IT’S TOP TEN TIME!!!

Those wonderful words “It’s Top Ten Time” take me  back to the 70s when that would be the clarion call for all fans of Dr. Demento on KMET. Every Sunday night (so much for a social life!) I’d stay at home and listen to 3 hours of novelty tunes spun by the good Doctor. The last hour would be dedicated to the ten most wacky, wild and funny songs of the month. Ah! When radio was radio!

Anyway, I think that’s one of the major reasons I love Top Ten lists. It makes you coalesce your tastes and play “lifeboat” with the year’s releases. Also, it’s a great way to expand your taste. For instance, if you see an album that you may not have heard, but is repeatedly chosen by us journalists, odds are that you should try it. Also, after a few years, you get to hone your tastes after certain journalists. I still go over the picks by Yanow and McDonough to see what I might have missed or not appreciated enough. Here’s this years pickings, and have fun reviewing the past year’s highlights!

 

I  GEORGE HARRIS TOP TEN Jazz Messenger/www.jazzweekly.com

1)      Bill Harris Complete Mercury Recordings 1956-1959(Fresh Sound)

2)      Stan Getz Quartet Live in Montreux 1972

3)      Frank Wess: Magic 101

4)      Thad Jones & Eclipse: Danish Big Band

5)      Cecile McLoren Savant: WomanChild

6)      Stefan Micus: Panagia

7)      Nelson Matta: Black Orpheus

8)      Charles Lloyd/Jason Moran: Hagar’s Song

9)      Duke Ellington Orchestra: Big Bands Live (Jazz Haus)

10)   Lester Young: Boston 1950

 

TOP JAZZ RECORDINGS OF 2013

II SCOTT YANOW

 

1) Benny Green – Magic Beans – Sunnyside

2) Cecile McLorin Salvant – Woman Child – Mack Avenue

3) Frank Wess – Magic 101 – JPO

4) Oscar Brown Jr. & Maggie Brown – We’re Live – ESP

5) Herbie Hancock – The Complete Columbia Album Collection – Legacy

6) Jackie Ryan – Listen Here – Open Art

7) Champian Fulton – Champian Sings And Swings – Sharp Nine

8) Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald – Complete Decca Sessions 1934-1941 – Mosaic

9) Keith Jarrett – Somewhere – ECM

10) Paris Washboard – Swinging Castle – Kur und Kongress

 

Scott Yanow, author of  11 books includingThe Great Jazz Guitarists and The Jazz Singers

 

 

 

IIIMark Corroto / AllAboutJazz.com

1 Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile (Constellation)

2 Petr Cancura - Down Home (Roots To Boot) 

3 William Parker - Wood Flute Songs (AUM Fidelity)

4 Matt Parker - Worlds Put Together (BYNK) 

5 Craig Taborn - Chants (ECM)

6 Peter Evans - Zebulon (More Is More) 

7 John McNeil - Hush Point (Sunnyside) 

8 John Escreet - Sabotage And Celebration (Whirl Wind)

9 Ivo Perelman - Enigma (Leo)

10 Ken Vandermark/Made To Break - Lacerba (Clean Feed)

IVThomas Conrad

Jazz Messenger, JazzTimes, Stereophile, New York City Jazz Record

 

Top Ten 2013

 

1.  Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet: Wisława (ECM)

2.  Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran: Hagar’s Song (ECM)

3.  Terence Blanchard: Magnetic (Blue Note)

4.  Tim Berne’s Snakeoil: Shadow Man (ECM)

5.  Wadada Leo Smith & Tumo: Occupy the World (TUM)

6.  Terje Rypdal: Melodic Warrior (ECM)

7.  Wayne Shorter: Without a Net (Blue Note)

8.  John Carter/Bobby Bradford Quartet: Flight for Four (International Phonograph)

9.  Jakob Bro: December Song (Loveland)

10. John Coltrane: Sun Ship: The Complete Session (Impulse [CD’s],

 

V DAVID KUNIAN

Harold Battiste Presents the Next Generation Big Band

Kidd Jordan – On Fire 2

Matana Roberts – Coin Coin 2 – Mississippi Moonchile

Mary Halvorsen – Illusionary Sea

Preservation Hall Jazz Band – That’s It

Tom McDermott – BamboulaMeschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns – Fooler’s Gold

Peter Harris – The Jackal

Vijay Iyer/Mike Ladd – Holding It Down: the Veteran’s Dream Project

Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns – Fooler’s Gold

James Booker – Classified Remix

 

VI MICHAEL NASTOS

 

JAZZ MESSENGER MUSIC POLL, 2013

Best CD’s of 2013

1) DAWN OF MIDI “Dysnomia” (Thirsty Ear)

2) MARK DRESSER “Nourishments” (Clean Feed)

3) STEPHAN CRUMP-ROSETTA TRIO “Thwirl” (Sunnyside)

4) CLAUDIO SCOLARI “Synthesis” (Principal)

5) GERI ALLEN “Grand River Crossings” (Motema)

6) SAMO SALAMON “Stretching Out” (Samo)

7) HARRIS EISENSTADT “Golden State” (Songlines)

8) FRANK ROSALY “Cicada Music” (Delmark)

