Qualsiasi appassionato di jazz conosce il nome di Ted Gioia, scrittore ma anche musicista, noto ovviamente più negli States visto che i suoi libri sono giunti da noi con più di 20 anni di ritardo. E' il caso de L'arte Imperfetta, al quale vi rimando, un libro fuori dagli schemi che non a caso si chiude cosi': "Per quanto il mio approccio al jazz possa essere decisamente "pensoso" (in assenza di termini più adatti) chi si aspetta da questo libro il dispiegarsi implacabile di una struttura teoretica è destinato a rimanere deluso. Il jazz è un arte spontanea e quando si scrive su di esso si dovrebbe mantenere almeno parte di quella spontaneità ".Oggi Ted continua la sua attività di scrittore anche in rete dove ha creato un blog interessantissimo (
www.jazzblog.com) ed un sito personale dove da pochi giorni è comparsa la sua personale lista di album del 2011.Volutamente non si ferma alla musica jazz ma comprende, come spiega nelle note, tutta la musica ascoltata. I try to listen to new music every day, and have made this a part of my daily routine for many years. I'm not sure how many new CDs I heard during the course of 2011, but on some days I listen to four or more albums in their entirety, and a typical week will find me checking out 15-20 new releases. As the list below makes clear, I tend to range widely over various styles and genres.I am impressed by how much outstanding music is recorded nowadays, but I am equally struck by how well hidden it is. More than at any time in my life, the best music is hard to find. You will almost never hear it on the radio, and increasingly it is not even on the radar screens of the major labels. The record stores, where fans once learned about important new releases, have mostly gone out of business.Even as music becomes more omnipresent and accessible, new barriers prevent listeners from hearing the most talented and creative artists. For this reason, I am sharing a more complete listing of my favorite albums this year. In a world in which the best music is hidden from view, personal recommendation and word-of-mouth become the main gateways for discovering exciting new sounds.I present this large list as a guide to those who are looking for inspiring, intelligent and mind-expanding music, and want some guidance from someone who sifts through the many new releases looking for the cream of the crop. Below are my selections for the 100 best CDs of 2011. I encourage you to check out some artists that you haven't heard before. And if you hear something you like, spread the word. (Ted Gioia) The 100 Best Albums of 20111 William Elliott Whitmore Field Songs Americana / Roots Music2 Tinariwen Tassili World music3 Fred Hersch Alone at the Vanguard Jazz4 Bon Iver Bon Iver Folk / pop5 Joshua Redman James Farm Jazz6 Nico Muhly Seeing is Believing Contemporary classical7 Ambrose Akinmusire When the Heart Emerges Glistening Jazz8 Now Ensemble Awake Contemporary classical9 Keith Jarrett Rio Jazz10 Gary Clark Jr. The Bright Lights EP Blues11 L Konitz, B Mehldau, C Haden & P Motian Live at Birdland Jazz12 Gustavo Dudamel Bruckner / Sibelius / Nielsen Classical13 Adam Cruz Milestone Jazz14 Todd Reynolds Outerborough Contemporary classical15 Pat Metheny What's It All About Jazz16 Lara Downes 13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg Contemporary classical17 Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Folk rock18 James P. Johnson Jazz Nocturne Classical concert jazz19 Andy Statman Old Brooklyn Americana / Roots Music20 Liza Ferschtman Julius Röntgen: The Violin Concertos Classical21 Glenn Kaiser Cardboard Box Blues22 Charles Lloyd & Maria