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I've been a subscriber to the music download store eMusic since 2003. In those early days, they offered unlimited downloads for a monthly fee of 9.99 (dollars or euros). That model wasn't working out for them, so they changed it to 40 downloads per month. Eventually they raised the fee. However, early subscribers who never changed their subscription plan were grandfathered in on the earlier terms. So I now pay 9.99 euros/month for 40 downloads. Their standard per-track fee is 49 cents, so I get those 40 for about half-price. In addition you can buy "boosters" to buy additional tracks, and the bigger the booster the more they give you a discount per track.

Emusic is my main source of music now. They don't do major labels, at least not in Europe--they started to in the US, not sure if that's still the case. My monthly eMusic fix has led me to conclude that jazz is far from dead.

So I'm starting this thread to discuss what I'm getting and how I like what i get. Rather than say "here's what I got," I'll start with what I'm planning to get the next time my monthly period ticks over. Currently, that's April 6, 2015.

Here are some of the CDs I'm considering getting:

Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter One

I haven't listened to Roberts much but her "Coin Coin" series--now up to Chapter 3 and apparently planned to go up to Chapter 12--has gotten a lot of ink. I figure I'll start at the beginning.

Ben Wolfe, The Whisperer

Straight-ahead. I like the kind of big, fat bass that Wolfe provides. This is a quartet with Orrin Evans, Stacy Dillard and Donald Edwards.

Mario Pavone, Blue Dialect

The Italian bassist in a trio with Matt Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey.

George Colligan & Theoretical Planets, Risky Notions

Colligan is known for playing piano with Jack DeJohnette and many other stars, as well as with his own groups. He's a multi-instrumentalist, also playing trumpet and drums. On this CD he's on drums, with two saxophones and bass. Looks like fun.

Jean-Michel Pilc, What Is This Thing Called

Short solo piano pieces more or less loosely based on "What Is This Thing Called Love."

Mulgrew Miller, Wingspan

A classic, with Kenny Garrett. I used to have it on LP but never got the CD.

Lewis Nash, Stompin’ at the Savoy

This is a trio, where the blue-chip drummer is accompanied by Steve Nelson on vibes and Peter Washington on bass (Washington and Nash were two-thirds of Tommy Flanagan's last trio). It was a Japanese release in 2006.

Frank Basile, Modern Inventions

Basile is the regular baritone player for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (although, last I looked, not the titular one--Gary Smulyan has that honor). I heard some of this via streaming--excellent bebop. Baritone, tenor, trumpet and rhythm section. The tenor player is Alex Hoffman, who was pilloried a few years back for dissing Wayne Shorter publicly. Despite that comportment error, Hoffman can really play. Just saying.

Steve Wilson & Wilsonian’s Grain, Live in New York: The Vanguard Sessions

This looks to be a safe bet. Wilson on alto, Orrin Evans on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and the phenomenal Bill Stewart on drums. I was recently very impressed with Wilson on a Frank Kimbrough quartet CD, and have seen Stewart live a couple of times over the past year--he's just superb. He provided most of what was interesting in a Nicholas Payton concert, and completely burned with a Jeremy Pelt quintet (w. Steve Nelson, Danny Grissett, and Peter Washington).

Comments? I'm looking forward to April 6th. Jazz lives!

I got my April stash of jazz, slightly different than what I had planned in the original post:

Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter One
George Colligan & Theoretical Planets, Risky Notions
Lewis Nash, Stompin’ at the Savoy
Frank Basile, Modern Inventions
Steve Wilson & Wilsonian’s Grain, Live in New York: The Vanguard Sessions
Harris Eisenstadt, Golden State
Harris Eisenstadt, Golden State II
ted Rosenthal Trio, Rhapsody in Gershwin
Hal Galper Trio, O's Time

