Robert Heirendt

Best Music of 2024 – Underrated Works

Well,  my best of list for 2024 grew to the biggest number since I’ve been doing this – 92 albums! I listened to a whole lot of music this year and there was SO much great stuff! During the second half of December, when all the “best of” lists start coming out, I usually compare my list with all the others to see how “out of sync” or “in sync” my music taste is with the critics. This year, I thought I would highlight a few of my favorite albums that were underrated in my opinion and didn’t show up on any of the other year end lists that I checked out. 

BrhyM – Deep Sea Vents – Bruce Hornsby rose to fame in the mid 80s with big hits such as “The Way it Is” and “Mandolin Rain”. In my opinion, his most interesting work has been done in the past decade. His past four consecutive albums have been so consistently creative and original! His newest project BrhyM is a collaboration with the art chamber ensemble yMusic. Their album Deep Sea Vents is a deep dive into avant-pop music – at times abstract, at times jubilant – all against a backdrop of Oceanic themes.  

Christopher Hoffman – Vision Is the Identity – Cellist Christopher Hoffman has been playing with saxophonist/composer Henry Threadgill for over a decade as a member of his band Zoid. His new album, Vision is the Identity, is a strange mix of apparent influences. I can hear little bits of free jazz, funk, 8-bit video game music, death metal, The Residents, and modern classical composition. It somehow all works, and is simultaneously soulful and whimsical. 

AJ Lee & Blue Summit – City of Glass – During the past three decades living in Grass Valley, I have enjoyed attending the annual Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. I’ve seen AJ Lee perform through the years since she was just a little kid, and it has been such an inspiration to witness her growth through the years as a musician, performer and songwriter. City of Glass is her band Blue Summit’s finest album to date in my opinion, and also is their first record featuring the amazing singing and playing of Scott Gates. 

Víkingur Ólafsson – Continuum – Back in 2018, Iclandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson released an epic recording of Bach’s keyboard works which included 35 tracks. It was my introduction to Olafsson and is still  one of my very favorite albums of Bach’s music. His new EP Continuum is made of of piano transcriptions of some of Bach’s orchestral and organ works, and as such is a very unique Bach piano record. The entire album has a contemplative vibe and is quite beautiful! 

Wayne Shorter – Celebration Vol 1 (Live) – The artistry of Wayne Shorter is vast! He was one of the greatest improvisers, composers, and bandleaders of our time, and has been an enormous influence on my artistic life. My band Tumble has recorded three of his compositions, and we curated and performed in a special Wayne Shorter Tribute concert in November of 2023. You can check out my blog post all about Wayne and his impact on my life here. I have been blessed to have seen him perform live eight times through the years. Celebration is the first posthumous album of his to be released since his death in March of 2023. Put simply, his final quartet featuring Brian Blade (drums), John Patitucci (bass), and Danilo Perez (piano), were one of the greatest improvising bands of all time. Celebrations Volume 1 is a recording of a full concert from this band at the Stockholm Jazz Festival in 2014. It is stellar!

The Smile – Cutouts – In 2019, Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood started experimenting as a trio with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. This would eventually become their new band The Smile. Since Radiohead have not put out any new music since 2016, The Smile appear to be be Thom and Jonny’s current primary musical outlet. In 2024, they released two albums: Wall of Eyes and Cutouts. Wall of Eyes has shown up on MANY year end lists but not so with Cutouts. Both albums are really great, but if I had to choose between the two of them, I would go with Cutouts. It’s the looser and weirder album of the two, sounds less like Radiohead than WoE, and has a good bit of African polyrhythmic influence.  

Here’s my complete List. In alphabetical order:

Favorite albums of 2024

Ryan Adams – Sword & Stone

Arooj Aftab – Night Reign

Melissa Aldana – Echoes of the Inner Prophet

Michael Attius – Quartet Music Vol. 1: LuMiSong 

Beyonce – Cowboy Carter

Andrew Bird – Sunday Morning Put-On 

Andrew Bird & Madison Cunningham – Cunningham Bird 

Blue Highway – Lonesome State of Mind

Johnny  Blue Skies – Passage du Desir

Bon Iver – Sable 

Matthieu Bordenave – The Blue Land

Geof Bradfield – Colossal Abundance 

Leon Bridges – Leon

Broken Compass Bluegrass – Through These Trees 

BrhyM – Deep Sea Vents 

Tim Bulkley, David Dvorin & Randy McKean – Stinson

Becky Buller – Jubilee

T Bone Burnett – The Other Side

Compton & Newberry – Home In My Heart

Alessandro Cortini – Emosfere

The Coward Brothers – The Coward Brothers 

Miles Davis – Miles in France 1963 & 1964

Dawes – O Brother

Bryce Dessner – Manhunt 

Dirtwire – La Selva

Father John Misty – Mahashmashana

Fennesz – Mosaic

Finom – Not God

Fire! – Testament

Nils Frahm – Day

Amaro Freitas – Y’Y

Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown 

Brandon Godman – I Heard the Morgan Bell 

Ben Goldberg, Todd Sickafoose & Scott Amendola – Here to There 

The Grascals – 20 

Devin Gray – Melt All the Guns II 

Half Waif – See You at the Maypole

Mary Halvorson – Cloudward

Arve Henriksen & Harmen Fraanje – Touch of Time

Hermanos Gutierrez – Sonido Cósmico 

Christopher Hoffman – Vision Is the Identity 

Brittany Howard – What Now

Iron & Wine – Light Verse 

Eiko Ishibashi – Evil Does Not Exist

Vijay Iver – Compassion 

Keith Jarrett – The Old Country 

Sarah Jarosz – Polaroid Lovers 

Jonsi – First Light 

Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sophia Honer – The Closest Thing to Silence

Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald – Djuna’s Lullaby

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes – I Built a World

Tim Koh & SUN AN – Salt & Sugar Look the Same

Simone Lamsma, Candida Thompson & The Amsterdam Sinfonietta – Part Uber Bach

Anja Lechner – Bach – Abel – Hume

AJ Lee & Blue Summit – City of Glass 

Bruce Liu – WAVES (Music by Satie)

Charles Lloyd – The Sky Will Still Be  There Tomorrow 

Lux Quartet – Tomorrow Land

Andrew Marlin – Phthalo Blue

Ron Miles – Old Main Chapel 

Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well

The Necks – Bleed 

Aoife O’Donovan – All My Friends 

Víkingur Ólafsson – Continuum

Fabiano Palladino – Fabiano Palladino

Phosphorescent – Revelator

Pixies – The Night the Zombies Came 

Po Ramblin’ Boys – Wanderers Like Me

Prefuse 73 – New Strategies for Modern Crime – Volume 1

Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn –  Quiet in a World Full of Noise

Ric Robertson – Choices and Chains

Laetitia Sadier – Rooting for Love

Marta Sanchez Trio – Perpetual Void

Caution Shonhai & Vitalis Botsa – 2022 Volume 2

Wayne Shorter – Celebration Vol 1 (Live) 

Bryan Simpson – The Oldest

Sister Sadie – No Fear

Tom Skinner – Voices of Bishara

The Smile – Wall of Eyes

The Smile – Cutouts 

Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers – Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths & Gardens

Tyshawn Sorey – The Susceptible Now

Billy Strings – Highway Prayers  

SUSS – Birds & Beasts

Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department 

Alexandre Tharaud – Bach

Total Blue – Total Blue

Colin Vallon – Samares 

Anna Webber – simpletrio2000

Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings – Woodland 

Wilco – Hot Sun Cool Shroud 

Nilufer Yanya – My Method Actor 

Now and Then – Billboard Hot 100

During the week of January 25th, 1964, When I was 6 months old, the Beatles had their first # 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. During November of 2023, when I was 60 years old, The Beatles again had a brand new song enter into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. “Now and Then” peaked at number 7 on the chart! When this remarkable thing happened, I decided to do something I NEVER do… Listen to the top Billboard hits. My musical tastes generally have very little to do with what’s popular, and the very nature of pop songwriting has changed so much over the past few decades. But it was an interesting exercise, and I must say that overall, I was pleasantly surprised!  It’s taken me awhile to get this blogpost together, but here are my impressions of the top hits from a year ago. I decided to give my impressions of the top 7 hits rather than top ten. I figured that since the Beatles held the number 7 slot, I would stop right there!

