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Best Jazz Music '99
By Bob Blumenthal
In chronological order
1. Sphere, Regarrabar, Cambridge
2. Dave Douglas Quartet, Regattabar
3. Fully Celebrated Orchestra, Regattabar
4. Randy Weston, Sanders Theatre, Cambridge
5. Andrew Hill Sextet, Longy School of Music, Cambridge
6. John Zorn's Masada, Somerville Theatre
7. Avishai Cohen sextet, Regattabar
8. Roy Haynes/Danilo Perez/John Pattitucci, Scullers
9. ICP Orchestra, ICA Theatre
10. Chico O'Farrill, Jordan Hall
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he big picture, which the calendar invites us to confront every year at this season, will never loom larger in our lifetimes than it does in 1999, and the big picture for jazz can appear dispiriting indeed.
As both a recording and a performing medium, jazz faces many of the period's pervasive challenges - increasing corporate consolidation, the uncertain impact of evolving technologies, a homogenization of audience taste that leaves little commercial space for anything beyond certified blockbusters. With limited market share and minimal exposure, jazz's second century might present the bleakest of visions.
In the here-and-now of contemporary jazz performance, the signs have been far more positive. Any single year's output of new recorded music will sound inferior against the weight of the substantial (and constantly reissued) tradition, yet there was no shortage of viable candidates for the end-of-year lists. Live performance, a more accurate indicator than ''new'' releases often recorded two or three years ago, has been even more encouraging. Boston's scene provides a better view than most, and it has afforded an impressively high level of performance from both locally based and touring musicians. The accompanying list of favorite live sets might easily have been twice as long, with yet another for players who may have impressed us more the last time through (Brad Mehldau, Branford Marsalis, Sonny Rollins, and Willem Brueker among them) yet were hardly mailing it in.
The music made by two quartets featuring trumpeter Dave Douglas - his own band with saxophonist Chris Potter and John Zorn's Masada - was easily the year's best, and should have convinced anyone that recent awards and attention directed toward these fountainheads of New York's ''downtown'' scene are deserved. Masada's Somerville Theatre set, played without mikes after one by Don Byron that was notable for its distorted amplified sound, might also stand as a manifesto for truly acoustic music. Douglas and Zorn each wander to the borders of jazz and beyond, yet presented music in these instances that sustained a creative edge while delivering enough swing and soul for any traditionalist.
The club scene was spotty at times, which is inevitable with a music as diverse and accommodating as jazz. Blues, cabaret, and world music all impinge upon the space where we expect to find jazz. It happened with greater frequency in the jazz divisions of the major record labels, and jazz clubs could not expect to escape the trend. Yet clubs remained the most reliable place to find the best jazz.
It was a particularly strong year for the Regattabar, which had memorable stands by Tony Reedus, Patricia Barber, Larry Goldings, Stefon Harris/Jason Moran/Greg Osby, and Michael Brecker - as well as those who made the list; and for Water Music, which books the Regattabar and also produced its own honorable-mention concerts by Chucho Valdes at Sanders Theatre and John McLaughlin's Remembering Shakti at Berklee. The Regatta hosted the classiest act (Sphere), the best local group (the Fully Celebrated Orchestra), and the best club debut by a working band (bassist Avishai Cohen's sextet).
The best debuts on the concert stage were courtesy of the Boston Creative Music Alliance, which enjoyed its strongest season. The ICP Orchestra at the ICA, Andrew Hill's sextet at the Longy School, and Uri Caine's Mahler project at the Cambridge Multicultural Center were all memorable BCMA productions. Even without Lester Bowie, the Art Ensemble of Chicago (and Roscoe Mitchell in particular) gave an overwhelming performance at Berklee as part of the Globe Jazz Festival. There was no shortage of challenging sounds from each of these units, plus a wealth of melody and rhythm.
Two concerts where legendary figures presented their music with student ensembles also made the list of bests. These residencies are becoming increasingly important for jazz players (especially jazz composers), and Boston is particularly well situated for such visits. Chico O'Farrill, with help from his son Arturo at New England Conservatory, and Randy Weston, with the aid of trio mates Talib Kibwe and Neil Clarke at Harvard, reminded us how dedicated musicians - full-time or not - can make their art come alive.
