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January 17, 2006 - 7:39pm
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Favorite Jazz Releases of 2005
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As I stated at the close of my previous post, I did indeed miss at least one release worth noting.
Live In The World - David S. Ware Quartet Thirsty Ear. This three disc set recorded live in Europe in 1998 and 2003 is really the trio of David S. Ware on tenor sax, Matthew Shipp on piano and William Parker on bass with the drum chair filled by Susie Iberra, Guillermo E. Brown and Hamid Drake on respective discs. While Iberra and Brown have both been regular drummers in Ware's working quartet, this release is the first to feature Chicago's great Humid Drake and the Parker/Drake bass/drum tandem again proves itself to be among the great free propulsion units of all time. Through the three discs, Shipp and Ware both make good use of the extended solo time and space. The sound quality does tend to vary from passable to first rate but overall the set is fairly priced and has plenty to offer.
I picked up the Coltrane Half Note and Carnegie Hall releases within a day of release and endorse jazzfan's recommendation of them. ODOU, on the Half Note set, is a tour de force (despite the handful of tape dropouts) and I can't even imagine what it must've been like to witness this 27 minute solo in person. I feel privileged to experience it at all.
While I bought a number of jazz releases in 2005, only a few were actually released in 2005. I can marginally recommend two 2005 CDs:
Coltrane's The Bethlehem Years 2 disc set. The music is fun, but, by no means challenging and hearing the previously unreleased alternate takes documented on Disc 2 is a treat.
Sonny Rollins - The 9/11 Concert - It's not a sonic eargasm, but, hey... it's Sonny Rollins.