aworks project :: contemporary jazz on lala via tom hull

Rasputin via Wikipedia

Yesterday I was at several of the legacy record stores in Berkeley. At the classical shop (with the cafe and whose name I can't think of right now), I bought some non-mainstream classical -- William Kraft percussion music and a CD by the Verdehr Trio of composers apparently affiliated with the University of Michigan. But at Amoeba and the always scruffy Rasputin, I ended up only looking through the most conventional of jazz artists, good as they may be -- Monk, Mingus, Zawinul, etc.

To rectify this, I see that Tom Hull has posted his top 10 jazz picks for the year and since I have heard of none of the artists, I thought I would check what's on lala and give them a listen. Tom's list and my comments if any and at the end, I'll try to keep updating the lala playlist with my pick of the tracks from these albums:

William Parker: Double Sunrise Over Neptune (AUM Fidelity)
None of these tracks have improvisation in the first thirty seconds so it's hard to assess. I will acknowledge I already have some other Parker MP3s. (lala - samples only)

Vijay Iyer: Tragicomic (Sunnyside)
Iyer, son of Indian immigrants, is a jazz pianist but has also composed for Ethel, the Imani Winds and the American Composers Orchestra. My track picks: The Weight of Things, Comin' Up, Becoming, and Threnody. (lala)

Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Holon (ECM)
(lala - samples only)

Rob Brown Ensemble: Crown Trunk Root Funk (AUM Fidelity)
(not available on lala)

Scott Fields Freetet: Bitter Love Songs (Clean Feed)
Bitter love song titles as well e.g. Go Ahead, Take the Furniture, At Least You Helped Pick It Out and Yea, Sure, We Can Still Be Friends, Whatever. (lala)

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: This Is Our Moosic (Hot Cup)
(lala)

Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse (Fresh Sound New Talent)
(not available on lala)

Vandermark 5: Beat Reader (Atavistic)
(lala)

Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: We Are MTO (Mowo!)
(lala)

Randy Sandke: Unconventional Wisdom (Arbors)
(lala)

Best of Tom Hull's Best of 200...