Top 5 From the Last 5

Ahoy!

When the Wonderfish and I first began the conversation of starting a blog we quickly settled on the idea of doing an Album of the Year post. We would consider only new studio albums that were released in 2017. We have spent a lot of time this year listening to some amazing new music and next week we will both reveal our picks for Album of the Year. However, as this is the first year we decided to track albums in this fashion I thought it’d be fun if we took a look at my top five albums that have come out in the past five years. I considered as much music as I could that came out between 2012-2016. Five years is A LOT of music so in the end I went with the albums that have shaped me as a musician. I have transcribed something off all five of these albums and despite the constant wave of new music, I return to these albums time and time again. I find something new on them every time I listen and I think you’ll dig them just as much as I do.

Number 5: Anderson .Paak- Malibu

This album is all about groove for me. I discovered it this past summer (summer 2017) and I had it on repeat for almost 2 months. I have spent the past several years deep in the study of jazz and almost always looked down on music that wasn’t extremely complex. This album changed all that. There is depth for sure, but there’s nothing I’d call complex. The deep pocket grooves, his lyrical flow and the production of this album are so high it hooked me. I learned most of the bass lines in minutes but the groove, making things REALLY groove, that still eludes me at times. I come back to this often when I’m noticing problems in my feel and phrasing.

Number 4: Tigran Hamasyan- Mockroot

Tigan is an AMAZING piano player. His music is heavily influenced by Eastern European folk traditions and has incredible rhythmic complexity. This complexity however never gets in the way of the beautiful sweeping melodies he writes. I’ve spent hours analyzing his music but I’ve also spent hours sitting down with headphones and letting the beauty flow into me. Along the jazz influence, tracks like “Lilac” have a classical feel in the style of Chopin and perhaps it’s here that we clearly see the beauty that Tigran is able to draw from the piano.

Number 3: Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band- Landmarks (full album unavailable on YouTube)
 

I truly can’t say enough about Brian Blade and his band of musicians. Their music has shaped me as a person let alone as a musician. They draw heavily on the American folk tradition and infuse jazz harmonies and rhythms. The result is breathtaking music. I had the chance to meet the whole band in 2011 after they performed at the Village Vanguard in NYC and it was one of those pivotal moments I look back on. Their 2014 release Landmarks was the first new release the band put out since I discovered them and it did not let down. I’ve transcribed bits and pieces of almost every track including the majority of “Ark.LA.Tex.” That transcription directly influenced several pieces of music I wrote including a big band chart I premiered last year.

Number 2: Donny McCaslin- Beyond Now (Full album unavailable on YouTube)
 

Donny McCaslin is the future of jazz. His influences run deep from jazz to electronic and this shines through brilliantly in his music. His band was the band that made up David Bowie’s Blackstar album and it’s easy to see why Bowie chose them. Not only are they stellar musicians but they are very forward thinking. They are pushing the limits of jazz and the sounds that are expected to be heard when you use the word “jazz.” When I spoke with Donny he explained how he had to find a new language to use on saxophone to fit the style and direction he was taking the music. As a result he and his band are rewriting that modern jazz vocabulary. This is one of the best modern jazz releases and I’m very much looking forward to going where Donny takes his music next.

Number 1: Between the Buried and Me- Coma Ecliptic

Full disclosure: I created the Top 5 From the Last 5 SOLELY so that I could put this album at the top of a list. This album is the album I compare ALL albums to. I can tell you exactly where I was when I first heard this album and since then it’s rare that a week goes by that I don’t listen to something from it. Coma has everything I’ve ever wanted from an album: crazy guitar riffs, time signatures that are constantly changing and not in 4/4, killer bass grooves, insane drumming, and vocals both clean and screamed that fit the context of the music. The members of the band have become some of my favorite musicians, specifically bassist Dan Briggs and I seek out many of the projects he’s been a part of (shout out to Trioscapes and Nova Collective). All this aside, it is impossible to convey how much I like this album and what it means to me. It is truly the perfect album and is absolutely one you do not want to miss out on.

There you have it, my Top 5 From the Last 5. Make sure to give them all several listens. I promise they’ll grow on you. Stay tuned as next week The Wonderfish and I will reveal our picks for Album of the Year 2017!

Until next time,

Heard