Guess the Downbeat Critics' Poll 2008!

Yeah, I know, I'm about four days late with this post. I apologize. It won't happen again; I missed a few days because of a little bit of general topsy-turvey-ness. As far as I'm concerned, though, this post was worth the wait. It's time for my first annual "Guess the Downbeat Critics' Poll" post! Here's how it works: I'm going to name a category, name who I believe the winner will be, and then give my personal pick for who should win the category. Occasionally, where necessary, I'll add some kind of ad hominem attack or random side note.

Jazz Artist: Herbie Hancock. Should Win: Herbie Hancock. Downbeat loves people who get major non-jazz awards; case in point: Ornette Coleman last year.
Jazz Album: Herbie Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters." Should Win: Vijay Iyer's "Tragicomic."
Hall of Fame: Herbie Hancock. Should Win: Lee Konitz.
Record Label: Blue Note. Should Win: Sunnyside. Or Pi. The former if we're going for volume of good albums, the latter if we're looking for a label that puts out few records, but records that are consistently brilliant.
Rising Star Jazz Artist: Vijay Iyer. Should Win: Always Vijay Iyer. Even though he's a legit star.
Jazz Group: Dave Holland Quintet. Should Win: Dave Holland Quintet.
Rising Star Jazz Group: This is tough. I'm going to go with Vijay Iyer's quartet, as neither of last year's winners have released new albums in a while. But there could be an upset from anybody from The Bad Plus to the Chris Potter Underground.
Big Band: Maria Schneider Orchestra.
Rising Star Big Band: No idea.
Composer: Maria Schneider. Should Win: Vijay Iyer, who will be relegated for another year to rising star.
Rising Star Composer: Vijay Iyer. Should Win: Anat Cohen. We need fresh blood in this category, even though I love Vijay Iyer to death.


Female Vocalist: Dianne Reeves. Ugh. Should Win: Cassandra Wilson.
Rising Star F Vocalist: Gretchen Parlato. Should Win: Gretchen Parlato.
Male Vocalist: Kurt Elling Should Win: Who cares.
Rising Star M Vocalist: Somebody. Should Win: Somebody else, probably.

Alto Sax: Ornette Coleman. Should Win: Ornette.
Rising Star Alto: Steve Lehman. Or maybe Jaleel Shaw. Or possibly Rudresh Mahanthappa. This is a really tough one, to be honest. All three have either released good albums or done good side-man work this year. But I can't pick one so I'll just throw Steve Lehman out there.
Tenor Sax: Sonny Rollins. Should Win: Chris Potter. Are you kidding me? Sonny Rollins wins every year in spite of his senility. Chris Potter had two killin' albums out last year and was involved in the making of countless others.
Rising Star T Sax: Chris Potter. Should Win: Anat Cohen.
Soprano Sax: Wayne. Should Win: Wayne.
Rising Star S Sax: Steve Wilson. Should Win: Chris Potter.
Baritone Sax: This is a tough one. It really depends on whether or not James Carter's "Present Tense" was heard by critics before votes were due. If it wasn't, this category belongs to Gary Smulyan. Should Win: Either one.
Clarinet: Don Byron. Should Win: Don Byron. Always.
Rising Star Clarinet: Anat Cohen. Should Win: Anat Cohen.
Flute: James Moody. Perhaps Frank Wess. Should Win: Nicole Mitchell, but she's too young.
Rising Star Flute: Nicole Mitchell. Should Win: Nicole Mitchell.

Trumpet: Dave Douglas. Should Win: Dave Douglas. Dave Douglas beat out Wynton by more than a hundred votes last time. Here's hoping the gap gets wider...
Rising Star Trumpet: Jeremy Pelt. Should Win: Steven Bernstein. Duh. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, this is a tough category. Expect Avishai Cohen to move up in this category.
Trombone: Steve Turre. Should Win: I have no idea, but Steve Turre always wins.
Rising Star Trombone: Again, no idea. Should Win: Josh Roseman.

Acoustic Piano: Herbie Hancock. Should Win: Kenny Werner, who won't even make the list.
Rising Star Piano: Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, or Vijay Iyer. Should Win: Either Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, or Vijay Iyer.
Organ: I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Dr. Lonnie Smith. Should Win: Sam Yahel.
Rising Star Organ: Sam Yahel. Should Win: Uri Caine.
Keyboard: Uri Caine. Should Win: Uri Caine. I'm crossing my fingers, this is probably the only category in which a "rising star" type figure has a real shot at getting one of the major awards, as last time he came in second after Joe Zawinul, who is now dead.
Rising Star Keyboard" Craig Taborn. Should Win: Craig Taborn. Or Uri Caine. Either one.
Vibes: Bobby Hutcherson. Should Win: Gary Burton.
Rising Star Vibes: Stefon Harris, even though he isn't a rising star by any stretch. Should Win: Chris Dingman; his work on "Prelude: To Cora" by Ambrose Akinmusire and "On Meaning" by Steve Lehman was brilliant.

