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My Best Jazz Albums of 2018 – The Complete List

Posted in Best Jazz Albums of 2018 with tags 9th Note, alfred sergel, allan harris, allegra levy, ambrose akinmusire, amos hoffman, best jazz of 2018, black art jazz collective, Blue Note Records, Camille Thurman, carolinas jazz, cecile mclorin salvant, cellar live records, chesky records, christian mcbride, christopher hollyday, cola jazz, criss cross records, ej strickland, emmet cohen, Freddy Cole, giacomo gates, Helen Sung, highnote records, houston person, impulse records, jazzheads records, jd allen, jeff hamilton, john bailey trumpet, john coltrane, kamasi washington, karrin allyson, kenny barron, kobie watkins, lonnie smith, lorraine feather, Mack Avenue Records, marquis hill, matthew stevens, noam lemish, origin records, pat bianchi, Posi-Tone Records, ron carter, roni ben-hur, ropeadope records, roxy coss, royal krunk jazz orkestra, sasha masakowski, savant records, sean higgins piano, steeplechase records, summit records, thandi ntuli, theo hill, thomas taylor, Tia Fuller, tiffany austin, tim warfield, walter smith iii on December 28, 2018 by curtjazz

Yeah. I know. I’ve been away from the blog since, well, since my last year-end review.

It’s been quite a year folks. A lot of time on the road and a lot of “spare” time devoted to getting CurtJazz Radio back up, running and viable. But you didn’t come here to hear my problems. In the midst of it all, I did manage to hear a good amount of music. Some not so good and some that was very good, to excellent. Those in the latter category are included in the list below.

They are in alphabetical order, by album title. I’ve divided the projects into Instrumental and Vocal. I also wanted to recognize a couple of outstanding EPs, so I did. Each title includes a link that will take you to a place where you can purchase the music, if you feel so moved.

At the bottom of the post are three CD length Spotify playlists, which will give you a chance to sample a track from most of the albums/EPs on our list.

Tracks from all of these albums and EPs will be featured on CurtJazz Radio, from now, through the end of January 2019. CurtJazz Radio, on Live365.com, is always on and always FREE. Click HERE to listen.

I will try to not be such a ghost in 2019.

Instrumental

Album Title	Artist	Label
All in My Mind	Dr. Lonnie Smith	Blue Note
Armor of Pride	Black Art Jazz Collective	HighNote
Both Directions at Once	John Coltrane	Impulse
Christian McBride’s New Jawn	Christian McBride	Mack Avenue
Concentric Circles	Kenny Barron Quintet	Blue Note
Diamond Cut	Tia Fuller	Mack Avenue
Exiled	Thandi Ntuli	Ndlela Music Co.
Future is Female	Roxy Coss	Posi-Tone
Get It How You Live	Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra	Ropeadope
Heaven and Earth	Kamasi Washington	Young Turks
In Common	Walter Smith III; Matthew Stevens	Whirlwind
In Real Time	John Bailey	Summit
In the Moment	Pat Bianchi	Savant
Interstellar Adventures	Theo Hill	Posi-Tone
Introspection	Roni Ben-Hur and Harvie S	Jazzheads
Jazzland	Tim Warfield	Criss Cross
Live from San Pedro	Jeff Hamilton Trio	Capri
Love Stone	JD Allen	Savant
Master’s Legacy Series; Vol. 2	Emmet Cohen	Cellar Live
Modern Flows; Vol. 2	Marquis Hill	PR
Movement	Kobie Watkins Grouptet	Origin
Origami Harvest	Ambrose Akinmusire	Blue Note
Pardes (Orchard)	Amos Hoffman & Noam Lemish	CD Baby
Remember Love	Houston Person and Ron Carter	HighNote
Straight Forward	New Faces	Posi-Tone
Telepathy	Christopher Hollyday	CD Baby
Warriors for Peace	E.J. Strickland Quintet	JamminColorS

Vocal

Album Title	Artist	Label
Art Market	Sasha Masakowski	Ropeadope
Genius of Eddie Jefferson	Allan Harris	Resilience
Looking at the Moon	Allegra Levy	Steeplechase
Math Camp	Lorraine Feather	CD Baby
My Mood is You	Freddy Cole	HighNote
Some of That Sunshine	Karrin Allyson	CD Baby
Sung with Words	Helen Sung	CD Baby
Unbroken	Tiffany Austin	Con Alma
Waiting for the Sunrise	Camille Thurman	Chesky
The Window	Cecile McLorin Salvant	Mack Avenue

EPs

Title	Artist	Label
Alfred Sergel IVtet	Alfred Sergel	Self-Release
G8S	Giacomo Gates	9^th Note

