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The ’10s: Best Jazz Releases Of The Decade
In the last decade of his life, Duke Ellington, probably America’s greatest composer, had a resurgence. Jazz, was in turmoil, expanding and contracting at the same time, not unlike a star going supernova. In Ellington’s case, he was reincorporating various musical influences. He returned to the sacred music of his early life, to New Orleans, to the songbook of his musical foil, Billy Strayhorn, after Strayhorn died in 1967. But it is the sacred music that truly reinvigorated what would be the master’s last era.
Looking across the last decade in music is also a bit like a supernova. Industry shifted, collections went digital, and vinyl sales were reignited. Album music returned. And jazz as a genre has had a bountiful renaissance, aided by gifted archival combers like Zev Feldman and Michael Cuscuna, daring label presidents like Don Was at Blue Note and Danny Bennett who was at Universal until last year, and music critics like Nate Chinen and Ben Ratliff. But it is the musicians who have continued to embrace what looked to be a dying star and kept the sound of America full of breath and vigor, much as Ellington did in his final years.
There were several jaw dropping instances of rare musical discoveries this decade. New jazz scenes sprouted, most notably outside of the US in London. There were also a multitude of groundbreaking electronic jazz fusion recordings. This list isn’t as inclusive to all these landmarks as it could be. And in truth, it is a best-of-list in name…
