Top 15 Albums of 2014 (Part 1)

We're fortunate to experience so much new music year after year at SFJAZZ—2014 being no exception! We've compiled a list (in no particular order) of our Top 15 albums of 2014 that we've also experienced live. The list isn't exhaustive—if you have any favorites from the year, comment below or give us a shout on social media! Below are the first five... look for the second batch tomorrow.

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Drummer, California-native Jeff Ballard's debut as leader, Times Tales (Okeh Records) brings together a monster trio—featuring guitarist Lionel Loueke & 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Miguel Zenón—with unbelievable chemistry (as Ballard put it: "We’re all really drum-heads"). The trio kicked off the 32nd Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival back in June!

2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Bill Frisell debuted Guitar In The Space Age (Okeh Records) during his January 2014 residency, before heading into the studio. Featuring slide guitarist Greg Leisz, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, the project pays tribute to the birth of the electric guitar. As Frisell told us back in 2013:

"We start talking, and I hadn't even heard [Greg Leisz] play, I didn't really know anything about him, but in that conversation, I just knew that we were sort of destined to be playing together. There are just some people like that, that I just know right away... We grew up with the history of that Fender guitar, you know Fender happened, and Rock & Roll happened in our childhood… So I've been wanting to do something, acknowledging all that guitar stuff."

Violinist Regina Carter treated San Francisco to the world premiere of Southern Comfort (Sony Masterworks) back in May 2013, part of her first residency as a 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director (in which she also presented the late John Blake, Jr. and Carolina Chocolate Drops). In Southern Comfort, Carter traces her father's Alabama roots through music. After releasing the album earlier this year, Carter brought Southern Comfort back to SFJAZZ for her second residency.

Also: Carter gave an insightful interview and in-studio performance on KQED Forum.

Torch bearer of the afrobeat legacy, Seun Kuti (son of the great Fela Kuti) & Egypt 80's performance at the 32nd Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival in June remains one of our wildest dance parties ever (the show was seated too!). A Long Way To The Beginning (Knitting Factory) blends the sounds and stylings of contemporary music (enter producer Robert Glasper) with the traditional afrobeat sound—music for the head, heart and feet.

Concerts at Grace Cathedral are an SFJAZZ tradition going back to the origins of the organization. In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral (Okeh Records), recorded live at the 30th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival (2012), sees Branford Marsalis join the ranks of Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Charles Lloyd, Dewey Redman, Anthony Braxton and many others. Marsalis notes:

"Every room has a sound of its own... and there is definitely a difference playing in Grace Cathedral, with its seven-second delay. Playing solo interludes in other rooms where my quartet performs was not going to prepare me. I had to hear that Grace Cathedral sound in my head."

Read more on SFJAZZ's history with Grace Cathedral and Marsalis' solo album via our full review of In My Solitude.

WATCH: At The Center ~ Regina Carter on jazz education

Violinist Regina Carter reflects on her work with Bay Area public school students and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars while being a 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director.

Song credit:

"Miner's Child"
Regina Carter
'Southern Comfort' (Sony Masterworks)

Check out Regina's Southern Comfort project. Watch more videos of artists who create at the SFJAZZ Center.

WATCH: At The Center ~ Violinist Regina Carter reflects

Violinist Regina Carter reflects on her time as 2013-14 Resident Artistic Director (RAD) at the SFJAZZ Center, from Grand Opening collaborations with fellow RADs Jason Moran and Bill Frisell, to bringing her mentors John Blake and Kenny Barron to the Center, to working with her childhood friend, vocalist Carla Cook, and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars! 

Song credit:

"See See Rider"

Regina Carter

Southern Comfort (2014)

Sony Masterworks

Check out Regina's Southern Comfort project. Watch more videos of artists who create at the SFJAZZ Center.

PHOTO: Resident Artistic Director Regina Carter at the SFJAZZ Center

Violinist and Resident Artistic Director Regina Carter capped her first residency of Season 2 at the SFJAZZ Center last night. Carter brought four diverse groups to Miner Auditorium over the weekend, from Thursday night's Violin Summit with fellow violinists Sara Caswell and Jenny Scheinman, to Friday's Tango Meets Jazz with the Pablo Ziegler Quartet. On Saturday evening, Carter joined the great pianist Kenny Barron in an intimate duo performance, before closing on Sunday with singer Carla Cook and the award-winning SFJAZZ High School All-Stars. Below are two photos from Carter's performance with Kenny Barron, which included a Pre-Concert Talk with Director of Education Rebeca Mauleón.

Regina Carter & Kenny Barron in conversation with Director of Education Rebeca Mauleón

Regina Carter performs with the great Kenny Barron

All photos courtesy of Ronald Davis. As always, you can find more photos at SFJAZZ Flickr.

If you missed out on Regina Carter's Residency, or want more, Carter returns to SFJAZZ with Southern Comfort on May 1st, 2014!

Spotlight on Education: The High School All-Stars come out Swinging!

The 2012-13 SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra at the historic SFJAZZ Center Opening Night Concert, directed by Paul Contos and featuring Regina Carter and Joe Lovano. Photo by Stuart Brinin.

