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Dan McClenaghan's Best Releases of 2010

By Dan McClenaghan
December 18, 2010
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These are the CDs that never roamed away from the current listening shelf.

Jessica Williams

Touch

Origin Records

Masterpiece isn't a word to be tossed around lightly.

Jessica Williams

piano
1948 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Jessica Williams, with the eighty-eight piano keys and a lifetime of musical immersion, has created one with this recording.

Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden

Jasmine

ECM Records

A sublime duo outing with jazz veterans, pianist

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett and bassist

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Haden—a sort of accidental recording, an understated set of familiar standards exploring the themes of love and love lost.

Matt Jorgensen

Tattooed by Passion

Origin Records

Drummer/band leader

Matt Jorgensen

drums
b.1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Jorgensen continues to push the music forward on this tribute to his late father-in-law, abstract expressionist painter Dale Chisman.

Denny Zeitlin

Precipice

Sunnyside Records

" data-original-title="" title="">Denny Zeitlin, a jazz Renaissance man who day jobs as a psychiatrist, has offered up one of the finest recordings of his career, a stunningly beautiful solo piano set, recorded live.

Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran

Lost In A Dream

ECM Records

Drummer

Paul Motian

drums
1931 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Motian, who came to prominence in the late fifties as a member of pianist

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans' Trio, is still going strong ten years into the new century, with saxophonist

Chris Potter

saxophone, tenor
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Potter and pianist

Jason Moran

piano
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Moran.

Dave Liebman Group

Turnaround: The Music of Ornette Coleman

Jazzwerkstatt Records

Veteran saxophonist

Dave Liebman

saxophone
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Liebman goes deep into

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's music with his long-standing quartet, adding a new harmonic depth to Coleman's Harmolodics.

Pete Malinverni Trio

A Beautiful Thing

Saranac Records

Pete Malinverni

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Pete Malinverni has been a top level jazz pianist for a good while, but this highly spontaneous set is a breakout recording effort that lives up to its title and then some.

Bill Carrothers

Joy Spring

Pirouet Records

Pianist

Bill Carrothers

piano
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Carrothers' tribute to early bop legend, trumpeter

Clifford Brown

trumpet
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Brown, rollicks and rolls in freewheeling territory, and, in the case of the title tune, slows the pace for an near religious rumination on the music of the died-too-young legend.

Christian Weidner

The Inward Song

Pirouet Records

German alto saxophonist/bandleader

Christian Weidner

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Christian Weidner has crafted a fresh, unique and very modern ensemble sound with his stellar quartet.

Dave Douglas and Keystone

Spark of Being: Expand

Greenleaf Music

Trumpeter

Dave Douglas

trumpet
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Douglas and his "soundtrack band," Keystone, add superb atmosphere to yet another take on the Frankenstein theme.

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