Best of the Carolinas

Title	Artist	Label
Cola Jazz II	Cola Jazz	Jangly
The Seeker	Thomas Taylor	Self Release
Shanghai Decade	Sean Higgins Trio	Self Release

Playlist #1

Playlist #2

Playlist #3

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JAZZ LIVES!!! with CurtJazz: Interactive Playlist 3/30/17 (with Amos Hoffman)

Posted in Charlotte Community Rado, CLTC Playlists, Jazz in Charlotte, JazzLives!, The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault, Who's New in Jazz with tags amos hoffman, carolinas jazz, Charlotte Community Radio, cltc radio, jazz in charlotte, jazz musicians on June 2, 2017 by curtjazz

On the March 30 edition of JAZZ LIVES!!! with CurtJazz, on Charlotte Community Radio, we were fortunate to have as an in-studio guest, the brilliant guitarist/oudist, Amos Hoffman.

We discussed Amos’ influences, the jazz scene in his native Israel, New York and in the Carolinas, where he currently resides. We also played most of the tracks from his most recent album, Back to the City and as a special treat, Mr. Hoffman played some live in studio performances.

In this interactive playlist, we have included a link to the entire broadcast, the full list of tunes for the evening, clips of three of the in-studio performances and the official video for “Brown Sugar”; an infectious and compelling track from Mr. Hoffman’s 2010 album, Carving

For more information on Amos Hoffman and his upcoming performances, visit his website: www.amoshoffman.com To purchase a copy of Back to the City (CD Baby), click HERE. To purchase Carving (iTunes) click HERE.

TRACK TITLE	ARTIST(S)	ALBUM	LABEL
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
Easy Going	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
After Lazy Noon	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
Alone in South Carolina	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
Little Pigs	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
Pannonica	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
Back to the City	Amos Hoffman	Back to the City	CD Baby
Blue Silver	Pat Bianchi	A Higher Standard	Self-Release
Senor Blues	Giacomo Gates	Fly Rite	Sharp Nine
The Outlaw	Blue Note 7	Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note	Blue Note
Monie (feat. Donald Harrison)	John Michael Bradford	Something Old, Something New	CD Baby
Fortress	Mark Whitfield	Grace	Self-Release
Soul Sister	Warren Wolf	Convergence	Mack Avenue
My Shining Hour	Tia Fuller	Decisive Steps	Mack Avenue
Doodlin’	Manhattan Transfer	Vibrate	Telarc
Homecoming	Shamie Royston	Portraits	Self-Release
Hi-Fly (feat. Jon Hendricks)	Sachal Vasandani	Hi-Fly	Mack Avenue
Fred’s Blues	Brent Rusinow	Old Guy Time	Self-Release
Wake-up Call	Jesse Davis	As We Speak	Concord
Music in the Air	Jon Hendricks	A Good Git-Together	Pacific Jazz
Taiji Camp	Keith Davis Trio	Still	CD Baby
Day Dreaming	Roy Ayers	Red, Black and Green	Polydor

JAZZ LIVES!!! May 18th: My Final LIVE CLTC Radio Broadcast

Posted in Charlotte Community Rado, Jazz in Charlotte, JazzLives!, The Jazz Continues..., Under The Radar, Unsung Women of Jazz with tags amos hoffman, Charlotte Community Radio, charlotte jazz, cltc radio, curtjazz radio, jazz, jazz in charlotte, jazz radio, jazzlives with curtjazz, michael hackett, nicci canada on May 15, 2017 by curtjazz

Well, it’s been fun…

CurtJazz Studio 225 With Charlotte Community Radio going off air this month, the last LIVE edition of JAZZ LIVES!!! with CurtJazz, will air Thursday, May 18th from 6:00pm to 9:00pmEst.

When Bridget asked me last spring if I would be interested in having a program on Charlotte Community Radio (CLTCRadio), it was exciting, a bit scary albeit perfectly timed. I worked in AM-FM radio in New York City through most of the 90’s, ran a web-based jazz radio station from 2004 to 2016, but I had been away from live radio since 2000. So I was somewhat out of practice on May 12, 2016 when I first opened the mic, but my trepidation quickly dissipated and the joy returned.

With trumpet master Mike Hackett

So I want to say “Thank You”; first, to Bridget B. Sullivan and Melvin Nix, co-founders of CLTCRadio, for the chance to knock some rust off these old pipes and remind me that this is “what I do”.

With vocalist Nicci Canada

And a huge thanks to my guests. The incredible, world-class musicians who call the Carolinas home and who took time out of their incredibly busy schedules to spend some time with us: Dawn Anthony; Lovell Bradford; Will Campbell; Nicci Canada; Tenya Coleman; Harvey Cummings; Lonnie Davis; Ocie Davis; Buff Dillard; Mike Hackett; Amos Hoffman, and Tim Scott, Jr.; I am forever in your debt.