Billboard Hot 100 week of 11/18/23

 1.  Taylor Swift – Cruel Summer

 2.  Doja Cat – Paint the Town Red

 3.  Taylor Swift – Is It Over Now?

 4.  SZA – Snooze

 5.  Jung Kook – Standing Next to You

 6.  Zack Bryan & Kacey Musgraves – I Remember Everything

 7.  Beatles – Now & Then

#1. Taylor Swift – Cruel Summer – In August of 2019, Taylor Swift released her album “Lover”. “Cruel Summer” is track 2 off that album. Four singles were released off the record and this song was NOT one of them. Live versions of this song got lots of attention from fans during Taylor’s 2023 Eras tour. So, four years later, this song became a huge hit. It’s quite incredible that a thing like this could happen! Taylor co-wrote this song with Annie Clark (St Vincent) who also plays guitar on the track. Both of these ladies know a thing or two about writing a great pop tune! A not so deep, but super catchy song about a summer romance.

#2. Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red – The most notable thing about this song is that the entire hook is lifted from Dione Warwick’s classic song “Walk On By”. I’m no purist when it comes to sampling, borrowing, or referencing works by previous artists, but when the entire “catchiness” or hook of a song is a direct sample of another previous certified hit single, I feel that it’s a bit of a cop out. I hated it when MC Hammer had a huge hit through sampling Rick James’ terrific “Super Freak” hook! “Of course, he’s going to have a hit” I thought to myself, “This riff is SO catchy.” Call me “old school” but I’m just sure that many Doja Cat fans will have no idea that this song is based on Dione Warwick’s song, and that bugs me! This song’s success is largely a tribute to the brilliance of songwriter Burt Bacharach. Still, Doja Cat does some decent rapping, and put a fairly catchy vocal counter melody over the chorus that fits in well with Bacharach’s iconic horn line. I’m unimpressed with the lyrics though, as they feel mean spirited, narcissistic and are mostly straight up bravado. My least favorite song on this list.

#3. Taylor Swift – Is It Over Now? – Taylor Swift is the only artist with 2 songs on this “Top 7” list. “Is It Over Now?”, is a kind of obsessive and confused love song. A portrait of an ill-defined relationship in which the ending is also unclear, vague and painful. Of the two Taylor songs on this list, this one carries more depth of meaning. One of the things that stands out in this song are the incredible sonics in the mix and arrangement. This song is well worth a listen on a quality pair of headphones. Big shout out to Serban Ghenea for his masterful mix!

#4. SZA – Snooze – There’ s style of vocal that has evolved over the last 3 decades in modern pop music that rides the edge somewhere between singing and rapping. SZA is a master at this and all the verses in Snooze are in this style. A romantic sounding R&B ballad with a dark undercurrent. Nice groove with great vocals from SZA. The song has a strong chorus. The main thing that bothers me about this track is all the autotune on SZA’s voice. She’s such a great singer and I would much prefer to hear her natural voice.

#5. Jung Kook – Standing Next to You – I had never heard of Jung Kook prior to seeing his song on this billboard list. I discovered that he is a member of the South Korean megastar boyband BTS. I have to say, “Standing Next to You” is a real banger! It’s a pop-funk song in the classic style of Michael Jackson or Justin Timberlake. It grooves hard, is super catchy, and he has a great soulful voice. I give it a thumbs up!

#6. Zach Bryan with Kacey Musgraves – I Remember Everything – This is an era in country music where it is typical for literally scores of producers and songwriters to collaborate on singles and albums. Enter Zach Bryan who writes his own songs and self-produced his album “Zach Bryan”. “I Remember Everything” was cowritten with Kacey Musgraves. Beautiful suggestive lyrics which let you in on parts of a story without telling you everything. Emotions soaked in regret, passion and pain. Beautiful string arrangement. Zach Bryan’s voice is soulful, vulnerable and real, and Kacey’s is smooth as butter. Not a waisted note! I love this song!

#7. The Beatles – Now and Then – I have been a Beatles fan at least since I was a toddler. My earliest musical memory was dancing with my big sister Vickie in her bedroom to her 45 single of “She Loves You”. I can remember at that young age belting out “She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah!” At the top of my lungs, embodying the energy that great music can bring!

“Now and Then” is remarkable! John Lennon recorded this raw demo of a new song alone at his piano in his New York apartment the Dakota in 1977 onto a cassette tape. Who could have ever guessed that 18 years later, in 1995, George, Paul, and Ringo would be laying down tracks to this recording. Then again, 28 years later, in 2023, Paul & Ringo would continue work this project along with George Martin’s son Giles, aided by new technology which cold actually isolate John’s voice from that original demo tape. This first time I heard the song, I was underwhelmed. I’m not really sure why. The second time I heard it I was crying! I really love the song, arrangement and the beautiful string parts put together by McCartney, Giles Martin and Ben Foster! How did this possibly work out?? This is a modern miracle and in this life long Beatles fanatic’s opinion, it’s very existence makes it beyond criticism! 

Dragonfly

Back in April of 2022, I published a blog post about the evolution of my band Tumble. This was written during the time that bassist Rob Holland was playing with us. Since that time, the band has continued to evolve and grow. We have come full circle – initial trio era (14-15); quartet era with bassist Bill Douglas (16-18); quartet with Rob Holland (18-22); and now… back to being a trio once again. 

The trio format presents musical dialogue in an essential form. No room for excess layers – every note is essential – nothing is buried. I think of Bill Evan’s piano trios, of Ornette Coleman’s great mid 60’s trio, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Air, The Police, Codona… The list goes on and on! 

In late November last year, Randy, Sean and I went over to Ancient Wave Studio in Nevada City for two days of recording what would become Tumble’s third album “Dragonfly”. We were thrilled to work with recording engineer Oz Fritz!

Oz has worked on several iconic albums of “freaky jazz” and “experimental edge” music that all three of us have loved and listened to for years – Henry Threadgill’s “Too Much Sugar for a Dime”, Sonny Sharrock’s “Ask the Ages”,  Tom Waits’ “Mule Variations” and many others. We knew that he would have the right sensibility for what we were hoping to bring to these sessions!

Oz was really great to work with. He made us so comfortable and was fun to hang with! We are so happy with how he was able to capture the nuances of our instruments and also the room sound of Ancient Waves’ beautiful main studio. 

The namesake of the album is the lead-off track “Surrounded by Dragonflies” composed by our guitarist Sean Kerrigan.

The piece moves its way through various movements of twists and turns – at times lyrical – at times angular. I really LOVE Sean’s compositional approach. He has such a way of expressing a wide range of diverse experiences translated into sound and counterpoint!  

Our reeds player Randy McKeen brought his composition “Flow and Eddy” to the project.

This piece features six primary musical motifs and textures from which to improvise through. It has been so fun to develop our interpretations of this composition over time through playing it together! This piece, perhaps more than any other track on the album, exemplifies a central aspect of Tumble; the fine balance between improvisation and composition.

For me, a highlight of the album was the recording of my composition “Bloodthirsty Wiles”. During the shelter-in-place phase of the COVID pandemic, I read a book of translations of the 13th century Persian poet Rumi which was put together by my friend Zara Houshmand. Rumi wrote over 2000 four line poems called Quatrains. “Moon and Sun” is a collection of over 200 of these Quatrains.

One day, I read the following poem:

“If I die in this war, this combat with you,

I won’t even sigh for fear of angering you.

I’ll die with a smile like a flower in your hand, 

Wilting and wounded by your bloodthirsty wiles.” 

This edgy, passionate, and mysterious poem gave me a very different feeling than I had usually associated with Rumi. This quatrain directly inspired my composition. “Bloodthirsty Wiles” features a harmonized melody. During various early performances of this piece, we would sometimes bring in guest musicians to play the harmony and to join in the group improvisation. Randy’s Bristle bandmate Murray Campbell joined us for a performance this piece early on.

