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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Jazz Selections for 2010

My selections for 2010 appear below but in no particular order. There are a couple of other releases from 2010 that I purchased and downloaded. I continue to play those releases in the car occasionally and have not yet made a definite decision about them. I admit that there were many other recordings released last year. Unless someone were to send me recordings for review, I am limited to what my budget allows. I usually purchase new releases based on my familiarity with the artist or on what I read about the music in reviews or online forums and on what I sample afterwards in an online video. Ketil Bjornstad is someone whose music I only discovered in 2010 when I read a favorable review at Jazz Breakfast . The forums devoted to new music at AllAboutJazz spoke highly of Nat Birchal's music--both Guiding Spirit and Akhenaten, his earlier release on Matthew Halsall's label. It surprises me that Zbigniew Namyslowski's newest release hasn't gotten much attention in either the US or the UK. I currently have Anat Fort's music in my alarm clock and find a great deal of pleasure in her newest release as I wake up to it. It is possible to deduce from these selections that jazz is truly international in its creation and its appeal.