photo: David White

2024 TOP 30 & 20 PICKS

The categories in this year's roundup reflect textura's current focus on classical, jazz, and ambient genres. As in the past, choices were made in accordance with a simple principle: only those releases reviewed at textura during 2024 were eligible. Here, then, are the recordings to which we repeatedly returned and which repeatedly rewarded that return. Slightly modified excerpts from the original reviews, available in their complete form at textura's archives, have been included for the top selections in each of the categories.

TOP 20 CLASSICAL (VOCAL) • TOP 20 CLASSICAL (INSTRUMENTAL: Solo / Duet / Trio) • TOP 20 CLASSICAL (INSTRUMENTAL: Quartet / Ensemble / Orchestra) • TOP 30 JAZZ • TOP 10 AMBIENT / ALTERNATIVE • THANK YOU • RIP

photo: The Hours

TOP 20 CLASSICAL (VOCAL)

01. Kevin Puts: The Hours (Warner Classics)

Using Michael Cunningham's 1998 novel and Stephen Daldry's 2002 film version as blueprints, composer Kevin Puts has fashioned a mesmerizing treatment that extends their own remarkable creations to the opera stage. Collaborating with librettist Greg Pierce, Puts replicates the interweaving of the three protagonists' stories by having the score blend the events of each woman's day into a fluid convergence of soaring vocal and instrumental sound. The recording features conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Renée Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, and Joyce DiDonato as, respectively, Clarissa Vaughan, Laura Brown, and Virginia Woolf. Couple the brilliant score with their breathtaking voices and the orchestra's inspired realization and the result is a life-affirming opera that amply rewards the, yes, hours needed to fully appreciate it.

02. John Corigliano & Mark Adamo: The Lord of Cries (Pentatone)

Artists of remarkable calibre pool their talents for The Lord of Cries by composer John Corigliano and librettist Mark Adamo. The collaborators benefit immensely from the involvement of conductor Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera Chorus (OOC). The Grammy-nominated world premiere recording is also distinguished by the artistry of its singers, with countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo in the role of Dionysus leading the way. Of the recording, the composer states, “I've had the privilege of collaborating on many, many records of my music over my six-decade career, and this is, far and away, one of the very finest.” But a single listen supports his assessment.

03. Choral Scholars of University College Dublin: Chamber Music by James Joyce, Vol. 1 (Signum Classics)

In a 1907 letter to his brother, Joyce expressed hope that someday material from his first poetry collection Chamber Music would be put to music; 117 years later, his wish is now a reality thanks to Desmond Earley, the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, and the Solstice Ensemble. Earley, the Artistic Director of the Choral Scholars, commissioned eighteen composers to create choral works based on poems from the book, which are performed by the choir and the ensemble under his direction. One of the best things about the seventy-one-minute collection is that a second volume is already underway, though admittedly this first collection sets a dauntingly high bar. It is a remarkable confluence of performer, composer, and lyricist, and were Joyce alive to hear what they've crafted, he'd assuredly be delighted.

04. The King's Singers: Close Harmony (Signum Classics)

Long-time fans of The King's Singers no doubt view all of its releases as essential, but Close Harmony checks that box for a number of reasons. Whereas its previous three releases—Tom + Will - Weelkes & Byrd: 400 Years, the Disney-themed When You Wish Upon a Star, and Wonderland, a collection of commissioned works spanning fifty-five years—each focused on a specific area of music, the new double-disc set encompasses all of them and more. In doing so, the release offers countless examples of the singular vocal blend countertenors Patrick Dunachie and Edward Button, tenor Julian Gregory, baritones Christopher Bruerton and Nick Ashby, and bass Jonathan Howard have achieved. It's the kind of eclectic album where it's not unusual for a plaintive Japanese folk song (“Takeda Lullaby”) to be preceded by Rossini (the overture to The Barber of Seville) and followed by “Penny Lane.”

05. Christopher Cerrone: Beaufort Scales (Cold Blue Music)

The considerable artistic strides taken by Cerrone on last year's In a Grove (In a Circle Records) continue apace on his latest release, this one also a vocal work but of a different kind. Whereas the earlier one captured the composer's second foray into opera, Beaufort Scales is a riveting oratorio of thirteen sung movements interspersed with four spoken interludes. Performed by the nine-member Lorelei Ensemble—five sopranos, two altos, and a mezzo-soprano conducted by artistic director Beth Willer—the mesmerizing result reaffirms Cerrone's stature as a composer of singular gifts and a standout of his generation.

