ON THE COVER

65th ANNUAL CRITICS POLL

• p 22 : Wadada Leo Smith
  Rising Up In Purity
  By Ted Panken
  Wadada Leo Smith is enjoying one of the best years of his lengthy career. Smith, who is still youthful at age 75, topped three categories in the DownBeat Critics Poll : Jazz Artist of the Year, Jazz Album of the Year (for America’s National

FEATURES

• p 30 : Top Jazz Albums
  — 1. Wadada Leo Smith : America’s National Parks (Cuneiform)

  
  — 2. Henry Threadgill : Old Locks And Irregular Verbs (Pi)
  — 3. Fred Hersch Trio : Sunday Night At The Vanguard (Palmetto)

  
  — 4. Jack Dejohnette/Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison, In Movement (ECM)

  
  — 5. Nels Cline : Lovers (Blue Note)

  
  — 6. Sonny Rollins : Holding The Stage : Road Shows, Vol. 4 (Doxy/Okeh)

  
  — 7. Gregory Porter : Take Me To The Alley (Blue Note)

  
  — 8. Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family : Beginning Of A Memory (Palmetto)

  
  — 9. Andrew Cyrille Quartet : Declaration Of Musical Independence (ECM)

  
  — 10. Branford Marsalis Quartet : Upward Spiral (Marsalis Music/Okeh)
• p 32 : Don Cherry
  Organic Flow
  By Phillip Lutz
  DownBeat examines the career of trumpeter Don Cherry (1936–’95), who had a long association with Ornette Coleman and later became a pioneer of world music.
• p 36 : Herbie Nichols
  Hall of Fame
  By James Hale
• p 36,37,38 : Herbie Nichols, George Gershwin, Eubie Blake
  Veterans Committee Hall of Fame
  By James Hale, Ted Panken, John McDonough
  DownBeat profiles the three influential artists voted into the Hall of Fame by our Veterans Committee : pianist Herbie Nichols (1919–1963), composer George Gershwin (1898–1937) and pianist Eubie Blake (1887–1983).
• p 40 : Top Historical Albums
  – 1. Bill Evans : Some Other Time (Resonance)
  – 2. Miles Davis : Freedom Jazz Dance : The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 (Columbia/legacy)
  – 3. Count Basie & Lester Young : Classic 1936–1947 Studio Sessions (Mosaic)
  – 4. Keith Jarrett : A Multitude Of Angels (ECM)
  – 5. Sun Ra : Singles (Strut)
  – 6. John Coltrane : The Atlantic Years In Mono (Atlantic)
  – 7. Woody Shaw & Louis Hayes : The Tour Volume One (Highnote)
  – 8. Mahalia Jackson : Moving On Up A Little Higher (Shanachie)
  – 9. John Cage & Sun Ra : John Cage Meets Sun Ra (Modern Harmonic)
  – 10. Various Artists : Savory Collection, Vol. 2 (National Jazz Museum In Harlem/apple Music)
• p 42 : Mary Halvorson
  More Than I Would’ve Hoped For
  By Dan Ouellette
  Guitarist Mary Halvorson, who was profiled in our July 2014 cover story, “The 80 Coolest Things in Jazz Today,” continues to win accolades. She topped four categories in the Critics Poll : Guitar, Rising Star–Jazz Artist, Rising Star–Jazz Group and Rising Star–Composer.
• p 46 : Jane Ira Bloom
  Chasing a Mercurial Sound
  By James Hale
  Veteran soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom impressed critics and won new fans with her 2016 album Early Americans .
• p 50 : Noah Preminger
  Distinctive Character
  By Ken Micallef
  Tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger released an instrumental album of protest music, Meditations On Freedom , in early 2017, and he released Some Other Time on vinyl LP for the Newvelle label last year.
• p 51 : Kris Davis
  Rising Star–Piano
  By Bradley Bambarger
• p 52 : Becca Stevens
  Rising Star–Female Vocalist
  By Allen Morrison
• p 53 : Jen Shyu
  Rising Star–Female Vocalist
  By Ken Micallef
• p 54 : Complete Critics Poll Results
  • Blues Album
    — 1. David Bromberg Band, The Blues, The Whole Blues And Nothing But The Blues (Red House)

    
    — 2. Otis Taylor, Fantasizing About Being Black (Trance Blues Festival)

    
    — 3. Bobby Rush, Porcupine Meat (Rounder)

    
    — 4. Gary Clark Jr., Live North America 2016 (Warner Bros.)

    
    — 5. The Rolling Stones, Blue & Lonesome (Interscope)

    
    — 6. Keb’ Mo’, Live : That Hot Pink Blues Album (Kind Of Blue)

    
    — 7. Robert Cray, Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm (Jay-Vee)

    
    — 8. Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters, Maxwell Street (Stony Plain

    
    — 9. Fantastic Negrito, The Last Days of Oakland (Naive)

    
    — 10. Delbert McClinton & Self-Made Men, Prick Of The Litter (Hot Shot)

DEPARTMENTS

• p 8 : First Take
• p 10 : Chords & Discords
• p 13 : The Beat
  – Reedist Mike McGinnis discusses his trio album "Recurring Dreams"
  – Bassist Bryan Copeland talks Bryan and the Aardvarks
  – Saxophonist Nick Mazzarella talks about his new album with Meridian Trio
• p 67 : Reviews
• p 84 : Master Class : Closing the Book, Opening the Ears
  By Jared Sims
• p 86 : Pro Session : Listen To Learn the Jazz Language
  By Jarrard Harris
• p 88 : Transcription : Howard Levy’s Harmonica Solo on ’Seresta’
• p 90 : Toolshed
• p 94 : Jazz On Campus
• p 98 : Blindfold Test : Matthew Garrison
  Bassist Matthew Garrison was tested on the following tracks for the Blindfold Test :
  – Marcus Miller : “Blast !” from Marcus (Concord)
  – Avishai Cohen : “Smash” from Continuo (Razdaz/Sunnyside)
  – Percy Heath : “A Love Song” from A Love Song (Daddy Jazz)
  – Ben Williams : “Little Susie ” from State Of Art (Concord)
  – Charnett Moffett : “Universal Beat and Scrambled Eggs” from Still Life (Evidence)
  – Cecil McBee Band : “Catfish” from Unspoken (Palmetto)