As you may already know, this is the year where YOU are the Time Person of the Year (I recently heard someone say that he's just waiting for the first person to use it on their resume..."2006 Time Person of the Year").  I don't do "best of" columns if I can help it.  For one, I've been so busy during the past year that my listening to recorded jazz (or anything else) has been too limited to give any of the great music released this year anything approaching justice.  But I can point you to others, can't I?  Check out what others are saying.  Here's a few choices:

• The Best Jazz Albums of 2006: Time and tide wait for no man, except maybe jazz musicians, by Fred Kaplan on Slate.com.
• A podcast of an on air review of the Best of the Year in Jazz, brought to you through NPR Radio from NYC's WBGO on air hosts Gary Walker, Rhonda Hamilton & Michael Bourne.
• C. Michael Bailey's Best Recordings of 2006 (and some from 2005) from AllAboutJazz.com.
• The Top 25 jazz albums of 2006 from the writers on JazzUSA.com.
• The 2006 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards Winners on Jazzhouse.org.

These are just a few.  As Mr. Bailey points out at the beginning of his column he decided to do it before the end of the year this year, which implies that many others wait until after the turning of the new year before putting out their lists.  I'll keep a watch out and report on it here after January 1st. 

While there are some great ones on these lists, I'm sure that you may have some different ideas. I'd like to hear about YOUR top new jazz recordings for 2006.  Just leave a comment to this post.  I look forward to hearing from you.    

The New Year is upon us and there is some jazz out there for your holiday partying!  Hoist a glass of bubbly for us here at Jazz@Rochester.  If I missed any New Years Eve jazz out there (my listings are courtesy of the City Newspaper) let me know and I'll get it in a post if I can:

Thursday, December 28

Alex Collins The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Deborah L Branch & Harold Pannell Flat Iron Café, 561 State St, 454-4830, 8-11 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Lumiere Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 8 p.m., free

Friday, December 29

Bill Dobbins/Mike Kaupa The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 9:30 p.m., free

Bob Sneider/Paul Hofmann Jazz happy hour The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Big Band Clarissa Room, 293 Clarissa St, 325-5350, 9 p.m., free

Roger Eckers Quartet w/Kimberly Wescott River's Edge Restaurant, 31 Paul Rd, 235-3630, 6:30-9:30 p.m., free

Whitney Marchelle Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 8:30 p.m., free

Saturday, December 30

Chris Ziemba The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5-8:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Eastman Jazz Students Jack Lavere's, 682 Park Ave, 244-4060, call for time, free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Sean Jefferson Flat Iron Café, 561 State St, 454-4830, 5 p.m., $5

Sonny Miles & Smiles Organ Trio Café Underground Railroad, 480 W Main St, 235-3550, 9 p.m., free

Sunday, December 31

Bill Slater Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 9:30 p.m., free

Downstairs Cabaret Members Downstairs Cabaret Theatre Two, 172 W Main St, 325-4370, 10:30 p.m., $40

Monday, January 1

Penfield Rotary Big Band Penfield Community Center Gym, Baird Rd, Penfield, 340-8655, 7:30 p.m., $1

Tuesday, January 2

Not only no jazz, but no music listings at all!

Wednesday, January 3

Trio East Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Jazz Jam Open Mic Daily Perks Coffee House, 389 Gregory St, 271-2340, 9-11 p.m., free

It seems customary on many of the blogs I monitor to use this holiday period prior to the New Year as an opportunity to ruminate on the site's year and its future in the coming year.  Might as well join in as it gives me a chance to use bullet points (oh joy, oh joy....!!!). 

So this will be the first of my musings on 2006 and the upcoming year.  It's a mix of good and bad, followed by some resolutions that I swear I'll try to implement (but some of which will go the way of many New Year resolutions):

• Well, first out of the box is that this was the year that I took the plunge and rebranded this blog to its own domain and new blogging platform.  My prior endeavor can be found here (it is still up as there is a lot of content there that I'd rather not move for now, or at least until there is a good tool for importing Wordpress blogs into Typepad).  These mainly technological changes have had a substantial effect.
• This year has seen some major growth in the statistics on this blog.  While the overall numbers are not impressive in the sense that I might make some money off it , which is understandable given its limited scope both geographically and subject matter-wise, the amount of growth this year over my first is really heartening. In 2005 (from April on), I had a total of 641 unique visitors.  As of the end of November of 2006, I have logged almost 2,700.  In 2005, I had a total of 113 returning visitors to the site; this year it has grown to over 600.  A few of you are even adding the blog to your feed readers or receiving email updates.  The rebranding has created an even faster growing audience.
• One of the most gratifying things about editing this blog is that it is resulted in me meeting a number of people with whom I likely never would have crossed paths. You can see these connections made in 2006 all over this and the earlier incarnation of this blog, like here, here and here. I've met a number of local jazz artists as well. 
   
