A top ten (or 25) favorites of mine for the year. I put out a post back at the end of March but thought I’d start a new thread for the end of the year. Not one that really stood out for me but a lot (at least 25) that I found pretty enjoyable:

TRIO 3 WITH IRENE SCHWEIZER – THE BERNE CONCERT – INTAKT
Great band as a trio, when they’re hitting on all cylinders, but Irene really serves to open things up and set fire to the music at times. Recalls the Reggie Workman Quartet with Oliver, Andrew, and Marilyn Crispell years ago on the Synthesis recording, my intro to Marilyn’s genius.

MARILYN CRISPELL (AND OTHERS) – COLLABORATIONS 2004 & 2007 – LEO
Speaking of Marilyn, music here from two different dates, both heavily in the free improvisation vein. Both dates with Paal Nilssen-Love on drums.

SUN RA ARKESTRA – THE ANTIQUE BLACKS – ART YARD
Technically not a new issue but a rare, long OOP LP from Saturn. Recorded live in 1974, a really lively set with plenty of great Ra poetry, rocksichord, and even electric guitar. An additional track added to the original LP. With the deluge of Sun Ra issues/reissues, this one stands out. I’ve had a tape of it for years and was thrilled to see it issued on cd.

JOHN HEBERT – BYZANTINE MONKEY – FIREHOUSE 12
To me, John is one of (at least) two great under-recognized bassist/leaders, the other being Adam Lane. This record covers a lot of ground, a lot of moods, but all with a lot of life. Some pieces include three winds, Michael Attias, Tony Malaby, and Adam Kolker. Hebert teamed up with Nasheet Waits
and Satoshi Takeshi in rhythm section.

OKKYUNG LEE/STEVE BERESFORD/PETER EVANS – CHECK FOR MONSTERS – EMANEM
Excellent free improv recording. Soon after this release, Okkyung and Peter would join Urs Leimgruber at Roulette for an equally excellent trio date.

BRIAN GRODER/BURTON GREENE – GRODER AND GREENE – LATHAM
In addition to the leaders, Groder on trumpets and Greene on piano, Rob Brown and Adam Lane join the forces to put this one over the edge. Great playing all the way around.

DENNIS GONZALEZ – RENEGADE SPIRITS – FURTHERMORE
Furthermore has put out two really fine recordings from Dennis this year. This one is my favorite of the two. Heavy on percussion with the presence of Famoudou Don Moye, the recording brims with an intense spirit and
joyfulness.

JOE MORRIS – COLORFIELD – ESP DISK
One of two new recordings featuring Joe on the guitar. The new quartet date on Aum Fidelity is excellent as well. But this one, in a trio with Steve Lantner on piano and Luther Gray on drums, is a bit more wide open and gives a great opportunity to hear Joe not only solo but dig into some nice group interplay with his partners. Which also reminds me of………..

JOE MORRIS/SIMON H FELL/ALEX WARD – THE NECESSARY AND THE POSSIBLE – VICTO
Venturing even deeper into free improvisational territory, this is a date that was part of the Victoriaville 2008 Festival and one that I would have loved to have seen live. I’ve never had the opportunity to hear Simon H Fell or Alex Ward perform and it sounds like they were in fine form in this trio date with Joe.

LOTTE ANKER/CRAIG TABORN/GERALD CLEAVER – LIVE @ THE LOFT – ILK MUSIC
In Detroit we had a chance to hear this trio at a festival and it caught fire in a way that a previous trio date on Leo did not. This recording captures that fire and intensity that all three displayed, locking in together for a seamless flow of creative energy.

That’s ten, but there were plenty more that I think could just as easily have been in my top ten:

BILL DIXON – TAPESTRIES FOR SMALL ORCHESTRA – FIREHOUSE 12
DON CHERRY – LIVE AT CAFE MONMARTRE VOLUME 3 – ESP DISK
CLEAVER/TABORN/PARKER – FARMERS BY NATURE – AUM FIDELITY
AKI TAKASE & ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH – IRON WEDDING – INTAKT
DANIEL HUMAIR/JOACHIM KUHN/TONY MALABY – FULL CONTACT – BEE JAZZ
NU BAND – LOWER EAST SIDE BLUES – PORTER RECORDS
SOPHIE AGNEL – CAPSIZING MOMENTS – PSI
SATOKO FUJII & MYRA MELFORD – TRACE A RIVER – LIBRA
NICOLE MITCHELL BLACK EARTH STRINGS – RENEGADES – DELMARK
FRANK GRATKOWSKI – UNPLUGGED MIND – LEO
KLANG – TEA MUSIC – ALLOS DOCUMENTS
STELLARI STRING QUARTET – GOCCE STELLARI – EMANEM
STEVE SWELL – PLANET DREAM – CLEAN FEED
DAVID S WARE – SHAKTI – AUM FIDELITY
OLD DOG – BY ANY OTHER NAME – PORTER RECORDS

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