We later had my daughter Mei Lin join us for some performances.

For the studio recording, we were fortunate enough to feature BOTH Mei Lin and Murray. I really love what they did on this recording and how their Violin and Cor Anglais (English Horn) weaved together to create an inspired ensemble improvisation! You can preview this track at our bandcamp site prior to the release date.

On every Tumble album to date, we have included our own “Tumblized” interpretation of a Wayne Shorter composition. Randy, Sean and I all consider Wayne to be a central inspiring figure in our lives and in our music as a band.

On our debut album “Music for Trio” we included “Down in the Depths”. On  our album “Waves”, we recorded “Black Nile”.

And now, on “Dragonfly”, we feature “Juju”. Sean came up with this arrangement which features the mbira taking up the bass role. I especially enjoy the tripped out and overlapping patterns we got into during the “vamp” section! 

I mixed this album at my home studio, affectionately known as “Old Home Place Studio”. During the pandemic, my daughter and I recorded and mixed an album entirely from our home studio, and this experience contributed to me taking on this new role which was great fun! “Dragonfly” was mastered by Oz Fritz at High Velocity Sound, and I love that he again had a hand in the sound of this record at the end of the creative process. 

Not long after we chose the album title “Dragonfly”, my wife/artist Juli Marks produced a beautiful drawing of dragonflies inspired by classic insect illustrations from the early 1900s.

These then became the central images of the project. 

Graphic artist Julia VBH designed the flier for the very first ever Tumble performance, and has worked on every Tumble album. It was awesome to work with her again as graphic designer on Dragonfly!  

In celebration of this release, Tumble will be playing a special album release party/performance on Saturday 10/26/24 at the beautiful historic Nevada Theater in Nevada City as a part of Paul Emery’s Nevada City Live series. Murray will be joining us as a special guest on a few tunes. We will be performing the entire album. Hope to see you there! 

“Dragonfly” hits the streets and all streaming platforms on Friday October 25th. I can’t wait for you all to hear it! You can preorder the record on our bandcamp page.

Through These Trees

Three and a half years ago, my daughter Mei Lin invited two of her musician friends – Kyle Ledson & Django Ruckrich – to join her for a mini-set performance in our garage. This performance was live-streamed around the world as a part of The California Bluegrass Association’s “Jam-a-Thon” event during the heart of the COVID pandemic. I could have never guessed at the time what would emerge from that musical meeting! 

Broken Compass Bluegrass has evolved into a creative entity which is much greater than the sum of their parts! Last May, they released their second studio album, “Through These Trees”. As I have spent time listening to the album, I have been so moved by the level of artistry and vision expressed. 

The album was produced by the band. Mei Lin, Django, and Kyle have all contributed original compositions to the project, and the album was entirely mixed and mastered by the group’s bassist Sam Jacobs. 

“Through These Trees” is significantly shorter than the band’s first album “Fools Gold” (also an excellent release!), but the range of themes, musical statements, and emotional complexity come together to make such a cohesive statement. 

The albums starts off with Kyle’s “Alien Song” which very well may be the only bluegrass song written about an alien encounter ever! But it’s also here that the theme of nature and trees relating to the album title is first introduced – “Something hiding in the mountains, holding stiller than the lonesome breeze. Only to fly like dust in the light over unsuspecting trees.” About half way through the song, the straight up bluegrass groove gives way to a wonderfully tripped out jam. I really love the way that the mandolin and guitar move around in the headspace of the stereo spectrum. If you haven’t yet checked out this tune with headphones, I highly recommend it. 

Mei Lin’s “Fairies & Lightning” blends effortlessly into the end of Alien Song. Big kiddos to Sam’s artful mixing!! This song was inspired in part by a fairy based video game, but it expresses a complex emotional place where “fears, joys, and laughter” all coexist in the same moment. The feelings of being intrigued and scared by something new – all at the same time. The middle section of the song breaks into a vaguely Spanish sounding section evoking a dreamlike feeling with some musical moments that sound a bit like someone threw The Gypsy Kings, The Del McCoury Band and the Grateful Dead into a blender. Just my kinda vibe! I also love the little mini fiddle tune that comes in at the end of the chorus. There is so much packed into this 5 minute tune!

Django’s “Steel & Rust” is another album highlight. This song reflects on one’s past.. especially regrets, but also is filled with hope. It is a song about growing up – “I never used to worry things would change, ’til I couldn’t be the dreams of my younger age.” The song is full of ocean imagery and is the first song on the album that doesn’t reference trees. The chorus is absolutely beautiful and really highlights the band’s wonderful vocal harmonies. It is the most anthemic song on the album.  

Folks who have seen the band live know what great pickers and singers they are and witness their wonderful musical chemistry. In listening deeply to the songs on this album, I am so incredibly impressed by what great lyricists Mei Lin, Kyle and Django are! This is an under appreciated aspect of the band IMO! 

Of course I am biased… But Damn!! What a great record! I could not recommend it more highly!!

https://www.brokencompassbluegrass.com/through-these-trees

Best of 2023 – Bluegrass/Country/Americana

It should be obvious to anyone reading my blog posts that my music tastes are wildly eclectic. There are so many genres of music that I have enjoyed exploring! Bluegrass has held a very special place in my musical life. Back in the ‘90s when I was first discovering Big Monroe’s high lonesome sound, my brother Darrel started playing banjo. Soon family visits would always include living room jams. Then in ’02, I moved to Grass Valley, the home of one of the best bluegrass festivals in the country. Eventually, my daughter Mei Lin would catch the bluegrass bug in a big way and would became a fine bluegrass fiddler! I ended up playing in a bluegrass band with her for 2 years. A real highlight of 2023 for me, was the release of my daughter’s band Broken Compass Bluegrass’ debut album Fools’ Gold. 

So this year, in my “Best of 23” blogpost, I thought I would highlight my favorite bluegrass, country, and Americana albums from the past year of releases. 

In alphabetical order – 

Broken Compass Bluegrass – Fool’s Gold – For obvious reasons, this was my “tip top” favorite album of the year. My daughter Mei Lin co-founded Broken Compass Bluegrass in 2021. Fool’s Gold is their first studio album. It was self produced and recorded at the various home studios of band members. They did such a beautiful job on this record! It features fine songwriting from Mei Lin, Kyle Ledson & Django Ruckrich. A real highlight of the album for me is Mei Lin’s empathy-infused song “Take a Look Around”. I could not be more proud of these kids! 

Rodney Crowell – The Chicago Sessions – Rodney Crowell is one of the finest songwriters in country music. Since the mid ‘70s, his songs have been recorded by Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Margo Price and many other great artists. The Chicago Sessions was produced by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy. This is a fine collection of songs with soulful performances and simple direct production. 

Nick Dumas – Details – Mandolin player/singer/songwriter Nick Dumas grew up playing bluegrass with members of his family. He later joined the legendary band “Special Consensus” and played with them for a few years in the ’10’s. In my opinion, he is a greatly underrated mandolin player with a tone that’s smooth like butter! Details is his second solo album. It is filled with great tunes and has such a wonderful vibe throughout! 

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – Weathervanes – Jason Isabell is one of the finest storyteller/songwriter’s of our time. His new album Weathervanes is modern country rock classic, full of tunes featuring stories of misguided life lessons, desperation and beauty. Every song on this collection really shines!

Jim Lauderdale & The Po Ramblin’ Boys – The Long and Lonesome Letting Go – When it comes to hard core, rootsy, “balls to the walls” bluegrass, The Po Ramblin’ Boys are just about the best there is! Jim Lauderdale is such a great songwriter and has been making many great records since the mid ‘70s. On this collaborative album, Jim co-wrote all 12 songs with some of the best songwriters in the business including Joe Newberry, Logan Ledger, Becky Buller, Jon Weisberger, and others, to create a set of wonderful songs which dig deeply into many shades of “lonesome”!