06. Skylark: Clear Voices in the Dark (Sono Luminus)

In hearing daily about the lives lost in Ukraine and the Middle East, we're reminded anew of the monumental human toll exacted by war and conflict. Perhaps it was these recent events that got Skylark's Artistic Director Matthew Guard thinking the time was ripe for his renowned vocal ensemble to record Figure Humaine, composed by Francis Poulenc in occupied France during 1943. As it's only twenty minutes long, Guard decided to pair it with Civil War songs from the 1860s. This remarkable collection serves as a valuable if sad reminder that war and conflict are with us still; on a more uplifting note, Clear Voices in the Dark also champions the resilience of the human spirit and its refusal to succumb to despair.

07. Hera Hyesang Park: Breathe (Deutsche Grammophon)

One word repeatedly comes to mind as I listen to Breathe: intoxicating. Following Hera Hyesang Park's well-received debut I am Hera, her second album for Deutsche Grammophon casts an intense spell. Park couples pieces by Delibes, Humperdinck, Massenet, Orff, Rossini, Verdi, and others with recently created material by Luke Howard, Cecilia Livingston, Hyowon Woo, and Bernat Vivancos. The soprano receives sensitive support from the Orchestra Del Teatro Carlo Felice under Jochen Rieder's direction and is joined on a number of selections by mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo. The beauty of Park's lyric coloratura delivery illuminates Breathe,no matter the composer or period presented.

08. VOCES8: Nightfall (Decca Classics)

Hewing to a single theme brings with it one challenge in particular: staying true to the concept whilst ensuring that enough variety is present to sustain interest. Nightfall by VOCES8 accomplishes both through smartly considered curatorial choices that present choral performances of pieces by Einaudi, Reger, Kondo, Shaw, Sigur Rós, and others. As the album comes with scant supplementary information, the message would seem to be clear: attend to the sounds without letting anything non-musical become a distraction. The album shows that when a vocal ensemble sounds as magnificent as VOCES8 does, nothing more is needed. The precise blend the group has perfected over time is the focal point, and the lustrous textures and impeccable control the eight achieve are evident whether they're intoning at a hush or declaiming at maximum intensity.

09. Choral Arts Initiative: Tapestry of Becoming (CAI)
10. Veronique Gens: Paysage (Alpha)
11. Ruby Hughes & Manchester Collective: End of My Days (BIS)
12. Christ Church Cathedral: Mass of The Eternal Flame: New Music by Ešenvalds & Laurin (Acis)
13. Alice Ping See Ho: Chinatown (Leaf Music)
14. Will Liverman & Jonathan King: Show Me the Way (Cedille)
15. Stacy Garrop: Terra Nostra (Cedille)
16. True Concord Voices & Orchestra: A Dream So Bright: Choral Music of Jake Runestad (Reference Recordings)
17. Sibil•la Ensemble: Viriditas (TRPTK)
18. Musica Viva NY: Crimson Roses: Contemporary American Choral Music (Naxos)
19. VA: NYFOS: The Singles, Vol. 1 (NYFOS Records)
20. Alchemy Viols: Deep River (Navona Records)

photo: Marco Borggreve

TOP 20 CLASSICAL (INSTRUMENTAL: Solo / Duet / Trio)

01. Kirill Gerstein: Music in Time of War: Debussy / Komitas (Myrios)

Music in Time of War, a combination recording-and-book project curated by pianist Kirill Gerstein and edited by musicologists Eva Zöllner and Richard Evidon and French translator Jean-Claude Poyet, qualifies as a major event. Its musical content, two CDs of material by Komitas Vardapet and Claude Debussy, is in itself compelling, but in being housed within a deluxe, 172-page hardcover book featuring in-depth essays (in English, German, and French), photographs, paintings, and musical score excerpts, the project impresses as one of the year's most striking products. Credit for the cover and book design extends to Knut Schötteidreier and for the front cover concept Peter Mendelsund, the latter a renowned designer but also author of seven books, including 2014's terrific What We See When We Read. The expense incurred in presenting Music in Time of War had to have been considerable, but the result is a thing of beauty.

