Synthesis, growth, and eclecticism: Favorite albums of 2010-2019

Raphael Saadiq’s highly personal 2019 album Jimmy Lee is one of his best and a standout among the decade’s popular music offerings.

Musical revelations do not necessarily emanate from the most mainstream mediums of exposure (radio, YouTube, streaming services) or the underground/indie scenes many music critics and aficionados cherish. This is hard to detect when you review the various lists of the “best albums” of the 2010s published recently by various online sites including Pitchfork, Slate, and Rolling Stone to name a few.  Hip hop (indie and mainstream), indie-rock, and a few select nods to pop, neo-soul, and country/Americana, dominates their lists. Their lists are a blend of various critics’ voices and, arguably, reflect a certain type of hipness geared toward the tastes of their audiences.

2016’s Secular Hymns is an eclectic masterpiece performed by Madeleine Peyroux and her bandmates.

 To my ears, a lot of the most memorable popular music of the last decade is stylistically accessible to open ears but may not be heard beyond a selective audience seeking certain sensations.  The lack of the robust corporate promotion that increasingly defines “pop” music can limit awareness, especially among younger listeners, of some of the most creative and daring music being recorded. Similarly, a fetish for the (seemingly) underground might inhibit youth interest in genres that prize accessibility and entertainment (blues, jazz) even at their most avant-garde. Such is the ever-growing chasm between perceived adult and youth tastes that is the story of contemporary pop culture. Though we know the story is more complicated we’re all involved.

Tillery’s self-titled 2016 album is a superb representation of the diverse talents of this vocal jazz supergroup comprised of Rebecca Martin, Gretchen Parlato, and Becca Stevens.

Below I list my favorite albums from the past decade. You will find vocal jazz, pop, blues, rock, gospel, R&B, and a lot of music that defies categories. I like eclectic singers (Madeleine Peyroux, Lizz Wright) who consciously invert genre boundaries. I appreciate both jazz singers who honor the past (in their own way) and those who experiment with repertoire and arrangements. I enjoy the ways R&B singers add textures constantly to the genre, and express themselves in concept suites. Though digital singles and anthological listening have largely edged out albums and linear, conceptual listening the album form remains a satisfying mode for engaging with artists intimately. I arrange the 50 albums by year and have bolded the titles that stand out most to me. These are original albums, so no compilations or reissues are included. Happy reading and listening as 2020 approaches.

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2010

·       Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B (Freddy Cole)

·       Water (Gregory Porter)

·       Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee (Dee Dee Bridgewater)

·       Inside this Heart of Mine (Catherine Russell)

·       Fellowship (Lizz Wright): Wright blends an impressive range of source material (e.g. Gladys Knight & the Pips, traditional gospel) to profess faith in a contemporary and compelling fashion.

·       Blow Away (Janis Mann): Seattle based indie jazz artist Mann is one of the most subtle and innovative song interpreters; her renditions of standards such as Henry Mancini’s “Moment to Moment” and Irving Berlin’s “I Got Lost in His Arms” are brilliantly modern.

Jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton and her Band offer sublime interpretations of a survey of American music including “O Shenandoah,” “On Broadway,” and various songs from Westside Story.

2011

·       American Road (Tierney Sutton Band): Sutton surveys the American landscape and brings a jazz sensibility to everything from Westside Story songs to “amazing Grace” with aplomb and imagination.

·       Round Midnight (Karrin Allyson): Jazz vocalist Allyson sings and plays piano on this gorgeously downbeat collection of torch ballads that intersperses Simon & Garfunkel’s “April She Will Come” with more established standards (“Send in the Clowns,” the title track)    

·       The Gathering (Diane Schuur): Schuur’s versatility and eclecticism are in full bloom on this spare, creative reimagining of country songs interpreted with the soulful sensibility of Ray Charles and Charlie Rich.

·       Voice of My Beautiful Country (Rene Marie): Marie is a jazz visionary tells a uniquely American story through intimate yet expansive interpretations of varied fare including “Drift Away,” “White Rabbit,” and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”

·       Stone Rollin’ (Raphael Saadiq): Surf guitar, Motown, ‘60s soul, are just some of the elements Saadiq fuses together harmoniously in this delectable stew of moody, soulfully sung, beautifully arranged original songs.

·       So Beautiful or So What (Paul Simon)

·       Steady Love (Maria Muldaur)

On So Beautiful or So What Paul Simon draws on gospel, rock, and a variety of polyrhythms to illuminate his characteristically incisive lyrics.

2012

·       Be Good (Gregory Porter): Two years after establishing himself as a soulful new voice in vocal jazz on Water, Porter grows more introspective on the anthemic “Painted on Canvas,” and tender originals such as “Be Good” and “Real Good Hands,”  and showcases his roots on sturdy interpretations of “God Bless the Child” and Oscar Brown’s “Work Song.”