Logan Ledger – Golden State – In my opinion, Nashville singer/songwriter Logan Ledger is one of the most underrated musical artists of our time. Although you can easily hear hear his influences: Elvis, Roy Orbison, and George Jones to name a few, he has  a vocal style which is completely his own! His first album, 2020’s Logan Ledger featured the smokey/hazy production of T Bone Burnett. Golden State was produced by Waylon Jenning’s son Shooter. It has the more direct sound reminiscent of ’70’s classic country albums. The title song, “Golden State” and the album’s finale “Where Will I Go” are two of my favorite songs of the year. 

Mighty Poplar – Mighty Poplar – Q: What happens when a bunch of the hottest players in progressive bluegrass/jamgrass get together to make a rootsy, straight-up bluegrass/old timey album? A: Mighty Poplar!  Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers), Noamy Pikelny (Punch Brothers), Alex Hargraves (Billy Strings Band), Andrew Marlin (Watchouse) & Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon) have created an album which features their own unique takes on traditional fiddle tunes and Carter Family tunes, as well as songs from Bob Dylan, John Hartford and others. I got to see them perform live this year and was completely blown away! I hope Mighty Poplar continue to make music together through the years! 

Willie Nelson – Bluegrass – Willie Nelson has had a career like no other. He has been writing hit songs since the ’50’s and has consistently been putting out solo albums at a prolific rate throughout his entire career. Finally, in 2023, Wille has recorded a bluegrass album! For this project, he has brought in some of the best players in the business including Ron Block (banjo), Dan Tyminski (mandolin), Rob Ickes (Dobro) and many others. On this record, he has re-recorded many of his classic songs with this “kick ass” bluegrass band and his voice sound so great!  What’s not to love?!    

Nickel Creek – Celebrants – This album almost doesn’t belong in the “spotlight” category of my list. Nickel Creek’s new album is practically a modern “art rock” concept album played on acoustic instruments. The band have their origin and roots deeply connected to bluegrass and other string band traditions, so I decided I could count this record loosely in the “Americana” category. Simply put, Celebrants is completely ambitious, stunning, and unlike anything else the band has ever done! It’s not an album to be listened to in bits and pieces – song by song. Like Dark Side of the Moon it is meant to be listened to in whole as a single work.

Larry Sparks – It’s Just Me – Larry Sparks got his start playing and singing with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, shortly after the death of Ralph’s brother Carter. As such, Larry has a deep and direct connection to the very roots of bluegrass. His voice has only become more soulful and expressive with age. His 2023 album It’s Just Me is a first for him, just Larry and his guitar with no other accompaniment. Every note he sings on this record is completely true and authentic. I especially love his performance of Daniel Crabtree’s “Scarlet Red Lines” which won gospel song of the year at this year’s IBMA. 

Billy Strings – Meet Me at the Creek/Pyramid Country/Must Be Seven/Meet Me at the Creek – Billy Strings has done more than anybody in recent history to progress bluegrass into new realms, and to create a whole new and greatly expanded audience for the genre. Thanks to Billy, bluegrass is “cool“ again, and people are attending bluegrass festivals at all time record rates! Although his studio albums are all stellar, none of his albums have completely represented what he and his band are capable of. A Billy Strings concert is such an exhilarating experience ( I just attended my first one this year!), and the level of group improvisation his band exhibits, rivals, and in some ways mirrors what the Grateful Dead would do on nights when they were really “on”. I would even argue that Billy and his band are more consistently great in terms of group improv than the Dead were in their heyday. His new live album is a single 38 minute track where he weaves 4 of his classic songs together into a brilliant medley of sorts. It’s quite astonishing!    

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – City of Gold – It has been so amazing to witness the artistic growth and development of guitarist/singer/songwriter Molly Tuttle through the years! She grew up playing in the “Kids on Bluegrass” program at the California Bluegrass Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley where I live, and I can remember watching her perform since she was a little kid. City of Gold is her second album released under the name “Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway”, but in reality, this is the first album to extensively feature her current stellar band. I especially love her duet with Dave Matthews “Yosemite” and her beautiful song about the development of secure self-esteem “The First Time I Fell in Love”. 

Cory Walker – School Project – Cory Walker is the banjo player of East Nash Grass and the brother of mandolinist Jarod Walker from The Billy Strings Band. . On School Project he is joined by top notch players including his East Nash bandmates  Harry Clark (mandolin), Gaven Largent (dobro) as well as bluegrass legends Herb Peterson, Tim O’Brien, Rodney Dillard and many other great players. The album straddles the worlds of traditional and progressive bluegrass with grace. He is such an astounding and greatly underrated banjo player! I am SUCH a fan of “grassed up” Dylan covers, and this album features not one but two of these! 

Bella White – Among Other Things – I was fist introduced to Canadian singer/songwriter Bella White back in 2020 when my daughter’s fiddle teacher/mentor Patrick M’Gonigle (formerly of The Lonely Heartstring Band) produced some recordings of her. These recordings eventually became her excellent first album Just Like Leaving. I loved her music immediately! Her second album “Among Other Things” was produced by one of my favorite producers Jonathan Wilson. Her voice and singing style are completely unique – completely her – quirky and completely soulful. Her songwriting is top notch!  

Now here’s my complete list – In alphabetical order by artist

Derek Bailey & Paul Motian – Duo in Concert 

Anton Barbeau – Morgenmusik/Nachtschlager

Boy Genius- The Rest

Broken Compass Bluegrass – Fool’s Gold 

Mario Brunello – Bach Transcriptions

Clark – Sus Dog

Oliver Coates – Aftersun 

Bruce Cockburn – O Sun O Moon

Complete Mountain Almanac – Complete Mountain Almanac

Rodney Crowell – The Chicago Sessions

Depeche Mode – Momento Mori

Nick Dumas – Details

Lawrence English & Lea Bertucci – Chthonic 

Brian Eno – Five Light Paintings

Brian Eno – Top Boy

Feist – Multitudes

Fred Again.. & Brian Eno – Secret Life

Tomas Fujiwara – Pith 

Peter Gabriel – I/O

Garbage – Witness to Your Love

GEORGE – Shorts

Devin Gray – Most Definitely

Laurel Halo – Atlas

Mette Henriette – Drifting

Joe Henry – All the Eye Can See

Illegal Crowns – Unclosing

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – Weathervanes

Keith Jarrett – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Jim & the Schrimps – Ain’t No Saint

Jim Lauderdale & The Po Ramblin’ Boys – The Long and Lonesome Letting Go

Logan Ledger – Golden State 

Steve Lehman – Ex Machina

Russ Lossing – Alternate Side Parking Music

Joe Lovano – Our Daily Bread

L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog

Marta & Tricky – When Things Go Wrong

Al Menne – Freak Accident 

Mighty Poplar – Mighty Poplar

Milk Carton Kids – I Only See the Moon

Allison Miller – Rivers in Our Veins 

Blake Mills – Jelly Road

The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Natural Information Society – Since Time is Gravity

Meshell Ndegeocello – The Omnichord Real Book

The Necks – Travel

Willie Nelson – Bluegrass

The New Pornographers – Continue as Guest

Nickel Creek – Celebrants

Jim O’Rourke – Hands That Bind

Paramore – This is Why

John Patitucci – Scenes from an Imaginary Film 

Gift Rushambwa – 2022

Ryuichi Sakamoto – 12

Angelica Sanchez Nontet – Nighttime Creatures 

Phillip Selway – Strange Dance 

Sexmob – The Hard Way 

Anoushka Shankar – Chapter 1: Forever, For Now

Ed Sheeran – – (minus)

Tyshawn Sorry – Continuing

Larry Sparks – It’s Just Me

Arabella Steinbacher – JS Bach & Part: Works for Violin & Chamber Orchestra

Andrew Stephens & Ben Goldberg- Downward Spiral

Sufjan Stevens – Reflections 

Sufjan Stevens – Javelin 

Billy Strings – Meet Me at the Creek/Pyramid Country/Must Be Seven/Meet Me at the Creek

Dudu Tassa & Jonny Greenwood – Jarak Qaribak 

Henry Threadgill – The Other One 

Tinariwen – Amatssou

Ralph Towner – At First Light

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – City of Gold 

Cory Walker – School Project

Anna Webber & Matt Mitchell – Capacious Aeration

Bella White – Among Other Things

Wilco – Cousin 

Wayne Shorter

Back in 1978, when I was 14 years old, I got a copy of Steely Dan’s album “Aja”. Listening to this album was like entering into a new undiscovered world. Around this time, I was getting into jazz and my introduction to the art form was initially through bands on the poppier edge – bands like Spyro Gyra and Seawind. “Aja” is just as much of a jazz album as it a pop album, and when it was released, it didn’t really sound like anything else out there. 

