Sony/Legacy)
    Reissue
        Heiner Stadler - Tribute to Bird & Monk (Labor)
    Compilation
        Everybody Wants to Be a Cat (Disney Jazz)
    Vocal
        Terri Lyne Carrington - The Mosaic Project (GrooveJazz)
         
                 


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  • Christian Broecking

    10 Jan 2012 5:36 AM | Dr. Christian Broecking
    1. Jürg Wickihalder European Quartet feat. Irène Schweizer Jump! (Intakt)) 2. Angelika Niescier Quite Simply (Enja) 3. Trio 3 feat. Geri Allen Celebrating Mary Lou Williams (Intakt) 4. Sonny Rollins Road Shows, Vol. 2 (Doxy) 5. Archie Shepp / Joachim Kühn Wo!Man ( Archieball) 6. Das Kapital Plays Hanns Eisler Conflicts & Conclusions (Das Kapital Records) 7. Muhal Richard Abrams Sound Dance ( Pi) 8. Ambrose Akinmusire When The Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note) Reissue: 1. Various Free Music Production FMP - In Retrospect ( FMP)
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  • W. Royal Stokes

    08 Jan 2012 12:42 PM | W. Royal Stokes
    Ten Best New Releases 

    Terri Lyne Carrington, The Mosaic Project (Concord Jazz)
    Ron Carter,  Ron Carter's Great Big Band (Sunnyside)
    Keith Jarrett, Rio (ECM)
    Grace Kelly and Phil Woods, Man With the Hat (Pazz Productions)
    Joe Lovano/Us Five, Bird Songs (Blue Note)
    Roswell Rudd,  Incredible Honk (Sunnyside)
    Sonny Rollins, Road Shows vol. 2 (Emarcy/Universal Music Group)
    Lalo Schifrin, Jazz Meets the Symphony #7 (Aleph)
    Wadada Leo Smith, Heart's Reflections (Cuneiform)
    Omar Sosa, Calma (Ota)


    Top Three Reissues

    John Carter and Bobby Bradford, John Carter & Bobby Bradford (Mosaic Select)
    Jimmie Lunceford, The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (Mosaic)
    Art Pepper, Blues for the Fisherman: Unreleased Art Pepper, Vol. 6 (Widow's Taste)


    Best Vocal Album

    Catherine Russell, Strictly Romancin’ (Harmonia Mundi/World Village)


    Best Latin Jazz Album

    James Carter, Caribbean Rhapsody, (Emarcy/Universal Music Group)


    Best Debut CD

    Lisa Lindsley, Everytime We Say Goodbye (Blondsongstress Productions)

    For my additional lists of Notable Releases of 2011 go to my blog at wroyalstokes.com/weblog/

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  • Woody Louis Armstrong Shaw III

    04 Jan 2012 2:43 AM | Woody Shaw

    2 Noteworthy Prospects for Best Reissue, Best Reissue Compilation, or other related categories of 2011:

    • Woody Shaw: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (5 Stars at AllMusic.com)
      (PopMarket / Legacy Recordings / Sony Music)
    • Dexter Gordon: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection  (4.5 Stars at AllMusic.com) 
      (PopMarket / Legacy Recordings / Sony Music) 
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  • Neil Tesser

    02 Jan 2012 3:46 PM | Neil Tesser
    Here are the 13 albums in my Top Ten list for 2011. (Think TARDIS.) I explained my choices in three columns at Examiner.com; this last of the three contains links to the previous two.

    1. Bill Carrothers, A Night At The Village Vanguard (Pirouet)
    2. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Samdhi (ACT)
    3. Dead Cat Bounce, Chance Episodes (Cunieform)
    4. Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig, Threedom (Motema)
    5. Steve Coleman, The Mancy Of Sound (Pi)
    6. KLANG, Other Doors (Allos Documents)
    7. René Marie, Black Lace Freudian Slip (Motema)
    8. Jason Stein Quartet, The Story This Time (Delmark)
    9. Fred Ho and the Afro-Asian Music Ensemble: Big Red (Innova)
    10. Ambrose Akinmusire, When The Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)
    11. BassDrumBone, The Other Parade (Clean Feed)
    12. Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms, Spacer (Delmark)
    13. Starlicker, Double Demon (Delmark)

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  • Sharonne Cohen

    31 Dec 2011 11:24 PM | Sharonne Cohen

    Favorites for 2011 (in no particular order):

    • Ben Allison, Action-Refraction (Palmetto)
    • Tyshawn Sorey, Oblique – I (Pi)
    • Ambrose Akinmusire, When the Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)
    • Guillermo Klein/Aaron Goldberg, Bienestan (Sunnyside)
    • Carlo De Rosa’s Cross-Fade, Brain Dance (Cuneiform)
    • J.D. Allen Trio, Victory! (Sunnyside)
    • SF Jazz Collective, Music of Stevie Wonder (SF Jazz)
    • Avishai Cohen, Introducing Triveni (Anzic)
    • Ari Hoenig, Lines of Oppression (Naive)
    • Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra, Treelines (Justin Time)
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  • George Grella

    30 Dec 2011 7:22 PM | George Grella
    A dozen worthies ...

    1. Dan Tepfer, Goldberg Variations/Variations
    2. Matthew Shipp, Art of the Improviser
    3. Wadada Leo Smith, Heart's Reflections
    4. Claudia Quintet + 1, What is the Beautiful?
    5. Les doigts de l'homme, 1910
    6. Honey Ear Trio, Steampunk Serenade
    7. Allen Lowe, Blues and the Empirical Truth
    8. Aram Shelton's Arrive, There Was ...
    9. Gerry Hemingway Quintet, Riptide
    10. Alon Nechustan, Words Beyond
    11. Chris Parrello + Things I Wonder
    12. Jen Shyu and Mark Dresser, Synastry

    Annotations at The Big City

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  • John Fenton

    30 Dec 2011 6:28 PM | John Fenton
    World 
    Pat Martino Quartet - Undeniable (Live at Blues Alley) - 'High Note'. www.jazzdepot.com

    South Pacific 
    Tom Dennison - Zoo - 'Rattle Jazz' www.rattlejazz.com - downloads available

    Alan Brown - Between the Spaces - 'Ode Records' or download from www.alanbrown.co.nz/spaces

    Phil Broadhurst Quartet - Delayed Reaction - Independent Artists (Rattle) www.juliephiljazz.co.nz

    Samson, Nacey, Haines - Oxide - Rattle Jazz - www.rattlejazz.com - downloads available

    All reviewed on my New Zealand Jazz Blog - Jazz Local 32
    (jon4jaz.wordpress.com)
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  • Wilbert Sostre

    30 Dec 2011 9:04 AM | Wilbert Sostre

    1. Miguel Zenon - Alma Adentro

    2. Stefon Harris, Christian Scott, David Sanchez - Ninety Miles

    3. Gretchen Parlato - The Lost and Found

    4. Fred Hersh - Alone in the Vanguard

    5. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Faith

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  • Hrayr Attarian

    29 Dec 2011 9:41 PM | Hrayr Attarian

    Top Ten Jazz CDs by Female Instrumentalists in 2011.

    1) Matana Roberts Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres

    2) Tineke Postma The Dawn of Light

    3) Okkyung Lee Noisy Love Songs

    4) Lisa Mezzacappa & Nightshade Cosmic Rift

    5) Jessica Pavone Army Of Strangers

    6) Carol Morgan Blue Glass Music

    7) Karolina Strassmayer Joining Forces

    8) Satoko Fujii Watershed

    9) Claire Daly Mary Joyce Project: Nothing to Lose

    10) Nicole Mitchell Awakening 

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