02. Rachel Lee Priday: Fluid Dynamics (Orchid Classics)

Inspiration can strike in unexpected ways, a prime illustration Rachel Lee Priday's Fluid Dynamics, which augments scintillating solo performances by the violinist with a duet featuring pianist David Kaplan. Serendipity struck when she attended an orientation day for new faculty after joining the University of Washington's School of Music in fall 2019 and met Georgy Manucharyan, a fellow new hire in the School of Oceanography. After the violinist learned he'd paired videos of his fluid dynamics experiments with classical music and after he asked her to suggest other pieces that might suit his film content, she moved from selecting pre-existing works to having composers such as Gabriella Smith, Timo Andres, Leilehua Lanzilotti, and Christopher Cerrone create new material to complement his visuals. Priday's spectacular technique is called upon throughout the disc, the result mesmerizing renderings of the composers' works.

03. Lara Downes: This Land (Pentatone)

In her inimitable fashion, pianist Lara Downes captures the soul of America in this embracing celebration of her homeland. This Land is kaleidoscopic in its breadth of ideas and musical material. On the one hand, there's a quietly majestic treatment of Paul Simon's “America,” on the other a set of variations on Woody Guthrie's “This Land is Your Land”; haunting settings by Joseph C. Phillips, Jr. and Jake Heggie frame a ruminative one by jazz trumpeter Arturo O'Farrill. Towering over the others, however, is Edmar Colón's reimagining of Rhapsody in Blue. Over the course of twenty-eight minutes, Colón folds into Gershwin's familiar fabric Afro-Caribbean rhythms and the strains of a Chinese orchestra, such gestures symbolizing the proud melting-pot that is America.

04. Richard Galliano: Around Gershwin (Pentatone)

Accordionist Richard Galliano needs no accompanists when an orchestra is at his fingertips. His rendition of Rhapsody in Blue, to cite one example, less plays like a single-instrument transcription than a dazzling re-creation of the orchestral score in all its glory. The release is, of course, a tribute to George Gershwin, but it's also more than that when Galliano deftly weaves material by Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Satie, Ravel, and Fauré into the presentation. In dying at thirty-eight, Gerswhin left us at a criminally young age, and the mind reels at imagining what he might have produced had he lived longer. The magnificent material he did create, however, remains to dazzle us year in and year out, with Galliano's tribute a terrific testament to the composer's gifts.

05. Tamayo Ikeda: Fauré & Chopin: Le Nocturne (Ulysses Arts)

Tamayo Ikeda's follow-up to her first Ulysses Arts release, 2022's Schubert: Impromptus D. 899; Liszt: Schubert Song Transcriptions, reveals its charms somewhat clandestinely, which is totally apropos considering the composers and its genre focus. As she aptly characterizes it, her latest piano album conducts “a game of mirrors” between Fauré and Chopin, with the aromatic effect of the music intensified when the set-list alternates between the composers rather than presenting them in separate halves. Enhancing her poised playing is the instrument on which she performs, an historical Pleyel piano from 1905; whereas modern-day concert pianos are designed for the auditorium and concert hall, the Pleyel was built for the private salon and smaller concert room, and such a choice imbues her treatments with an intimacy complementary to the material.

06. Kristin Lee: American Sketches (First Hand Records)

Some albums ease in gently, while others slam the doors wide open. In starting her debut solo album with a torrential rendition of John Novacek's Four Rags, violinist Kristin Lee makes clear which category American Sketches falls into. In beginning with something so demanding, she also leaves no doubt as to her incredible technical facility. In addition to Novacek, American Sketches features material by George Gershwin, ‘J.J.' Johnson, Scott Joplin, Amy Beach, HarryBurleigh, Jonathan Ragonese, Kevin Puts, and Thelonious Monk.Similar to recent albums by pianists Lara Downes and Daniel Trifunov, the versatile violinist has crafted a panoramic portrait of America that reflects its diversity and richness, and she asserts herself with authority throughout the splendid fifty-three-minute collection.