For me, the highlight of this wonderful album has always been the title track. The song “Aja” is expansive and expressive in a way that is completely unique in the entire Steely Dan catalogue. In the very center of this 8 minute piece is an improvisation between saxophonist Wayne Shorter and drummer Steve Gadd against the backdrop of Michael Omartian’s rhythmic piano jabs. The expressiveness and interplay between these musicians is quite remarkable! Wayne Shorter was playing sax lines unlike anything I had ever heard. I remember around this time telling my high school friend/drummer Ed Snyder that Wayne Shorter was my favorite sax player. He has remained so ever since! 

A bit later, I was introduced to Wayne’s innovative band Weather Report through their album “Mr. Gone”. It was through this album that I began to experience how he used space and economy in his playing. It was also my introduction to Wayne’s brilliance as a composer.

His pieces from that album, “Pinocchio” (which was originally recorded with Miles Davis), and “The Elders” both express melodies which are at once angular and mysterious. He is still one of my favorite composers! 

In early 1980, Ed and I went to see Weather Report live at Perkins Palace in Pasadena. As much as I loved Weather Report from their recordings, seeing them play live was such a revelation. By this time in the band’s evolution, they had developed a style of group improvisation where, in the words of drummer Peter Erskine, “Everyone soloed and no one soloed”. The improvisational interplay between the musicians became more important than what any given “soloist” was doing. This too would have a lasting impact on me, and would be an aesthetic that Wayne would carry into his subsequent bands. 

A few years later, I went with my friends Scott Eilers and Robb Dominguez to see Jaco Pastorius’ Word of Mouth Band at The Palace in Beverly Hills. While we were waiting for the show to start, I noticed Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter walking into the theatre. This was a year of so after Jaco left Weather Report. Wayne and Joe ended up sitting just a few rows in front of us. I had the opportunity to briefly meet them both, and tell them how much their music meant to me. It was such an honor, and a memory that I will always carry with me!

Joni Mitchell has been one of my favorite songwriters ever since I feel in love with her 1979 album “Mingus” when I was in high school. Wayne had a very special musical relationship with Joni. From 1976 – 2002, he played on 11 of her studio albums. This was the longest-term musical collaboration in both Wayne’s & Joni’s careers!

His soprano sax created an emotional and musical dialogue with Joni’s voice that was unlike any other. The way they worked together was pure magic! 

In 2000, Wayne initiated a new quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade. This incredible group would stay together as a band for the rest of Wayne’s life.

Through his years with the great Miles Davis Quintet, and then with Weather Report in the 70s, Wayne was at the vanguard of creation of a form of group improvisation that exerted a great influence on modern music. This form of conversational improvisation would reach it’s highest peak in Wayne’s quartet. I had the great blessing of being able to see this group twice; once at The Masonic in San Francisco in the early 00s, and once at SF Jazz in 2014. This group achieved such a completely magical balance between improvisation and composition. The musical chemistry that this band achieved under Wayne’s inspiration is unlike anything else I have ever experienced. In my opinion, they were by far the most important jazz band of their time! 

In all, I have seen Wayne perform live 8 times through the years. It has always been such an inspiration, and I feel really lucky to have been on the planet at the same time as this incredible human being!

In 2014, I started playing music with reeds player Randy McKean and guitarist Sean Kerrigan. This mbira, reeds, and guitar trio became known as Tumble.

One of the first things we did together was a groove centric arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s tune “Down In the Depths”. Wayne recorded this in 1959 for his very first solo recording “Introducing Wayne Shorter”. I had been listening intensely to this piece, and could hear such emotional “depth” as well as an interesting angularity and tension in the melody.

Although Wayne’s version was played in the bebop style with lots of intricate chord changes, I could hear how this melody could also be interpreted against a solid bluesy ostinato. We ended up recording our version of this piece on our 2017 album “Music For Trio”. 

https://tumblemusic.bandcamp.com/track/down-in-the-depths

About a year later, my bandmates and I started thinking about another Wayne Shorter piece to cover. I had been kicking around a slower, more contemplative take on “Black Nile”. This piece was taken from Wayne’s 1964 album “Night Dreamer”. Unbeknownst to me, Sean had been working up a crazy cool mixed time signature riff which fit over the introduction of the piece.

I had completely skipped over that section of the composition in my version. It was amazing that out of all the many compositions of Wayne Shorter, Sean and I were both drawn to work on “Black Nile”. We joined forces and put together an arrangement that had elements from both of our sketches. It was meant to be! We recorded our version of “Black Nile” on our second album “Waves”.

By that time, we were playing with bassist Bill Douglass and are quite honored that he worked with us on that project! 

Since Wayne Shorter was such a huge influence on all of us in the band, we had long talked about doing an entire concert featuring our interpretations of Wayne’s music. This is finally coming to fruition on Saturday November 11, 2023 at The Side Door in Sacramento.

Poster by Kathy Dotson

For this special performance, we are doing our interpretations of pieces from Wayne’s repertoire that he composed between 1959 – 1964. We’re super happy to have our friend/saxophonist Tony Passarell and his quintet joining us for this performance. They will be featuring Wayne’s music that he composed from the late 60s through the 80s. 

I cannot express how excited I am for this evening in honor of the musical genius of Wayne Shorter and the great influence he has had on our lives as musicians! 

Wayne Shorter passed into eternity on March 2, 2023 at the age of 89. His vision remains deeply relevant to our world today – a vision that has always been expansive and deeply humanistic. As a long-term practicing Buddhist, he has strived to tap into the sense of life’s mystery in his music and performance, and communicate that vision to his fellow human beings. He described the music his quartet performed as “zero gravity” music. I also really love his definition of jazz – “Jazz means I Dare You.” We aspire to bring some of that spirit to our performance on 11/11/23. 

Rumi By Moonlight

Some projects come together quickly and easily, others evolve slowly over time.

Somewhere around 10 years ago, I discovered the quatrains of the 13th century Persian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. Quatrains are four line poems. There was something about Rumi’s work in this terse, compact format that deeply appealed to me. My initial exposure to these poems was through a book of versions of Rumi by Coleman Barks & John Moyne called “Open Secret”. I ended up composing a piece of music called “Old Statues Watching” which was inspired by one of the quatrains. My band Tumble recorded this piece on our first album “Music for Trio”. 

https://tumblemusic.bandcamp.com/track/old-statues-watching

“Open Secret” featured 54 quatrains and I soon learned that Rumi composed over 2000 of these. As sometimes happens to me at times of new discovery, I became a bit obsessed! I eventually picked up a complete volume of Rumi’s quatrains – “The Quatrains of Rumi” which was translated by Ibrahim Gamard & Rawan Farhadi. In the introduction to the book, they expressed that Barks & Moyne’s versions of Rumi were highly poetic and took great liberties with the original text, Gamgard & Farhadi, by contrast, presented literal translations. Although these translations were quite beautiful in their own way, they lacked the poetic qualities that I guessed existed in the original Farsi text. I remember thinking to myself, “If only I could find translations of these poems that are poetically rendered while still being faithful to the original text!” 

Through some internet explorations, I discovered a translator named Zara Houshmand whose work was featured on the website Iranian.com. Zara had taken up a practice of translating one of Rumi’s quatrains (from the original Farsi) per day for an entire year. These quickly became my favorite translations! 

https://www.iranian.com/Arts/rumi.html

A few years later my band Tumble was performing a house concert in Nevada City at our friend Ellen Reynard’s home. Local musician/composer Annette Dunklin came to the show and brought a friend along. Her friend Zara really liked Tumble and ended up hiring us to play at her birthday party. During planning for the event, I discovered that she was indeed the same person whose quatrain translations I loved so much! This “coincidence” blew me away! 

