Så har vi kommet til september 2022 – og Europe Jazz Media sitt 10 års jubileum. I løpet av disse 10 årene har europeiske jazzredaksjoner valgt ut en plate de ville anbefale for omverdenen, hver måned. Og til sammen har vi laget 120 lister over favoritter på disse årene.

Det burde selvsagt vært feiret med fyrverkeri, høy sigarføring og hevede glass over hele Europa, men de europeiske jazzredaksjonene, i alle fall de som er med i Europe Jazz Media, pleier ikke å feire altfor mye. Derfor går vi på med krum hals og bruker tiden på å lytte til, anmelde, og glede oss over nye spennende jazzutgivelser, som vi gjerne vil gjøre resten av verden oppmerksom på.

Europe Jazz Media startet som en liten, eksklusiv gruppe på Europe Jazz Networks årlige treff. Senerte møttes vi på Jazzahead i Bremen, hvor det ble planlagt mye, men ikke så mye ble gjennomført. Helt til vi fikk i stand Europe Media Chart for 10 år siden. Etter hvert har gruppen vokst til over 20 medlemmer, og kanskje blir vi flere i tiden som kommer. Selvsagt mener vi at Europe Jazz Network skal behandle oss på samme måte som festivaler, klubbarrangører og andre som er medlemmer, men til nå har det vært den lokale arrangøren for disse årlige generalforsamlingene som har invitert, og da er det ikke alltid at vi får samlet hele gruppen til møte. Men det står høyt på agendaen i organisasjonen, så kanskje …

Det er på sin plass å takke Lars Mossefinn for at han har vært redaktør for disse listene hver måned i 10 år. Uten hans påminninger, masing og organisering, hadde vi aldri kunnet tilby denne tjenesten i 10 år.

Og her er hva de europeiske jazzredaksjonene har lyttet mest til den senere tiden:

Axel Stinshoff, Jazz thing:
STEVE GADD & WDR BIG BAND Center Stage (Leopard)

Luca Vitali, Giornale della Musica:
MIZOOKSTRA Also Sprach Mizookstra (Sangue Disken)

Yves Tassin, JazzMania:
SOFT MACHINE Facelift France & Holland (Cuneiform Records)

Jos Demol, jazzhalo.be:
JULIEN TASSIN Primitiv (Ramble Records)

Christof Thurnherr, Jazz’n’More:
ANTELOPER Pink Dolphins (International Anthem)

Kaspars Zavileiskis, jazzin.lv:
RICH RUTH I Survived, It’s Over (Third Man Records)

Jacek Brun, www.jazz-fun.de:
DORUZKA – WYLEZOL – BALLARD Andromeda’s Mystery (Bivak Records)

Madli-Liis Parts, Muusika:
KARJA / RENARD / WANDINGER The Wrong Needle (Kirke Karja)

Paweł Brodowski, Jazz Forum:
ANDRZEJ JAGODZIŃSKI Requiem (Polskie Radio Katowice)

Mike Flynn, Jazzwise:
CAMILLA GEORGE George Ibio-Ibio (Ever Records)

Jan Granlie, salt-peanuts.eu:
KIM MYHR Sympatetic Magic (Hubro Records)

Viktor Bensusan, jazzdergisi.com:
RUBEN MACHTELINCKX + ARVE HENRIKSEN A Short Story (Aspen Edities)

Dick Hovenga, Written in Music:
DOOMCANNON Renaissance (Brownswood Recordings)

Peter Slavid, LondonJazz News (UK):
ROBERTO OTTAVIANO AND ALEXANDER HAWKINS Charlie’s Blue Skylight (Dodicilune)

Patrik Sandberg, Jazz:
LANDÆUS TRIO A Crisis of Perception (Clean Feed)

Cim Meyer, Jazz Special:
ANDORRA Andorra (April Records)

Lars Mossefinn, Dag og tid:
CHARLES MINGUS The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s (Resonance)

Why did I choose –

Jacek Brun:
Despite this unusual instrumentation, because they play without bass, the three musicians create a rhythmic and harmonic basis with a wide range of dynamics and means of expression. Their playing is at times almost hypnotic and constantly captivates one with its trance-like verve and emotional expression.

Paweł Brodowski:
Piano virtuoso Andrzej Jagodziński is the leader of one of the longest running European jazz ensembles. Next year, his trio, which was started in 1993, will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Its most famous effort is, of course, “Chopin”, an ingenious album which was so infuential that it launched in Poland a whole new jazz-meets-classical movement. Jagodziński’s newest album “Requiem” presents his ambitious original work composed for mixed choir (Camerata Silesia), jazz trio (with Adam Cegielski on bass, and Czesław Bartkowski on drums) and three improvising jazz vocalists (Grażyna Augiuścik, Agnieszka Wilczyńska and Wojciech Myrczek). Built according to the classical form, and containing seven parts, it makes up a coheseive whole permeated with the spirit and energy of jazz.

