2024 Music Roundup
Life continues not to be a mistake, in no small part thanks to music. Here is a roundup of music released mostly in the last two years that I enjoyed.
Jazz
I don’t follow the state of jazz anywhere near enough to compile a meaningful list of the best jazz of the year, so these are just recent releases I dig. For more varied selections, check out Nate Chinen at the Gig, Hank Shteamer in the NY Times, and Chinen again at NPR.
Brad Mehldau has to be one of the most eclectic and productive living jazz musicians. I’ve followed Mehldau since the early 2000s. I have not loved everything he’s released but he always tries new things and it’s never mediocre or boring.
After Bach II
Après Fauré
I would like to like his Beatles album, Your Mother Should Know, but these are mostly songs I do not know (not being a Beatles connoisseur), so the covers don’t resonate with me. I should give it another try and listen to the originals on the side. The album includes a Bowie cover too! His previous Beatles covers (“Blackbird”, “Dear Prudence”, “Mother Nature’s son”, “Martha my dear”, “She’s leaving home”) are all marvelous.
Chris Potter, Got the Keys to the Kingdom: Live at the Village Vanguard
Potter is my favorite living jazz saxophonist; I saw him perform with Lowcountry at the Spoleto Festival last spring and at a masterclass at a local jazz academy the next day. Incredible. Like Mehldau, he is not only an awesome musician but ridiculously productive.
This is a recording of the band (Potter + Craig Taborn on piano, Scott Colley on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums) playing at the Vanguard in 2022. I saw them there, though not that particular night, and it was that good.
Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Eagle’s Point
Gather some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, who all know each other really well, and well, you get superb music.
MTB (Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Peter Bernstein), Solid Jackson (ft. Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart)
Back together again! Turner, especially post-2008 injury Turner, can be acquired taste, but he’s obviously interesting.
The original MTB, Consenting Adults (recorded in 1994(!), released in 2000), was an old favorite of mine. Cole Porter’s “'From this moment on” is awesome.
Some excellent New York swing:
Joe Farnsworth, In What Direction Are You Headed?
Bill Charlap Trio, And Then Again (Live)
Trio Grande (Will Vinson, alto, Gilad Hekselman, guitar, Nate Wood, drums, bass, keyboard), Urban Myth
Their first, eponymous album, with Antonio Sánchez instead of Nate Wood, was a blast. Sánchez, of the movie Birdman fame, is excellent, but Nate Wood makes this new release even quirkier. Check out Wood’s YouTube channel. This isn’t gimmicky, this may just be out-of-this-worldly genius. Though recall, the world is weird and wonderful.
Check out Gilad Hekselman’s Live at the Village Vanguard
Kurt Rosenwinkel, my favorite jazz guitarist, whom I was lucky to see twice in Paris, is also very productive. The latest live album is top-notch, non-experimental Rosenwinkel. His early albums engendered an enthralled fanbase, which I joined in 2009, and we are now blessed with the release of a 1996 gig at Smalls, which is, incidentally, the first NYC jazz club I ever went to, in 2007 (guitarist Mike Moreno was blossoming then). I’m also including his album with singer Geri Allen. Less my cup of tea but nonetheless charming.
The Next Step Band (Live at Smalls, 1996)
with Geri Allen, A Lovesome Thing
Undercover (Live at the Village Vanguard)
Joshua Redman, Where We Are
Mehldau, Potter, and Rosenwinkel are some of the most influential living jazz musicians for a reason: they are instantly recognizable and yet always innovating. Redman is no exception. I have a preference for the rough-edges Coltrane-Potter pipeline over the smoother Rollins-Redman (this is an overly crude simplification). Still, you can’t go wrong with him.
McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’
I have not listened to that one yet but it must be great
From Blue Note: “Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’ is a never-before-issued live recording of jazz legends McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson leading a stellar quartet with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack DeJohnette at the hallowed lost NYC jazz shrine, Slugs' Saloon, in 1966. Originally recorded by the legendary engineer Orville O’Brien … the tape has been in DeJohnette’s personal archives for nearly 60 years and is now being released for the very first time.
Lowcountry, Lowcountry (ft. Matt White, Ronald Daise, Chris Potter, Charleston Symphony Orchestra)
This is, more or less, the record for what I saw at the Spoleto Festival, though you have to see it live.
