Paul Maria Abbey Lincoln Rudresh Ambrose Schneider Chambers Akinmusire Hall of Fame Poll Winners Paul Motian Craig Taborn Mahanthappa 66 Album Picks £3.50 £3.50 .K. U 59th Annual Critics Poll Critics Annual 59th The Critics’ Pick Critics’ The Artist, Jazz for Album Jazz and Piano UGUST 2011 MORAN Jason DOWNBEAT.COM A DOWNBEAT 59TH ANNUAL CRITICS POLL // ABBEY LINCOLN // PAUL CHAMBERS // JASON MORAN // AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE AU G U S T 2011 AUGUST 2011 VOLUme 78 – NUMBER 8 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Managing Editor Bobby Reed Associate Editor Aaron Cohen Contributing Editor Ed Enright Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Assistant Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Assistant Theresa Hill 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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Á 4 DOWNBEAT AUGUST 2011 AUGUST 2011 Abbey Lincoln ON THE COVER 59th Annual Critics Poll 20 Jason Moran Jazz Artist/Jazz Album/ Pianist of the Year BY DAN OUELLETTE Critically acclaimed as a leader and sought after as a collaborator, pianist Jason Moran is leading the way for new innovations in jazz. 28 Abbey Lincoln Hall of Fame BY JOHN EPHLAND 32 Paul Chambers Veterans Committee Hall of Fame BY JOHN MCDONOUGH 28 36 Duke Ellington Historical Jazz Album of the Year BY AARON COHEN CAROL FRIEDMAN Cover photography of Jason Moran by Jimmy and Dena Katz. 38 Ambrose Akinmusire Rising Star Jazz Artist/Rising Star Trumpeter of the Year BY JOE TANGARI 40 Maria Schneider Big Band/Composer/Arranger of the Year BY MICHAEL GALLANT 42 Craig Taborn 61 Gonzalo Rubalcaba 63 Sir Roland Hanna 67 Dave Douglas 70 Benny Green Electronic Keyboardist/ Rising Star Pianist/Rising Star Organist of the Year BY BOB DOERSCHUK DEPARTMENTS 44 Rudresh Mahanthappa Alto Saxophonist of the Year BY TED PANKEN 8 First Take 18 Caught 86 Jazz On Campus 46 Paul Motian 10 Chords & 57 Reviews 90 Blindfold Test Drummer of the Year Discords George Wein BY KEN MICALLEF 78 Master Class 13 The Beat By Dan Wilensky 48 Complete Poll Results 16 European 80 Transcription 54 Jack Tracy Remembered BY JOHN MCDONOUGH Scene 82 Toolshed 6 DOWNBEAT AUGUST 2011 First Take | BY FRANK ALKYER Critics Endorse Amazing Artistry t’s an exciting time to love creative music. There’s no better indicator of that than the 59th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll. Gyrational changes in the music industry Ihave freed artists (both young and Triple-crown winner Jason Moran old) to follow their muses, take control and blaze trails fiercely— moreso now than at any other time I can remember in the last 20 years. This year’s poll offers a snap- shot of all of that drive and cre- ativity. Jason Moran serves as our poster child for the trend. A triple- crown winner for Jazz Artist, Jazz Album and Pianist of the Year, he leads the charge, showing every- one that the next jazz generation has officialy arrived. With his hip- hop persona, love of jazz histo- ry and amazing chops, you can’t box him in. This spring, you might have caught him in a classical hall AND DENA KATZ JIMMY like Chicago’s Symphony Center working with master saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s quartet, or on tour with The Bandwagon at the Melbourne Jazz Festival, or serving up the Fats Waller Dance Party at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse in New York. Only that kind of remarkable energy and a fantastic recording like the Critics Poll-winning Ten (Blue Note) could combine to surpass the biggest breakout artist of 2011, Esperanza Spalding, who placed second in the Jazz Artist of the Year voting and third in Jazz Album of the Year with Chamber Music Society (Heads Up). In February, when Spalding became the first jazz artist to win the Grammy for Best New Artist—a category that covers all genres of music—the jazz world burst with pride. It sent us to our e-mail, phones, Facebook and Twitter accounts to shout out, “Art 1, Justin Bieber 0.” It was satisfying to see Spalding (the cover subject of DownBeat’s September 2010 issue) get so much media attention. For all of us who know that jazz is a growing, ever-morphing art form, Spalding put to rest any ill-conceived notion that it is dead or dying. Her victory was further evidence that in this volatile digital era, jazz does and will continue to help shape popular culture. Only the combined energy of both those young artists could top the mother of all birthday parties. Coming in third in the Jazz Artist of the Year voting was Sonny Rollins, who held his 80th birthday bash at New York’s Beacon Theater last September. This already legendary gig was the place to be for jazz fans and musicians alike. Sonny alone would have been plenty. But Sonny doesn’t play fair. Those of us who couldn’t make it to the Beacon lament missing a historic event that featured the Colossus and Ornette Coleman, Roy Haynes, Jim Hall, Roy Hargrove, Russell Malone, and on and on. In any other year, that would be the story of the year. By the way, four tracks from that concert will be appearing on Sonny’s Road Shows, Vol. 2 (Doxy/Emarcy) due out in September. The beauty of the Critics Poll is that it’s a collection of artists and stories as diverse as the jazz world itself—like first-time winners 29-year-old trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and 80-year-old drum- mer Paul Motian. The same is true of 66 album picks listed in the poll. Those, and every artist listed, provide a musical shopping guide that will keep us all busy until, well, the next poll comes around. Enjoy. DB 8 DOWNBEAT AUGUST 2011 Chords Discords Shorty Rogers have played James Farm many times, and I have yet to hear uninteresting music. DON SEXTON COLUMBIA CITY, IND. Editor’s note: Keep an eye out for our feature story on James Farm in the September issue. Hard-Bop Not Forgotten I was surprised to discover a five-star review of trumpeter Brian Lynch’s latest release, Unsung Heroes (“Reviews,” July). Not that he didn’t deserve it, but it’s extremely rare these days to find RCHIVES A a hard-bop CD receiving such accolades. I had the good fortune of seeing him perform OWNBEAT OWNBEAT D with the Toshiko Akiyoshi–Lew Tabackin Big Band at the 1999 Monterey Jazz Festival. Where’s Shorty? Lynch started off his featured solo with one of I am very surprised that, year after year, the most warm and beautiful flugelhorn like many very good jazz musicians are added tones I’ve ever heard, but by the time he got to the DownBeat Hall of Fame, but never the near the end it sounded like Lee Morgan on wonderful Shorty Rogers, who was a real steroids.