• My wife and I started our own business late last year and the work on that business,  D.S. Leach Consulting, Inc., as well as with our company's new relationship with Windsor Media Enterprises and WME Books and the blogging I'm doing on two blogs associated with that company (WME Blogs and A-ha: Authors Helping Authors) has been a substantial drain on my resources.  Not to mention that this is done on top of "day" job. 
  
• I have a lot of ideas about how to promote live jazz music here in Rochester. My dilemma to date is that to implement many of them I'd either need to be independently wealthy (which I assure you I am not) or have a lot more time to devote to it than I do now.  I'll at least try to outline these ideas here in these pages going forward. 
• One of the unique things about a blog is that it is social software. It is intended to create a conversation and works best when that conversation is full and lively. I wish there were more comments coming in.  However, I recognize that it is also due to the type of posts and my writing, so I'll try some posts that "troll" a bit to see if anyone out there wants to join the conversation.
• While I've heard a LOT of live jazz this year, I missed some artists who I really wanted to hear.  I need to remedy that.

There is a lot of exciting stuff happening in my life recently and this blog has been an integral part in preparing me for it. I still enjoy it and will continue to write it and try to improve it.  OK, that's enough for now.  I've still got a few days to ruminate.  Hope you all had/are having a wonderful holiday season!

Twas the week before and after Christmas and Hanukkah, and all through Rochester, New York, some jazz was stirrin.... (OK, I admit it's pretty lame, but I'm in a hurry to get these listings from the City Newspaper out to you so I can finish my shopping):

Thursday, December 21

Alex Collins The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Deborah L Branch Flat Iron Café, 561 State St, 454-4830, 8-11 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Lumiere Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 8 p.m., free

Mike Cottone & Chris Ziembia Beale Street Café, 689 South Ave, 271-4650, 7 p.m., free

Friday, December 22

Bill Dobbins/Mike Kaupa The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 9:30 p.m., free

Bob Sneider/Paul Hofmann Jazz happy hour The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Roger Eckers Quartet w/Kimberly Wescott River's Edge Restaurant, 31 Paul Rd, 235-3630, 6:30-9:30 p.m., free

Whitney Marchelle Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 8:30 p.m., free

Saturday, December 23

Bill Slater Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 2:30 & 5 p.m., free

Chris Ziemba The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5-8:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Eastman Jazz Students Jack Lavere's, 682 Park Ave, 244-4060, 10 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele'sBrookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Sonny Miles & Smiles Organ Trio Café Underground Railroad, 480 W Main St, 235-3550, 9 p.m., free

Whitney Marchelle Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Sunday, December 24

Open Jazz Jam Clarissa Room, 293 Clarissa St, 325-5350, 7:30 p.m., free

Monday, December 25

Merry Christmas!

Bill Slater Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 2:30 & 5 p.m., free

Tuesday, December 26

Steve Piper & Maggie Herman Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Wednesday, December 27

The Fred Costello Jazz Accordion Project Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Jazz Jam Open Mic Daily Perks Coffee House, 389 Gregory St, 271-2340, 9-11 p.m., free

Ran across a wiki called Ear of the Behearer (get it?) recently that focuses on the jazz recorded in the 70s and 80s, which has been poo-poohed for years by jazz snobs due to the fact some of it resembled the other music pablum (remember Afternoon Delight?) that was foisted on us in that era. As set out on the front page of the site:

A few months ago, a frantic series of postings in the jazz blog world ricocheted around, triggered by the realization that enough time has passed since the 70s and 80s that it's now possible to reappraise the music made in that era. Rather than wait for some yet-to-be-born musicologist to do the job, the suggestion was made that a resource be created so that the musicians and listeners most affected and influenced by this post-Vietnam music will be able to have a common place to catalog, discuss, and debate.

