Picking the Year’s Best

Jazz has been through some apocalyptic developments during the past two decades. It has found new courses to chart, given rise to new related idioms such as fusion and New Age and grown immensely in the number of men and women studying it at colleges and performing it at concert halls and festivals worldwide.

A glance at the first “Golden Feather Awards” column, which appeared in these pages Jan. 2, 1966, points up some of these changes. Four of the recipients have left us: Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Earl Hines. Others such as Oscar Peterson and Paul Horn (honored for their 1965 compositions), Joe Williams and pianist-psychiatrist Dr. Denny Zeitlin, are still here and active; Stan Getz is sidelined by illness but will probably be in harness again soon.

For the 23rd annual awards, given the degree to which the field has expanded, it seemed appropriate to call on a few colleagues, all respected jazz experts and fellow writers for the Los Angeles Times, to add the names of those musicians they believe are deserving of kudos.

Musician of the Year: My choice is a jazzman who lived for 34 years and has been dead almost that long: Charlie Parker. Odd though it may seem to select a long-gone artist for this honor, the shadow of Bird loomed larger than ever this year over much of the jazz world. His innovations are still reflected in the work of young musicians; a splendid hourlong documentary devoted to him was just released (and reviewed here last week); “Bird,” a major motion picture produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, is nearing completion at Warner Bros. with Forest Whitaker in the title role.

Coincidentally, Don Heckman, who writes for the Times and Jazz Times, also selected a departed pioneer: Woody Herman (“Very simply, in tribute for everything he gave us”).

A. James Liska, whose byline is seen in The Times and Down Beat, selected the recently revitalized saxophonist Frank Morgan: “His story of survival is as impressive and inspiring as the jazz he creates.”

Zan Stewart, of The Times and L.A. Weekly, choose Johnny Griffin: “the expatriate tenor man’s ability to deliver mercurial mainstream messages is waxing rather than waning.”

Don Snowden, who contributes to The Times and Musician, picked Ornette Coleman: “For singularity of vision and for releasing a double album, with one record each by his reunited original quartet and his current Prime Time ensemble, playing seven common compositions to emphasize the continuum of his music--this paid rich dividends.”

Album of the Year: Choosing a single album, it seemed to me, was an impossible choice, given the hundreds of new releases and almost as many reissues, most of them on CD. I passed, as did Liska. Snowden opted for the above-cited Ornette Coleman 2-LP set (“In All Languages,” on the Caravan of Dreams label). Stewart chose “What If?” by pianist Kenny Barron on Enja: “Arguably the finest jazz pianist, presenting a beautiful blowing date, with underrated ace hornmen Wallace Roney on trumpet and John Stubblefield on tenor sax.”

Don Heckman had a split vote: “The Complete Blue Note Recording of Herbie Nichols,” a five-record set on Mosaic; and “The Private Collection,” a set of five CDs of previously unissued Duke Ellington items on LMR Records.

Band or Group of the Year: The American Jazz Orchestra. Unfortunately, this repertory group is confined to New York. Its library of masterworks by many of jazz history’s great composer/arrangers was presented on a limited but impressive basis in a retrospective held during the New York Jazz Festival last June. The group has made only one album, “Central City Sketches” (Music Masters), with Benny Carter playing his own compositions, not well recorded but first-rate in content.

Stewart admired the Phil Woods Quintet: “The alto man and his chief foil, trumpeter Tom Harrell, play post-bebop just about to perfection, and with soul too.” Liska offered two choices: “The groups led by Branford Marsalis, who I think will prove to be an enduring artist, and Michael Brecker, who continues to show himself to be one.”

The George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet was Snowden’s selection: “For nine years of inventively blending respect for the jazz tradition (particularly the blues-gospel side), innovations that are logical extensions of that tradition, and a commitment to swinging hard and fast.” Heckman was impressed by Chick Corea’s Elektric Band: “Collectively and individually, a group that never fails to surprise me.”

Singer of the Year: Shirley Horn. In another egregious example of being in the wrong place for a long time, the Washington-based Horn was ignored by the record industry moguls until a visit to Los Angeles enabled her to tape a superb live album at the Vine St. Bar & Grill. She is not only a singer of charm and conviction but also an exceptional pianist.

Liska selected Joe Williams; Heckman commended Ernestine Anderson for keeping the flame of classic jazz singing alive; Stewart observed that “if Sarah Vaughan is not the greatest singer we have, she’ll do until the real thing comes along.” No choice by Snowden.

Book of the Year: Despite a fair quantity of jazz-related releases, nobody came up with a vote except Zan Stewart, who pointed to “Jazz,” a collection of photographs by William Claxton (Twelvetrees Press): “These superb black-and-white shots, taken in the ‘50s and ‘60s, offer crisp, candid glimpses of jazzmen and jazzwomen in their milieu.”

Trend of the Year: A return to respectability, and acceptability, by mainstream jazz; in a significant move, the trade magazine Billboard began listing albums in this category separately on its best-seller charts, to avoid the confusion with fusion.

Less noticeable but important was the trombone trend. J. J. Johnson quit the studios, formed a band and went on the road. Bill Watrous and Dan Barrett led their own groups on recent albums; Mike Fahn of Los Angeles carried the banner for the valve trombone, and Jimmy Cheatham, playing bass trombone, recorded with his blues band. John Fedchock is a key soloist in the still-active Woody Herman Herd.

Other trends noted: “The growing expansion of the territory of jazz--geographically, aesthetically and spiritually” (Heckman). “Bands led by Chick Corea, John Scofield and Michael Brecker are repaving the way for fusion and making it a more viable form of expression” (Liska).

Stewart hailed the “reissuing of many significant mainstream jazz sessions on CD--by such firms as Blue Note, PolyGram and Fantasy--replete with bonus tracks, providing a first and welcome hearing of previously unavailable gems.” Snowden noted “the first signs that young bandleaders are attempting to work with electronics and contemporary styles--from hip-hop to reggae and other Caribbean idioms--without sacrificing improvisational daring.”

Blue Notes of the Year: As ever, it was a time not only for rejoicing but for regretting. Gone are Irving Ashby, Eddie Durham, Victor Feldman, Freddie Green, John Hammond, Woody Herman, Alfred Lion, Phil Moore, Turk Murphy, Jaco Pastorius, Frank Rehak, Bola Sete, Slam Stewart, Maxine Sullivan, Booty Wood and too many more to list.

Still, a generation coming up fast reminds us of the utter unfeasibility of writing off jazz as a moribund art form. The average age of the Terence Blanchard-Donald Harrison Quintet is 24; the groups led by Wynton and Branford Marsalis are only a year or two older. To all who feel the spirit, a happy and enriching New Year; may the jazz life be great in ’88.