MUSIC

Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2010


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Published: Dec 29, 2010

1. Mary Halvorson Quintet
Saturn Sings
(Firehouse 12)

Halvorson has been steadily reshaping the sound of jazz guitar in recent years with her elastic, sometimes-fluid, sometimes-shredding, wholly unique style. Her compositions, shaped by a pop sensibility and unconstrained avant aggressiveness, are ably explored by five of modern jazz's young leading lights.

2. Danilo Pérez
Providencia
(Mack Avenue)

The pianist/composer/educator constructs his most expansive album to date, integrating jazz, chamber music and the folk music of his native Panama into a virtual suite that is sweeping in vision and moving in emotion.

3. Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth
Deluxe
(Clean Feed)

Working with an all-star quintet (and occasional sextet, with the addition of altoist Andrew D'Angelo to the twin-tenor frontline of Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek), bassist Lightcap paints his evocative pieces from a broad palette of colors.

4. Nels Cline Singers
Initiate
(Cryptogramophone)

Ferociously somersaulting over the jazz-rock divide on a fretboard bridge, Cline and his astounding, agro-graceful trio unleashed a two-CD set divided between electronics-laced studio experiments and a raucous live set.

5. Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green
Apex
(Pi.)

Indian-American alto great Rudresh Mahanthappa may be the year's most valuable collaborator, gracing several tracks on Danilo Pérez's Providencia and engaging with fellow altoist Steve Lehman in the heady Dual Identity (not to mention composing for local hero Bobby Zankel's Warriors of the Wonderful Sound big band). But his standout achievement was this collaboration with undersung mentor Bunky Green.

6. The Claudia Quintet +1
Royal Toast
(Cuneiform)

Drummer/composer John Hollenbeck supplemented his long-running cerebro-pop-jazz combo with keyboardist Gary Versace for a set of new tunes inspired by toilets (their names, anyway), and why not be inspired by lofty sobriquets like "Crane Merit" or "Armitage Shanks"?

7. Jason Moran
Ten
(Blue Note)

The most innovative and idiosyncratic piano trio in the music world today celebrates a decade together with another outing that thrives on turning unexpected corners and barreling down unexplored pathways.

8. Orrin Evans
Faith in Action
(Posi-Tone)

The Philly piano provocateur had an especially strong year, launching a raw-edged new big band and releasing the sophomore CD with his collective group Tarbaby. But his finest output came via this trio tribute to his mentor and longtime employer, saxophonist Bobby Watson.

9. Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet
Natural Selection
(Sunny Side)

The Pakistani-born guitarist, whose efforts have previously leaned toward the electric and to fusions of east and west, took a creative leap with a gorgeous acoustic collection, with cinematically evocative original pieces and covers of strange bedfellows Bill Withers and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

10. John Escreet
Don't Fight the Inevitable
(Mythology)

A prime example of how useless distinctions like inside vs. outside are becoming in the current jazz landscape, British pianist Escreet and a knockout quintet tackle original tunes with straight-ahead grooves at avant-garde angles, acoustic virtuosity meeting electronic explosions.

(s_brady@citypaper.net)