In age of downloads, CD still reigns

Date: 12.16.2007
Publication: All About Jazz
Author: Howard Reich

Somehow, in the age of downloads, iPods, file sharing and what-not, great jazz keeps turning up on compact disc.

The proof lies in this year’s best recordings, which range from the vastness of trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)” to the intimacy of saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi’s free-ranging “Tenorist” to the muscular virtuosity of pianist Joey Calderazzo’s “Amanecer.”

The systems for distributing music may be in flux, but the sounds themselves still thrill;

2. Joey Calderazzo: “Amanecer”
(Marsalis Music/Rounder)
An important partner to saxophonist Branford Marsalis, whose label released “Amanecer,” Calderazzo long ago established himself as a top-flight piano virtuoso (at least among connoisseurs, if not yet the general public). But with “Amanecer,” a mostly solo CD, Calderazzo revealed hitherto unheard artistic depth — as well as a colossal command of the instrument. The extraordinarily sophisticated and ambiguous harmonies with which he reinvents his own “Midnight Voyage,” the incredible delicacy of his touch in “Sea Glass” by the late Michael Brecker (who early on championed Calderazzo) and the ethereal duets between Calderazzo and Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza make this possibly the most important jazz piano recording of the year.