RECENTLY AT BURNING AMBULANCE

There was a bunch of content posted at BurningAmbulance.com during December, and the beginning of January. Here's the rundown:

Nov. 30: Luis Lopes' Humanization 4tet, Electricity
Dec. 1: Endless Boogie, Full House Head
Dec. 3: Ivo Perelman, Mind Games/The Stream of Life
Dec. 8: Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday
Dec. 13: Knut, Wonder
Dec. 14: Thomas Köner, Knut•Teimo•Permafrost

Dec. 15: our third issue came out, with stories on Anthony Braxton, Jon Irabagon, David Weiss, the Moritz von Oswald Trio, 1960s Hollywood, and composing for orchestra, and an excerpt from Jeff Wagner's book on progressive metal, Mean Deviation. Buy it!
Dec. 16: Seijaku, Mail from Fushitsusha/You Should Prepare to Survive Through Even Anything Happens
Dec. 18: a tribute to Captain Beefheart
Dec. 21: Henry Threadgill Zooid, This Brings Us To, Volume II
Dec. 22: Miles Davis live circa 1982 (video)
Jan. 3: Rodrigo Amado, Searching for Adam
Jan. 4: Kings Destroy, And the Rest Will Surely Perish
Jan. 5: Diddy-Dirty Money, Last Train to Paris
Jan. 7: Rich Halley Quartet Featuring Bobby Bradford, Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival

13 EXCELLENT 2010 JAZZ RELEASES

Hank Shteamer, a writer I know, posted a list of 10 jazz releases he felt were making 2010 a particularly good year for the music, along with a bunch of honorable mentions. I agree with a bunch of his choices, but the year has in fact been so strong that I've got a list of 13 of my own, which doesn't overlap with his primary 10 at all. (A couple of his honorable mentions make my list, though.)

Here we go:

Carlos Bica, Carlos Bica + Matéria-Prima (Clean Feed)
Regina Carter, Reverse Thread (E1)
Decoy, Vol. 1: Spirit/Vol. 2: The Deep (Bo’Weavil)
Marc Edwards/Weasel Walter Group, Blood of the Earth (ugEXPLODE)
Amir ElSaffar/Hafez Modirzadeh, Radif Suite (Pi)
Fight the Big Bull, All is Gladness in the Kingdom (Clean Feed)
John Hébert Trio, Spiritual Lover (Clean Feed)
Dave Holland Octet, Pathways (Dare2)
Lawnmower, West (Clean Feed)
Earl MacDonald, Re:Visions – Works for Jazz Orchestra (Death Defying)
Dan Pratt Organ Quartet, Toe the Line (Posi-Tone)
David Weiss & Point of Departure, Snuck In (Sunnyside)