Joe Lovano©Andrea Canter

I seem to be well behind in collecting my thoughts as to the best of jazz in 2009, and maybe that is a good thing if it means there was just too much good music to rank a top ten or whatever. But in truth it also means there was a lot of music issued and performed, and I am still trying to listen to recordings from the past year, while new 2010 releases are beginning to turn up. 

I never want to issue a list of “the top ten” because I probably will never have the chance to hear everything that could be on that list! I’ll instead take a stab at listing the music that I most enjoyed, music that I want to hear again and again, or performances that I wish were captured on DVD for repeated experiences.  And I am open to adding to this list as I get a chance to hear something I missed. Recommendations welcome! 

 "Aguabella is the John Coltrane of the Conga Drums.” -- Dizzy Gillespie

Francisco Aguabella

Steamers presents the finest in Latin jazz with master conguero Francisco Aguabella and his Latin band on Saturday, February 13th. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Francisco Aguabella is master of the Yoruba-derived bata drums and rumba form as well as contemporary traditions including Cuban son, salsa, and Latin jazz. He has performed with Tito Puente, Carlos Santana, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, and Eddie Palmieri. He received the 1992 National Endowment of the Art Fellowship award in the area of folk arts and has been lauded by the cities of Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“Dan is one of those rare players who is both musically serious and seriously musical!” --Chris Olson (Framework)  

Dan Musselman©Andrea Canter

Few young musicians would be so bold as to make their first release a set of solo, original compositions. But pianist Dan Musselman, shortly after graduating from the McNally Smith College of Music, made this bold move with the release of Ruminations in spring 2008. And he has quickly become a significant player on the Twin Cities jazz scene, releasing a duo recording with Rachel Holder in early 2009 (Save Your Love for Me), joining forces with a quartet of equally young and bold artists to open every Tuesday night for the famed Tuesday Night Band at the Artists Quarter, and finding gigs at various venues for his own quartet projects. This week on February 10th, Dan brings his quartet back to the Artists Quarter, blending talents of relatively new (saxman Brandon Wozniak) and established (bassist Adam Linz and drummer Jay Epstein) artists in an exciting collaboration.  

Irvin Mayfield©Andrea Canter

Led by Artistic Director for Jazz Irvin Mayfield, Minnesota Orchestra Hall will bring such luminaries as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Maceo Parker to the 2010-2011 Piper Jaffrey Jazz at Orchestra Hall season, beginning in December. Now in its fourth season, the jazz series will focus on pairings—Bridgewater with Mayfield, Marsalis with Blanchard, and Parker with a special surprise guest to be announced later. 

International Cultural Ambassador for the city of New Orleans, trumpeter, composer and bandleader Irvin Mayfield was named the Minnesota Orchestra’s first Artistic Director for Jazz in 2008. A protégé of Wynton Marsalis, founder of the popular Los Hombres Caliente, and leader of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and his own quintet, Mayfield has taken his musical message of rebirth to venues worldwide, including a series of performances at Orchestra Hall over the past two seasons. 

Roy Hargrove©John Whiting

You can enter the Dakota jazz club from the street or the skyway that connects the office building it’s in with the parking ramp across the way. Often, if we can’t find street parking, my husband drops me off at the door and goes off to work his secret parking juju. That’s how I came across trumpeter Roy Hargrove between sets, standing outside the revolving doors and smoking a cigarette.  

We’ve met before so I say hi. He takes a drag, smiles, breathes smoke and says, “Minneapolis is sexy.”