Quarterly Critic’s Choice
The best and most interesting new releases of the previous three months are awarded a place on the Quarterly Critic’s Choice. Evaluation criteria are artistic quality, repertoire value, presentation, and sound quality. From 2014 onward, the Long Lists are stored directly with each Quarterly Critic’s Choice.
Jazz
Bill Evans, Marc Johnson, Joe LaBarbera: Inner Spirit
The 1979 Concert At The Teatro General San Martín, Buenos Aires. 2 CD, Resonance HCD-2062 (harmonia mundi)
A year before his death, Bill Evans performed in Buenos Aires in 1979. The concert of his »Last Trio« with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera documents how far a creative person can rise above his circumstances. Already seriously ill, marked by his brother’s suicide and fueling himself with cocaine, he knew there would be little time for him to entrust everything that had not been said to the keys. Unreservedly, intensely he devoted himself to the music in order to chisel an »eternal introduction« to »Nardis« or to sing »I Loves You, Porgy« on the piano with penetrating obsession. An enchanting document, an outstanding, richly illustrated edition. For the jury: Marcus A. Woelfle
Jazz
Brave New World Trio: Seriana Promethea
David Murray, Brad Jones, Hamid Drake. Intakt Records Intakt CD 381 (harmonia mundi)
The Brave New World Trio alludes to the dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley. They see themselves as a resistant formation against tyranny and conspiracy – in a reflective resort to proven virtues. For David Murray and his fellow musicians, jazz is a musical and social entity that needs freedom of movement. The articulatory richness and sophistication of music are simultaneously striking and subtle. The new album’s titles and the individual compositions raise questions and refer to a musical cosmos brought about and multiplied by the trio’s experiences. For the jury: Hans-Jürgen Linke