another thrill packed year. . .

[zeebras]

... has come and gone. some real highs and lows in there. 2008 was a tough one for the music scene, losing, among others, freddie hubbard, delaney bramlett, bo diddley, lars holmer, jimmy carl black and others. the britney spears and other "celebrities" continue to churn out sleezoid/cheezoid manufactured sounds while real music languishes, for the most part, on the sidelines, heard only by a dedicated few (like us folks here!)
but it wasn't all bad. some great cds made it into this household, some being:
sun ra - disco 3000
john cale - circus live
nik bartsch's ronin - holon ( a new discovery for me )
henry cow - stockholm & gotenborg (vol 6 of the upcoming 9 cd/1 dvd box set coming soon. this disc was an early teaser, and if the rest of the box is like this, i'm going to be needing a change of underwear.)
dave holland quintet - extended play.
my personal highpoint of 2008 was the closing concert of the 25th edition of the festival internationale de musique actuelle de victoriaville (or fimav as it's affectionately known)). the festival organiser had wanted to present a concert by the art bears, but dagmar was unable to participate, so instead we were presented with a concert by "art bears songbook", a group featuring chris cutler, fred frith, zeena parkins,and filling in for dagmar, carla kihlstedt on violin and vocals, and kristin slipp and jewlia eisenberg on vocals,  performing songs from the three art bears albums. going into this concert, people knew that this was going to be something pretty special and it was, spectacularily so. emotions were running high both on the stage and in the audience, and while i was listening to and watching this amazing performance, i was struck by just how much this music and the music of  other related groups has meant to me and continues to nurture me and see me through the ups and downs of life. it was quite a show, and word has it that chris cutler made a multi track recording of the concert, so hopefully it will be released. you can read a review and see some photos of the concert by our hometown pal john kelman at www.allaboutjazz.com
hopefully 2009 will see some real change for the better. i've got my fingers crossed.

[Max_Gate]

Zeebras, I envy your access to concerts. In New Zealand we see few quality jazz performers. Promoters concentrate on mainstream poppers like Elton John, who lumbers through with monotonous regularity, and the latest hip hop nonentity. Then again, even if the venue was down the street (which it isn't) I'd feel excluded.

Speaking of exclusions, for me the musical absences of 2009 were Esbjorn Svensson (he really should have tied himself to the mast, thwarting the call of the sirens) and, as you note, the liquid Freddie Hubbard. When he played I saw the oceans on fire.

[theallgolden]

yes, zeebras the year wasn't all bad.

i am still a bit sad that i wasn't in frankfurt at the jazzfestival, but i really had a few concert highlights like p j harvey performing solo or seeing old sonny rollins still 'rolling'.

listening to a band ( or just a kind of project, no, just a family playing music) called big blood ( http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... =139053583 ) , which i just discovered this year ( and their forerunner band cerberus shoal, too), was always pleasure. just listen to the cover of  can's'vitamin c'. magic, weird and btw i like it more than the original....

leucocyte of e.s.t. is a real highlight of the year. but i mentioned this in another topic, so i won't repeat myself.

i listened today to delaney and bonnie's album 'motel shot'. the opening song  'where the soul never dies' puts a little tear in my eyes.

To Canaan's land I'm on my way
Where the soul (of man) never dies
My darkness night will turn to day
Where the soul (of man) never dies