Ah! The Poetry of Music
The Top Ten Jazz Discs for 2001
(Set to Haiku)

By Gene Seymour
SeeingBlack.com Jazz Critic

Dave Holland Quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM)

Rhythm machine rules
Maximum density
Anchored by bass

Jason Moran
Black Stars (Blue Note)

Ghost Dog pianist
Samples the universal
Sam Rivers shouts, "Yes!"

Bill Frisell
Blues Dream (ECM)

Sweet prairie breezes
Guitarist laughs, howls, laments
For what was, will be

The Classical Jazz Quartet
Tchiakovsky's 'The Nutcracker' (Vertical Jazz)

Barron, Nash, Carter
Stephon Harris on vibes swing
Blues for Nut Boy Prince

Don Byron
You Are #6 (Blue Note)

Licorice "shtick" man
Brings wiseguy-boho aggression
For dreaming, dancing

Joe Lovano
Flights of Fancy (Blue Note)

Sun god spirit fire
Courses through saxophones
Propelled by trios

Ted Nash
Sidewalk Meeting (Arabesque)

Reeds & horns & drums
Violin, Accordion
Sing as "Odeon"

Brad Mehldau
Progression: Art of the Trio, Volume 5 (Warner Bros.)

Crystalline chord shifts,
Deconstructed mood swings.
This is a heavy cat.

Henry Threadgill's Zooid
Up Popped the Two Lips (PI Recordings)

A shiny new band
No amps for fresh journeys
To alternate worlds

David Sanchez
Travesia (Sony Columbia)

It's pronounced "Dah-Veed"
Latin jazz and neo-bop
Salsa dance away

-- December 21, 2001

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