Take Five: My miss was on your list
You can't hear everything, so I'm thankful for others' 'best of' lists where I can learn about what I missed. Here are five albums that eluded me until others clued me in.
“Take Five” is posted each Friday, and offers five things I spent some time with over the course of the previous week. No criticism, no in-depth analysis, just a few things I think you might be interested in checking out. When the spirit moves me, I’ll post other things at other times.
As I mentioned when I published my list of favorite albums from 2024, my full embrace of streaming resulted in “a year when I probably listened to more unique artists, but rarely stuck with anything long enough for it to really connect.” Despite listening to more than ever, I missed plenty. That’s why I love to scroll through others’ “best of” lists at year’s end. I of course love to have my tastes validated by seeing my favorites on those lists, but even better is to see something that escaped my notice, check it out, and discover another favorite.
This week’s five items are five albums discovered through this process that stuck with me. I also link to the list that led me to that album, and encourage you to check them out as well.
In case you missed my list:
1. Nala Sinephro — Endlessness
Sinephro, a London performer by way of Belgium, appears to be at the forefront of a movement to pair ambient and jazz. There is a lot of that sort of music of late, and while it joins two genres that appeal to me, it often leaves me cold, losing the mind-altering drift of ambient and the brassy verve of jazz. But Sinephro does it well on Endlessness, marrying the repetitive pulses of ambient with the unpredictable instrumental excursions of jazz. The blend of strings, synths and organic instruments is appealing. It can slip into the background if your attention wanders, but the horns -- including breakout star Nubya Garcia's saxophone -- consistently pull the ear back into the mix.
From Phil Freeman's "Best Jazz Albums of 2024" in his "Ugly Beauty" column at Stereogum.
2. Alan Braufman — Infinite Love, Infinite Tears
The presence of a favorite sideman (or woman) or two on a record is usually enough to pique my interest about a previously unknown session leader. Such is the case with Braufman. Seeing Patricia Brennan, James Brandon Lewis, and Chad Taylor on vibes, tenor saxophone, and drums, respectively, guaranteed I would check out Infinite Love, Infinite Tears. Braufman was new to me, though he has performed with several people I follow from the NYC loft scene. Credit his scant discography. Braufman, now 73, leads the band with this alto sax driving these free (but not too free) tunes. It's a bracing collection of tunes, with the younger players standing toe to toe with the leader.
From Ana Gavrilovska's "My Favorite jazz albums of 2024!" post on her "Sick Sad Motherslug" Substack
3. Micah Thomas — Mountains
I became a fan of Thomas's piano playing on records by Immanuel Wilkins and Zoh Amba before I heard his work under his own name with 2020's Tide. For whatever reason, Thomas has remained under the radar — or at least, given the 4½-star review in Downbeat for this new album, eluded mine — so I wasn't aware that had a record out in 2024 until I saw Mountains in a wrap-up on Jazz Times (welcome back!). After releasing two trio LPs and one solo album, Thomas here is joined by six other performers — including four horns — for an ambitious suite of songs recorded live that likely would have made my list of favorite albums of the year had I heard it in 2024. It is expansively swinging and brassy on "Libre," intimate and contemplative on "Lament," and swings back and forth between those poles over the course of its 12 tracks and 70-minute runtime.
From JazzTimes’ “2024 Year in Review, Part 2: Ensemble Poetics.”
4. Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel — The Room
I will admit I didn't expect to spend long with The Room. The configuration of 7-string guitar and soprano sax seemed like it might be a bit precious for my taste, but I've dipped into a bit of Gendel's catalog over the past couple of years, and his relentless creativity has earned a listen. One song gave way to another and I found myself unwilling to flip to something else. It's the most straightforward I've heard Gendel, led down the bossa nova path by the acoustic guitar of Brazilian do Nascimento. It is a beautiful, lush album that belies the spartan instrumentation. do Nascimento guitar fills much of the space, while Gendel weaves around and through those densely plucked runs. The two mirror one another occasionally, only to head off in different directions that intersect in interesting ways.
From "Ann Powers' top 15 albums of 2024 from NPR
5. Somesurprises - Perseids
The one non-jazz album to catch my ear last week does share some sensibility with some of the records on this list. Perseids is a gauzy, atmospheric record that often bursts into swirling clouds of sound. References to Slowdive and Yo La Tengo hooked me, and while those are there, I hear more of a shoegaze cast to the songs. Led by songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and vocalist Natasha El-Sergany, the quartet is sometimes a guitar band that sounds like a keyboard band, other times a keyboard band that sounds like a guitar band. El-Sergany's voice floats atop the haze, and the rhythm section keeps everything from getting bogged down in the blissful mire. Despite their oft-languid pace, only two of the songs top the 5-minute mark,
From Aquarium Drunkard's "2024 Year in Review."