Jan Granlie:
The Norwegian guitar player Kim Myhr, who plays a lot of instruments on this record, has given us a brilliant «work» with his new recording, Sympatetic Magic. Here, a lot happens along the way in details and input that should open up the whole world for Kim Myhr and this excellent band (Hans Hulbækmo – drums, perc, Michaela Antalová – dr, perc, Ingar Zach – fir cassa, timpani, perc, vid.speakers, Adrian Myhr – bass, add.guitar, Anja Lauvdal – organ, synth, Håvard Volden – guitar, David Stackenäs – guitar). I think this is Myhr’s most varied and exciting recording to date, and I look forward to hear this music in concert sometime in the future. Then it can become, if possible, even more exciting and interesting.

Viktor Bensusan:
simplicity and sufism in unison…

Peter Slavid:
Amongst the many tributes celebrating the centenary of Charles Mingus’s birth, this one from the Lecce-based label Dodicilune, is one of the most interesting.
Two outstanding improvisers  – Englishman Hawkins on piano and Rhodes, with Italian Ottaviano on soprano sax. They play some of Mingus’ best known  compositions and some less well known. They manage to preserve the essence of Mingus while bringing their own improvising take to the music. I think he would approve.

Dick Hovenga:
DoomCannon (real name Dominic Canning) has been around for a while in British jazz, especially the scene that has been conquering the world from (East) London in recent years. He has worked with just about every important name on that young, hip jazz scene, played the famous Jazz Re:freshed evening at MauMau under his own name, became a music teacher but also Musical Director (the Brit Awards, Jools Holland) and played a prominent role in Nubya Garcia’s band when she started to perform worldwide.
Renaissance is, in everything, an album where quality shines through. A musically as diverse as it is excellent album on which DoomCannon has exploited his bizarre great class in songwriting and arranging to the fullest. He plays from the band feeling but writes arrangements in which a horn section and/or a string section find their way in full glory. Ambitious and hugely successful that’s what you can say of Renaissance.
Renaissance is a fascinating first album from a musician who can undoubtedly be called one of the great heroes of the New Wave of British Jazz. DoomCannon is a promise of the very greatest order.

Jos Demol:
Julien Tassin is an exploratory guitarist from Belgium dedicated to improvised and expressive original music. He has established himself as one of the most creative and committed guitarists in Europe who values the expressive power and potential of music. With a dedication to strong, lyrical melodies and beautiful themes, he creates an original language and tasteful musical landscape that draws on minimalism, ambient, blues, avant-garde, rock and jazz. His playing is raw, organic, emotional, expressive and above all uncompromising whether he is playing solo or fronting his own band. Through his compositions and improvisations he’s constantly in search of essence and purity and strives to push music boundaries.

Kaspars Zavileiskis:
It is probably difficult to define this as a real jazz album, but the clichéd question arises – what is jazz today anyway? Thanks to the free improvisation, as well as the prominent presence of the saxophones, this self-therapy album by multi-instrumentalist Rich Ruth can be easily perceived as an ambient expression of modern jazz rock, recalling the best examples of spiritual jazz from the classics of the genre. Although quite filled with synthesizer sounds, the album is most vividly accentuated by unexpected interplay of guitar and baritone or tenor saxophone, creating emotional ups and downs. An atypical sound for the Nashville musician, a strong team of invited musicians and a great addition to the catalog of Jack White label.

Cim Meyer:
Grandiose and spatial music. You can dwell in the odd meters in 11 and even 17. But listeners do not have to be mathematicians – you can just flow with the stream. After gaining musical experiences in different directions old comrades from Funen (center island of Denmark) reunite: Mads la Cour (flh / tp), Peter Kohlmetz Møller (key & Ondes Martenot), Simon Krebs (g), Morten Jørgensen (b), Nikolaj Bundvig (d). You may call it fusion but it is just modern. Turn the volume up!

Patrik Sandberg:
Swedish pianist and composer Mathias Landæus and his trio with Johny Åhman bas and drummer Cornelia Nilsson has an extraordinary breadth. They mostly play original music, but can just as easily slip in a Monk song, a pop classic or a piece of free jazz. In their interplay there is a simple obviousness and an infectious joy of playing that appeals to the most ardent jazz enthusiast as well as to less experienced listeners. In recent years, the trio has collaborated with a number of well-known musicians and artists from both pop, jazz and experimental fields. Influences could be, for example, Jan Johansson, Monk, Keith Jarrett, Per-Henrik Wallin, Paul Bley, dub, electronica, punk, Indian music. Release on the Portugese label Clean Feed Records.

Lars Mossefinn:
I was there! Not on the actual recording dates, but one night on the first week of the residency. I remember an extended and eclectic version of «Fables of Faubus» and Mingus dancing with his bass during the performance of «When The Saints Go Marching in». A night and a recording to remember!