Drums: Roy Haynes or Jack DeJohnette.
Rising Star Drums: Another tough category. I'm going to say Matt Wilson, but it could go to anyone from Jef Ballard to Eric Harland to Nasheet Waits. Should Win: Eric Harland. But I love Matt Wilson.
Percussion: Poncho Sanchez.
Rising Star Percussion: Suzie Ibarra or Hamid Drake.

Guitar: Bill Frisell. Should Win: Bill Frisell. "History, Mystery" is one of the two best albums of the year.
Rising Star Guitar: Either Lionel Loueke or Kurt Rosenwinkel. Should Win: Liberty Ellman! Pick a real rising star, fer chrissake...
Bass: Dave Holland. Should Win: Dave Holland.
Rising Star Bass: Larry Grenadier. Should Win: Larry Grenadier, but Esperanza Spalding could come out of nowhere and win this category on the basis of "Esperanza" and a recent article in Downbeat.
Violin: Regina Carter. Should Win: Jenny Scheinman. I really hope Jenny Scheinman can pull this one off, both of her recent albums are gems.
Rising Star Violin: Jenny Scheinman.
Miscellaneous: Toots Thielemans. Should Win: This is a stupid category.
Rising Star Miscellaneous: Erik Friedlander.

So there you have it. When the August issue of Downbeat comes out (in the middle of July, of course) I'll tally up my guesses and see how many are right. For the time being, though, if you disagree, agree, or want to gossip, please feel free to comment.

Library of Congress Records Herbie Hancock's Move to Cheesiness for Posterity; Response to Reader's Comment

So, out of all of Herbie Hancock's albums that could possibly be chosen ("Maiden Voyage," anyone?) to be recorded for posterity, the Library of Congress have decided to save "Headhunters." I mean, don't get me wrong, I get it. It was (and I believe still is) his best-selling record and probably has his two most famous performances on it ("Chameleon" and "Watermelon Man").

In addition, its required listening for anyone interested in jazz (it may well be the most popular early fusion recording by anyone who played with Miles), and every young player gets stuck playing "Chameleon" at awful jam sessions over and over and over... But just because its required listening doesn't make it any good. Or worthy of saving over, say, "Empyrian Isles." Or "Mwandashi." Hell, "Fat Albert Rotunda" is better than "Headhunters..."

On another note, since someone commented (seriously, check it out) on my post about the AJJ's annual awards, I figured I should respond. I have heard Steve Lehman's "On Meaning" (I haven't heard the other one yet), and it is definitely pretty killin'. As for Vijay and Rudresh, the former released "Still Life With Commentator," a collaboration with Mike Ladd, although I suppose the AJJ would probably ignore it due to its being more electronic music than jazz (even though it does have some great piano work).

Tomorrow morning or afternoon I'll have reviews of Matana Roberts' "The Chicago Project" and Taylor Eigsti's "Let It Come to You," the first of which is actually produced by Vijay Iyer. Also, always feel free to comment whether you agree with me, disagree with me, feel like professing your undying love for my critical ear, or just want to let the world know that people actually read my blog.

Herbie Hancock Wins Grammy; Has No Problem with Continuing to Make Crappy Music

For those of you haven't seen the new "Yahoo! Nissan Live Set" of Herbie Hancock's, don't. It's probably the best example of great musicians making terribly cheesy, pandering cross-over music since "Future 2 Future," or at least "Possibilities."

The tracks with Joni Mitchell ("Tea Leaf Prophecy" and "Hanah") are the best of the bunch, but even those are just barely listenable (albeit very new age, with Marcus Miller doing his best impression of Jaco at his most pornographic-sounding). Perhaps the reason for this is that these are the songs that sound most like Hancock's most recent album, the grammy-winning "River: The Joni Letters," an undeniably interesting (and not very crossover) album of (mostly) Joni Mitchell covers. The record is great, having more in common with Wayne Shorter's quartet than Hancock's more pop-oriented music, but this particular live performance is not.

All of the band members have impeccable pedigrees, and have made their fare share of good music. However, this fact barely serves as a legitimate excuse for the version of Chameleon (hyperlink at the top of this blog) played here, which is so corny that not even Lionel Loueke's guitar work can save it. Hancock doesn't seem to have realized that the novelty of a "Keytar" (if there ever was novelty to begin with) has worn off since Jan Hammer's "Theme from Miami Vice." To make matters worse, after finally sitting down and playing piano (after five minutes of keytar wanking), Hancock starts playing the synth-horn setting on his keyboard during Loueke's solo.

Can't Herbie Hancock afford to play with a real horn section? Does he even want to? Does he actually have so much contempt for the average listener that he thinks a keytar will make a non-jazz audience take his music seriously? While the answer to the last question seems to be a resounding "yes," the jury is still out on the first two.

I was serious at the beginning, if you didn't already click on the link at the top, don't. It isn't worth it. Go out and listen to "River" instead.