Gentlemen, please, pick up your machetes

This post over at DTM has created quite a stir, with great responses in the comments as well as an interesting post from Nate Chinen.

I’ve thrown my two cents in the comments section , and I definitely come down on the side of not being afraid to let a legend know when their work stinks. But I have to wonder, especially when talking about living legends like Shorter or Hancock, if we would ever be satisfied by anything less than ground-breaking work.

2009 is fading fast…

It seems appropriate to start a jazz blog with a post about looking back. So much of the jazz media would rather remind you how great it used to be than give attention to the great music that is happening all around us. A quick browse through Downbeat’s Best CDs of the 2000s reveals a strong yearning for yesterday with nearly half of the best CDs of the last decade being re-issues or remasters of music that, while great, is just nothing new.

Rather than re-hashing why this approach is not only harmful (as has been covered in many columns and articles by much more informed writers than myself), but also lazy (something I will touch on at another time), I will focus this quick first post on my favorite records of the last ten years. All of the following were released for the first time in the last decade and represent music that is happening now, or at least was when it was released. Hope you enjoy, look forward to any input you might have.