Also this issue:

The Top 20 rock/pop/hip-hop CDs of 2002
Rounding out the Top 50...
-Sam Adams, A.D. Amorosi, Nate Chinen, Juliet Fletcher, Brian Howard, Maura Johnston, Hamida Kinge, Andrew Parks, Nicole Pensiero, Patrick Rapa and John Vettese

Best (Underrated) Roots 2002
-Mary Armstrong

Top 10 Classical 2002
-Peter Burwasser

DJ Nights
-Sean O'Neal

Beat Box
-Ainè Ardron-Doley

January 2- 8, 2003

music

Top 10 Jazz 2002

Footprints Live!

by Nate Chinen

Is it any surprise that last year's best touring band turned out this year's best live album? Jazz's mad scientist returns to earth with an ensemble -- pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade -- that meets his inscrutable brilliance with edge-of-the-seat support. This is what happens when experience meets enthusiasm: a living continuum of jazz's best properties and finest components.

Bristling with rhythmic tensions and intricate polyphonies, Berne's electro-acoustic quartet takes a mind-bending trip through the jazz-rock jungle. The alto saxophonist has never crafted an album sharper or more tightly reined, and his cohorts (drummer Tom Rainey, guitarist Marc Ducret and especially Fender Rhodes scholar Craig Taborn) have never sounded more intense.

Jazz's piano trio par excellence takes another gander at freeform improvisation, and this time they sound the part. Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette are variously introspective or ecstatic; what never falters is their intensity, intuition or collective finesse.

The debut of Hill's experimental big band was a revelation, and while this album only begins to chronicle those performances, it's still rewarding stuff, a tapestry of fluttering colors. Ultimately, this record satisfies in a way that Dave Holland's precision-balanced What Goes Around (ECM) couldn't.

The poles of jazz and experimental rock have never cohabited more tunefully than they do here. Black's aesthetic is as melodic as it is textural; erstwhile free-improv with a modern Icelandic tinge.

The alto saxophonist may seem like a would-be cult leader, but the music he creates here is as digable as it is deep. Thank pianist Jason Moran (whose solo Blue Note disc, Modernistic, barely missed this list) for keeping the heady proceedings rooted in solid earth.

John Hollenbeck's multilayered ensemble rewards patience but demands little more than an ear. This is chamber jazz of the drop-dead gorgeous variety: undulating, many-splendored, unique.

As a key player in Steve Coleman's M-BASE stable, Alessi knows the secret of abstract groove. He employs it here in the service of a quintet session co-fronted by clarinetist Don Byron and guitarist David Gilmore (and featuring a guest turn by the aforementioned Moran). This one goes down smooth without losing its sharp edges.

Another M-BASE disciple, bassist Anthony Tidd, applies the slippery aesthetic to a tight and often deeply satisfying jazz-meets-hip-hop joint. Lyrically, the results sometimes fall short, but the music couldn't be stronger (particularly in the case of saxophonists Aaron Stewart and Miguel Zenín).

The Chilean vocalist proved her mettle on this sophomore CD, which effectively spans the gulf between sophisticated vocal jazz, earthen world music and high-gloss pop. Acu–a's musicianship runs deep, her accompaniment lacks for nothing and her steps here show that there's vision behind the voice.