07. David Kaplan: New Dances of the League of David (New Focus Recordings)

A more fascinating and original treatment of Robert Schumann's music than David Kaplan's New Dances of the League of David would be hard to imagine. The LA-based pianist presents the composer's Davidsbündlertänze but with a twist: having commissioned a decade ago miniatures by American composers that reply to Schumann's 1830s creation, Kaplan has coupled the new with the old, the result a riveting portrait in twenty-eight parts, thirteen short pieces from the original alongside fifteen re-imaginings. While in format New Dances of the League of David might qualify as a classical mixtape of sorts, its uniformity makes it seem more like an ambitious collaborative project midwifed into being by many like-minded spirits.

08. Sandrine Erdely-Sayo: Majestic Liszt (Navona Records)

On a recording rich in rapturous renditions of Franz Liszt's piano music, none is perhaps as exquisite as Sandrine Erdely-Sayo's treatment of “Ständchen” (1838), the composer's oft-performed transcription from Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang. Aptly titled, the serenade is given a gentle, cantabile treatment that amplifies its tenderness, dignity, and yearning, and the pianist's choices of pacing and dynamics are so remarkable, her lilting performance plays as if she's directly channeling Liszt himself. Yet while “Ständchen” is a high-point, an abundance of equally memorable moments precedes it. Liszt aficionados have been blessed with a recent spate of solo piano recordings of his work, with ones by Alexandra Kaptein and Emmanuel Despax showing how much his music continues to tantalize contemporary pianists and audiences. Erdely-Sayo's release is a splendid addition to that distinguished group.

09. Claire Huangci: Made in USA: Gershwin, Beach, Barber (Alpha Classics)
10. Spina & Benignetti Piano Duo: Transcriptions for Piano 4-Hands: Ravel, Wagner & Liszt (Piano Classics)
11. Cathy Krier: Piano Poems (Genuin Classics)
12. Florian Noack: I Wanna Be Like You (La Dolce Volta)
13. Donald Berman: Charles Ives (Avie)
14. Emmanuel Despax: Liszt (Signum Classics)
15. James Adler: Reflections (Albany Records)
16. Clare Longendyke: … Of Dreams Unveiled (Clare Longendyke)
17. Carr-Petrova Duo: Hers (ECN Music)
18. Maya Beiser: In C (Islandia Music Records)
19. Carolyn Enger: Resonating Earth (Métier)
20. Natalya Pasichnyk & Calmus Ensemble: J. S. Bach: Rethinking The Well-Tempered Clavier (Navona Records)

photo: Jean-Baptiste Millot

TOP 20 CLASSICAL (INSTRUMENTAL: Quartet / Ensemble / Orchestra)

01. Ensemble K & Simone Menezes: Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, a Tale (Alpha Classics)

Even if you already own a recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's masterpiece, this latest iteration is a must-have. Performed by Ensemble K under conductor Simone Menezes' expert direction and with Golshifteh Farahani and Kristin Winters narrating the parts of Scheherazade and her sister Dinarzade, respectively, the release offers the best of both worlds: two treatments, the familiar one featuring the music alone and a newly created one that augments the music with recited texts. Rimsky-Korsakov's iconic score is given a terrific reading by Ensemble K, which is chamber-sized in comprising fourteen musicians but performs with the vibrancy and lustre of a full orchestra; at the same time, the smaller size infuses its renditions with an intimacy befitting the subject matter.

02. Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie (Harmonia Mundi)

The TSO's recording of Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie is fascinating for a number of reasons. For starters, it's the orchestra's second treatment of the French composer's twentieth-century masterpiece, its precursor the much admired one Seiji Ozawa recorded with the company in 1968 and that earned it deserved acclaim and a Grammy nomination. It's as singular a creation as Le Sacre du Printemps or Verklärte Nacht, and the riveting treatment by conductor Gusavo Gimeno and the TSO reminds us of how unparalleled a work it is. While the composer once called Ozawa “the greatest conductor I have known,” were Messiaen still with us he would perhaps amend that statement upon hearing the terrific rendition by Gimeno and the orchestra.

