Album of the Year 2024

We are happy to announce the Free Jazz Collective's top album of 2024. Last week, we presented the top 10 recordings of the year, culled from the top 10 lists of all the Free Jazz Collective reviewers and then held an internal vote for the top album of the year.

And the results are ... 

ØKSE - self-titled (backwoodz records)

Congrats to the forward thinking, international quartet of ØKSE whose debut album handily won the hearts and ears of the Free Jazz Collective. Martin Schray offers that not only have they captured the spirit of what Free Jazz was, but they may just be leading its way forward: 

Free Jazz, which in the 1960s and 70s was a music of rebellion and driven by the desire to reflect social conditions, has almost completely lost this ambition today. In the USA in particular, this task has been taken over by hip-hop and R’n’B. As a result, it’s necessary not to romanticize Free Jazz, but to view it as a contemporary music, which must ultimately offer room for cross-over experiments. ØKSE is such an experiment. The band seems to have recognized where the revolutionary momentum of the music has drifted and improvises on beats that are relevant to a younger generation. The consequence is a new music that demands new standards. The band itself cab almost be called a Free Jazzsuper group: New York based drummer Savannah Harris, Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen (who has played with actually everyone who has a name in today’s Free Jazz), Haitian electronic musician Val Jeanty, and Swedish bassist Petter Eldh (Koma Saxo), who is also on synths and sampler. Deciding to break relatively new ground, they have chosen four rappers for this collaboration, including the two Brooklyn superstars of conscious Rap - ELUCID and billy woods (a.k.a. Armand Hammer), plus Maassai and Cavalier, both also from the same New York borough. 

If Free Jazz wants to attract a younger and more diverse audience, if it wants to regain relevance, projects like ØKSE are certainly a way forward. It’s definitely an interesting album for fans of Irreversible Entanglements or Sons of Kemet. I'm really looking forward to where they go from here.

Read the review here.

Darius Jones - Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)

Coming in second place in our vote is Darius Jone's with his latest on AUM Fidelity. Lee Rice Epstein gave this one high praise by placing Jones' playing with some giants of the genre:

Arguably, Legend of e’Boi reaches a mighty high peak; throughout the album, Jones plays with the lushness of Arthur Blythe, the lyricism of Julius Hemphill, and the compositional range of Oliver Lake—oh, how he swings, how he skronks, and all with one of the most beautiful alto tones.

Read the review here.

أحمد [Ahmed] - Giant Beauty (Fonstret)

Pianist Pat Thomas took the Top spot in 2022 with his recording Pat Thomas and XT, and in 2021 with the group أحمد [Ahmed], featuring Joel Grip on bass, Seymore Wright on sax and Antonin Gerbalon drums. This year أحمد [Ahmed] comes in third place with their 5 CD box-set Giant Beauty.  Fotis Nikolakopoulos boils down the music in this expansive set to the essentials:

Giant Beauty is massive in its ideas and willingness to step on two boats, the past and the present. I really like the fact that it doesn’t offer an easy way out. You have to listen and think, probably (re) imagine how to get out of your comfort zone.

Read the review here.

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And so, we begin 2025, already half-way through the 2020s - a decade that began shakily and does not seem to be getting much stabler - the only thing we can say is that, judging from the music that we've been previewing and will be coming out in the coming weeks, we still have a vital musical community to comfort and challenge us. Of course, once again, we thank all of you, our readers, writers and musicians for your visits, comments, focused criticism and trust, allowing us to share our enthusiasm for the musical experiences that we all thrive on.

Happy New Ears!

Sincerely,

The Free Jazz Collective

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Album of the Year 2023

We are pleased to announce the Free Jazz Blog's top albums of 2023. Last week, we presented the top 10 recordings of the year, drawn from the contributions of all the Free Jazz Blog reviewers and then held an internal vote for the top album of the year.

1. This year, the top spot goes to the impressive Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado for his effort with his new quartet "The Bridge". The group incorporates the masterful piano playing of Alexander von Schlippenbach with the tough-as-nails / delicate-as-a-flower rhythm work of bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Gerry Hemingway.
   