Every so often we at SFJAZZ take a moment to reflect on the explosion of amazing talent among young musicians in the Bay Area, and the High School All-Stars are a perfect example. In this offering I am happy to share some highlights of the program - both this year’s new crop of musicians as well as the multiple award-winning 2012-13 Orchestra and Combo - and invite EVERYONE to witness this stellar line-up of the Bay Area’s best.

For starters our education staff auditioned over 150 students this summer - more than twice the annual average - and then had the difficult task of selecting and placing the members of both the Orchestra and Combo, plus multiple Alternates and students in our Mentorship program. To put it one way, we had enough talent come through our doors for TWO full bands! This new lineup for 2013-14 will have the honor of joining violin virtuoso and Resident Artistic Director Regina Carter in concert this Sunday (7pm show in Miner Auditorium) as part of her residency this second season, and let’s just say that they are up to the task. They will also accompany jazz vocalist Carla Cook in addition to performing a few other selections, all this with only three rehearsals under their belts! Please click here for more info on this Sunday’s show - we know you will be blown away! http://www.sfjazz.org/events/season2/sep29-regina-carter

“This is such an amazing band!”

-- Regina Carter on the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars

The 2012-13 High School All-Stars Orchestra @ the 2013 Monterey Jazz Festival. Paul Contos, Director.
Photo courtesy Stuart Brinin photography.

The All-Stars play Monterey!

Last year’s award-winning All-Stars Orchestra had the tremendous honor of performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival last Saturday. High on the heel of their Mingus Competition win in New York City, the group took first place in the NextGen Conglomerate Band division earlier this year, securing their spot in the fall festival. Among the returning alumni were flutist/vocalist and 2013 Presidential Scholar Elena Pinderhughes, and Mingus soloist award-winners (and bassists) Logan Kane and Kanoa Mendenhall (both of whom are members of the current ensemble). Under the expert direction of Paul Contos, the All-Stars ripped through a blistering rendition of Monk’s “Epistrophy” followed by Alan Baylock’s exquisite arrangement of “‘Round Midnight,” then closed their all-too-short set with Charles Mingus’ explosive piece entitled “Tensions.” After the well-deserved standing ovation the All-Stars gathered for the lovely photo above (thanks to Stuart Brinin for both shots). Please enjoy a few moments from the show here:

Double CD Release!

This week also marks the very special release of the 2012-2013 SFJAZZ High School All-Stars recording. This incredible double disc features performances from both our Orchestra (directed by Paul Contos) and our incredible Combo (directed by Dann Zinn), including original compositions and arrangements by the band members. Come pick up your copy of the CD at the SFJAZZ Center Box Office - all proceeds go directly to the All-Stars program! (Listen to samples from both CDs on our SoundCloud page here!)

Over the past several years, Larry and Meryl Rafferty have been generously funding these All-Stars recordings. We would like to give our deepest thanks to the Rafferty’s for believing in our gifted musicians and giving them this memorable professional opportunity. These recordings continue to inspire us all and have sparked a wonderful tradition within the All-Stars program. We encourage you to share these recordings with friends, relatives and colleagues, and think you will agree that the future of jazz is in VERY good hands!

-- Rebeca Mauleón

SPOTLIGHT: Pablo Ziegler - Tango Meets Jazz

This week, Resident Artistic Director and violinist Regina Carter presents Argentinian-pianist Pablo Ziegler and his Nuevo Tango Quartet. Ziegler toured and performed with the great tango maestro Astor Piazzolla in the composer’s last working decade. With Piazzolla, Ziegler helped spearhead the contemporary nuevo tango movement, which revitalized the traditional Argentinian music with elements of jazz and classical music.

Since Piazzolla's retirement in 1989, Ziegler has continued to push nuevo tango forward, implementing more and more from the jazz idiom into his own compositions and performances. Ziegler's efforts have certainly not gone unnoticed. His 2005 acclaimed album, Bajo Cero, earned a Latin Grammy Award. Splitting his time between Argentina and the U.S., Ziegler typically headlines the Tango Meets Jazz Festival in New York, where Regina Carter has joined as a featured guest. Carter remarked, “I really love playing with his group. It's very different stylistically for me. I'm not completely out of my element, but it's a challenge for me…and I always like to have a challenge. I always like to try something new.” Evident in Pablo Ziegler's jazzed arrangement of Piazzolla's iconic Libertango (below), both written parts and solos for violin in nuevo tango are indeed no easy task!

The challenge is well worth it, as Ziegler and Carter hone in on common ground between two sounds--between tango and jazz. Carter, speaking on her upcoming SFJAZZ residency, perhaps says it best: “My theme for the week is ‘Continuous Thread.’ We are all connected." As Ziegler and Carter will undoubtedly demonstrate on stage, this thread is as much between music as people.

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The Pablo Ziegler Quartet featuring Regina Carter perform this Friday in Miner Auditorium at the SFJAZZ Center. For more information on Pablo Ziegler and Regina Carter's Residency, visit sfjazz.org.

**The SPOTLIGHT Series probes into the careers and unique, lesser-known aspects of the artists featured at the SFJAZZ Center.