03. Movses Pogossian & Varty Manouelian: Serenade With a Dandelion (New Focus Recordings)

Arriving four years after the inaugural Modulation Necklace collection, violinists Varty Manouelian and Movses Pogossian present a four-volume sequel offering a panoramic overview of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Armenian music. Serenade with a Dandelion is a stunning act of curation on the part of the married couple and captures the incredible richness of Armenian music, past and present. Chamber pieces, solo piano works, and art songs collectively attest to the breadth of music originating out of the mountainous Caucasus region between Asia and Europe. However daunting the prospect of digesting 270 minutes of Armenian classical material might be, the four-disc set proves to be extremely accessible, and one comes way from the release's performances with a clear grasp of the Armenian musical spirit the creators have dedicated themselves to presenting and preserving.

04. Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal: Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande & Verklärte Nacht (Pentatone)

Earlier Pentatone releases saw the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and its Music Director Rafael Payare tackling Mahler's Fifth Symphony and Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, and now they take on Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and Pelleas und Melisande. Both are enduring programmatic works of vast emotional scope that showcase his early harmonic language. The performances invite the listener to luxuriate in the engulfing textures of the music and be seduced by their rhapsodic lyricism. Schoenberg aficionados should come away well-pleased by these treatments and embrace them for their integrity, honesty, and faithfulness to the works' spirit.

05. Chloe Chua: Butterfly Lovers & Paganini (Pentatone)

To say that Chloe Chua's star has risen rapidly hardly captures it. Born in January 2007, the Singaporean violin prodigy was eleven years old when she was awarded the joint first prize at the 2018 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. Her sophomore Pentatone release couples Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Chen Gang and He Zhanhao's Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto and Gang's Sunshine Over Tashkurgan. Partnering with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Chua possesses a staggering technical ability and intuitive emotional understanding far beyond her years. As she delivers one stunning turn after another, don't be surprised if you're awed by the amazing feats she accomplishes with seeming ease.

06. Minnesota Orchestra & Osmo Vänskä: Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (BIS)

Every Mahler symphony transfixes in its own way, be it the poignant leave-taking of the ninth, the tragic death-blows of the sixth, or the pastoral splendour of the fourth. With the release of the Symphony No. 3, conductor Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra bring their years-in-the-making, ten-part Mahler cycle to a close. Every detail of the score is captured vividly in thus exquisite rendering, and the impression the listener forms is significantly enhanced as a result. A work so huge in scope and stylistic range requires a gifted conductor capable of making it register as a coherent statement. Vänskä succeeds admirably in bringing Mahler's sprawling conception into focus and making a work so unwieldy seem the very model of coherence.

07. Daniil Trifonov: My American Story – North (Deutsche Grammophon)

On this first volume devoted to the music of the Americas, pianist Daniil Trifonov explores the vast panorama of repertoire from the United States, the country the pianist has called home since emigrating from Russia in 2009. Just as he opened himself up to everything his newly adopted home had to offer culturally upon arriving, My American Story – North ranges widely from classical and jazz to film music and popular song. Many selections are performed by the pianist alone; however, towering over the solo pieces are George Gershwin's ebullient Concerto in F and Mason Bates's Piano Concerto, both of which couple Trifonov with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The inclusion of material by John Adams, Aaron Copland, John Corigliano, Dave Grusin, Thomas Newman, Art Tatum, and Bill Evans testifies to the recording's broad scope.

08. James Ehnes & the BBC Philharmonic and Sir Andrew Davis: Stravinsky: Violin Concerto / Apollon musagète / Orchestral Suites (Chandos)

The main draws of this all-Stravinsky programme by violinist James Ehnes, conductor Andrew Davis, and the BBC Philharmonic are, understandably, the Russian composer's great Concerto, K 053 in D major and neo-classical ballet Apollon musagète, but it's the inclusion of the lesser-known Scherzo à la russe, Suite No.1, K 045 and Suite No. 2, K 038 that will have Stravinsky fans excited. Be aware that while Ehnes does deliver a sterling reading of the concerto, it's the only piece on which he appears, which means that two-thirds of the recording is Davis and the BBC Philharmonic exclusively—none of which argues against the release, however, when the performances are first-rate from beginning to end.

