It was a rich year, for jazz and for OndaRock's look at jazz. Known above all for its articles in the pop and rock fields, in 2023 our magazine further strengthened its proposal in the jazz field. The interest in the sector of a growing number of editors has helped to broaden the range of in-depth styles and artists, and develop an increasingly recognizable slant. OndaRock's perspective now places names at the center of the attention of “jazzophiles” alongside artists with a more hybrid character, often also linked to areas such as electronics, rock, hip-hop, traditional and avant-garde music.
Aware of not being able to get to all the most prominent releases with the same timeliness as specialized magazines, we are satisfied with our bet on a broadened horizon, capable of both looking beyond the “usual suspects” for those who follow the trend and of arousing curiosity about jazz sounds even for listeners linked to other genres.
The playlist we attach is intended to be a non-definitive summary of OndaRock's jazz year. A summary of the best we managed to do (and find!), and which we hope to expand as soon as possible with a further article dedicated to the many exciting titles that we were unable to cover by the New Year celebrations.
In the selection we meet some of the names and labels that are currently most in the spotlight in the field (the Irreversible Entanglements now settled on Impulse!, Steve Lehman for Pi Recordings, the Fire! Orchestra on Rune Grammofon, Alabaster DePlume and Jaimie Branch's posthumous album on International Anthem), now classic figures (Matthew Shipp and William Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Matana Roberts, Rob Mazurek, James Brandon Lewis, the Necks, Colin Stetson, Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society), but also musicians from a non-jazz background who over the years have approached – some even very recently – the trend (André 3000 of Outkast, Meshell Ndegeocello, Desire Marea).
There are also numerous choices in the field of nu jazz, which OndaRock has been following with enthusiasm for some time: Yussef Dayes, Joe Armon-Jones, the supergroup London Brew, the Polish/Pakistani meeting of EABS and Jaubi, the return of the Hidden Orchestra, the progressive formula of the Belgians John Ghost.
Also unmissable is Monika Roscher's volcanic big band, positioned in sixth place in the general ranking of the most loved records of the year by the OndaRock editorial staff – a double sign: of the pervasiveness of the interest in the frontiers of jazz on the part of the editors and of the activity that characterizes similar border territories in recent years, sometimes unfortunately neglected by the most orthodox enthusiasts, both in the pop and jazz fields.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