   Rodrigo Amado The Bridge - Beyond the Margins (Trost, 2023)
   
   
   
   
   Stuart Broomer, in this review, states:
   

   More than mere expectation, there’s an air of excitement about the group, though its members go about their business with an involvement in the developing music so acute that it resembles a kind of omni-directional, omni-temporal relaxation and tension at once, in which the relaxation/ tension of great achievement accompanies the realization of the event.

   Astute readers may remember that Amado also took the top spot back in 2015 with This Is Our Language featuring Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler, Chris Corsano. Between then and now, Amado has released a string of ever more impressive albums that have underscored his status as a top torch bearer of Free Jazz.
   

2. Coming in next is the Fire Orchestra - Echoes (Rune Grammofon). Saxophonist Mats Gustafsson's latest opus finds the large ensemble digging into deep, hypnotic grooves laced with enchanting counter melodies and spine realigning blasts of bari sax .
   
   
   
   
   In his review, Martin Schray writes:
   

   Echoes might be Fire! Orchestra’s most ambitious work so far as well as it presents their largest line-up, counting a cast of no less than 43 members. It’s a two-hour work of epic dimensions: full of energy, violence and beauty; historical musical awareness, outstanding musicianship, otherworldly free jazz, beauty, improvisational and compositional daring, sheer fun and more. Simply another masterpiece.

   
   
3. In third place we have Irreversible Entanglements - Protect Your Light (Impulse). The fourth album find the musically and lyrically hard hitting quintet moving to the Impulse label and expanding on their musical vision.
   
   
   
   
   William Rossi says:
   

   If you're new to the quintet, this Impulse! debut is the best place to start: a joyous, bittersweet, thought provoking, teeth gritting, endlessly relistenable album, more approachable but with no hint of "selling out" or softening their politics and ethos in favor of a larger audience. A triumph.
   

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And so, we begin 2024! Once again, we thank all of you, our readers, writers and musicians for your visits, comments, focused criticism and trust, allowing us to share our enthusiasm for the musical challenges that we all thrive on.

Happy New Ears!

Sincerely,

The Free Jazz Collective

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Free Jazz Blog's Album of the Year 2022

We are pleased to announce the Free Jazz Blog's top albums of 2022. Last week, we presented the top 10 recordings from 2022, drawn from the contributions of all the Free Jazz Blog reviewers and then held a vote for the top album.

1. The top spot goes for the second year to a group featuring the intense piano playing of Pat Thomas (last year, the top spot went to أحمد [Ahmed])
   
   Pat Thomas & XT (Paul Abbott and Seymour Wright) - “Akisakila” / Attitudes of Preparation (Mountains, Oceans, Trees)  (Edition Gamut)

   

   The album received a double review this year. Lee wrote:
   

   As a recording, “Akisakila” / Attitudes of Preparation (Mountains, Oceans, Trees) is undoubtedly in the running for album of the year. The trio’s music is deliriously engaging, frenetic and charged with a hot energy that burns brilliantly. Sidestepping all of Prévost’s warnings about “subtle, insidious, prescribed approaches,” XT and Thomas instead create something direct and uncommonly provoking, a must-own.

   And Fotis said:

   Apart from the music itself in “Akisakila” /Attitudes of Preparation, which is burning free jazz, what strikes me as more important is that the three of them (with Pat Thomas on the piano in full blow out form) create something like a bridge connecting the past with the present. This double vinyl (yes!, we the fetishists applaud in joy) is not a product of three musicians who rely on the past and it’s not, either, the result of the present manifestations of what jazz is. The three of them have managed to create a timeless album, one that incorporates music, words with radical avant-garde tactics and practices.

   
   
2. The masterful Wadada Leo Smith takes second place for his wonderful box-set of duo recordings. 

   

   Wadada Leo Smith - The Emerald Duets (TUM Records)
   
   Stef wrote in his review:
   

   The great fun of listening to all of this consecutively - if you have the time - is the stylistic difference between the drummers. Cyrille, Bennink, akLaff and DeJohnette have very different approaches to their instruments and even to sound. Bennink for instance loves his floor tom, creating mad rhythms and sounds on this single skin, while DeJohnette has a refined approach with lots of cymbal work. 