09. Dallas Chamber Symphony: Chasing Home (Albany Records)
10. Olivia Belli: Intermundia (XXIM)
11. Esther Abrami: Cinéma (Sony Classical)
12. Helen Leach: Diary of the Bee (Divine Art)
13. Mary Elizabeth Bowden: Storyteller (Cedille)
14. Kent Sinfonia: Royal Throne of Kings: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare (Albion)
15. Rami Levin: Wings (Acis)
16. Sonus Quintett: Light (Genuin Classics)
17. Seunghee Lee: Intermezzo: Works of Michele Mangani (Musica Solis)
18. Fanya Lin: Rhapsodic (Navona Records)
19. Michael Torke: Unseen (Ecstatic Records)
20. Miró Quartet: Home (Pentatone)

photo: Perry Hall

TOP 30 JAZZ

01. Mike Holober and The Gotham Jazz Orchestra: This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters (Palmetto Records)

Writing about Hiding Out, the 2019 release by Mike Holober and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra, jazz reviewers celebrated its “powerful orchestral magic” and praised Holober's “daring compositional voice” and “profound artistic vision.” One expects those same writers would echo their earlier sentiments when assessing the latest opus by the composer, arranger, and conductor, This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters. The project's an epic meditation on earth that Holober explores through the to-and-fro of imaginary letters between environmentally conscious writers, artists, and activists who've dedicated themselves to protecting the planet we share. The double-disc creation might be seen as a grandiose, multi-movement jazz symphony or as a symphonic art song cycle scored for voice and jazz orchestra.

02. Sharon Isbin: Live in Aspen, with Amjad Ali Khan and Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash (Zoho Music)

Factor in the excitement of live performance and this latest recording featuring classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, Indian sarod masters Amjad Ali Khan, his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, and tabla virtuoso Amit Kavthekar makes a powerful impression. The release documents their August 2022 concert at the Aspen Music Festival, the event also marking the Grammy-winning guitarist's thirtieth consecutive summer performance at the festival. Live in Aspen blends the their musical, spiritual, and artistic spirits so thoroughly any divisions between Indian and Western traditions dissolve. The album materialized unexpectedly as the musicians hadn't planned on issuing one, yet upon hearing the recording of the magic that transpired on stage, they knew immediately it had to be shared.

03. Emily Remler: Cookin' at The Queens Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 (Resonance Records)

With this terrific set of live Emily Remler recordings, producer Zev Feldman has teamed with journalist Bill Milkowski and Resonance Records to return the guitarist to the spotlight and honour a much-admired figure whose premature passing robbed the jazz world of a major talent. What makes this release so essential is that it's the first release in thirty-four years of Remler material and thus serves as a stunning reminder of the remarkable talent she was and an introduction to listeners heretofore unfamiliar with the guitarist. Issued in both triple-LP and double-CD formats, Cookin ' at the Queens Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 is an indispensable acquisition for Remler devotees. Her love for Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, George Benson, and others is audible throughout these always-swinging sets as she dazzles with playing that's consistently unbounded and inspired.

04. Sarah Jerrom: Magpie (TPR Records)

Epic in scale, concept, and design, Magpie is a major statement from vocalist-composer Sarah Jerrom. Scored for jazz orchestra and four voices and fashioned as a transformative musical odyssey, the eighty-seven-minute suite is performed by a large ensemble comprised of upper-tier Canadian talent. The seed for the work was planted when Jerrom was enjoying a two-week residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in early 2018 and witnessed a gathering of magpies and crows doing a wintry dance. That prompted the development of a fantastical story-line that, with the main character, Woman/Magpie as the guide, explores subject matter having to do with feminism, infertility, grief, recovery, resilience, and love. Integrating jazz performance and classical writing into a large-scale hybrid, the work impresses as a dynamic realization of its creator's imaginative vision.

05. Franco Ambrosetti & Strings: Sweet Caress (Enja Records)

A scan of the personnel participating in Franco Ambrosetti's second strings collaboration with pianist and arranger Alan Broadbent says much about what to expect from the Swiss flugelhornist's follow-up to 2022's Nora. Complementing them are guitarist John Scofield, violinist Sara Caswell, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Peter Erskine, all distinguished artists in their own right. Couple them with a Broadbent-conducted twenty-nine-piece orchestra and you've got the makings of a classic. Note, however, that all operate in service to the music and not their egos, so anyone expecting to hear Scofield strafing the performances with blues-drenched licks or Erskine tearing it up as he did in Weather Report will be disappointed. Given that Ambrosetti sees himself as being at “the young age of eighty-two,” perhaps there's still time for another volume to be created to complete the trilogy initiated by Nora and Sweet Caress.

