I had seen (and read) that article... great work and very interesting. I liked the approach of essentially "bar hopping" and listening in to a different band/style at each venue.
I don't think any of the Timeless Historical releases are available at Bandcamp (unfortunately) and I don't have any idea of what the schedule is for the "standard" releases to appear at Bandcamp. Eastern Rebellion is quite recent.
There are some Prestige releases appearing, as well. I don't know what the copyright is on these, but a good number are albums also released as Original jazz Classics. They seem to be releases by Craft Records which has been releasing original Prestige material on vinyl. These Prestige are only available as download with a few available in vinyl - no cds (the vinyl is marked as sold out for many albums at the Craft website so maybe all the Bandcamp items had vinyl at one time).
I don't think any of the Timeless Historical releases are available at Bandcamp (unfortunately) and I don't have any idea of what the schedule is for the "standard" releases to appear at Bandcamp. Eastern Rebellion is quite recent.
There are some Prestige releases appearing, as well. I don't know what the copyright is on these, but a good number are albums also released as Original jazz Classics. They seem to be releases by Craft Records which has been releasing original Prestige material on vinyl. These Prestige are only available as download with a few available in vinyl - no cds (the vinyl is marked as sold out for many albums at the Craft website so maybe all the Bandcamp items had vinyl at one time).
The Prestige additions were something I did notice (even got in a pitch to BC to write about them). I don't yet have any inside info into what kind of release schedule that page will have.
Postcards Records created a BC page. They didn't release much, but there are some gems in their catalog, during that strangely wide-open yet narrow sound of the 90s. That includes French horn player John Clark's excellent 'I Will.' Many of you have probably heard Clark before on a handful of different ECM Records sessions. The opening rendition, a large ensemble performance of Coltrane's "India" is one of my all-time favorite pieces. https://postcardsrecords.bandcamp.com/music
Thx karg, I will definitely be checking that out. Looking up the date (1994), I found an All Music review with this whiplash-inducing quote: "By the usual standards of these highly adventurous players, the record
is relatively accessible, but it does makes for challenging listening." [Then notes that only 2 tracks "feature sustained periods of cacophony"]
@jonahpwll Dave! Thanks for the excellent recommendations for this year. I'm in agreement on most all of these. Been a good year! I would definitely add this one:
You're quite welcome @rostasi - It's truly a gratifying feeling every time I hear that my little heads-up recommendation columns are bringing together listeners and great new music.
Allen Lowe is always at the edge of my periphery. It's been a delight following his creative trajectory. I'd have no quibble at all were someone to include one of his recent releases on their personal Best Of list.
Every year, there's typically 2-5 albums that stand out from the crowd. After that, the difference in excellence between #6 and #60 is often the slimmest of margins. The modern jazz scene- which I, obviously, take a big tent view of- is that deep in talent and execution. Back on my old Bird is the Worm blog, towards the end there, I think I expanded my Best Of list to, like, sixty? Seventy? And it still wasn't enough. I still found myself having to exclude albums that badly deserved some year-end best-of spotlight.
And then, with the Bandcamp year-end column, seeing as I'm limited to twelve selections (not including those honorable mention selections), I sometimes make some choices between equally outstanding albums that allow me to shape the column in a way that recognizes how diverse the modern jazz sound is, and try to avoid any kind of homogeneity. I don't expect anyone will like all of my selections, especially since I attempt to capture different facets of The Jazz Sound, so, hopefully, each month every single person will find at least one album that speaks to their preferences and taste. And if an individual likes even as many as half of my inclusions, to my mind, that's a pretty good connection rate.
P.S. Thanks for reminding me of this column. I remember back in the day how little the BC jazz section had to offer. I think "The Causeway Suite" was the first album I ever purchased on BC. But there wasn't much back in the day. Hoo boy has that changed. I think I need to go back through some of these old eMusers threads and see what else I've forgotten.
@jonahpwll You're being talked about over at Organissimo - Ha! but it started more as a talk about reviews and reviewers (tho yours is really a synopsis).
@jonahpwll You're being talked about over at Organissimo - Ha! but it started more as a talk about reviews and reviewers (tho yours is really a synopsis).
I'll take a hard pass on participating on that thread. I used to be an AllAboutJazz forum member, plus occasional bursts of interaction on Organisimo and whatever that other major jazz forum was back in the day. I made some very rewarding acquaintances on the AAJ forum, but by and large found the interpersonal behaviors of forum members tiresome and not unlike some of the casual rudeness one finds on Twitter and its ilk.
I appreciate your words on that thread, and thought your posts to be quite insightful and true to experience.
Been a minute since I've logged in here, but wanted to second the comments re: @jonahpwll and your reviews on Bandcamp. The indie jazz scene has never been more vibrant, but finding out about it, ironically, seems to be getting tougher in a world where streaming rules all (financially speaking).
And even from my perspective, the value I bring to these columns is not an ability to sway the opinions of listeners with my words, but through my efforts to go through every bit of music that could conceivably fall under a big-tent definition of Modern Jazz, and find an array of outstanding/intriguing/promising stuff to alert others of so they can check it out themselves.
I think I've got a legitimate claim to say I've given a listen to more modern jazz albums in these past fourteen years than any other writer on the planet. I'm aware that can come off as boastful, but when I look back on how many albums I've written about between eMUSIC, Wondering Sound, Bandcamp, AllAboutJazz, Bird is the Worm, and eMUSERS- and how many albums I had to go through to find that music and decide on which to write about- my "bold" claim is probably true.
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Not sure how that got past me. The only reason I discovered it yesterday was performing a google search on Eastern Rebellion.
There are some Prestige releases appearing, as well. I don't know what the copyright is on these, but a good number are albums also released as Original jazz Classics. They seem to be releases by Craft Records which has been releasing original Prestige material on vinyl. These Prestige are only available as download with a few available in vinyl - no cds (the vinyl is marked as sold out for many albums at the Craft website so maybe all the Bandcamp items had vinyl at one time).
The Prestige additions were something I did notice (even got in a pitch to BC to write about them). I don't yet have any inside info into what kind of release schedule that page will have.
Ooo Thanks for the heads up there @jonahpwll
https://allenloweesp.bandcamp.com/album/louis-armstrongs-america
but it started more as a talk about reviews and reviewers (tho yours is really a synopsis).