Re: OT: Musical discoveries of 2010

[Tony K <bigtonyk@gmail.com>]

Ok, I'll share.  Not just 'discoveries' but fav releases too.

Tim Motzer/Markus Reuter - Descending.  Just lovely.
Tim Motzer (and friends) - Goldbug.  quirky, trippy, jazzy.
Julie Slick (bassist extraordinaire for Adrian Belew) debut.   Shows exactly why Adrian picked her.   Love it.
District 97 - Hybrid Child.  Flat out prog rock.  
Riverside - Anno Domini (actually a 2009 release, but I didn't get it til 2010). more prog!
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind.  Hey look, even more prog! :)
The Orb featuring David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres.  old school prog.
Slash - Slash.  Wait, that's not prog.
Meshuggah - Alive.  Way not prog.
Jeff Beck - Emotion & Commotion.  It's JB, need not say more.
Animals as Leaders (self titled).  wow.
Black Country Communion.  Glenn Hughes, damn.
Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier.  I love metal.

and the releases of the remastered King Crimson catalog are well worth getting if you are a KC fan.

On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 10:26 AM, Daryl Shawn <darylshawn@gmail.com> wrote:

This is a belated response to this thread, but just wanted to share as I've discovered so much good music this year. These aren't necessarily 2010 releases, or new artists, but they were new to me.

John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble "Eternal Interlude" - drummer-led big band, doing some really groovy, really complicated, soulful things.
Todd Sickafoose "Tiny Resistors" - fantastic band, fantastic songs, fantastic bassist.
So Percussion - four-person percussion ensemble. Anything they do is amazing, but "Amid the Noise" is a favorite.
Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band - "Season of Changes" - beautiful, moving stuff, only tangentially related to jazz.
Mastodon "Crack the Skye" - the best metal album I've heard in 10 years, if not 20. Amazing production, great drummer, tight concept, and an excellent example of that whole Norse-gods-thundering-through-the-steppes feeling that metal is supposed to have.
Bert Jansch - member of 60's Brit-folk band Pentangle. Great guitar stylist - I dig him more than Fahey (horror!).
Vijay Iyer "Solo", and "Historicity" - I've simply never heard somebody play piano like this.
Tommy Emmanuel - unbelievable acoustic guitar player. He does things that seem impossible, with humor, style and intelligence. Check some Youtube videos, or his "Endless Road". AVOID like the plague any of his electric work, it's sadly cheesy.
Gamelan Galak Tiki - Boston-based gamelan ensemble doing new music, led by Evan Ziporyn (member of Bang on a Can All-Stars). Saw them twice; mindblowing.

And a whole bunch of New York-based artists who do great work in the nu-jazz idiom:
Mary Holverson (guitar), Ben Perowsky (drums), Ben Allison (bass), John Stetch (piano), Steve Cardenas (guitar), Jim Black (drums), Tyshawn Sorey (drums)

I also need to add that David Torn's performance two weeks ago with Tim Berne and Ches Smith (they called their trio Aarses) is one of the best looping shows I have ever seen, if not one of the best shows of improvised music, if not one of the best shows I have ever seen PERIOD. It's still resonating with me.

Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com

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Tony