The Most Exciting Jazz Albums since 1969: 1996-1998

The albums featured in the fourth installment of 72 Jazz Thrillers are from some of the most famous and accomplished bandleaders in all of jazz. The artists featured here, some with careers of as long as 60 years and half of whom are still living and recording, made albums that prove the timelessness of jazz. From an album of modern pop standards and one of the most revered ECM albums to a gem of Americana, all of these albums have one thing in common: they are highly listenable and consistently thrilling. They are presented chronologically.

72 Thrilling Jazz Albums, Part 4: 1996-1998

19

The New Standard
Herbie Hancock
Verve
1996

Herbie Hancock may be the cornerstone artist of modern jazz. He's played everything with everyone and is still going strong after 61 years of recording. I only wished he had done more albums like this one. The idea is simple: Pick a handful of contemporary pop/rock standards, put together some of the best jazz musicians of the day Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, and play your ass off. Hell, four of these five played with Miles Davis. This album proves the notion that jazz doesn't need to be complicated to be great. It can be accessible, fun, and groove like mad.

The opener, "New York Minute" by Don Henley sets the pace and is a real burner. "Mercy Street" by Peter Gabriel, like every song here, has a strong, catchy melody that keeps your attention. "Norwegian Wood" by The Beatles, opens with Holland's bass solo, gently handed off to Scofield for one of the album's mellower offerings. The New Standard is proof that jazz can be accessible without compromising true artistry, and so fresh that it never sounds dated.

20

Angel Song
Kenny Wheeler
ECM
1996

If ever a jazz album was aptly named, Kenny Wheeler's Angel Song lives up to the imagery it conjures. Rare amongst jazz albums, it's a drummerless quartet with Wheeler on trumpet, Lee Konitz on alto sax, Bill Frisell on guitar and Holland on bass. Not to be hyperbolic, but the interaction of these musicians, paired with a set of nine sublime compositions, is as close as jazz gets to sacred music. The scene is set with Frisell's gentle opening on the gorgeous "Nicolette," followed with short solos by Wheeler and Kontiz, who then weave their sounds together in perfect harmony.

How does a tender, emotional album like this keep you on the edge of your seat? One gets the sense that everyone is listening to each other very closely. Every note feels like it's in exactly the right place every single moment, with timing that borders on telepathic. Wheeler had a distinguished career, spanning 60 years with exceptional albums on ECM and CAM Jazz. Yet this may be his crowning achievement, a thrilling jazz album quite like any other.

21

Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
Ed Palermo Big Band
Astor Place
1997

Frank Zappa's music has been called many things: eccentric, avant-garde, virtuosic, and genre-bending. It's the perfect kind of music to place in a big-band jazz context. So, it's quite surprising that it's been done so infrequently. Ed Palermo grabs the bull by the horns and goes at Zappa's music full tilt. And he does it extraordinarily successfully, boldly opening with the same song that opened Zappa's Hot Rats, "Peaches En Regalia." It's simply glorious and sets the stage for a collection of big-band jazz that's quite unlike anything else.

Palermo is a master of nailing Zappa's quirky melodies and then fleshing them out with the grand, sometimes bombastic, big band experience. His orchestrations are as tight as a clock, keeping the groove steady and infectious. This was Palermo's first Zappa-themed album, which was followed up by three more, all excellent. But as is often the case, the first one had the edge as the sound was new and unexpected, covering some of Zappa's most iconic compositions: "Toads of the Short Forest," "Twenty Small Cigars," "King Kong" and "Waka Jawaka." Fans of both Zappa and big bands are bound to like this; if you're a devotee of both, it may blow your mind.

22

Down Home
Joey Baron
Intuition Records
1997

What sets this album apart and makes it so fun and listenable is that it's an all-out groove-fest, the rare jazz album that, if put on during a party, would get everyone up and dancing. This is yet another album with the incomparable Bill Frisell as a sideman. But the real star here is the iconic alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe. Blythe's sound, soulful and instantly recognizable, is perfect in this setting. Backed up by the steady rhythms of drummer Baron, and one of—if not the greatest—bassists in jazz, Ron Carter, they lay down the soulful grooves for Blythe's soaring solos on songs like "Mighty Fine," "Wide Load," and "The Crock Pot."

Frisell stays in the background on many songs, providing subtle harmonic colors, but also performs several poignant, atmospheric solos, including his funkiest one on "What." The short "Listen to the Woman" is a beautiful duet featuring Frisell and Carter. On the penultimate song, the dreamy "Aren't We All?" Baron lays down a low-key solo. When four master musicians get together for a lively set like this, it's impossible not to join the party.

23

Afro Blue
Lonnie Smith
Musicmasters
1997

There have been a lot of John Coltrane cover albums, but when headed by a saxophonist, they often pale in comparison to the master. This album takes a different tack—as an organ/guitar trio—and it shines brightly. What a band. Organist, Lonnie Smith recruits guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for a wild joy ride into the heart of Coltrane Country. The title song sets the pace with a slow, grooving start that morphs into a deliriously ferocious workout.

In the follow-up, "Impressions," both Smiths and Abercrombie are in perfect synch as they attain several ecstatic climaxes. This album may answer the question, "What makes jazz so unique?" It's the improvisation that brings the musicians into the moment, playing off each other with wild abandon. Throughout their careers, both Smith and Abercrombie cut many fine albums, but nothing either released was as thrilling as this passionate tribute to Coltrane.

24

Gone, Just Like a Train
Bill Frisell
Nonesuch
1998

After four previous albums in this 72 Jazz Thrillers series that featured Bill Frisell in a sideman role, we finally arrive at a magnificent solo album by the guitarist. Everyone has their own favorite Frisell album, and there are a lot to choose from, but Gone, Just Like a Trane contains some of the widest stylistic leaps from the doom rock of the opener, "Blues for Los Angeles" to the somewhat hokey but charming two-part "Girl Asks Boy." The versatility in a wide range of musical styles and genres of bandmates Viktor Krauss on bass and drummer Jim Keltner made them a perfect fit.

A collection of 16 short songs, most five minutes or less, Gone, Just Like a Trane plays like a suite mirroring the everyday moods of ordinary life, some very relaxed, others quite intense. Frisell's melodies on songs like the upbeat "Egg Radio" and the wistful "The Wife and Kid" paint a multi-hued picture of a wildly diverse America. And because of these wonderfully varied moods, Gone Like a Train is a thrilling classic of jazz Americana.

Next week

As we continue our tour of thrilling modern jazz, we'll feature a unique and diverse set of albums, some well-known and an obscurity or two. On the menu are albums by John Zorn's Masada, Charles Lloyd and the superlative tentet, Either/Orchestra

To see all the albums in this series, scroll down the page and click on the blue MORE button.