   
   
   
   
3. And in the third spot is Myra Melford and her excellent quintet: 

   

   Myra Melford Fire and Water Quintet - For the Love of Fire and Water (Rogue Art)
   
   In his review, Paul declared:
   

   The music invites the listener in. Though there are moments of abrasiveness, the interlocking of rhythmic ideas, unusual melodic forays, keep it enthralling. The layering of the instruments and melodic ideas beg for repeated listening.

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And so, we begin 2023! We thank you for your continued trust and look forward to continuing to share our thoughts on the music that we all enjoy and . This past year, the Free Jazz Blog had 1.62 million views ... we are delighted and hope to continue to spread the word about the music.

Happy New Ears!

Sincerely,

The Free Jazz Collective

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Free Jazz Blog's Album of the Year 2021

We are pleased to bring you the Free Jazz Blog's top album(s) of 2021. Last week we presented our top recordings of 2021, which was drawn from the top 10 lists of the writers and then held a vote for the top album.

In first place, we have "Pan-European" group أحمد [Ahmed] with Nights on Saturn (Communication). 

 

أحمد [Ahmed] - Nights on Saturn (Communication) (Astral Spirits, 2021)

In his review, Lee Epstein wrote:

"Beginning about 7 years ago, pianist Pat Thomas, bassist Joel Grip, and drummer Antonin Gerbal began playing and recording together as اسم [Ism], a name that represents something of a state of being that the group transforms into a richly layered, complex mix of forms and gestures. While the trio continues to explore new concepts—furthering the language of conventional Western concepts of a quote-unquote traditional jazz piano trio—shortly after this first album, they added altoist Seymour Wright and formed the flawless jazz quartet أحمد [Ahmed]. And, make no mistake, every single album they’ve recorded has been absolutely flawless ...

The music isn’t pried apart in the Western deconstructive context, it’s luxuriated in, realized anew, and expanded upon like a wave receding from a shore and echoing back through countless incoming breakers. Astonishingly, أحمد doesn’t really let the listener rest for a full 40 minutes, even on revisits I’ve been at the edge of my seat. Wright is remarkable on alto, his performance like a snarling, squealing fury buzzing in and around the group."

Every word of this rang true during the groups Jazzfest Berlin show this year as well!

Coming in second place is Nate Wooley's Mutual Aid Music. The American trumpeter has become a mainstay in this poll. Last year, his Seven Storey Mountain VI took first place, and in 2019, Columbia Icefield was in third place. Welcome back, Nate!

Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text Records, 2021) 

Paul Acquaro and Keith Prosk reviewed the album, writing the following:

"It is easy to get a little intimidated by a new Nate Wooley recording. There is usually a concept that tries to answer a question about the process of creation and creativity that he presents eloquently and humbly, but as a listener you may be inclined to wonder, as I sometimes find myself doing, 'will I get it?' 

It's easy to let this happen, but let me say right now, 'don't let it!', especially with Mutual Aid Music, there is no professional development needed to enjoy the music that pours forth from this generous recording. You can just as easily forget discussion of battle pieces and mutual aid, and realize that what the composer and trumpeter has done is entrusted a group of top-notch musicians to co-develop his musical vision by relying on - and sometimes questioning - their musical intuitions. The result, as I have already more than hinted at, is a marvel."

Tied for third place this year are:

• Natural Information Society with Evan Parker - descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite)
• Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12 Records)

As always, a hearty congratulations to everyone who did and did not appear in the lists. The amount of recordings, and their quality, released in 2021 was staggering. We realize that only a sampling of this reality came our way, and from this amount, we can only feasibly take in a small portion. However, 'take in' we do, as much as possible. Obviously there is a lot to listen to, and we can only write about what we know. We also set a rule this year that the end of the year lists could only contain recordings that were reviewed on the blog, or the nominator had reviewed in another publication. 

Thank you to the hard working collective. Without your donation of time and mental sweat, the Free Jazz Blog could not do what it does (and there is always more to do).

And finally, thank you to our readers. Much appreciated for your continued interest. 

Happy New (y)Ears, and we hope that 2022 starts resembling normal, if you can even remember what that means.

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