The creators of Behearer are trying to create a database "documenting and discussing one of the richest—most overlooked and underrated—eras." Visitors to the site are asked to check it out, fix the errors (like Wikipedia you can edit it) and fill in gaps in the information on the sites. I am always in favor of expanding the horizons of listening and using the new social media tools like wikis in a new way to do so is pretty cool. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Pulled out the holiday jazz CDs today.  As me and my gal will be in different places at Christmas, the spirit is having a bit of trouble getting in gear.  Here are your listings for live jazz here in Roch as we shop and party our way through the holiday season, courtesy of City Newspaper:

Thursday, December 14

Alex Collins The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Deborah L Branch Flat Iron Café, 561 State St, 454-4830, 8-11 p.m., free

Freddy Colon Jazz Quartet House Of Guitars, 645 Titus Ave, 544-9928, 6-9 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Lumiere CD release party Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Mike Cottone & Chris Ziembia Beale St Café, 689 South Ave, 271-4650, 7 p.m., free

Friday, December 15

Bob Sneider/Paul Hofmann Jazz happy hour The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Bob Sneider w/ Harry Allen The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave. 461-5010, 8:30 p.m., free (Highlight)

Freddy Colon & The Latin Jazz Quartet Clarissa Room, 293 Clarissa St, 325-5350, 9 p.m., free

Rich Holland's Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Roger Eckers Quartet w/Kimberly Wescott River's Edge Restaurant, 31 Paul Rd, 235-3630, 6:30-9:30 p.m., free

Squeaky Chair Jazz Band Starry Nites Café, 696 University Ave, 271-2630, 8 p.m., free

Whitney Marchelle Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 8:30 p.m., free

Saturday, December 16

Bob Sneider w/Harry Allen The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave. 461-5010, 8:30 p.m., free

Chris Ziemba The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5-8:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Free Jazz Trio w/Ben Britton Starry Nites Café, 696 University Ave, 271-2630, 8 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Sonny Miles & Smiles Organ Trio Café Underground Railroad, 480 W Main St, 235-3550, 9 p.m., free

Sunday, December 17

Bill Slater Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 2:30 p.m., free

Joe Santoro & Emily Kirchoff, Jay Stetzer Borders Books & Music, 30 Square Dr, Victor, 421-9230, 2 p.m., free

Open Jazz Jam Clarissa Room, 293 Clarissa St, 325-5350, 7:30 p.m., free

Monday, December 18

The White Hots Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Tuesday, December 19

Respect Sextet Bop Shop Atrium, 274 N Goodman St, 271-3354, 8 p.m., free

Steve Piper & Maggie Herman Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Wednesday, December 20

The Fred Costello Jazz Accordion Project Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Jazz Jam Open Mic Daily Perks Coffee House, 389 Gregory St, 271-2340, 9-11 p.m., free

Joe Locke, who hails from Rochester and wowed the crowd at Montage Grille with a smokin set at this year's Rochester International Jazz Festival, brought his A-game in on Thursday, December 7th, in another jazz show at Water Street Music Hall with pianist Geoffrey Keezer, Rueben Rogers on bass and Terreon Gully on drums. This was one of those shows that you just sit while the artists trade solos and marvel at just how good they are.  Keezer, who played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at the tender age of 17 and has played with a lot of other jazz legends, played his piano and keyboard (sometimes simultaneously) with incredible speed, inspired comping that highlighted the soloist's playing without coloring it, and a shimmering tone (that may have had more to do with the way it was mic'd).  Gully alternated between quiet finesse and sheer power with ease.  Another in a long line of incredible drummers that have passed through Rochester in the past few years.  Rueben Rogers's bass, both electric and standup, kept the whole outfit in drive.  And then there was Locke, with a manic manner in attacking the vibes, sometimes looking like he was playing Whack-A-Mole, jumping and jiving, but showing why he is considered the best jazz vibraphonist out there.  It was just a great night of music.

I also had a few other chance meetings that made the night special.  I was able to meet up with Tom Marcello, Locke's manager and friend since they were in their teens in Rochester and commented recently on this blog.  I also shared my table with Paul (didn't get your last name), an older gentleman who was a hoot to spend some time with.  He had some memories of going to see  jazz at the Pythodd and other long gone places in Rochester's rather rich history of jazz.  I also had a chance to meet Derrick Lucas whose Spectrum show at WGMC I've caught a few times, but found that he also has studied Rochester's jazz history.  Good night all around.

