The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO), led by trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, won a Grammy Award for their CD 'Book One' in the Large Jazz Ensemble category. Terence Blanchard also won a Grammy for Best Improvised Solo, and Buckwheat Zydeco took top Zydeco/Cajun honors for his album 'Lay Your Burden Down'. Congrats to all these great local Grammy winners!
So, off the top of my head, in alphabetical order, here are the 30 jazz discs that I have dug the most from this decade which is now drawing to a close...
Alegria by Wayne Shorter
Amarosa by Rosa Passos
Avatar by Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Beautiful Existence by Joe Morris
Back East by Joshua Redman
Betwixt by Pandelis Karayorgis
Chasin the Gypsy by James Carter
Recently I have received several calls and emails concerning the song "A Closer Walk With Thee" and in particular, which version I prefer.
There are many excellent renditions of this beautiful tune and I will mention just two of my favorites.