During the summer of 2020, right at the height of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place, Zara published a book of her Rumi translations, “Moon and Sun”. I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading these poems over the next few months.The feelings and images from specific poems inspired me to compose new pieces of music. 

With these pieces, I took sort of a raw approach with little revising or overworking. There is a phase that is attributed to Allen Ginsberg – “First thought, best thought”. My take on it is that there can, in some instances, be a value in spontaneous, unedited creation. Perhaps this approach was influenced by the short structure of the poems in the quatrain form and the sometimes quite raw emotions expressed by Rumi. 

As I composed, I had a vague idea in the back of my mind that it would be amazing to put together some sort of performance/reading event with Zara at some point in the future. Since we were in the middle of the shelter-in- place phase of the pandemic, this thought was filed away – WAY in the background of my mind! 

Fast forward to early 2022… Zara contacted me out of the blue asked if I might be interested in doing some sort of music and poetry event featuring the Quatrains from her book. She had no idea that I had actually composed pieces based on her translations! This was a moment of bold synchronicity indeed!! I excitedly agreed and we started planning for such an event. 

We had made arrangements for a performance at The North Colombia Schoolhouse in the fall of ’22. But as fate would have it, unpredictable life situations arose which made the fulfillment of the event impossible. It had to be postponed! Although this was disappointing, there was something about this event that felt “meant to be”. I had an intuition that “Rumi By Moonlight” (as we were now calling our event) would still happen in its own due time. 

I heard from Zara again in early 2023. By this time, things had again shifted and our plan for the event was back on! While planning I discovered that my friend/composer Annette Dunklin (who had originally introduced me to Zara) had also composed a piece inspired by one of Zara’s translations. She had done so unaware that I had also composed pieces based on these quatrains. Another amazing “coincidence”!

I am SO pleased how this has all come together – slowly – organically – on its own time! On Friday, 9/1/23, we will be presenting “Rumi By Moonlight” at the historic North Columbia Schoolhouse in North San Juan. 

I have some wonderful musical friends who will be joining me for this special performance. My band for the evening will include:

My Tumble bandmate Randy McKean playing clarinet & tenor sax

my former Boston Ravine bandmate Karl Chelette on acoustic & electric bass

Murray Campbell on oboe, violin & English horn

Tim Bulkley on vibes

I could not be more thrilled to have such a group of fine creative musicians joining me on interpreting these pieces!

The evening will include 6 of my compositions and one of Annette’s compositions – all based on specific quatrains, along with Zara reciting these special poems. We will also do a variety of free improvisational pieces while Zara reads numerous pieces from “Moon and Sun”. 

The Art of the Piano Trio

t’s International Piano Day – the 88th day of the year! The piano was my first instrument. In the late 1950’s, my Dad purchased a Conover upright piano. I am fortunate enough to still have possession of this piano that was in my family since before I was born. When I was in 5th grade, my sister Linda and I both started taking piano lessons from Mrs. Smith (I wish to God I could remember her first name!). She was such a great teacher and was so encouraging to me when I was first learning to play – an important early musical mentor! Although my musical interests would take many twists and turns throughout my life, the piano is right at the bedrock of my musical roots!

Back in 2021, I was a bit surprised to discover that my absolute favorite album of the year was a jazz piano trio record. I found myself listening incessantly to Vijay Iyer’s remarkable album “Uneasy”. This got me thinking about the great tradition of the jazz piano trio – such a “tried and true” musical format! There is something absolutely indescribable about what a piano, a bass, and a drum kit can do with the right players and the right chemistry. In this spirit, I offer to you my list of my personal favorite jazz piano trio albums. I have decided to comment on a few key albums from this list which I think deserve greater attention. See my complete list below. 

Bill Evans – New Jazz Conceptions (with Paul Motion & Teddy Kotick) – 1957

From the very start of his career, Bill Evans brought a completely unique voice to modern music! Although you could hear his influences, he did not sound like anyone else. He is one of those rare musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Earl Scruggs or Jaco Pastorius who re-defined their instrument. After Bill Evans, improvisational piano would NEVER be the same, and his influence on music goes far beyond “Jazz”. His first solo album, “New Jazz Conceptions” has a different sound and approach than many might associate with his music. It’s a surprisingly muscular, quirky, and angular record. This album was the first of his many collaborations with drummer Paul Motian. In a way, Paul is the glue that ties up many of the diverse edges of my list of great piano trio albums. He is my favorite drummer of all time and is on about 40% of the records on this list!

Andrew Hill – So in Love (with James Slaughter & Malachi Favors) – 1959

Andrew Hill’s debut album is not as well know as the classic recordings he did for Blue Note in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Hill was equally well known for his amazing compositions as he was for his inspired playing. This trio outing was made up of only 30% originals – the rest were covers, yet he came right out of the gate as such a singular voice!  The approach to group playing that he and his trio executed on this record was so creative. Bass genius Malachi Favors would later go on to co-found the seminal avant-garde group The Art Ensemble of Chicago (one of my favorite bands of all time!). It’s quite marvelous to witness him here, a decade earlier, playing with such sensitivity, soul, and originality in counterpart to Andrew Hill’s playing. Drummer James Slaughter (who was Diana Washington’s drummer for years) also plays with such a unique dynamic, borrowing heavily from Latin influences. The music made here is quite special! 

McCoy Tyner – Plays Ellington (with Elvin Jones & Jimmy Garrison) – 1964

John Coltrane’s “Classic Quartet” is certainly one of the greatest improvisational ensembles of all time. The work that they did together between the years of ’62 – ’65 would move Jazz forward as an art form. The day before the group went into the studio to record their masterpiece, “A Love Supreme”, McCoy, Elvin and Jimmy wrapped up recording an album of Duke Ellington pieces.  It was the only time the three of them would record as a trio. The unmistakable musical chemistry they had developed of playing together in Coltrane’s group can be heard on this beautiful record. They added percussionists Willie Rodriguez and Johnny Pacheco to a few of the tunes to thicken up the groove. Although the album is in many ways so different from what they would cook up the next day on their groundbreaking “Love Supreme” sessions, we get to hear the group’s musical interplay at its peak on this album.  

The Necks – Hanging Gardens (Chris Abrahams, Tony Buck, Lloyd Swanton) – 1999

There are some who might protest that I am including this album on my list as a “jazz piano trio” album. On this record, The Necks make use of electric piano, organ, and percussion instruments as well as acoustic piano, bass and drums. They use overdubbing to create deep and rich layers of groove and ambience. This album has much in common with “In a Silent Way” era Miles Davis in feel and texture. Yet, at the heart of this Australian trio is improvisation between piano, bass, and drums. Hanging Gardens is a 1-hour long single piece. It is quite hypnotic and remarkable!  

Russ Lossing – Dreamer – (with Ed Schuller & Paul Motian)- 2000

Since Paul Motian is my favorite drummer ever, I did a search on his Wikipedia discography page in order to discover some recordings of him. It was through this process that I was turned onto this album. I had never heard of Russ Lossing before, but discovered him to be a singular musical voice – at once melodic, angular, pastoral, and abstract. His phrasing is crystal clear! I found his compositions to be equally as inspiring as his playing. “Dreamer” is comprised of 70% Lossing originals with a couple of Monk compositions and one Andrew Hill piece. The ensemble interplay here is quite inspired! Unfortunately, there is no song from “Dreamer” currently on Youtube.

Allison Miller – Boom Tic Boom (with Myra Melford & Todd Sickafoose) – 2010

I first became aware of Allison Miller when I discovered that clarinetist/composer Ben Goldberg was playing in her band. I went to see her at Ross Hammond’s performance space “Golden Lion” in Sacramento in 2016, just after she released her album “Otis Was a Polar Bear”. I was BLOWN AWAY by her playing and also her masterful compositions. I remember telling a friend in the LA area to go see them at their next stop on their tour, “I swear to God this woman is the next Mingus!” Allison put out this piano trio album in 2010 and it embodies just about everything I love about music. I remember seeing bassist Todd Sickafoose play in a small club with Adam Levy in San Francisco back in the late ‘90s. His tone is outrageously great!  I especially love the interplay and balance between the musicians in their approach to improvisations. 

