Coda poll, Jan 2004

Nate Dorward · December-30th-2003, 02:48 PM

Just got the Jan/Feb 2004 issue of Coda with the year-end top-tens. The editor, Stuart Broomer, doesn't tabulate the contributors' choices but simply gives them in full, & then puts a few images on the cover & sprinkled inside of the discs that cropped up most frequently (not strictly according to a mathematical formula, though). Here's what made the cover:

Andrew Hill, Passing Ships
Jane Ira Bloom, Chasing Paint
Albert Ayler, The Copenhagen Tapes
Marty Ehrlich, Line on Love
Miles Davis, In Person at the Blackhawk
Dave Holland, Extended Play
Jason Moran, The Bandwagon
Horace Silver, Paris Blues
Jean Derome/Louis Sclavis, Un moment de bonheur
Jim Hall, Live!

Inside:

Keith Rowe/John Tilbury, Duos for Doris
Grachan Moncur III, Mosaic Select

There's 40 lists in there. I'll type in a couple.

ART LANGE, Chicago Illinois

Jimmy Archey & Don Ewell, The Emporium of Jazz '67, GHB (2 CDs)
Anthony Braxton, Trioe & Duet, Sackville
Andrew Hill, Passing Ships, Blue Note
Grachan Moncur III, Mosaic Select (3 CDs)
Music from the Once Festival 1961-66, New World (3 CDs)
Evan Parker/Paul Lytton, At the Unity Theatre, Psi
Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartets 1-13, Chandos (4 CDs)
Martial Solal, NY-1: Live at the Village Vanguard, Blue Note
Stan Tracey, Little Klunk/Showcase, Jasmine
Bruce Turner Jump Band, Jumpin' for Joy, Lake

BEN WATSON, Somers Town, London, England

Limescale, Incus
Hiss, Zahir, Rossbin
Mat Maneri Ensemble, Going to Church, AUM Fidelity
Lunge, Strong Language, Emanem
Yusef Lateef, A Tribute Concert for Yusef Lateef, YAL
Eugene Chadbourne, New New New War War War, Chadbourne
FAB (Fonda-Altschul-Bang), Transforming the Space, CIMP
Phil Minton/GUnter Christmann, "(for) friends and neighbo(u)rs", Concepts of Doing
Roland Ramanan, Shaken, Emanem
Lol Coxhill/Veryan Weston, Worms Organising Archduke, Emanem

al j · December-30th-2003, 04:01 PM

I can't even remember what I submitted. And I bet my picks have changed by more than 50% since then.

Nate Dorward · December-30th-2003, 05:18 PM

It was

Christof Kurzmann, Air Between, Charhizma
Keith Rowe/John Tilbury, Duos for Doris, Erstwhile
Jason Bivins/Ian Davis, Benthic, Family Vineyard
Ernesto Rodrigues/Guilherme Rodrigues/Manuel Mota/Jose Oliviera, Assemblage, Creative Sources
Daniele D'Agaro/Ernst Glerum/Han Bennink, Strandjutters, Hatology
The Sealed Knot, Surface/Plane, Meniscus
Mats Gustafsson, Trees and Truths, Olof Bright
Tim Berne, The Sublime And, Thirsty Ear
9!, None(-t), Matchless
Unsolicited Music Ensemble, Bulbs, Slam

Jason Bivins · December-30th-2003, 07:04 PM

I can think of one crappy duo you can purge from that list, Christmas.

al j · December-30th-2003, 07:33 PM

Yeah, that Rowe/Tilbury thing sucks ass after a time.

jazzfiend · December-31st-2003, 03:09 PM

Oh yeah, I'll drink to that! (among other things)

Bill Barton · January-4th-2004, 02:43 AM

Hi Nate,

My copy hasn't arrived yet... Say, did my Vinny Golia feature make it into this issue?

Nate Dorward · January-4th-2004, 11:49 AM

Yep, it's in there! Can't seem to find my copy of the issue right now or I'd type in the info on the contents.

walto · January-4th-2004, 03:09 PM

What the hell are Shostakovich quartets doing on a jazz/improv list? Does he get special treatment because Rowe likes him?

Bill Barton · January-5th-2004, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by walto
What the hell are Shostakovich quartets doing on a jazz/improv list? Does he get special treatment because Rowe likes him?

As I recall from Stuart Broomer's original e-mail back in October of last year, there's no stipulation that contributors stick to any particular "genre," or even to "new" releases. So, I'd say calling it a "jazz/improv" list may be a misnomer.

Sergio Zamora · January-6th-2004, 12:46 AM

Wow, Joe X - you dug that Kurzmann that much?

I mean, I like it and all, but...

walto · January-6th-2004, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill Barton
As I recall from Stuart Broomer's original e-mail back in October of last year, there's no stipulation that contributors stick to any particular "genre," or even to "new" releases. So, I'd say calling it a "jazz/improv" list may be a misnomer.

