Jan 4 2019
Best of 2018 #43: Rudy Royston – “Flatbed Buggy”
As the go-to drummer for an impressively diverse array of musicians, it’s always been a source of intrigue as to the influences Rudy Royston has absorbed along the way, and those he affected by way of his own perspective. The answer provided by his excellent 2018 release Flatbed Buggy is “a little bit of both, actually.” Before Bill Frisell’s recent trip down nostalgia lane, the guitarist was cementing his view of a modern Americana Jazz that incorporated healthy doses of chamber and folk. Royston was right there for much of that ride, and the sharp differences between his expression of that music from those of Frisell’s, while situating itself as a bird-of-a-feather recording, show that the forces being exerted upon the music were not a one-way conduit of creativity. The masterful balance of a light tunefulness and heady imagery makes for an intoxicating contrast in reactions, both emotional and cerebral… of complexity presented as simply as a well-crafted melody.
Released on Greenleaf Music.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Music from Denver, CO.
Despite the volleys thrown back and forth by the trio of trumpeter 
A melody from Ron Miles is moonlight distilled down to sonic form. There are times when he exhales a melody and he’s the only object in the sky. And then there are those times when the gravitational force of his presence pulls an ensemble around him like a sea of stars. The cornetist’s 2017 release I Am A Man puts those talents to excellent use, and the hall-of-fame cast of guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran and drummer Brian Blade happily fall into his orbit. The blues are an ever-present force of change on the recording, regardless whether the piece is an old-school ballad or a new-school burner. Miles has a lyrical touch to where he gets a sound to just hang in air, allowing patience and pauses heavy with emotion to get them to radiate with everything they’ve got before putting the next notes in play. Whether on cornet or trumpet, the sense is that here is a musician who has spent a lifetime immersing himself in his instrument and the creativity inside to make it manifest, and that impression bleeds into every note. A wonderful album from an amazing musician.
Jan 5 2019
Best of 2018 #41: Saunier, Halvorson, Miles – “New American Songbooks, Volume 1”
Released on Sound American.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Music from New York City and Denver, CO.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2018 • 0 • Tags: Denver, Greg Saunier, Jazz - Best of 2018, Mary Halvorson, New York City, Ron Miles, Sound American