06. Jihye Lee: Infinite Connections (Motema Music)

Co-produced by her and Darcy James Argue, Jihye Lee's follow-up to Daring Mind emerged after two critical life events, the death of her dementia-stricken grandmother in 2022 and the coma that struck her mother thereafter. As Lee wrote the material her ensemble would record, she couldn't help but reflect on family history and the cultural contexts within which it developed. What makes her music so compelling is its melding of that historical aspect with the dynamic music she creates as a contemporary jazz composer, arranger, and conductor. Her writing is unique, though it could hardly be otherwise when it comes from a Korean-born artist who's fusing the sounds of her homeland with the vibrant energy of an American jazz orchestra. Ever restless and unpredictable, Lee's music sounds like no one's but hers.

07. Kenny Reichert: Switch (Calligram Records)

You'll find no better demonstration of Kenny Reichert's gifts than the opening cut on his latest album. Rather than bludgeoning the listener with high-decibel roar, “Switch” seduces surreptitiously with slinky understatement and an enticing melodic design. Characteristic of the Chicago-based guitarist's writing, the material is intricate yet unfolds with ease and naturalness. Its structure reveals a keen intelligence and imagination at work, and Reichert brings the same kind of thoughtfulness to his solo. His relationship with his colleagues, alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson, acoustic bassist Ethan Philion, and drummer Devin Drobka, extends back a number of years, and it shows in the synergy the four bring to the album's nine stylistically diverse selections.

08. Mavis Pan: Rising (Mavis Pan)

Rising resounds with affirmation and the sound of pianist Mavis Pan joyously creating alongside stellar musical partners Geoff Burke (alto and soprano saxes, alto flute, clarinet), Mark Wade (bass), Jared Schonig (drums), and Ted Nash (tenor sax, flute, clarinet), who also co-produced the album with the New York-based Pan. As the rich tapestry that is Rising shows, Pan's purview is, well, panoramic. Jazz and classical influences are seamlessly wedded in its twelve pieces, but it's also a musical reflection of the places she's been and people she's met. In her words, the album “ranges from Afro funk to French cinematic valses, from Spanish tango to Middle Eastern tarab (musical ecstasy), plus nostalgic Taiwanese folk songs.” Nash and Burke form a stellar front-line, while they and Pan are supported excellently by the ever-responsive Wade and Schonig. It's a confident leader who's comfortable sharing the stage generously with such formidable bandmates, and she's clearly fortunate to have players so sympathetic to her vision with her on the project.

09. Bill Evans: In Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (Elemental Music)
10. Lynne Arriale: Being Human (Challenge Records International)
11. Ryan Truesdell: Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions (Artistshare)
12. Jocelyn Gould: Portrait of Right Now (Jocelyn Gould Music)
13. Laila Biali: Wintersongs (Laila Biali)
14. Jamie Baum: What Times Are These (Sunnyside Records)
15. Christopher Zuar Orchestra: Exuberance (Tonal Conversations)
16. Nat Bartsch: Forever Changed (Amica Records)
17. Yulia Musayelyan: Strange Times (Wherego Music)
18. Geof Bradfield: Colossal Abundance (Calligram Records)
19. Nikara Presents Black Wall Street: The Queen of Kings County (Switch Hit Records)
20. Ben Monder: Planetarium (Sunnyside Records)
21. Patricia Brennan: Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic Records)
22. Mike Ledonne: Wonderful! (Cellar Music Group)
23. Kjetil Mulelid: Agoja (Odin Records)
24. Sahara Von Hattenberger: 1Q84 (Odd Sound)
25. Righteous Rooster: Fowl Play (Shifting Paradigm)
26. Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra: Tidal Currents: East Meets West (Chronograph Records)
27. Yelena Eckemoff: Romance of the Moon (L&H Production)
28. Brad Shepik: Human Activity: Dream of the Possible (Shifting Paradigm)
29. Annie Booth Trio: Here There and Everywhere (Annie Booth)
30. Marta Sanchez: Perpetual Void (Intakt Records)