Guitarist Amos Hoffman – Live in the CLTC Studios

My biggest appreciation goes out to all of you who listened and hopefully, enjoyed the music, as I shared my passion for jazz and for the artistry of living musicians. Some of you were friends from long ago that I reunited with. Some are a more recent part of my life. You were all a huge part of rekindling an old dream and I will always be grateful to you for that.

I’m on Twitter and Instagram as @curtjazz, and on Facebook as CurtJazzRadio. My website is curtjazz.com. Let’s keep in touch.

God Bless You and Goodnight.

Best Jazz Albums I Heard in 2016

Posted in Best Jazz Albums of 2016, Uncategorized with tags adam o'farrill, amos hoffman, Best jazz of 2016, bill charlap, black art jazz collective, branford marsalis, brian charette, Brian Lynch, catherine russell, DE3, ed cherry, etienne charles, freddie hendrix, gregory porter, gregory tardy, harvey cummings ii, jack dejohnette, jimmy garrison, kenny barron, kenny garrett, kim nazarian, marcus strickland, marquis hill, mary halvorson, matt wilson, melissa aldana, melissa morgan, Mimi Jones, music, norah jones, orrin evans, pedrito martinez, ralph peterson, ravi coltrane, rene marie, renee rosnes, Robert Glasper, roxy coss, tom harrell, tyshawn sorey, Warren Wolf on January 3, 2017 by curtjazz

Let’s start with a confession: I got to hear fewer jazz albums this year than in any year in the past two decades. Which is a shame, because there was a TON of worthwhile music released during the year. My crazy schedule in 2016 often limited me to snippets or tracks from discs that I vowed to get back to, but never did. So, here’s my list of the best albums that I actually got to hear during the year. Also, there’s a track from an extremely promising young artist, who needs to put more on the market, ASAP; a couple of outstanding 2015 releases that didn’t catch my ear until 2016; and finally, a few of the many fine 2016 releases that I plan to catch up with in January:

ALBUM	ARTIST	LABEL
ArtScience	Robert Glasper	Blue Note
Back Home	Melissa Aldana	Wommusic
Beginning of a Memory	Matt Wilson	Palmetto
Book of Intuition	Kenny Barron Trio	Impulse
Chasing After the Wind	Gregory Tardy	Steeplechase
Convergence	Warren Wolf	Mack Avenue
Days Like This	Melissa Morgan	CD Baby
Do Your Dance	Kenny Garrett	Mack Avenue
Feet in the Mud	Mimi Jones	Hot Tone
In Movement	DeJohnette, Coltrane and Garrison	ECM
Jersey Cat	Freddie Hendrix	Sunnyside
Live at Maxwell’s	DE3	Sunnyside
Nihil Novi	Marcus Strickland	Revive/Blue Note
Notes from New York	Bill Charlap	Impulse
Once and Future	Brian Charette	Posi-Tone
Perfection	Murray, Allen and Carrington	Motema
Presented by the Side Door Jazz Club	Black Art Jazz Collective	Sunnyside
Restless Idealism	Roxy Coss	Origin
Soul Tree	Ed Cherry	Posi-Tone
The Sound of Red	Rene Marie	Motema
Stranger Days	Adam O’Farrill	Sunnyside
Take Me to the Alley	Gregory Porter	Blue Note
TriAngular III	Ralph Peterson Trio	Onyx/Truth Revolution
The Way We Play	Marquis Hill	Concord
Written in The Rocks	Renee Rosnes	Smoke Sessions

2016’s most compelling single in search of an album:

“Chicken Day” – Harvey Cummings II

Two 2015 albums (heard in 2016) that deserved to be on last year’s list:

Back to the City – Amos Hoffman (CD Baby)
Some Morning – Kim Nazarian (CD Baby)

Probably excellent 2016 albums that I look forward to hearing as soon as possible:

ALBUM	ARTIST	LABEL
#KnowingIsHalfTheBattle	Orrin Evans	Smoke Sessions
Away With You	Mary Halvorson Octet	Firehouse 12
Day Breaks	Norah Jones	Blue Note
Habana Dreams	Pedrito Martinez Group	Motema
Harlem on My Mind	Catherine Russell	Jazz Village
Inner Spectrum of Variables	Tyshawn Sorey	Pi
Madera Latino	Brian Lynch	Hollistic Music Works
San Jose Suite	Etienne Charles	Culture Shock
Something Gold, Something Blue	Tom Harrell	High Note
Upward Spiral	Branford Marsalis	Okeh

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