I'm really enjoying Harris Eisenstadt's Golden State II CD. Eisenstadt is a Canadian drummer/composer/bandleader who makes music Stanley Crouch wouldn't be interested in. It's definitely, audibly jazz, but closer to the free and open pole than the blues and swing pole. On this one, Golden State II, he's accompanied by Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon, Michael Moore on clarinet, and Mark Dresser on bass. The music is calm and open, never hurried. What I'm really enjoying is the rare presence of an improvising bassoon. Moore of course is a fine musician and this is right up his alley. The two horns play singly and together, exploring timbre as much as line, and it all sounds very engaging and interesting. The first Golden State CD, which I haven't gotten to yet, has Nicole Mitchell on flute rather than Moore on clarinet.

I love Harris Eisenstadt, have you heard his trio with Ellery Eskelin and Angelica Sanchez - the September Trio? The most recent release, "The Destructive Element" was one of my favourite releases of 2014.

Some interesting additions for you Tom, thanks for sharing.

That Galper does sound nice - I just listened to the clips. And for $2.94, it's pretty much of a no-brainer. I agree with Ron, a VERY under-appreciated pianist.

Always been a BIG fan of "Now Hear This" with Galper, Terumasa Hino, Cecil McBee and Tony Williams.

Thanks for that heads up on HatHut/hatOLOGY!

BFrank wrote:Thanks for that heads up on HatHut/hatOLOGY!

Indeed!! I had closed my emusic acct a few months ago but re-opened it when I saw that.

I still have not embraced the download approach to collection official recordings. Considering my storage space issues at home, I really should consider it more.

Regarding the music - I had the opportunity to hear Wilson's group the week before they recorded the music on the new release. If it is anything like the sets I caught, the recording should be very rewarding.

I also heard live the ensemble on the first Golden State recording with Nicole Mitchell, and have that CD. Great music.

You did not get it with your April binge, but I heard the Pavone trio live as well. I plan to get that disc at some point, but I confess that I may enjoy his trio with Craig Taborn and Gerald Cleaver a bit more. Also just a bit clarification - technically Pavone is Italian-American. He is from Waterbury, CT, which is where I lived when I first moved to the state.

Like many others, I have purchase many less CDS because downloading and streaming are so easy - and you get what you want IMMEDIATELY when the impulse its>

And since I started subscribing to the pay version of Spotify , I rarely even pay for downloading (less than $10 a month, buy I don't remember how much)

I checked to see how likely Spotify is to have jazz by searching it for the albums that were on Tom Storer's original want list above. Here's the result.

Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter One YES, ON SPOTIFY


Ben Wolfe, The Whisperer NO, NOT ON SPOTIFY


Mario Pavone, Blue Dialect YES, On Spotify


George Colligan & Theoretical Planets, Risky Notions YES, ON SPOTIFY


Jean-Michel Pilc, What Is This Thing Called NOT ON SPOTIFY

Short solo piano pieces more or less loosely based on "What Is This Thing Called Love."

Mulgrew Miller, Wingspan YES, ON SPOTIFY



Lewis Nash, Stompin’ at the Savoy NOT on Spotify



Frank Basile, Modern Inventions YES - On Spotify



Steve Wilson & Wilsonian’s Grain, Live in New York: The Vanguard Sessions YES - on Spotify



So, 6 out of the 9 are on Spotify. And one of those not on it was a Japanese release. And all of artists whose albums Tom listed are NOT on Spotify, all of them have several albums that ARE on Spotify.

mjb wrote:Those who care probably already know but hatOLOGY / The Orchard is now up to 135 selections.

I just took Joe Maneri Quartet's "Tenderly."

Next is likely Max Nagl, Steven Bernstein, Noël Akchoté, Bradley Jones - "Big Four."

They seem to be adding more, up to 179.

I'm filling out my EE library with some older recordings that were OOP since I first discovered Ellery's music:

Five Other Pieces
Dissonant Characters

Other than Hatology I also picked up the most recent Mark Helias - Open Loose recording, The Signal Maker.