·       Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone (Me’Shell N’degeocello + various guest vocalists): N’degeocello, in collaboration with Toshi Reagon, Lizz Wright, Sinead O’Connor, and Valerie June, revisit Simone’s formidable songbook with refreshing takes on classics “Please Don’t Let Me Be Understood,” “Four Women,” and “See Line Woman” that maintain their melodic integrity but refine their mood, texture, and tempo for contemporary ears.

·       The Mosaic Project (Terri Lynne Carrington featuring various artists)

Bilal’s love of Prince style rock and funk, plus his background in jazz come together beautifully on 2013’s A Love Surreal.

2013

·       WomanChild (Cecile McLorin Salvant)

·       Same Trailer, Different Park (Kacey Musgraves)

·       The Electric Lady (Janelle Monae)

·       A Love Surreal (Bilal)

·       After Blue (Tierney Sutton Band)

·       Songbook (Allen Toussaint): The composer, pianist, arranger, and vocalist summed up his influential career on this highly entertaining concert recorded at New York’s Joe’s Pub. In addition to showcasing classics like “It’s Raining,” “With You in Mind” and a hits medley, he delivers the stunning 13 minute meditation on his childhood on an extended version of “Southern Nights.”

·       Celestial Anomaly (Janis Mann)

·       Liquid Spirit (Gregory Porter)

2010s All-Star: Brittany Howard makes three appearances on my list for her contributions to the Alabama Shakes’s Sound & Color, Thunderbitch’s self-titled album, and as a soloist on 2019’s Jaime.

2014

·       Paris Sessions (Tierney Sutton Band)

·       Bring it Back (Catherine Russell)

·       In the Lonely Hour (Sam Smith)

Country legend Tanya Tucker staked her claim on 2019’s While I’m Livin’ highlighted by her composition “Bring My Flowers Now.”

2015

·       Just You, Just Me (Karen Marguth)

·       Pageant Material (Kacey Musgraves): Musgrave’s is the most original new voice in country music in many years and here she centers her iconoclasm with considerable wit, intelligence, and tenderness.  

·       Son Little (Son Little): Philadelphia’s Aaron Earl Livingston merges the sensuality and humor of the electric blues with contemporary R&B, hop-hop, and pop touches in a forward-thinking, unpredictable manner that defies easy classification.   

·       Sound & Color (Alabama Shakes)

·       The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern (Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap)

·       Thunderbitch (Thunderbitch)

Catherine Russell is arguably America’s premiere interpreter of swing jazz and classic blues, and she is well-represented on the list by 2010’s Inside this Heart of Mine, 2014’s Bring It Back, and 2016’s Harlem in My Mind.

2016

·       Secular Hymns (Madeleine Peyroux): Peyroux and her band take listeners on a soulful stylistic sojourn through the works of Allen Toussaint, Tom Waits, Stephen Foster, and other masters, with a fearless glee resulting in a funky, spiritual, and innovative work of interpretive vocal art.

·       Harlem on My Mind (Catherine Russell)

·       Sting Variations (Tierney Sutton Band)

·       Tillery (Tillery)

Philadelphia based singer and writer Son Little offers fresh takes on modern blues and R&B on 2017’s New Magic, which is featured on my list alongside his 2015 eponymous debut.

2017

·       A Social Call (Jazzmeia Horn): Horn delivered on the promise of her 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition wins on this stunning debut set which bridges Betty Carter style bop with relevant social commentary (a music and poetry medley on African-American resilience), and love songs from jazz and 70s R&B.

·       New Magic (Son Little)

·       Ballads (Paula Cole)

·       Memphis…Yes I’m Ready (Dee Dee Bridgewater)

·       Grace (Lizz Wright)

·       Petite Afrique (Somi): Born to parents of Rwandan and Ugandan heritage, vocalist and composer Somi explores daily navigations of urban life as a woman of African descent in an increasingly gentrifying New York using elements drawn from jazz, singer-songwriter music and R&B on stunningly astute songs like “Black Enough” and “The Gentry.”

In 2018 Mariah Carey released one of her most focused and entertaining albums, Caution.

2018

·       Anthem (Madeleine Peyroux)

·       Caution (Mariah Carey)

·       Don’t You Feel My Leg: The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blu Lu Barker (Maria Muldaur)

2019

·       While I’m Livin’ (Tanya Tucker)

·       Threads (Sheryl Crow)

·       Jimmy Lee (Raphael Saadiq): After decades as one of pop music’s most versatile and skilled writers, producers, and stylistic chameleons, Saadiq makes his most personal and political album, a haunting, melodic meditation on his deceased brother’s black life that reflects more broadly on the conditions that have shaped many lives impacted by addiction, incarceration and death.

·       Jaime (Brittany Howard)

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Please enjoy this playlist of selections from 19 of the 20 bolded albums to get a taste of the best the decade has to offer: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/18PIPdxwCtM7kLRl0EqizQ?si=Dwhm-c2CRPGkNGrcrQrWiQ

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