Hello we’re back… and with the festive season now ended, we find ourselves in a brand new year and 2012 is all but a fading memory. It was a good year for us on the live front with our move to Floripa resulting in some excellent live sessions (culminating with our 2nd birthday back in December), and we were also very happy to see Jessica finally releasing her ‘Jessica Lauren Four’ album on Freestyle Records to much acclaim. Musically, it was another strong year in the jazz genre, with a plethora of albums, singles and EPs being released over the course of twelve months, with many of the major players also releasing on vinyl (always a good thing to see!). There were so many stand out tracks, it’s difficult to round it down to a definitive ‘Best Of’ so as has become customary on this site, below you’ll find a collection a number of those tracks released in 2012, culled from a selection devised by the minds of The Jazz Meet resident DJs and presented over two hour-long mixes. Within those two hours, you’ll mostly find some of our own personal favourites mixed with some of the tunes that were road-tested week in, week out by the DJs at our live event.
Part 1 is an assorted bag of jazz-fuelled styles, with newcomers like Jacaranda Muse, GoGo Penguin and Lund Quartet rubbing shoulders with more established acts like Nostalgia 77 and The Rongetz Foundation, and further great British jazz from ‘Stonephace’ Stabbins and Zoe Rahman. Samuel Yirga and Roberto Fonseca deliver sublime tracks via Ethiopia and Cuba, and there’s a swinging tribute to Mulatu Astake from French producer Patchworks which was released as a 7 inch single back in November. Finally we close the first set with a choice cut from one of our bands of the year, The Greg Foat Group, who dropped their sophomore album on the Jazzman Records imprint in late autumn.
Part 2 kicks off with more of the same, and features a beautifully mellow opening set from Matthew Halsall, The Shaolin Afronauts and The Neil Cowley Trio. The Vijay Iyer Trio supply an excellent Flying Lotus remake before The Sure Co. and Brad Mehldau Trio offer further piano lead goodness. There’s a particular new school British feel to this second selection with Allsop, Vosloo, Stanley, Giles, last year’s Mercury nominated Roller Trio, Phronesis, Portico Quintet and Nat Birchall all lending their own distinctive tones to the mix. And then of course there’s an opportunity to hear again a highlight from our very own Jessica Lauren, the atmospheric ‘White Mountain’ (played out loudly by Gilles Peterson to a full room at the Summer Dingwalls back in July) before a little Robert Glasper effortlessly closes proceedings.
This year, we’ve also listed a few albums that for one reason or another didn’t make the final cut. We still urge you to check them out though, if of course you haven’t copped them already!
We thank you for the support you gave us back in 2012 and wish you all a brilliant start to 2013. We hope you enjoy the music.
PART 1
Jacaranda Muse – Emergency Exit (taken from ‘September Muse’, released on Heavenly Sweetness)
The Rongetz Foundation – The Bolshoi Drunk Ghost (taken from ‘Brooklyn Butterfly Session‘, released on Heavenly Sweetness)
Nostalgia 77 and The Monster – Sunrise in Mexico (taken from ‘The Taxidermist’, released on Tru Thoughts)
Deep Jazz – No Doubt (taken from ‘The Meeting’, released on Perfect Toy)
‘Stonephace’ Stabbins feat Zoe Rahman – Soul Train (taken from ‘Transcendental’, released on Noetic Records)
Patchworks – Tribute to Mulatu (taken from ‘Patchwork Goers Jazz’ 45, released on Soultronik)
Menagerie – Jamahlia (taken from ‘They Shall Inherit’, released on Tru Thoughts)
Samuel Yirga – My Head (taken from ‘Guzo’, released on Real World Records)
Roberto Fonseca – Chabani (taken from ‘YO’, released on Jazz Village)
Zoe Rahman – Contusion (taken from ‘Kindred Spirits’, released on Manushi Records)
GoGo Penguins – Seven Sons Of Björn (taken from ‘Fanfares’, released on Gondwana Records)
Lund Quartet – Love’s Madness (taken from ‘Lund Quartet’, available on Bandcamp)
Greg Foat Group – Blues for Lila (taken from ‘Girl and Robot with Flowers’, released on Jazzman Records)
STREAM: http://www.mixcloud.com/thejazzmeet/podcast-85-a-2012-jazz-retrospective/
PART 2
Matthew Halsall – Fletcher Moss Park (taken from ‘Fletcher Moss Park’, released on Gondwana Records)
The Shaolin Afronauts – Saturn’s Dance (taken from ‘Quest Under Capricorn’, released on Freestyle Records)
Neil Cowley Trio – Siren’s Last Look Back (taken from ‘The Face Of Mount Molehill’, released on Naim Jazz)
Vijay Iyer Trio – Mmmhmm (taken from ‘Accelerando’, released on ACT Music)
The Sure Co. – Persephone (taken from ‘The Sure Co. 5ive’, released on Jazz Re:freshed)
Brad Mehldau Trio – 26 (taken from ‘Ode’, released on Nonesuch Records)
Allsop, Vosloo, Stanley, Giles – Syeeda’s Song Flute (taken from ‘Once In A While’, released on Impossible Ark)
Timo Lassy – Where’s The Man? (taken from ‘In With Lassy’, released on Schema Records)
Roller Trio – The Interrupters (taken from ‘Roller Trio’, released on F-IRE)
Phronesis – Suede Trees (taken from ‘Walking Dark’, released on Edition Records)
Portico Quartet – Spinner (taken from ‘Portico Quartet’, released on Real World Records)
Nat Birchall – Return to Ithara (taken from ‘World Without Form’, released on Sound Soul And Spirit)
Jessica Lauren Four – White Mountain (taken from ‘Jessica Lauren Four’, released on Freestyle Records)
Robert Glasper – Move (taken from ‘Black Radio’, released on Blue Note Records)
STREAM: http://www.mixcloud.com/thejazzmeet/podcast-86-a-2012-jazz-retrospective-part-2/
BUBBLING UNDER:
The Bad Plus – Made Possible (Entertainment One)
Carmen Lundy – Changes (Afraisa)
Christian Scott – Christian aTunde Adjuah (Concord Jazz)
Esperanza Spalding – Radio Music Society (Heads Up International)
The Paolo Achenza Trio – Chameleon (Parts 1&2) (Schema Records)
The Pyramids – Otherworldly (Disko B)
Troyka – Moxxy (Edition Records)
Verneri Pohjola Quartet – Ancient History (ACT Music)
FILE UNDER: Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Jazz / British Jazz