It’s
not been a bad old year for jazz in my opinion. There’s been some good gigs,
near and far, and a rich selection of new releases and some old stuff has been
reissued, some has come out for the first time. Crate digging in charity shops
has thrown up some real bargains again this year and there has been one jazz
book which has stood out above the others (the accompanying CD wasn’t half bad
either). Enough with the preliminaries and on with the awards
Best
Albums
In no particular order,
the albums giving the chart toppers a run for their money are: -
Kamasi Washington – Fearless Movement
Lizz Wright - Shadow
Glasshopper
– I’m Not Telling You Anything
Ant
Law/ Brigitte Beraha – Ensconced
Lakecia
Benjamin – Phoenix Reimagined (Live)
Claire
Martin - Almost In Your Arms
Wayne
Shorter – Celebration
…
and the chart toppers themselves are:-
5.
Jake Long – City Swamp
4.
Charles Lloyd – The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
3.
Fergus McCreadie - Stream
2.
Ezra Collective – Dance No One’s Watching
1. Nubya Garcia – Odyssey
Best
First Album in a Double Album Set
We have a new category
for those double albums where the first in the pair was a stone wall classic
and the other fell into the not so good category. Our two contenders this year
are: -
Tim Garland – Moment of
Departure
Sun Ra – Live At The
Showcase
Best Second Hand Bargain CD (You know they’re out there if you just keep looking. This is what the world’s hunter/gatherers have evolved/been reduced to). Anyway, this is the best that’s been available for a couple of quid each: -
Stan Getz and Bill Evans
Andrew McCallum and Mike
Walker
Best of Bud Powell on
Verve
Ezra Collective – You
Can’t Steal My Joy
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella
Wishes You A Swinging Christmas gets an honourable
mention as it was forced on me at the bargain price of ten bob at the fag end
of last year, after the judging for 2023 had closed.
Best
Gigs
My second visit to the Cheltenham
Jazz Festival threw up some real gems, some of which (Orchestra Baobab, Nubiyan
Twist, Fatoumata Diawara) probably fell outside the jazz category but which
were tremendous anyway.
The main themes of 2024 were
the continued paucity of jazz gigs at the Glasshouse, (it’s in Gateshead, in
case it’s been so long since you were there) and gigs in more far flung places
such as Rothbury and Wooler. Unfortunately, Grandpa-ing duties kept me away
from the Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised music so I missed the many
delights on offer there.
The Top Ten, in no particular order, are: -
Sue Ferris Quintet at the
Newcastle House, Rothbury
Fergus McCreadie at the
Glasshouse, Gateshead
Andrew McCormack at the
Glasshouse, Gateshead
Lakecia Benjamin at
Cheltenham
Silje Nergaard and Espen
Berg at Pizza Express
Matt Carmichael at St
Mary’s Church, Wooler
Dee Dee Bridgewater at
Cheltenham
Zara McFarlane at
Cheltenham
Sentient Beings at The
Globe, Newcastle
Thundercat at Newcastle
City Hall
Best Book
Chris Searle – Talking
The Groove (Another excellent collection of Searle’s
writing for the Morning Star, released through Jazz in Britain).
Best
Clothing
Another exciting new
category, mainly inspired by Thundercat’s kimonos.
2.
Thundercat kimono – (See gig review HERE)
3.
Ezra Collective Socks (Sadly, now only available as part of
a bundle)
I’m not sure that 2024 was as good a year as 2023 but, reassuringly jazz shows no signs of going away anytime soon. My, quite modest, hopes for the future are that the Glasshouse will have more jazz on its stages; that those artists that bemoan the post Brexit lack of access to Europe will turn their eyes northwards and come and see us; that some funding for the arts may return and that those who do so much to promote jazz in this area continue to play it, present it, promote it and record it. I raise a glass to them, ask that they take this as my thanks for their efforts in 2024 and wish more power to their collective elbows in 2025. Dave Sayer
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