Infernal Machines Is One Of The New York Observer’s 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2009

Resident jazz critic Devin Leonard includes Darcy James Argue’s Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam) on his 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2009 list in today’s New York Observer.

“As the name of his nu big band suggests” Leonard writes, “the composer-bandleader-blogger Darcy James Argue sees himself as an artistic insurgent. He is a former student of trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, celebrated for his work as an arranger who broke new ground as an arranger for the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in the sixties and seventies. But Infernal Machines also draws on the minimalism of Steve Reich and the apocalyptic rock and roll of Radiohead. This is also music with a message, a decidedly leftist one. What else would you expect from a Canadian jazz man resettled in Carroll Gardens?”

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Destination:Out’s Fave Jazz Jamz Of 2009

It is our pleasure to report that Darcy James Argue’s Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam), Bill Dixon’s Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12 Records), Darius Jones’ Man’ish Boy (AUM Fidelity) and David S. Ware’s Shakti (AUM Fidelity) account for four of the ten recordings included in Destination:Out’s Fave Jazz Jamz of 2009.

Three other AUM Fidelity releases, Cleaver/Parker/Taborn’s Farmers By Nature, Morris/Cancura/Gray’s Wildlife and the Joe Morris Quartet’s Today On Earth, were also mentioned in this post, which features an exclusive download from Jones’ Man’ish Boy.

New York Times Jazz Critics Name The Mary Halvorson Trio’s Dragon’s Head One Of The Year’s Best

The New York Times‘ Nate Chinen and Ben Ratliff both included the Mary Halvorson Trio’s Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12) on their lists of the year’s ten best recordings in the paper’s annual year-end round-up issue on Sunday.

In his feature article on Ms. Halvorson earlier in the year, Chinen called the disc “one of the more original recent statements by any jazz guitarist, let alone a female jazz guitarist.”

Ratliff adds, Dragon’s Head “has the power of a manifesto and the self-assurance that comes with smart composition and arrangement. Best of all: this is a group with its own compound personality.”