Manafonistas

on life, music etc beyond mainstream

2017 28 Nov

Brian’s Favourites 2017

von: Brian Whistler Filed under: Blog | TB | Tags:  | 7 Comments

  • John Abercrombie – Up and coming
  • Björn Meyer – Provenance
  • Frisell / Morgan – Small Town
  • Chris Potter – The Dreamer is the Dream
  • Aaron Parks – Find The Way
  • Ralph Towner – My Foolish Heart
  • Scofield / Medeski / Holland / DeJohnette – Hudson
  • Allan Pasqua – Northern Lights
  • Anouar Brahem – Blue Maqams
  • McCandless/Taylor / Balducci – Evansiana
  • Trio Mediaeval with Arve Henriksen – Rimur
  • Tigran Hamyasan- Ancient Observers
  • Fleet Foxes – Crack up
  • Mike McGinnis – Recurring Dream (with Art Lande and Steve Swallow)
  • Oregon – Lantern
  • Yelena Eckimoff – In the Shadow of a Cloud
  • Alex Cline – Oceans of Vows
  • Tartovsky Quartet – Nuit Blanche
  • Arve Henriksen- Towards Language
  • Benedikt Jahnel – The Invariant
  • Vijay Iyer Sextet- Far From Over

 

Reissues

  • Beatles Sgt Pepper bluray audio box
  • special mention: Django Bates-A Salute to Sgt Pepper

Old music: first time release:

  • Bill Evans – Another Time (excellent recording and performance!)

This entry was posted on Dienstag, 28. November 2017 and is filed under "Blog". You can follow any responses to this entry with RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Comments

  1. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Dienstag, 28. November 2017 um 08:50

    Interesting, to see the Fleet Foxes in this great line-up of jazz albums :)

    My mother always wanted me to become a preacher, but … no way … I became a kind of storyteller. But at least the great Father John Misty is my undisputable no. 1 :)

    The man normally named Josh Tillman once was a member of Fleet Foxes.

    If you write that „harrowing“ story before Christmas (the one you told me about in carefully chosen words) I will come up with something equally touching and profound, promise.

  2. Brian Whistler:

    Dienstag, 28. November 2017 um 18:27

    Well, I’m first and foremost a jazz pianist/vibist and while jazz is my homeland, I do listen to pop and other forms of music.

    I like bands like the Fleet Foxes because they come from a similar place to groups I grew up with- CSNY, Beachboys, Simon and Garfunkel etc.And they are also willing to experiment as those groups, especially Brian Wilson did. This album is not my favorite FF, but it has grown on me. Its fractured and fragmentary structure appeals to me.

    That being said, I am hoping to learn something from this years lists and broaden my horizons. I am most open to ambient jazz that employs elements of electronica. So far I have only scratched the surface of that genre. I am particularly drawn to the music coming out of Norway, and the stuff presented at the Punkt Festival. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

    As for that story, it will be definitely be done before Christmas.i would love to read your tale.

  3. ijb:

    Dienstag, 28. November 2017 um 18:38

    Hi Brian,

    speaking of Ambient Jazz: since you enjoy Arve Henriksen, you might also enjoy the works of Knut Bjørnar Asphol, a Norwegian guitar player. He has a new one out, which I haven’t listened to yet (The Awakening), but the one before that was his best one so far, I think, Tabloid Red (2016), a more minimal and ambient work than the previous ones (which featured a variety of interesting guests, such as Niles Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen and Mathias Eick, among others), it was produced by Jan Bang:

    asphol.com / tabloid-red …

    About The Awaking he writes:

    This time the ambient and atmospheric music is more present than ever. Big spaces that once again takes you on a mindful journey. The Awakening consists of amazing tales of mood and atmosphere. It creates a scenery of sounds that goes high and easy, deep and heavy.Some of the sequences centres around a single guitar. Others are elegantly wrapped up in sounds and samples from everyday life. Together these elements make The Awakening an extended listening experience that grabs hold of you in an all-consuming musically embrace.

    The album consists of voice samples from the Norwegian singer Frida Amundsen. The singer of the gothic band PostScriptum, Petter Skippervold, read two poems. The opening title track, is a little story about waking up in the wilderness. Where will you go from here? Knut Bjørnar Asphol enjoys to work with references in themes and sounds from his previous albums.

  4. Brian Whistler:

    Dienstag, 28. November 2017 um 19:35

    I will definitely check him out. Incidentally, I’m also a big fan of Mathias Eick.

  5. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Dienstag, 28. November 2017 um 20:56

    Not that we have no re-name our blog to ECMISTAS …

    From ECM HQ:

    Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,

    die Recording Academy hat heute die Nominierungen für die 60. Grammy Awards bekannt gegeben, von denen sieben an ECM und seine Künstler gehen. Die Nominierungen umfassen ECMs Produktionen in der zeitgenössischen Komposition wie auch im Jazz.

    Der armenische Komponist Tigran Mansurian erhält zwei Nominierungen, ebenso der US-amerikanische Jazzsaxophonist Chris Potter. Weitere Nominierungen gibt es für den ungarischen Komponisten György Kurtág, den britischen Komponisten Gavin Bryars und den Produzenten Manfred Eicher.

    Chris Potters The Dreamer Is The Dream stellt sein neues Quartett mit David Virelles, Joe Martin und Marcus Gilmore vor und ist als ‚Jazz Album of the Year‘ nominiert. Potter erhielt zudem eine Nominierung für das ‚Best Improvised Jazz Solo‘ in dem Stück ‚Ilimba‘ aus dem gleichen Album.

    Tigran Mansurians bewegendes Requiem, das dem Gedenken an die Opfer des Völkermords an den Armeniern gewidmet ist und vom Münchner Kammerorchester und dem RIAS-Chor Berlin eingespielt wurde, erhält Nominierungen als ‚Best Contemporary Classical Composition‘ und ‚Best Choral Performance‘.

    Mit seinen Vertonungen von Thomas Traherne für den Chor ‚The Crossing‘ auf dem Album The Fifth Century erhält Gavin Bryars ebenfalls eine Nominierung für die ‚Best Choral Performance‘.

    György Kurtágs 3 CD-Set Sämtliche Werke für Ensemble und Chor, eingespielt vom Asko | Schönberg-Ensemble und dem niederländischen Rundfunkchor unter der Leitung von Reinbert de Leeuw, ist als ‚Best Classical Compendium‘ nominiert.

    Manfred Eicher wurde nominiert als ‚Classical Producer of the Year‘ für seine Produktionen von Tigran Mansurians Requiem, Valentin Silvestrovs Hieroglyphen der Nacht (mit Anja Lechner und Agnès Vesterman), Momo Kodamas Point and Line – Debussy und Hosokawa, Meredith Monks On Behalf Of Nature, und für Rímur vom Trio Mediaeval mit Arve Henriksen.

  6. ijb:

    Mittwoch, 29. November 2017 um 00:19

    Amüsante Footnote: 3-D The Catalogue von Kraftwerk ist in der Kategorie „Best Dance/Electronic Album“ nominiert!

    Außerdem: in der „Category Best New Age Album“: Reflection von Brian Eno

  7. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Mittwoch, 29. November 2017 um 01:28

    Good, I am not sitting in the Grammy VIP commité …

    Eno would not be labelled New Age, and Porter Ricks surely get my all my vows for the floor….

    … the double album by Laraaji makes a better choice in my ears for the old new age territory, my no. 32.

    This is not meant to start a serious discussion.

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