The first of the jazz New Year celebrations has arrived in the Jazz@Rochester inbox.  Saxman Jimmy Highsmith Jr. is inviting everyone to come celebrate New Years Eve with him and his band for an evening of smooth jazz, gospel and moving spoken word at the Julius Café. The Café will be serving dinner and breakfast buffet. The Julius Café is located in the 19th Ward at 543 Thurston Rd, Rochester, NY 14619. The party starts at 9:00pm and will go until 1:00am. Price is $20 per person, plus the first 20 couples will receive a free bottle of sparkling cider. For more info call (585) 279-9285. This is the first, I'll post more as I run across them.  If you know of other jazz-oriented New Year's Eve celebration, please let me know via email link on the left panel.

If you can hear it over the jingle bells, there is some great jazz out there over the next 7 days.  Here are your listings courtesy of the City Newspaper:

Thursday, December 7

Alex Collins The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

The David Bromberg and the Angel Band The German House Theatre, 315 Gregory Street, 232-1900, 8 p.m., $35-$40

Deborah L Branch Flat Iron Café, 561 State St, 454-4830, 8-11 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Joe Locke w/Geoffrey Keezer Water Street Music Hall, 204 N Water St, 325-5600, 7 p.m., $20-$25 (Highlight)

Lumiere Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Mike Cottone & Chris Ziembia Beale St Café, 689 South Avenue, 271-4650, 7 p.m., free

Standard Jazz Band Starry Nites Café, 696 University Ave, 271-2630, 8 p.m., free

Friday, December 8

Bill Dobbins/Mike Kaupa The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 9:30 p.m., free

Bill Welch Band ImmanuelBaptistChurch, 815 Park Ave, 425-8166, 8 p.m., free

Bob Sneider/Paul Hofmann Jazz happy hour The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Jazz Dawgs Starry Nites Café, 696 University Ave, 271-2630, 8 p.m., free

Roger Eckers Quartet w/Kimberly Wescott River's Edge Restaurant, 31 Paul Rd, 235-3630, 6:30-9:30 p.m., free

Saturday, December 9

Chris Ziemba The Grill at Strathallan, 550 East Ave, 461-5010, 5-8:30 p.m., free

Danny "Knuckles" Sullivan Tournedo's, The Inn On Broadway, 26 Broadway, 269-3888, 9 p.m., free

Fred Costello Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 723-9988, 6-9 p.m., free

Gap Mangione New Blues Band Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 7:30 p.m., free

Sonny Miles & Smiles Organ Trio Café Underground Railroad, 480 W Main St, 235-3550, 9 p.m., free

Whitney Marchelle Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 8:30 p.m., free

Sunday, December 10

Bill Slater Horizons @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 199 Woodcliff Dr, 248-4825, 2:30 p.m., free

Open Jazz Jam Clarissa Room, 293 Clarissa St, 325-5350, 7:30 p.m., free

Monday, December 11

The White Hots CD release party Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Tuesday, December 12

Steve Piper & Maggie Herman Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

The Fred Costello Jazz Accordion Project Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Jazz Jam Open Mic Daily Perks Coffee House, 389 Gregory St, 271-2340, 9-11 p.m., free

Wednesday, December 13

The Fred Costello Jazz Accordion Project Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave, 258-0412, 7:30 p.m., free

Based on some feedback, local 24/7 jazz radio station WGMC Jazz 90.1 has developed a new overnight program called Jazz Horizons, through which they hope to introduce younger listeners in the 18-25 age group to the new jazz being recorded today. As they set out in their announcement on the Yahoo Jazz List that the station maintains, "Listeners will be treated to new "edgier" jazz selections by artists such as Nomo, The Bamboos, Christian McBride and Ben Allison" interspersed with classic jazz tracks that have always been part of their mix. Give it a listen from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily (even if you, like me, are quite a way outside of that age group).

I thought I'd highlight the jazz at the Little Theatres as it is always good.  One of my favorite Rochester groups, the Margaret Explosion (there's a great write up of them in City News), have had a longstanding gig at the Little.  Whether you're just passing through on the way to see a movie or stopping in for a glass of wine or dessert you'll always hear something good.  Here's the line up for the month of December:

• Sundays 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.—The Paella Trio
• Mondays 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.—The White Hots
• Tuesdays 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.—Steven Piper & Maggie Herman
• Wednesdays 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.—The Fred Costello Jazz Accordion Project
• Thursdays 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.—Lumiere
• Fridays 8:30 - 10:30 p.m.—Chuck Bianchi & Jerry Preston
• Saturdays 8:30 - 10:30 p.m.—Whitney Marchelle