photo: Deborah Martin & Erik Wollo

TOP 10 AMBIENT / ALTERNATIVE

01. Deborah Martin & Erik Wollo: Kinishiba (Spotted Peccary)

However well-intentioned, there's always the danger that in fashioning a project designed to honour Native American culture and the Apache people the artist will do the opposite in producing a treatment that's either too surface-level or registers as merely one more unfortunate instance of cultural appropriation. With Kinishba, Deborah Martin and Erik Wøllo show they're guilty of neither misstep by fashioning material that wholly embodies the subject matter as opposed to presenting it from an external vantage point. Chants and drumming make a direct connection to the Apache world, as do field recordings of insects, bees, meadowlarks, and site locations. For their part, Martin and Wøllo contribute synthesizers, vocals, wood flute, ocarina, and a host of percussion instruments, from rainstick and goatskin shakers to turtle rattle and Taos drum loops.

02. Slow Dancing Society: Do We Become Sky? (Past Inside The Present)

Mere seconds are needed to identify Do We Become Sky? as a Slow Dancing Society production, which testifies to how clearly Drew Sullivan has defined the SDS style. The latest collection by the Washington-based producer is a particularly beautiful one, not just for its musical design but visually too. Credit Past Inside the Present with issuing the eighty-six-minute release as a striking double-LP set pressed on ‘Cobalt Nebula' vinyl and complemented by an equally striking sleeve (it's available digitally too). Whereas some ambient-electronic artists evoke peaceful pastoral countrysides, the typical SDS soundscape paints images of late-night, neon-lit city streets. The image of Crockett and Tubbs cruising through the Miami night with “In the Air Tonight” as the soundtrack is never faraway when Sullivan's music floods the room.

03. Bel Canto: Radiant Green (Universal / Border)

Has it really been twenty-two years since Bel Canto's last album? Apparently so, though you'd never know it from the state-of-the-art material on Radiant Green. It's not as if vocalist Anneli Drecker and multi-instrumentalist Nils Johansen hadn't been in contact during that gap, however, as a mini-tour in 2017 reignited the creative spark with songs that now appear on the new collection. As much as Radiant Green picks up where the Tromsø duo's electronica sound left off, the album's lyrics are honest in acknowledging time's passing and the urgency that comes with it. Here's hoping the response to the album is strong enough to ensure Radiant Green isn't Bel Canto's last hurrah. Let's take the opening lines to the closing song—“It's not over yet / No it's not”—as a hopeful sign.

04. Chantal Acda & the Atlantic Drifters: Silently Held (Challenge Records)

Silently Held might be the most perfect coupling of singer and musicians to date from Chantal Acda, and in that regard it's telling that it's credited to her and The Atlantic Drifters rather than her alone. Electric guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jozef Dumoulin, double bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Eric Thielemans are the core, with clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst, euphoniumist Niels van Heertum, saxophonists Colin Stetson and Kurt van Herck, and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily completing the line-up. Her music's never more affecting, however, than when her voice is presented at its most naked, with the slow-building title song a good illustration. Think of Silently Held as real music by real people, something that shouldn't be a rarity but often seems to be.

05. Alex Sopp: The Hem & The Haw (Sono Luminus)
06. Itoka Toma: Beyond the Mountain (Schole)
07. Dark Sky Alliance: Interdwell (Spotted Peccary)
08. Rudy Adrian: Reflections on a Moonlit Lake (Spotted Peccary)
09. Natalie Joachim: Ki Moun Ou Ye (New Amsterdam)
10. Ben Chatwin: Verdigris (Disinter)

photo: Seth Beamer

THANK YOU

Annie Booth, Molly Carr, Ernesto Cervini, Patrick Dunachie, Euclid Quartet, Jim Fox, Kira Grunenberg, Jonathan Howard, Antje Hübner, Christina Jensen, Lydia Liebman, Matt Merewitz, Katlyn Morahan, Paula Mynn, Nick Peros, Anna Petrova, Katy Salomon, Geoffrey Silver, Ingi Bjarni Skúlason, and Gail Wein.

photo: David Sanborn

RIP

December 2024