Spending another year with you via the Last Call on Saturday nights has been a pleasure. Once again we have listened to a potpourri of compelling, adventuresome jazz artistry. Here are the highlights of 2012 as I see them based on their artistic merit:
Jazz legend Dave Brubeck died Tuesday at age 91, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. It was the end of one of the most accomplished lives in jazz history.
Bob Mintzer Big Band / For The Moment / MCG Bobby Broom / Upper West Side Story / Origin Stacey Kent / Dreamer In Concert / Blue Note Jimmy Owens / The Monk Project / IPO Frank Basile / Modern Inventions / Independent Bruce Barth / Three Things Of Beauty / Savant Cassandra Wilson / Another Country / EOne Corey Weeds / Up A Step / Cellar Live Lewis Nash Quintet / The Higher Mountain / Cellar Live Laverne Butler / Love Lost And Found Again / Highnote
As usual I have trouble confining my annual “Best of the year” list to the traditional ten and have thus weaseled my way around the issue by adding a few vocal releases and reissues. Your sympathetic tolerance is appreciated. Our hungry ears were substantially rewarded through the year with these fine recordings:
Frank Basile – Modern Inventions – independent through CD Baby - Omaha native and baritone burner Frank Basile leads a vibrant sextet on this refreshingly straight-ahead release.
Cuneiform Records continues to release some of the most daring and visionary progressive jazz recordings of our time. Two new efforts are of special interest to jazz fans.
KIOS will air the two-hour special The Best of the 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival on Friday August 31st at 8:00PM. Join us for another spectacular showcase of some of the world's finest jazz musicians as they perform at one of the largest jazz festivals in the U.S. Among the highlights are performances by Paquito D' Rivera, Joe Lovano, Jeff "Tain" Watts, and Helen Sung. The program is hosted by Ed Love of WDET and Linda Yohn of WEMU.
Strong new recordings from well known guitarists Pat Metheny and Mike Stern will be featured this month. We will also present a new disc from Japanese jazz trumpeter deserving much wider recognition, Shunzo Ohno.