Farantouri Athens Concert Jazz / World Music23 The Decemberists The King is Dead Indie folk rock24 Vasily Petrenko Shostakovich: Symphonies 6 & 12 Classical25 Amina Alaoui Arco Iris World music26 Phantasm William Byrd: Complete Consort Music Classical27 Chick Corea & Stefano Bollani Orvieto Jazz28 James Whitbourn Living Voices Contemporary classical29 Bombino Agadez World music30 Laura Marling A Creature I Don't Know Folk pop31 Sonny Rollins Road Shows, Vol. 2 Jazz32 Phillip Schroeder Passage Through a Dream Contemporary classical33 Miguel Zenón Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook Latin jazz34 Kronos Quartet Uniko Contemporary classical35 Kenny Brown Can't Stay Too Long Blues36 Marcin Wasilewski Faithful Jazz37 Robert Aldridge Elmer Gantry Contemporary opera38 Anthony Wilson Seasons Jazz39 Eilen Jewell Queen of the Minor Key Americana / Roots Music40 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Live Classical41 John Wesley Harding The Sound of His Own Voice Singer-songwriter42 Spaces Nothing Exists but Atoms and the Void Celestial rock43 Tony Bennett Duets II Great American Songbook44 The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band Peyton on Patton Blues45 Craig Taborn Avenging Angel Jazz46 Guy Clark Songs and Stories Country47 Hilary Hahn & Valentina Lisitsa Charles Ives: Four Sonatas Classical48 Rudresh Mahanthappa Samdhi Jazz49 Glenn Jones The Wanting Folk50 Mieczysław Weinberg Piano Works Classical51 Eddie Vedder Ukulele Songs Singer-songwriter 52 B. Mehldau, K. Hays & P.Zimmerli Modern Music Contemporary classical 53 Michael Giacchino Soundtrack to Super 8 Soundtrack 54 Kevin Devine Between the Concrete and Clouds Indie rock 55 Jefferson Friedman Quartets Contemporary classical 56 Denny Zeitlin Labyrinth Jazz 57 Wilco The Whole Love Folk rock 58 The Head and the Heart The Head and the Heart Indie folk-pop 59 Various artists The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams Country 60 Collin Vallon Rruga Jazz 61 The Unthanks Last English folk 62 Brad Mehldau Live in Marciac Jazz 63 Fabrice Ravel-Chapuis En Danger Contemporary classical 64 Radiohead The King of Limbs Rock 65 The Civil Wars Barton Hollow Indie folk 66 James Carter Caribbean Rhapsody Jazz 67 Wye Oak Civilian Indie folk rock 68 Enrico Rava Tribe Jazz 69 Chris Dingman Waking Dreams Jazz 70 Simone Dinnerstein Bach: A Strange Beauty Classical 71 Becca Stevens Weightless Jazz-inflected folk music 72 Anonymous 4 Secret Voices Early music 73 Gretchen Parlato The Lost and Found Jazz 74 Moreland & Arbuckle Just a Dream Electric blues 75 Bobby Long A Winter Tale Singer-songwriter 76 Joe Lovano Bird Songs Jazz 77 Thomas Dybdahl Songs Norwegian singer-songwriter 78 Dave Alvin Eleven Eleven Blues Rock 79 Gerald Wilson Legacy Jazz 80 Dario Marianelli Soundtrack to Jane Eyre Soundtrack 81 JD Allen Victory Jazz 82 Vince Gill Guitar Slinger Country 83 Bobby Sanabria Tito Puente Masterworks Live! Latin jazz 84 Julian Lage Gladwell Jazz 85 George Strait Here for a Good Time Country 86 Joss Stone LP1 R&B/Soul 87 Memory Tapes Player Piano Ambient 88 Jeremy Pelt The Talented Mr. Pelt Jazz 89 Mary Flower Misery Loves Company Blues 90 Striggio Mass in 40 Parts Classical 91 Adele 21 Singer-songwriter 92 Blue Highway Sounds of Home Bluegrass 93 Ben Allison Action-Refraction Jazz 94 St. Vincent Strange Mercy Indie rock 95 Thomas Dolby A Map of the Floating City Singer-songwriter 96 Lady Antebellum Own the Night Country pop 97 Mathias Eick Skala Jazz 98 Volosi and Lasoni Wołosi i Lasoniowie World Music 99 Steve Mackey & So Percussion It Is Time Contemporary classical 100 Gary Burton Common Ground Jazz