Tessa Lark, The Stradgrass Sessions
a very interesting violinist; features jazz, Americana, and classical
Classical
Make of that what you will, but a few of my picks were also in the selection of the New York Times. I will add the rest of their list to my library. Also check out Tyler Cowen’s classical music listening of the year. I am not 100% sure he is correct, but Cowen writes “The best recordings of classical music — ever — are being created now.” I don’t know if people realize how lucky they are to live in a world in which they can so easily access so much wonderful music.
Chamber music
Beethoven for Three (Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax) is a lovely, perfectly executed, and fun project. Piano reductions of symphonies (e.g. by Liszt) are interesting, and, of course, enabled wider access to musical works before the age of recorded music, but they remain far removed from the actual thing. Somehow there is less of a gap between an energetic trio and a symphony orchestra than there is between solo piano and trio. There are three albums (I hope there are more to come, but I am not sure):
Symphonies No. 2 and 5
Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale” and Op. 1 No. 3
Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97 “Archduke”
Doric String Quartet, Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 1-2
These two volumes include Opp. 18 (No. 1, 2, 5, 6), 59 “Razumovsky” (No. 1, 2), 95 “Serioso”, 127, 130, and 133.
Their recordings of Haydn, Mozart, and Mendelssohn are very fine too.
Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Jeremy Denk, Mendelssohn Piano Trios
Trio Sōra
Brahms: Piano Trios Opp. 8 & 87
Brahms: Piano Trio Op. 101, Trio for Horn Op. 40, Wiegenlied Op. 49, No. 1
Akiko Suwanai, Evgeni Bozhanov, Brahms: The Sonatas for Piano and Violin
Orchestral works
Martin Fröst (dir. and clarinet), Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Mozart: Ecstasy and Abyss [Leipzig, 1789] (ft. Lucas Debargue, piano)
Mozart: Ecstasy and Abyss [Prague, 1791]
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
Interesting account interspersed with earlier choral work
Robert Levin (piano), Academy of Ancient Music, et al. Mozart: Piano Concertos
the complete set, in which Levin plays a historical pianoforte and does not shy away from improvisation, is original and overall remarkable
Paavo Järvi, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Mendelssohn: Symphonies
Still underrated, one of my favorite composers.
Semyon Bychkov, Czech Philharmonic, Central European music at its best:
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (ft. Christiane Karg, Elisabeth Kulman, Prague Philharmonic Choir)
Dvořák: Symphonies No. 7, 8, 9
Ben Kim, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The First Vienna Concertos (Piano Concertos No. 11-12-13)
Mozart started composing stellar piano concertos long before the most famous Vienna concertos (from No. 20 and on). No. 13 is one of my favorites.
Concert de la Loge, Julien Chauvin
Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni & La Follia
Legacy (ft. Christian-Pierre La Marca, cello)
Check out the rest of their catalog, especially the Haydn and Mozart
Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Ensemble Resonanz, Riccardo Minasi, Antonín Kraft, Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach: Cello Concertos
I didn’t know of Kraft, CPE Bach deserves to be recorded more.
Vilde Frang (violin), Robin Ticciati, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Elgar: Violin Concerto, Op. 61
Not as famous as his cello concerto or some of the major violin concertos (Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius)
I don’t know enough of and about Elgar; I sense he is probably underrated.
Anastasia Kobekina, Venice
Cello, around Venice, from Renaissance to contemporary.
L’Arpegiatta, Christina Pluhar, Wonder Women
The ensemble describes the project as “music by and about women.” “On the one hand, it is a homage to all the wonderful female composers of the 17th century, but also to all the talented female musicians of all times who too often had to hide their talent behind their husbands or give up their careers too early. On the other hand, Christina Pluhar also draws her inspiration from the traditional music of South America and Italy and looked for songs that tell stories about extraordinary, strong, courageous but also sad women.”
Solo works
Grigory Sokolov (piano), Purcell & Mozart (Live)
Raphaël Feuillâtre (guitar), Visages baroques
Bach, Rameau, Duphly
Janne Valkeajoki (accordion), Rameau
Théo Ould (accordion), Laterna Magica
Rameau, Bach, and contemporary works
the accordion is (unsurprisingly?) well-suited to baroque music
Constance Luzzati (harp), Enharmonique Rameau
Fazil Say (piano), Oiseaux Tristes. Couperin, Debussy, Ravel
Keith Jarrett (piano), Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach
Ismaël Margin (piano), Mozart: Fantasy
Marc-André Hamelin, Beethoven: Hammerklavier (Piano Sonatas Op. 106 & Op. 2 No. 3)
Yuja Wang (piano), The Vienna Recital
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano), Brahms - Reger: Song Transcriptions
Sontraud Speidel (piano)
Fanny Mendelssohn: Charakterstücke
Fanny Mendelssohn: Klaviermusik 1821-1846
Igor Levit (piano)
Fantasia
with Wiener Philharmoniker, Christian Thieleman, Brahms (Piano Concertos & Solo Piano Opp. 116-119)
Bach
There is enough for a dedicated section.