9) ROBERT HURST “BoB; A Palindrome” (BeBob)

10) ALBERT “TOOTIE” HEATH / ETHAN IVERSON / BEN STREET “Tootie’s Tempo” (Sunnyside)
Michael G. Nastos, Cadence Magazine, Hot House Magazine

 

VII DUCK BAKER

 

 

Cheers, Duck

 

1) John Coltrane, The Complete Sun Ship Session

2) Miles Davis, Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2

3) Roswell Rudd, Trombone for Lovers

4) Bill Horvitz Expanded Band, The Long Walk

5) Stan Tracey Trio, UK Live: With Ben Webster & Ronnie Scott 1967 Vols. 1

6) Anthony Braxton, Echo Echo Mirror House

7) Unreleased Art Vol. VIII: Live At The Winery, September 6, 1976

8) Jessica Jones & Connie Crothers, Live at the Freight

9) Tubby Hayes Quartet, Seven Steps To Heaven: Live At The Hopbine 1972

10) Jason Robinson, Tiresian Symmetry

 

VIII JOHN MCDONOUGH

 

 

John McDonough (Down Beat, NPR, Northwestern University Music Dept.)

 

1.   Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions

2.   Louis Armstrong: The Okeh-Victor years 1925-33

3.   Classic Earl Hines Sessions 1928-45

4.   The Modern Jazz Quartet: Germany 1956-58 (Lost Tapes)

5.   Frank Wess: Magic 101

6. Thelonious Monk: Paris 1969  (Blue Note)

7.   Tommy Flanagan/Jaki Byard: Magic of 2

8.   Joshua Redman: Walking Shadows

9.   Chick Corea/Gary Burton: Hot House

10.   Dick Hyman/Ken Peplowski: Live at Katano

 

extra (if needed)

11.  Lester Young 1950 (Uptown)

 

IX DAVID ADLER

 

David R. Adler

02 Dec 2013 10:50 PM | David Adler

Top Ten Albums, 2013

Wayne Shorter Quartet, Without a Net (Blue Note)

Craig Taborn Trio, Chants (ECM)

Ben Monder, Hydra (Sunnyside)

Steve Coleman and Five Elements, Functional Arrhythmias (Pi)

Cécile McLorin Salvant, WomanChild (Mack Avenue)

JD Allen, Grace (Savant)

Joshua Abrams Quartet, Unknown Known (Rogue Art)

Mike McGinnis + 9, Road*Trip (RKM)

The New Gary Burton Quartet, Guided Tour (Mack Avenue)

Kris Davis, Capricorn Climber (Clean Feed)

 

X LYN HORTON

 

Lyn Horton, The Paradigm for Beauty

2013 Top Ten

1.   Matthew Shipp, Piano Sutras, Thirsty Ear

2.   Wadada Leo Smith & Tumo, Occupy The World, TUM Records

3.   Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd, Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dream Project, Pi Recordings

4.   Nicole Mitchell’s Ice Crystal, Aquarius, Delmark

5.   Wheelhouse (Dave Rempis, Jason Adasiewicz, Nate McBride), Boss of the Plains, Aerophonic

6.   Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Brooklyn Babylon, New Amsterdam Records

7.   The Convergence Quartet (Taylor Ho Bynum, Alexander Hawkins, Dominic Lash, Harris Eisenstadt), Slow and Steady, No Business Records

8.   Adam Lane Trio (Adam Lane, Darius Jones, Vijay Anderson), Absolute Horizon, No Business Records

9.   Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran, Hagar’s Song, ECM

10.                 Lubomyr Melnyk, Three Solo Pieces, Unseen Worlds

 

Top Re-Issues

Joe McPhee, Nation Time, Box Set w/ previously unreleased material, Corbett vs.        Dempsey

XI Mark F. Turner

Freelance Writer

Allaboutjazz.com

 

 

 

Rudresh MahanthappaRudresh – Gamak (ACT)

 

Cecile McLorin Salvant – WomanChild (Mack Avenue)

 

Wayne Shorter Quartet – Without a Net (Blue Note)

 

Matana Roberts – COIN COIN Chapter Two:Mississippi Moonchile (Constellation Records)

 

Jaimeo Brown – Transcendence (Motema Music)

 

Steve Coleman and Five Elements – Functional Arrhythmias (Pi Recordings)

 

Thiefs – Thiefs (Melanine Harmonique Recordings)

 

Dawn of Midi – Dysnomia (Thirsty Ear Recordings)

 

RJ Miller – Ronald’s Rhythm (Loyal Label)

 

Yeahwon Shin – Lua ya (ECM)

 

 

 

 XII Mark Corroto / AllAboutJazz.com

 

1 Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile (Constellation)

2 Petr Cancura – Down Home (Roots To Boot)

3 William Parker – Wood Flute Songs (AUM Fidelity)

4 Matt Parker – Worlds Put Together (BYNK)

5 Craig Taborn – Chants (ECM)

6 Peter Evans – Zebulon (More Is More)

7 John McNeil – Hush Point (Sunnyside)

8 John Escreet – Sabotage And Celebration (Whirl Wind)

9 Ivo Perelman – Enigma (Leo)

10 Ken Vandermark/Made To Break – Lacerba (Clean Feed)