End Of year List: Part 4 (10-1)

General

The moment you've been waiting for, the final part of our 40 releases list.

PART FOUR: 10-1

10. Ellery Eskelin - TRIO NEW YORK
A warm and intimate date, featuring Gerald Cleaver and the organ of Gary Versace.

9. Andre Vida - BRUD VOLUMES I-III, 1995-2011
Pieces for solo sax, cello, woodwind sextet, electronic music, NY free jazz and much, much more.

8. Joe Hertenstein, Thomas Heberer, Pascal Niggenkemper & Joachim Badenhorst - POLYLEMMA
There guys are really fantastic! (Free Jazz Blog)

7. Satoko Fujii Min Yoh Ensemble - WATERSHED
A genre-bending classic in the making.

6. Tarfala Trio - SYZYGY
2LP + 7" of a concert recorded in Hasselt, Belgium. Fantastic!

5. Rob Mazurek - CALMA GENTE
Improvised industrial, ambiant and weirdness. Mazurek in a creative peak.

4. Agusti Fernandez - EL LABERINT DE LA MEMORIA
Based on classical Spanish piano music - between meditative calmth and abstract coloring.

3. Julius Hemphill - DOGON A.D.
Reissue of the year!

2. Peter Evans Quintet - GHOSTS
Jazz for the 21st century and beyond.

1. Darius Jones Trio - BIG GURL (SMELL MY DREAM)
Putting the soul back in free jazz. The preacher!

End Of Year List: Part 3 (20-11)

General

Here's the third part of our list that includes 40 memorable releases.

PART THREE: 20-11

20. Tony Malaby - NOVELA
Reworkings of older material, arrangements by Kris Davis. Marvellously rich album.

19. Jen Shyu & Mark Dresser - SYNASTRY
Remarkable offering. Not that you'd expect anything else from the Pi-label.

18. Joe McPhee & Michael Zerang - CREOLE GARDENS (A NEW ORLEANS SUITE)
What a duo, what a record.

17. Tyshawn Sorey - OBLIQUE - I
No longer a promising talent, but one of the unique performers and composers.

16. Kris Davis - AERIOL PIANO
There she is again, making quite an impression in 2011.

15. Deric Dickens - SPEED DATE
Diversity and fun. And totally DIY.

14. David S. Ware - ORGANICA (SOLO SAXOPHONES, VOL. 2)
As fierce and expansive as ever.

13. Daunik Lazro - SOME OTHER SONGS
"Rarely have I heard such a calm intensity." (Free Jazz Blog)

12. Albert Ayler - STOCKHOLM, BERLIN 1966
One from the vaults, featuring the legendary quintet with Donald Ayler & Beaver Harris.

11. Darren Johnston's Gone To Chicago - THE BIG LIFT
Some of Chicago's finest exceeding all expectations. Stunner!

End Of Year List: Part 2 (30-21)

General

As promised, another ten releases worth checking out.

PART TWO: 30-21

30. Red Trio + John Butcher - EMPIRE
International collaboration feat. some of Portugal's promising talents and the great British improv icon

29. Reed Trio - LAST TRAIN TO THE FIRST STATION
Vandermark, Trzaska, Zimpel: emphatic clarinet experts

28. Hakon Kornstad, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten & Jon Christensen - MITT HJERTE ALTID VANKER
Sequel to the wonderful "Elise", with equally overwhelming results.

27. Peter Evans & Nate Wooley - HIGH SOCIETY
It's trumpet music, Jim, but not as we know it.

26. SOLDIER OF THE ROAD - A Portrait Of Peter Brötzmann
Wonderful DVD, offering some interesting insights into the aesthetics of the legendary reed player.

25. Farmers By Nature - OUT OF THIS WORLD'S DISTORTIONS
Second album by the Cleaver-Taborn-Parker trio. Exploratory & expansive.

24. Paul Van Gysegem Sextet - AORTA
So much more than a minor footnote in European improv. A Belgian/Dutch cult classic, now reissued!

23. Darren Johnston, Aram Shelton, Lisa Mezzacappa & Kjell Nordeson - CYLINDER
Formidable quartet building on the foundations of Ornette Coleman

22. Resonance Ensemble - KAFKA IN FLIGHT
Superb international ensemble, led by Ken Vandermark and featuring some of Europe's finest.

21. Gerry Hemingway Quintet - RIPTIDE
Label Clean Feed sums it up well: a must-have CD to any collector of today's creative music