ON THE COVER

69th ANNUAL CRITICS POLL

• p 18 : Carla Bley
  Enters the Hall of Fame
  By Suzanne Lorge
  Carla Bley’s extraordinary career was a longshot, but it happened. What were the chances in the 1950s that a teenaged girl from Oakland, California, would land smack in the middle of New York’s vibrant jazz scene, much less emerge as one of its most lasting compositional voices ? Bley, who turned 85 this year, enters the DownBeat Hall of Fame after more than six decades of writing, recording and performing important music with the biggest stars in jazz.

FEATURES

• p 24 : Booker Little
  Hall of Fame
  By John McDonough
  The Veterans Committee voted in trumpeter Booker Little in this year’s poll.
• p 25 : Yusef Lateef
  Hall of Fame
  By Howard Mandel
  The Veterans Committee voted in the great Yusef Lateef in this year’s poll.
• p 26 : Chick Corea
  Artist of the Year
  By Gary Fukushima
  The critics bid a fond farewell to the legendary Chick Corea, naming him Artist, Pianist and Keyboardist of the year
• p 28 : Maria Schneider
  Album of the Year
  By Phillip Lutz
  Schneider’s Data Lords was the runaway favorite for Album of the Year. Schneider also garnered accolades for Big Band, Composer and Arranger of the year.
• p 32 : Michael Dease
  Trombonist of the Year
  By Phil Freeman
  Dease wins his first Critics Poll honor for Trombonist of the Year !
• p 34 : The Rising Stars
  Gerald Clayton, Angel Bat Dawit, Nubya Garcia, Immanuel Wilkins and more !
  By Stephanie Jones
• p 36 : Complete Critics Pol
  • Jazz Album of the Year
    — 1. Maria Schneider, Data Lords (Artist Share)
    — 2. John Beasley, MONK’estra Plays John Beasley (Mack Avenue)

    
    — 3. Charles Lloyd & The Marvels, Tone Poem (Blue Note)

    
    — 4. Fred Hersch, Songs From Home (Palmetto)

    
    — 5. Chick Corea, Plays (Concord)

    
    — 6. Artemis, Artemis (Blue Note)
    — 7. Keith Jarrett, Budapest Concert (ECM)

    
    — 8. Eric Revis, Slipknots Through A Looking Glass (Pyroclastic)

    
    — 9. Thumbscrew, The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform)
    — 10. Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry, Garden Of Expression (ECM)
  • Historical Albums
    — 1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (Impulse !)
    — 2. Sonny Rollins, Rollins In Holland (Resonance)
    — 3. Paul Desmond, The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings (Mosaic)
    — 4. Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus @ Bremen (Sunnyside)
    — 5. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Just Coolin’ (Blue Note)
    — 6. Bill Evans, Live At Ronnie Scott’s (Resonance)
    — 7. Nat King Cole, Straighten Up And Fly Right, The Best Of Hittin’ The Ramp : The Early Years (1936–1943) (Resonance)
    — 8. Ella Fitzgerald, Ella : The Lost Berlin Tapes (Verve)
    — 9. John Coltrane, Giant Steps (60th Anniversary Edition) (Atlantic/Rhino)
    — 10. Horace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Ancestral Echoes–The Covina Sessions (Dark Tree)
  • Blues Album
    — 1. Shemekia Copeland, Uncivil War (Alligator)

    
    — 2. Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite, 100 Years Of Blues (Alligator)

    
    — 3. Maria Muldaur/Tuba Skinny, Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)

    
    — 4. Joe Bonamassa, Royal Tea (J&R Adventures)

    
    — 5. Fantastic Negrito, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet ? (Cooking Vinyl)

    
    — 6. Ruthie Foster Big Band, Live At The Paramount (Blue Corn)

    
    — 7. Bobby Rush, Rawer Than Raw (Deep Rush)

    
    — 8. John Mayall & Friends, Along For The Ride (Ear Music)

    
    — 9. Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, Rise Up (Stony Plain)
    — 10. Dion, Blues With Friends (Keeping The Blues Alive)

DEPARTMENTS

• p 8 : First Take
• p 10 : Chords & Discords
• p 13 : The Beat
  • p 13 : Ches Smith Vodou
  • p 14 : Samara Joy
  • p 15 : Kari Ikonen
  • p 16 : Mario Pavone, Rest in Peace
  • p 17 : Doug Carn
  • p 17 : Riffs
• p 49 : Reviews
• p 58 : Master Class : Drumming Approaches to Big Band vs. Small Group
  By Jeff Hamilton
• p 60 : Transcription : Marty Ehrlich’s Bass Clarinet Solo on ’Dance No. 5’
  By Jimi Durso
• p 62 : Toolshed
• p 65 : Jazz on Campus
• p 66 : Blindfold Test : Brian Bromberg
  Bassist Brian Bromberg takes the test with insight and awe ! Here are the tracks he checked out !
  – The Brecker Brothers : “"Slang"” from Out Of The Loop (GRP)
  – John Scofield : “"Radio"” from Swallow Tales (ECM)
  – Chris Potter Circuit Trio : “"Serpentine"” from Sunrise Reprise (Edition)
  – Super Bass : “"Mack The Knife"” from SuperBass (Telarc)
  – Weather Report : “"Punk Jazz"” from Mr. Gone (Columbia)
  – Thundercat : “"Inferno"” from Drunk (Brainfeeder)
  – Marc Johnson : “"For A Thousand Years"” from The Sound Of Summer Running (Verve)
  – Marcus Miller : “"Keep ’em Runnin’"” from Laid Back (Blue Note)