15 January 2008

2007 Listing, slightly

First, a confession: I hate end of the year lists. I hate them so much that I wasn't planning to put any together. But then that nice Pete Dulin at Kansas City's Present Magazine asked me to, so I decided to relent. Two weeks later I realized what I was up against and the Holiday were upon me. The only prudent course was to procrastinate. And now January of 2008 is already rolling merrily by and it's time to re-face the music (again).

[If you haven't already, check out the lists that more virtuous folks submitted to Present Mag.]

An observation: Some critics I know seem to prepare their end-of-the-year lists as they go along. Probably because they know what a pain it will be if they don't. God bless them. But it's just not the way I listen to music. Some of the best stuff I heard this year was borrowed from the library and sometimes put out decades ago. Thank you Cal Tjader, Lee Morgan, Lou Rawls, et al.

Caveat: Since I didn't get to hear every album or see every show, the following are list of favorites, not a best-of.

Local (aka KC) Releases
Listed in in alpha order. No particular ranking is implied, dammit.
  • Alaadeen - And The Beauty of It All - Ballads (ASR)
  • Beau Bledsoe - Ole Che
  • Eldar - Re-Imagination (Sony)
  • Charles Gatschet - Step Lightly
  • Russ Long - Time to Go (Passit) Released in December 2006, too late to make it onto my 2006 list.
  • The Harold O'Neal Project - Charlie's Suite - Ballads (PME Records)

National Releases
Listed in alpha order. No particular ranking is implied, again, dammit.
  • The Bad Plus - Prog (Heads Up)
  • Terrance Blanchard - A Tale of God's Will (Blue Note)
  • Michel Camilo - Spirit of the Moment (Telarc)
  • Sara Gazarek - Return to You (Native Language)
  • Robert Glasper - In My Element (Blue Note/EMI)
  • Charlie Hunter Trio - Mistico (Fantasy)
  • Metheny Mehldau - Quartet (Nonesuch)
  • Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra - Sky Blue (ArtistShare)
  • Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Tuesday Wonderland (Emarcy)
  • Rudder - Rudder (Nineteen Eight)
  • Terrel Stafford Quintet - Taking Chances: Live at the Dakota (MaxJazz)
  • Abram Wilson - Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta (Dune)

Live Performances
A tough category for TNLD in 2007, given my vampire schedule. Still, there were weekends. These, by the way, are in order. Dammit.
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