MUSIC SCENE: Jazz is alive and well, with hot talent

Photo: Thrasher Dream Trio, including jazz legend Ron Carter, left, and Kenny Barron, right, with drummer Gerry Gibbs, produced one of 2014's best albums - 

By Jay Miller
For The Patriot Ledger 
Posted Dec. 26, 2014 @ 6:30 am
Updated Dec 26, 2014 at 7:56 AM
We like to do an annual roundup of the year's best jazz albums, which, as we note in the best albums column, is purely a reflection of our personal taste and the music we get to hear--we do not get everything.

But there is plenty of fresh new jazz out there, even if typical music fans might find it hard to track down. Your typical big box store, if it still has a CD section at all, probably features a handful of jazz selections, most of them from catalog items from long gone artists. We like John Coltrane and Miles Davis as much as the next jazz fan, but most of their work is five decades old by now. Meanwhile there are dozens of inventive contemporary musicians composing and performing inventive new sounds.

Whaling City Sound has quietly been building a sterling reputation in jazz circles, with more and more listeners discovering the label based in Dartmouth, Mass. Whaling City has also been expanding its roster, and this year at least three of the year's most compelling works came from that hometown label.
The following are some of our favorites from 2014, in no particular order.

"NOMADIC NATURE" by GIANNI GAGLIARDI (BJU Records) Another fine outing from the Brooklyn Jazz Underground label, where tenor saxophonist Gagliardi leads his quintet through eight lively original tunes. From the thunderclaps opening "Paris" to the moody, surging energy of Gagliardi's sax contrasted with Gilad Hekselman's guitar and Luke Marantz' piano, this is a richly melodic and intriguing work. A tender piano melody frames "Macanudo Man," as the sax weaves an intriguing musical storyline. The brisk but detailed momentum of "Senor Trane" makes for a delightfully modern nod to the master.

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