That's interesting. What ARE the instructions?

al j · January-6th-2004, 04:42 PM

Sergio, you're not the first to be puzzled by the Kurzmann choice, but yeah, I really liked it. Though it's not in the amended list I've yet to post on Bagatellen, so for whatever reason it hasn't held up as well over the past few months. However, I was really moved by it for a number of reasons (different for me because I tend to gravitate in that area of music toward stuff that tends to be not so up-front), enough to have given it a pretty rave review, which also doesn't seem to hold up after rereading it.

walto · January-6th-2004, 04:54 PM

Al, I sent you a P.M. re tomorrow.

Bill Barton · January-6th-2004, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by walto
That's interesting. What ARE the instructions?

Well, Walter, I can't recall the exact wording and the e-mail has long since been deleted, but it was along the lines of "those recordings that have had particular impact on you during 2003," with no limitations on style, relative newness, etc. Maybe Nate can help us out here...

Nathaniel Catchpole · January-7th-2004, 08:02 PM

woohoo!

(where the hell is Erik anyway?)

Nate Dorward · January-7th-2004, 11:01 PM

Here's the usual paragraph Stuart sends each year to contributors (& a version of which is printed at the start of the top tens when they appear in print):

Quote:

Coda's Top Tens invite contributors to name the ten CDs they've most enjoyed in the past year. The emphasis is on "enjoyed" and the year is open to individual interpretation. Some writers opt for alphabetical order to avoid the impression of ranking. Others don't, either implying a hierarchy or opting for the random. No rules are applied as to release dates or genres. Writers are free to balance new recordings and reissues, or even pick older releases that continue to hold their attention. The results aren't tabulated, and artists named don't get a statuette in the mail. Instead it's a chance for readers to discover what prods and illuminates our contributors' listening, a chance for writers to highlight that elusive masterpiece that escaped review, and a opportunity for all of us to see what we might have missed. Any CD that turns up is apt to be of genuine interest; any that turns up repeatedly extraordinarily good.

walto · January-8th-2004, 06:40 AM

Thanks, Nate. Very latitudinarian, that. Some guy who gets knocked out by discovering, I don't know, Harnoncourt Bach cantata (or Allen Sherman) LPs during some year could produce a pretty peculiar (and probably useless) list.

But, of course, it's Stuart's mag!

Nate Dorward · January-8th-2004, 10:18 AM

Yes, I suppose it's open to such idiosyncracies--I note, looking at the lists, a few things which aren't recent releases or even recent reissues (e.g. Duke Ellington's Far East Suite)--but in practice the reviewers stick to discs from late 2002 to late 2003 (note that the submission date is Oct.20th). I much prefer Stuart's faith in his writers' judgment of what belongs on the list to the very restrictive system at Cadence, which left half the discs on my shortlist inadmissible.

I think the only things I'd change on my list now is (1) subbing Lane's Fou(r) Being(s) for Journey; (2) putting in Bite the Gnatze, Wilde dans in een afgelegen berghut on Trytone in there (though it'd be painful to decide which disc to remove in return. I hadn't heard either disc at the time of submission.

Bill Barton · January-8th-2004, 10:43 PM

"latitudinarian" indeed! Hey, nice word Walter!

If I had it to do over again, I'd probably submit Scrapbook X 10, but October was pretty damned early in the year for final *judgments*.

Bill Barton · January-14th-2004, 09:45 PM

The mag finally arrived out here in the hinterlands...

It's really interesting how divergent these lists are. Definitely not a lot of consensus. And way too many discs to add to the "should hear" and "must hear" lists.

Nate Dorward · January-15th-2004, 03:11 AM

Yes, the results are very different from the 2002 poll, where there was a large amount of overlap. Of the discs I listed, for instance, only 2 out of 10 received any votes from other contributors at all.

mke · January-15th-2004, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nate Dorward
Yes, the results are very different from the 2002 poll, where there was a large amount of overlap. Of the discs I listed, for instance, only 2 out of 10 received any votes from other contributors at all.

Is this kind of fragmentation a good, bad or neutral thing? While it's good to know that there are lots of good albums, it's a bit depressing to find oneself almost alone in one's listening experience.

Nate Dorward · January-15th-2004, 10:31 AM

I think the only thing depressing about it is thinking that the reason many of the small-label discs didn't make bigger showings is because they can't afford to flood the market with review copies & promote them heavily, & aren't going to be found in every record store with a jazz section. I haven't as it happens heard Extended Play or Alegria or The Bandwagon--reports on the first have been very good, on the last two have been mixed--but matters of quality don't entirely explain why they turn up so regularly on the top-ten lists: it's because they get heard very widely among the pool of reviewers. Whereas far fewer of the other 39 contributors will have even heard some of the things I listed.

