Thursday, July 16, 2009

Grabbing My Ears

We're into the post-festival dog days — always prime listening time. Here's what's on my playlist right now:

The Henrys — Is This Tomorrow: Lovely double CD by one of my favourite Canadian bands. Anything with Mary Margaret O'Hara gets my vote.

Steve Earle — Townes: Goes exceptionally well with the above. Someone recently opined that they like this material much better than when Townes performed it, and there's no question that Earle does his friend proud here.

Andy Milne/Benoit Delbecq — Where is Pannonica?: This material was stunning when performed live in Ottawa a few weeks ago, and the recording sounds great, although the performances sound more austere than the recital.

Matt Wilson Quartet — That's Gonna Leave A Mark: Raucous, funny, deep. What more can you ask?

Jerry Granelli V16 — Vancouver '08: Wonderful, atmospheric improvisations here. Also includes a very well-shot live DVD.

Enrico Rava — New York Days: A definite front-runner for recording of the year. I keep going back to it.

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society — Infernal Machines: Another one that I can't leave alone.

1 comment:

Gaby Warren said...

Leaping to # 1 on my 2009 favourites list is the 2-CD Seamus Blake Quartet: Live In Italy (on Jazz Eyes) recorded in February 2007. With Seamus is the superb Dave Kikoski (p), Danton Boller (b) and Rodney Green (d).