Brian Blade, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci – Children of Light – 2015

In my opinion, Wayne Shorter’s quartet was one of the finest groups in all of jazz history. This band existed from 2000 until Wayne’s death last month. This was the longest lasting continuous group of Wayne’s entire career and their approach to group improvisation was quite transcendent! As is the case of McCoy Tyner’s “Plays Ellington” album, (see notes above) something special happens when players who have built up musical chemistry for years come together to create. What you get is so much greater than the sum of the parts! On this, their first trio album, the group play original compositions in addition to their version of Wayne’s “Delores”. I really hope that this group continues to make music together. The rapport here is one of a kind!  

Vijay Iyer – Uneasy (with Tyshawn Sorey & Linda May Han Oh) – 2021

Back in 2014, a friend of mine turned me onto a piano/sax/drums group from the ’00’s called Fieldwork. The primary composer in this group was pianist Vijay Iyer. Their approach to composition and group improvisation, and the fine line between the two, was quite inspiring to me. I started to follow Vijay’s music since that time. In the year 2021, smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, he released his remarkable trio album, “Uneasy”. It was my favorite album of 2021! I love his compositions and the way this trio plays in a seemingly telepathic way. This album also features drummer Tyshawn Sorey, one of my favorite contemporary Jazz drummers, who plays on several other albums on my list. 

The List

Bill Evans – New Jazz Conceptions (w Teddy Kotick & Paul Motian) – 1957

Andrew Hill – So in Love (w Malachi Favors & James Slaughter) – 1959

Bill Evans – Waltz for Debby/Sunday at the Village Vanguard (w Scott LaFarro & Paul Motian) – 1961

Duke Ellington – Money Jungle (w Charles Mingus & Max Roach) – 1963

McCoy Tyner – Plays Ellington (w Jimmy Garrison & Elvin Jones) – 1964

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas (w Fred Marshall & Jerry Garnelli) – 1965

Paul Bley Trio – Closer (w Steve Swallow & Barry Altschul) – 1965

Chick Corea – Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (w Miroslav Vitous & Roy Haynes) – 1968

Keith Jarrett – Hamburg 72 (w Charlie Hayden & Paul Motian) – 1972

Herbie Hancock Trio (w Ron Carter & Tony Williams) – 1982

Keith Jarrett – At the Deer Head Inn (w Gary Peacock & Paul Motian) – 1992

The Necks – Hanging Gardens (Chris Abrahams, Lloyd Swanton & Tony Buck) – 1999

Medeski, Martin & Wood – Tonic – 2000

Russ Lossing – Dreamer (w Ed Schuller & Paul Motian) – 2000

Jason Moran – Facing Left 00 – (w Tarus Mateen & Nasheet Waits) – 2000

Marilyn Crispell – Amaryllis 01 – (w Gary Peacock & Paul Motian) – 2001

The Bad Plus – These Are the Vistas 03 (Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson & David King) – 2003

Chick Corea – Super Trio (w Christian McBride & Steve Gadd) – 2006

Keith Jarrett – Somewhere (w Gary Peacock & Jack DeJohnette) – 2009

Kris Davis – Good Citizen (w John Herbert & Tom Rainey) – 2010

Allison Miller – Boom Tic Boom (w Myra Melford & Todd Sickafoose) – 2010

Colin Vallon Trio – Le Vent (w Patrice Moret & Julian Satorius) – 2014

Blade, Perez & Patitucci – Children of the Light – 2015

Mario Pavone – Blue Dialect (w Matt Mitchell & Tyshawn Sorey) – 2015

John Zorn – Flaga (Craig Taborn, Christian McBride & Tyshawn Sorey) – 2016

Angelica Sanchez Trio – Float the Edge (w Michael Formanek & Tyshawn Sorey) – 2017

Vijay Iyer – Uneasy (w Linda May Han Oh & Tyshawn Sorey) – 2021

Best of 2022 – Short Plays

I’m really old-school. When it comes to music listening, I do not do Pandora or streaming music channels. The way that many people listen to music nowadays is very song focused. I still think in terms of albums and I look at an album as a cohesive statement from an artist at a certain point in history. To me, an album is like a film or a novel, all the individual songs inform the whole story or image that the record is presenting. What makes a great album is more than just the sum of the songs – it’s how it all hangs together and the effect of the whole. I like to sit down and listen to an entire album without conversation, without interruption, like watching a movie.  

It’s been interesting to me to look at changes in album length trends over time. When I grew up in the 70s, the average album length was somewhere between 40 – 50 minutes. This had to do with the medium of vinyl, and what could be produced on a vinyl disc. The average pop or rock album had approximately 10 songs. Other genres with longer song lengths could have 6-8 songs. The “double album”, of the time was somewhere between 65 – 100 minutes, but this was not typical for most most common releases.

 By the time CDs started to dominate the market in the late 80’s, the average album length got significantly longer. By the 90s and early 2000’s, it was unusual to find an album shorter than 60 minutes. The standard had completely changed, and most artists were making REALLY long albums!

By the mid 2010’s I started to notice that album lengths were greatly diversifying. Many artists have continued to make really long albums, but many have also returned to the 45 minute vinyl standard. I imagine this is reinforced by the re-immersion of vinyl in the marketplace. But something else is going on also… It is now becoming more and more common for artists to be putting out EPs or albums which are considerably shorter even than the vinyl standard. 

When I was putting together my list of favorite releases of the year, I was kind of surprised by how many of the albums on my list were very short – under 40 minutes.  And so.. For this blog post I am highlighting the short records from my year ends list. I’ve also included my complete list at the end of this post. I hope this post will encourage some of you to check out these amazing projects! 

Ambarchi, Birthing & Werliin – Ghosted – Australian multi instrumentalist Owen Ambarchi, jazz bassist Johan Birthing, and percussionist Andreas Werlin have collaborated together on a remarkable trio album which lies somewhere in the regions between and jazz, trance/groove and ambient. 

Courtney Marie Andrews – Loose Future – Singer/songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews writes beautifully warm songs which probe the depths of the human heart and the complexities of human relationships. Her voice is 100% authentic, unique and expressive. 

Avishai Cohen – Naked Truth – Avishai Cohen plays the trumpet in the tradition of Miles Davis with a beautiful dream like tone. Naked Truth is a 9 part suite, and is a reflection on death and impermanence. He and his quartet interweave beauty and sorrow so seamlessly in these compositions and improvisations.  

Danger Mouse & Black Thought – Cheat Codes – Producer/multi instrumentalist Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) has collaborated with rapper Black Thought from the Roots to create a moody, trippy and expansive hip hop venture. 

Lisa Gerrard & Marcello De Francisco – Exaudia – The Australian/British band Dead Can Dance were one of my biggest influences in the late 80s and early 90s. It is impossible for me to describe the effect that their 1993 masterpiece “Into the Labyrinth” had on me! Singer Lisa Gerrard has continued to create consistently great music through the years! On “Exaudia”, Lisa has collaborated with composer Marcello De Francisco on an album inspired by the history of Spain in the 1500’s and its expulsion of Sephardic tribes throughout all of Europe and North Africa.  Beautiful, soulful and tragic.. 

Ben Goldberg – Werewolf of Today – In January of 2022, composer/clarinetist Ben Goldberg released a series of 9 “werewolf” themed solo clarinet eps. “Werewolf of Today” was the second volume and was released on 1/6/22, the exact one year anniversary of the attempted insurrection on the US capitol. I listened to it for the first time on the day it was released, These solo clarinet compositions spoke to my heart as I reflected on this unbelievable and dark chapter of our recent history. 

https://ben-goldberg–bag-production-records.bandcamp.com/album/werewolf-of-today

Hermanos Gutierrez – El Bueno Y El Malo – Brothers Alejandro & Estevan Gutierrez make up the guitar duo Hermanos Gutierrez. For their new album, they teamed up with Dan Auerbach, recording at his Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville. The way in which they weave their guitar lines around each other is quite special. I can hear echos of Ennnio Morricone and Ry Cooder, but their sound is completely unique. 