Two excellent recordings of the violin concertos:
Leonidas Kavakos, The Apollon Ensemble, Bach: Violin Concertos
Lina Tur Bonnet, Musica Alchemica, Himmelsburg: Bach - Violin Concertos
Piano
Francesco Tristano, Bach: The 6 Partitas
Rochelle Sennet, Bach to Black: Suites for Piano (Vol. I-II-III)
pairs Bach suites with works by Black composers
Organ and harpsichord
Emmeran Rolin (organ), Vibrance #2
Masaaki Susuki
Organ Works: Vol. 3-5
The Kunst der Fuge (harpsichord)
Check out Tyler Cowen’s conversation with Suzuki
Benjamin Alard, The Complete Works for Keyboard: Vol. 8-9
Jörg Halubek, Organ Landscapes
Christophe Rousset
Bach: The Complete Toccatas
Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge
Arrangements, transcriptions, and other
D!ssonanti (ensemble), Bach
Matthieu Delage (sax) et al., Bach
Plínio Fernandes (guitar), Bacheando
Bach and Brazilian music
Duo Tal and Groethuysen (piano), J.S. Bach: Transkriptionen
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano), Continuum - EP
Bach cantatas and chorales
Alexandre Tharaud (piano), Bach
uneven, not the best Tharaud I’ve heard, but contains some interesting transcriptions
Pop, folk, punk
Taylor Swift, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY
it is quite good; somehow we can’t get too much of Taylor Swift in the family
and of course, The Eras Tour (we saw her in Tampa early in April 2023)
Cat Power, Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
I was fortunate to see her and her band perform the album live in Charleston
Phoebe Bridgers (Punisher [2020]) / Boygenius (The Record and The Rest - EP)
my wife sometimes makes fun of me for liking her but I really do
Adrianne Lenker, Bright Future
I’ve barely listened to that one, but I liked her previous albums and her band Big Thief too.
NOFX
Their latest, Half Album - EP (2024), is (maybe?) the last bit of recent material left to release after Double Album (2022) and Single Album (2021). They’re all mixed bags but all include at least one really good song (“Darby crashing your party”, “Don’t count on me”, “The last drag”, “I love you more than you hate me”, “Linewleum”, “Doors and fours”). And it’s still much better punk rock than average. Consider this: they continued releasing new music as they prepared for retirement, after a forty-year uninterrupted career. They are, to me, the greatest punk rock band ever, though Bad Religion—whom I got to see in Charleston last spring!—comes close. I’m not interested in litigating this.
final tour; see the NY Times writeup; sadly, I couldn’t go to the show I had booked in Orlando in 2023, but I bought the video of their final shows in San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA
Regional Justice Center, Freedom, Sweet Freedom
recent discovery, incidentally relevant to my politics seminar—effective screaming hardcore with first-hand criminal justice system commentary
Personal
My five-year-old started violin at school. They are using the Suzuki method, so we’re listening to this a lot: Takako Nishizaki, Terrence Dennis, Suzuki Evergreens, Vol. 1.
Substacks you should read
Transitional Technology (Ethan Iverson)
jazz geekery, commentary, and more
A Year of Bach (Evan Goldfine)
Goldfine spent a year going through Bach’s catalog
jazz history and archives
Hyperdimensional (Dean W. Ball)
mostly about AI but will sometimes talk about Beethoven
In Memoriam
Lou Donaldson (b. 1926)
Ethan Iverson’s tribute
Benny Golson (b. 1929)
Iverson’s tribute
Françoise Hardy (b. 1944)
Roy Haynes (b. 1926)
Quincy Jones (b. 1933)
Iverson’s tribute
Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath (b. 1938)
Iverson’s tribute (I saw them play together at the Vanguard a while back, it was very sweet)
Seiji Ozawa (b. 1935)
Maurizio Pollini (b. 1942)
I saw him play Chopin at Carnegie Hall in 2010 (yes, I got to hear a lot of great music in New York); he already seemed long past his peak, but this was nonetheless a marvelous night. Pollini introduced me to Beethoven’s late sonatas with his incredible 1977 recording.
