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As 2024 comes to an end, let’s take a look (and a listen) to those releases we may have missed this year…
The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow Charles Lloyd, saxophone; Jason Moran, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; Brian Blade, drums Blue Note Records
At 86, Charles Lloyd could claim the title of “Grand Old Man of the Tenor” but maybe he is too idiosyncratic for that… On his latest for Blue Note, he is reunited with pianist Jason Moran and bassist Larry Grenadier, but it’s the presence of Brian Blade (on his first recorded meeting with Lloyd) that makes this one special. Significantly, there’s a (short) track called Late Bloom on the album… Indeed!
Tomorrowland Lux Quartet : Myra Melford, piano; Allison Miller, drums; Dayna Stephens, saxophone; Scott Colley, bass Enja Records
At first glance, the Lux Quartet seems to be a collaborative effort, but in fact it is co-led by pianist Myra Melford and drummer Allison Miller, who have played together in Miller’s Boom Tic Boom group for more than a decade. Joined here by saxophonist Dayna Stephens and bassist Scott Colley, they manage to explore an astonishing range, from abstract lines to elegiac melodies, from monkish themes to almost ferocious improvisations. Intelligent jazz that also remains highly accessible.
To listen and/or purchase Tomorrowland, visit Bandcamp.
Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) Darius Jones, composer, alto saxophone; Gerald Cleaver, drums; Chris Lightcap, drums AUM Fidelity
Darius Jones’ pungent alto sax sound might not be for all tastes, but the Norfolk, VA, native has become one of the major voices in today’s jazz since the release of Man’ish Boy in 2009. With Legend of e’Boi, Jones inaugurates the seventh chapter in this cycle, this time dealing with themes of Black mental health. Backed by Chris Lightcap and Gerald Cleaver, the saxophonist creates strangely hypnotic music from deceptively simple basic material. An album that grows with each listen.
Words Unspoken John Surman, soprano and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet; Rob Waring, vibraphone; Rob Luft, guitar; Thomas Strønen, drums ECM Records
Celebrating his 80th birthday last Summer, John Surman announced he would retire from live performances after the Fall season. But the British saxman (and master bass clarinetist) still has a lot to say musically, and he said he wishes to keep playing and recording. As well he should, because his latest for ECM is as strong as anything he has done in recent years. With vibist Rob Waring (67), drummer Thomas Strønen (51) and guitarist Rob Luft (31) he leads a true intergenerational band in a series of 10 original compositions, each with its own, very surmanian, character.
Transfiguration James Brandon Lewis, tenor saxophone, composer; Aruán Ortiz, piano; Brad Jones, bass; Chad Taylor, drums Intakt Records
Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis seems to be everywhere at once these days. Having released the excellent For Mahalia, With Love in 2023, he then collaborated with power trio The Messthetics on record and on stage, touring extensively. He apparently also had time to go into the studio with his quartet (pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones, drummer Chad Taylor) for another strong offering, the group’s fourth.
Louis Armstrong’s America Volume 1 / Volume 2 Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, with (among others) Frank Lacy, trumpet; Ray Anderson, trombone; Loren Schoenberg, Matthew Shipp, piano; Marc Ribot, guitar ESP-Disk’
Saxophonist Allen Lowe is not only a highly original musician, he also is one of the most insightful jazz writers and historians around. For Louis Armstrong’s America, Lowe could have chosen to cover tunes played by or associated with the great Louis, but here he offers an extensive collection of genre-defying original compositions (spread over 4 CDs!) that manage to remain grounded in jazz history (a Kid Ory theme here, a fragment of a standard elsewhere) as well as full of humour, even touching on punk rock!
Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 Don Byas, tenor saxophone; with his own groups and other leaders, notably Hot Lips Page, Cozy Cole, Clyde Hart, Oscar Pettiford, Dizzy Gillespie, Trummy Young, Benny Carter, Don Redman; sidemen include Charlie Shavers, Slam Stewart, Thelonious Monk, Lucky Thompson, Coleman Hawkins, Buck Clayton, Erroll Garner, Max Roach, Beryl Booker. Mosaic Records
Released just as 2023 was moving into 2024, this massive 10-CD set finally does justice to the great Don Byas, a tenor sax giant whose swing-to-bop style may be out of favor nowadays but who should be more celebrated. In addition to his classic 1940s sides for labels such as Savoy, National, Continental, Manor or Guild, Byas is heard here in a series of previously unissued recordings, most of them recorded by the famous “Jazz Baron”, Timme Rosenkrantz.
Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 Bobby Hutcherson, vibraphone; sidemen include Joe Henderson, Grant Green, Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, Richard Davis, Joe Chambers, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Stanley Cowell, Harold Land, Chick Corea, Joe Sample. Mosaic Records
Someone once said that if Bobby Hutcherson had been a saxophone player, he would be celebrated as one of the most creative musicians of his time. That’s self-evident when you listen to his output for Blue Note, collected here by Mosaic. From his debut The Kicker (which remained unissued for… 36 years!) to his quintet with saxophonist Harold Land, Hutcherson delivered some of the most forward-looking music ever put out by the label.
As for the Byas set, the Hutcherson box is published by Mosaic Records.
The Carnegie Hall Concert Alice Coltrane, piano, harp, percussion; Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, saxophones; Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee, basses; Ed Blackwell, Clifford Jarvis, drums; Tulsi, tamboura; Kumar Kramer, harmonium. Impulse Records
With the rise in popularity of so-called “spiritual jazz” in recent years, Alice Coltrane’s music has reached a larger audience than ever. Her 1971 set at Carnegie Hall had already circulated in unauthorized editions and online, but Impulse’s authorized edition is a triumph: close to 1 ½ hour of music by Alice and some of the giants of “fire music”: Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee, Ed Blackwell and Clifford Jarvis… The real thing.
Webo Charles Gayle, tenor, saxophone; Milford Graves, drums, voice; William Parker, bass Black Editions Archive
The third release in the Black Editions Archive series continues the label’s curation of drummer Milford Graves’ recordings. This 3-LP set, beautifully packaged, is the first official release of a 1991 concert by this most unforgiving of high-energy free jazz trios. While most listeners might find the opening solo by Gayle a bit too much, no one will dispute the level of energy produced by those three masters at the top of their game.
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