The nominees are:
- Miles Davis, Bootleg Sessions, Vol 1, Quintet Live in Europe 1967 (Columbia Legacy). This album consists of recordings of three European concerts by Miles Davis and his so-called "Gold Quintet," which included Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). Critic Kevin Davis remarked that the album "instantly takes its place in the uppermost echelon of Davis recordings ... as a record that ultimately defines the fundamental essence of who Miles Davis the artist was." Nate Chinen, of the New York Times, added that the album "captures Davis’s finest working band at its apogee, straining at the limits of post-bop refinement." (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
- Julius Hemphill, Dogon A.D. (Mbira/Freedom-International Phonograph). Saxophonist Hemphill's Dogon A.D. was originally released in 1972 and has been called a "historic masterpiece" by reviewer Troy Collins; the New York Times also listed the album as one of the 100 Most Essential Jazz Recordings. As the Free Jazz review notes, "From the very first notes of this album, you know that something special is taking place." (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
- Bill Dixon, Intents and Purposes (RCA Victor-International Phonograph). This album, which reviewer Troy Collins calls "the late trumpet innovator's magnum opus," was originally issued in 1967 and was, according to critic Jason Bivins, "One of the jazz world’s most eagerly awaited reissues in years." JazzLoft notes that "the album withstands categorization" and adds that "Its daring and forthright iconoclasm has substance that outlives much music that was conceived in protest or defiance in the roiling atmosphere of [the free jazz] era." (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
- Roscoe Mitchell, Before There Was Sound (Nessa). This music was recorded a year before saxophonist Mitchell's debut album, Sound, but not released for 46 years. According to critic Peter Margasak, on this album, Mitchell's quartet "was already blazing its own trail. Mitchell and crew experiment with contrast and context (placing garrulous, fast-paced passages next to restrained, austere ones), song forms, and shifting combinations of improvisers (various solos, duos, and trios among the composed themes)." Reviewer John Chacona adds that listening to this historic music is "A bit like discovering a Shakespeare manuscript in his own hand ..." (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
- Jimmie Lunceford, The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (Mosaic). Lunceford is sometimes referred to as "Swing's Forgotten King," and Glen Miller himself once said that "Duke is great, Basie remarkable, but Lunceford tops them both." This seven-CD boxed set features material recorded by Lunceford's band in 1939 and 1940, and as critic Marc Myers notes, "What makes this box special is that you get to hear swing's ascension before Benny Goodman gave it a mass-market spin in 1935 with the help of arranger Fletcher Henderson." (Purchase at Mosaic Records.)
Robert
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