Ross Hammond – Flow State – Sacramento guitarist Ross Hammond released not 1, not 2, but (count em!) 9 albums in 2022! “Flow State, released in early June of 22, is a beautiful collection of multitracked guitars – all recorded by Ross. I found myself listening heavily to this album throughout the summer. It was an impetus for me to reach out to Ross regarding working together on a project.  This was the beginning of our collaborative EP, “Midsummer Dialogues”

Iron & Wine – Lori – Sam Beam released a 4 song EP featuring the songs of Nashville songwriter Lori McKenna. For these recordings, he returned to a more densely textured approach to arrangements after his past few albums which featured a more stripped down sound. He has enlisted the musical support of Chicago singer-songwriters Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart (from OHMME) throughout these songs. These versions of the songs are dramatically different than the original recordings – exactly what I enjoy from a covers record! I was not at all familiar with Lori McKenna’s songwriting prior to hearing this record. In the time since, I have enjoyed exploring this fine songwriter’s work! 

Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Moon – Soul singer Leon Bridges & groove rock trio Khruangbin teamed up last year for an incredible EP, “Texas Sun”, which was one of my favorite releases from last year. In 2022, they returned with a companion EP – Texas Moon. The grooves are still there, but are a bit more subdued, more mysterious and laid back. The overall feeling of this EP is mysterious, dreamy, and full of longing. 

Sun’s Signature – Sun’s Signature – I will never forget the day back in the early 80s, when my friend Mark Dutton played me some cuts off The Cocteau Twins debut album “Garlands”. It was such a new, fresh sound – melodic – atmospheric – mysterious – with the unearthly gorgeous voice of Elizabeth Frasier right at the center! By 1984, when “Treasure” was released, I was completely in love! The Cocteau Twins came to an end in 1997, and Liz Frasier has done musical projects and recordings very sparingly since that time. So I was very excited when I heard that Liz and her partner Damon Reece (from Spiritualized) were putting together a new project. This debut EP from Sun’s Signature did not disappoint. Her voice sounds as great as ever and the music is beautiful, adventurous, and dreamy! 

Here is my entire list of favorite albums of 22 – long, short and otherwise!

Favorite Albums of 2022

• Ryan Adams – Chris
• Melissa Aldana – 12 Stars
• Ambarchi, Berthling & Werliin – Ghosted
• Courtney Marie Andrews – Loose Future
• Animal Collective – Time Skiffs
• William Basinski & Janek Schaefer – On Reflection
• Time Berne & Greg Belisle-Chi – Mars
• Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
• Andrew Bird – Inside Problems 
• Bitchin Bajas – Bajascillators
• Bjork – Fossora 
• T Bone Burnett – The Invisible Light: Spells 
• Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Recordings from the Aland Islands
• Avishai Cohen – Naked Truth
• Elvis Costello – A Boy Named If
• Danger Mouse & Black Thought – Cheat Codes
• Danish String Quartet – Praxis IV
• Dawes – Misadventures of Doomscroller
• Death Cab for Cutie – Asphalt Meadows 
• Simone Dinnerstein – Undersong
• Brian Eno – FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE
• Father John Misty – Chloe and the Next 20^th Century
• Nils Frahm – Music for Animals
• Sam Gendel – Superstore
• Lisa Gerrard & Marcello De Francisco – Exaudia
• Ben Goldberg – Werewolf of Today
• Ben Goldberg – Ben Goldberg School Vol. 2: Hard Science
• Tord Gustavsen Trio – Opening
• Hermanos Gutierrez – El Bueno Y El Malo
• Ross Hammond – Flow State
• Bruce Hornsby – Flicted
• Iron & Wine – Lori
• Ulf Ivarsson & Bill Lasell – Nammu
• Keith Jarrett – Bordeaux Concert 
• Max Johnson Trio – Orbit of Sound
• Rokia Kone & Jacknife Lee – Bamanan
• Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Moon
• Daniel Lanois – Player Piano
• Dominick Leslie & Ric Robertson – Impromptu Sessions: Trust in Most
• Charles Lloyd – Trios: Chapel
• Russ Lossing – Folks
• Del McCoury Band – Almost Proud
• Myra Melford’s Fire & Water Quintet – For the Love of Fire and Water
• Allison Miller & Carmen Staaf – Nearness
• Modern Nature – Island of Noise
• Aoife O’Donovan – Age of Apathy
• Panda Bear & Sonic Boom – Reset
• Pixies – Doggeral – 
• The Po Ramblin Boys – Never Slow Down
• The Punch Brothers – Hell on Church Street
• Kaelee Robert’s – Something You Didn’t Count On
• Marta Sanchez – SAAM
• Umou Sangare – Timbuktu 
• Selebeyone – Xaybu: The Unseen
• The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention 
• Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa
• Billy Sings – Me/And/Dad
• Ken Stubbs – A Day a Way 
• Sun’s Signature – Sun’s Signature
• Tears for Fears – The Tipping Point
• Thumbscrew – Multicolored Midnight
• Molly Tuttle – Crooked Tree
• Weyes Blood – And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow 
• Wilco – Cruel Country 
• Nilufer Yanya – Painless
• Various Artists – Here It Is: Tribute to Leonard Cohen

Ross Hammond and the Making of Midsummer Dialogues.

Last Summer my band Tumble was taking a little hiatus. During this time, I felt a real hankering to find a new music project to help fill in the void. I had been listening quite a bit to Sacramento guitarist Ross Hammond’s new album “Flow State” and really enjoying it! I remembered that Ross did quite a number of long distance collaborative albums with other artists during the initial COVID shelter in place. On a whim…I had the idea of asking Ross if he would be interested in recording some duos with me if I sent him some tracks of solo mbira. I was very happy that he said yes!

So, on a sweltering hot day in late July, I put together a few semi composed/semi improvised solo mbira tracks and sent them off to Ross. Within a few days, he had sent me some electric guitar tracks. Although we did not work together in person, he did such a great job complementing my tracks.

I first met Ross in 2014 when my band Tumble played our first gig. We opened up for drummer/percussionist Alex Jenkin’s trio which included Ross on guitar and multi-reed player Vinny Golia. We would go on to play various other shows with Ross through the years.

In 2020, when I was putting together my Dylan Self Portrait Tribute album, I invited Ross to  contribute a track. He recorded a version of the old blues tune “Railroad Bill” which was first recorded in 1929 by the great Will Bennett. I was so pleased to have Ross’ contribution to this record. 

https://robertheirendt.bandcamp.com/track/railroad-bill

Ross is the most prolific recording artist I know! He has well over 50 releases to his name thus far, and puts out multiple albums every year. He has made some fine records in collaboration with many great musicians including Oliver Lake (World Saxophone Quartet), Grant Calvin Weston (Ornate Coleman’s Prime Time), and many others. His recordings span genres and transcend them. He brings shards of jazz, blues, folk, trance and just plain old soul into his melodies, grooves, and improvisations. 

My favorite Ross Hammond album is his 2017 solo guitar album, “Follow Your Heart”. He recorded this album at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Sacramento, playing acoustic resonator and 12 string guitars. The beautiful acoustics of this space were so well captured on this recording of his soulful, improvisational tunes.

Midsummer Dialogues is perhaps the most raw and “off the cuff” record I have ever made. The tracks have some loose compositional structures to them, but were mostly improvisational. Not too much over-thinking or over-working went into them. There is something quite beautiful about the simple musical conversation that two instruments can have with one another. I really enjoy hearing these musical voices – mbira & guitar, in dialogue with each other!

When putting together the mix for this record, I was thinking of the time in which the tracks were recorded – the hot summer afternoons: ripe blackberries in our backyard – lots of dead flowers – along with some life changes/transitions happening in my family. I decided to go with a summer theme for the EP. My wife/artist Juli Marks took some beautiful photos of some crunchy lunaria plants in our yard which ended up on the cover. 

I hope you enjoy these tracks!  

https://robertheirendt1.bandcamp.com/album/midsummer-dialogues