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Hoon’s Muso Tunes Favorite Music for 2011
Here are 105 of my favorite recordings from 2011. I put in the time, so, maybe, you don’t have to. This tip of the iceberg, revealed here, stands atop a mountainous amount of satisfying music. Unlike last year, the recap is all in one place, and from my perspective I note lots of interesting juxtapositions. It was terrific year for archival digging and reconstitution. The Beach Boys Smile Sessions may stand on top, but the scorching sessions from Miles Davis (1967) and Jimmy Hendrix (1968) mark out other staggering musical moments from the sixties.
Matana Roberts struck me as a likely leading light of the improv year after hearing her two superb records the first time. She made it first across the finish line of my highest estimations with her sturdy and sophisticated updating of Great Black Music; i.e. the so-called Chicago avant-garde. The last ten years in Jazz have turned about the arrival of a brilliant wave of youngish players. This year Matana Roberts, Peter Evans, and Colin Stetson, scratched my radar screen. Meanwhile in 2012 Phil Woods turns 81 and Stan Tracey turns 86. Abdullah Ibrahim turns 78. Hopefully each has another brilliant record or two or more in ’em.
Hidden gems in my listing here include Dengue Fever’s Cannibal Courtship, a rollicking, syncretic world beat bounce-around; Ablaye Ndiaye Thiossane, who at 76 came back with a record of Senegalese rhumbas; and another comeback item from Plaid, Scintilli. Maria Minerva’s Sacred and Profane Love helped fill the gap for an Ariel Pink-less year. The Belle Brigade’s backward-looking west coast pop rock won me over, edging out Old Californo and The Dawes for pride of place in the department of guilty pleasures. Ndidi Onukwulu’s The Escape proves we in fact do need an ebony Cat Power.
Bjork’s Bibliophilia earns special mention because in its “app” form for mobile devices she pulled the cover off of one engrossing prototype for the future modalities for pop music. Finally, Glen Campbell’s Ghost On the Canvas is likely his last record, and may well be his best too. It was without a doubt the most courageous record of the year.
TWELVE MUSIC ESSENTIALS – 2011
1.
The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions
2.
Matana Roberts – Coin Coin, Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres
3.
Miles Davis – Live in Europe 1967- The Bootleg Series V.1
4.
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
5.
Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
6.
Bombino – Agadez
7.
Dengue Fever – Cannibal Courtship
8.
Stan Tracey – Soundcheck
9.
Bjork – Biophilia
10.
Ellen Fullman – Through Glass Panes
11.
Charles Bradley – No Time for Dreaming
12.
Ebo Taylor – Highlife & Afrobeat Classics 1973-1980
JAZZ – PROGRESSIONS
1.
(a) Matana Roberts – Coin Coin, Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres(b) Matana Roberts – Live in London
2.
Satoko Fujii Min-Yoh Ensemble – Watershed
3.
Peter Evans Quintet – Ghosts
4.
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol.2- Judges
5.
Craig Taborn – Avenging Angel
6.
David S. Ware – Planetary Unknown
7.
Wadada Leo Smith’s Organic – Heart’s Reflections
8,
Irene Schweizer – Chicago Piano Solo
9.
Joe McPhee & Chris Corsano – Under a Double Moon
10.
William Parker & The Element Choir – At Christ Church Deer Park
11.
Bill Dixon – Envoi
JAZZ – TRADITIONS
1.
Stan Tracey – Soundcheck
2.
Keith Jarrett – Rio
3.
Phil Woods & Bill Mays – Woods & Mays
4.
Charles Lloyd & Maria Farantouri – Athens Concert
5.
Eric Reed – The Dancing Monk
6.
Erena Terakubo – New York Attitude
7.
Joe Lovano – Us Five – Bird Songs
8.
Captain Black Big Band – Captain Black Big Band
9.
Jack DeJohnette – Group Live at Yoshi’s
10.
Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau – Live at Birdland
JAZZ – HISTORY
1.
Miles Davis – Live in Europe 1967- The Bootleg Series V.1
2.
Weather Report – Live In Berlin 1975
3.
George Russell – Things New – Unissued Concerts 1960 & 1964
4.
Weather Report – Live in Offenbach 1977
5.
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew Live
WORLD
1.
Dengue Fever – Cannibal Courtship
2.
Omara Portuondo & Chucho Valde – Omara & Chucho
3.
Hossam Ramzy – Rock the Tabla
4.
Adanowsky – Amador
5.
Carlo De Rosa’s Cross-Fade – Brain Dance
6.
Kiran Ahluwalia – Aam Zameen Common-Ground
7.
Omar Souleyman – Haflat Gharbia_ The Western Concerts
8.
Stephen Marley – Revelation Pt. 1 The Root Of Life
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Cleveland Jeff