I don't know, I've usually resisted feeling that I have to run out & purchase the discs everyone else is listening to. I'm not even quite sure how to make use of the lists here. For instance, of the 3 discs on John Chacona's list I've heard (Ted Nash, Matt Wilson, The Meeting), I thought the Wilson was OK & the other two good enough, but have already gotten rid of them. & I really like Chacona's criticism, so it's not that I think he doesn't know his stuff. Of Al's list, I've actually heard 7 (!), of which one I didn't like much, 6 I liked to varying degrees but only two of which (Duos for Doris & Bulbs) I carry much of a torch for. & so it goes. I find the lists actually more interesting read as portraits of the critics than as potential purchase guides. (e.g. that Art Lange one is really nice....but I'm a little startled to see he actually likes latterday Martial Solal: de gustibus....).

walto · January-16th-2004, 10:09 AM

I was wondering if anybody would mind posting a few more of the Coda lists. I'd sure appreciate it. As always, I'm looking for somebody who hears the world anything like I do!

Jon Abbey · January-16th-2004, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by walto
As always, I'm looking for somebody who hears the world anything like I do!

that's part of it, but to really overlap, getting promos from the same places are pretty key also, it seems like. I don't think too many critics go out and buy that many CDs on their own (not a critique, just a comment).

Nate Dorward · January-16th-2004, 10:49 AM

Here's a few more lists.

DUCK BAKER
El Sobrante, California

Miriam Alter, If (Justin Time)
Toshiko Akiyoshi, Hiroshima: Rising from the Abyss (True Life Jazz)
Jane Ira Bloom, Chasing Paint (Arabesque)
Anthony Braxton, Four Compositions (GTM) 2000 (Delmark)
Charles Davis, Blue Gardenia (Reade Street)
Miles Davis, In Person at the Blackhawk Complete (Columbia Legacy, 4 CDs)
Allen Eager, In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee (Uptown)
Jim Hall, Live! (Horizon A&M)
Carmell Jones (Mosaic Select)
Horace Silver, Paris Blues (Pablo)

STUART BROOMER
Toronto, Ontario

Albert Ayler, Copenhagen Tapes (Ayler Records)
Conrad Bauer/Peter Kowald/Gunter Sommer, Between Heaven and Earth (Intakt)
Satoko Fujii Orchestra East, Before the Dawn (Natsat)
Frode Gjerstad Trio with Peter Brotzmann, Sharp Knives Cut Deeper (Splasc(h))
Barry Guy/Evan Parker, Studio/Live (Intakt, 2 CDs) [this is a error for Birds and Blades I guess]
Andrew Hill, Passing Ships (Blue Note)
Grachan Moncur III (Mosaic Select, 3 CDs)
Keith Rowe/John Tilbury, Duos for Doris (Erstwhile, 2 CDs)
Veryan Weston, Tesselation (Emanem)
Kenny Wheeler, Dream Sequence (Psi)

GREG BUIUM
Toronto, Ontario

Brokeback, Looks at the Bird (Thrill Jockey)
John Butcher/Miya Misaoka/Gino Robair, Guerilla Mosaics (482 Music)
Phil Dwyer/Seamus Blake/Mike Murley, et al, Sax Summit (CBC)
Marty Ehrlich, Line on Love (Palmetto)
Erik Friedlander, Quake (Cryptogramophone)
Mat Maneri Trio, For Consequence (Leo)
Michael Moore/Peggy Lee/Dylan van der Schyff, Floating 1...2...3 (Spool)
Max Nagl/Steven Bernstein/Noel Akchote/Bradley Jones, Big Four (Hatology)
Eivind Opsvik, Overseas (Fresh Sound)
Bred Shepik Trio, Drip (Knitting Factory)

JAMES HALE
Ottawa, Ontario

Actis Band, Garibaldi (Leo)
Jane Ira Bloom, Chasing Paint (Arabesque)
Miles Davis, Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (Columbia/Legacy, 5 Cds)
Marty Ehrlich, Line on Love (Palmetto)
Jerry Granelli, V16 Project (Songlines)
Jim Hall, Live! (Verve)
Dave Holland, Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM)
Jason Moran, Bandwagon, Blue Note
Ted Nash, Still Evolved, Palmetto
Wayne Shorter, Alegria, Verve

al j · January-16th-2004, 10:51 AM

walt, give up. I'll try and post some of those lists when I get home today.

for the sake of disclosure, I paid hard-earned cash for five discs on both the Coda and Bag lists.

walto · January-16th-2004, 10:56 AM

Thanks, folks. There used to be a guy, from Australia, I think, who compiled just about every best of list in the world and also put on his website how many discs appeared on 10 lists, 9 lists, etc. That was cool--however unscientific.

Jon Abbey · January-16th-2004, 11:27 AM

Al, I was going to actually say you were an exception, but I didn't want to start listing people. I do think in general it's something that needs to be considered when talking about the "lack of consensus" (which is a pretty silly topic to me, but if you're going to talk about it...)