In October 2018 a group of esteemed US-based improvisers came together at Jazz Club Hannover, to play a programme of American Songbook ballads.
Trumpeter Ralph Alessi, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, pianist Jacob Sacks, bassist Drew Gress and drummer/leader Tom Rainey stretch out on standards like Stella By Starlight and Just in Time and show how the freest musicians can also bond with great show melodies and create improvising gems from them.
There is some superb ensemble musicianship playing on the cusp of very recognisable melodies and powerful solo virtuosity — hear Dress at the outset of What’s New or Laubrock’s lyricism on I Fall in Love Too Easily.
These five musicians turn tradition inside out while still keeping faith with its enduring melodic messages.
There is power and beauty in their soundscape, transforming Americana with both familiarity and sudden creative surprise, reaching a long way back and far forward simultaneously.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/c/album-reviews-tony-burke-mik-sabiers-and-chris-searle

Das Quintett des US-amerikanischen Schlagzeugsubtilisten widmet sich - im avantgardeaffinen Jazz keineswegs selbstver- ständlich - ausnahms los Standards. Wie sich acht davon auf zeitgenössische Wei- se neu deuten lassen, ohne dabei in haltlo sen Dekonstruktivis mus zu verfallen, wird in diesem gut 50-mi nütigen und äußerst dichten Livemitschnitt von 2018 auf exem- plarische und ebenso kurzweilige wie wen- dungsreiche Weise vor- geführt. Die hellwache Interaktion aller Betei ligten ist schlicht be- glückend.

Jazz is not a competitive sport and "Best Ofs" are misnomers. End of the year listicles have no bearing on the artistic standing of the albums they include, or on those they neglect, just like a five star review doesn't make the album it graces any better than it already is.

But, apparently, humans like to rank, classify, compare and contrast, possibly as that allows them to make semi-informed choices in a disorienting world. With the number of great albums that keep being released, indeed, listicles may provide a few hints about music that is worth checking out in the midsts of the discographic deluge, or to make sure not to miss something that may have passed under one's radar.

At a personal level, end of the year listicles may also function as bread-crumbs that one can use years later to trace back her or his listening path. With that spirit in mind, below I include—in alphabetical order—albums that made my 2021 sonically delightful.

No claim that these are the best albums of the year, nor that they're better than those that are not included below. The list just reflects what resonated with me most, among the albums that I had the pleasure of listening to, during a year that was—once again—even more replete of superb releases than the year bfore. And since the list below cannot do justice to 2021's remarkable volume of beautiful albums, further below are more memorable titles, divided in various sub-categories.

If you have not listened to them yet... give them a spin. My guess is that you'll like them too!

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ludovico-granvassu-2021-sonic-delights-pino-palladino

Tout finit par des standards ou Quand on a tout joué, il reste les standards (j'ajouterais le blues). Le Tom Rainey Obbligato nous offre donc son troisième disque de standards après un premier en 2013 et un second en
2017. Celui-ci, qui reprend six thèmes des précédents, a l'avantage de restituer la spontanéité et la dynamique d'un concert enregistré au Jazz Club d'Hanovre en 2018. Mis à part le pianiste Jacob Sacks qui remplace Kris Davis, l'équipe est la même : Drew Gress "assure" à la basse et les solistes se régalent, Ingrid Laubrock aux saxes et Ralph Alessi particulièrement en verve à la trompette, tandis que le chef nous offre
l'inévitable et spectaculaire (mais ô combien original) solo de batterie. Un régal! « Untucked in Hannover »
(CD 360).

Nouveauté. Ce dynamique quintette intergénérationnel a été fondé en 2013 par l'infaillible batteur polyvalent Tom Rainey avec sa compagne, l'intrépide saxophoniste allemande Ingrid Laubrock, le chaleureux trompettiste Ralph Alessi, la lumineuse pianiste canadienne Kris Davis et Drew Gress, l'irremplaçable contrebassiste. Ce troisième album a été enregistré en public au Jazz Club d'Hanovre, au cours d'une tournée européenne à laquelle ne participait pas Kris Davis, efficacement remplacée par l'élégant et subtil Jacob Sacks. Le répertoire de cet étonnant combo est constitué d'inusables standards tirés de l'American Songbook (Stella by Starlight, I Fall in Love Too Easily, Just in Time...) reconfigurés dans un réjouissant contexte free bop. Laubrock se coule langoureusement dans ces éternelles mélodies et dialogue avec la trompette brillante et émouvante d'Alessi. Ce remarquable duo de souffleurs se permet aussi quelques revigorants écarts de langage. Sacks est débordant d'un swing gracieux et pétillant. Gress et Rainey qui se connaissent depuis leur participation au trio de Fred Hersch assure avec vitalité un impressionnant drive très expressif. De très belles reprises pleines d'inventivité !

Neljazz dioggi la questione del repertorio è spinosa. Le vecchie canzoni sono ignorate (da chi vuole Inventare nuovi approcci alla musico) o suonate in modo manieristico (da chi pensa che il jazz sia ormai storicizzato) | bravo batterista Tom Rainey conosce una terza via suonare con il suo gruppo gli standard come se fossero brani contemporanel, avventurosl. Il pubblico del live Untucked in Hannover (Intakt) approva.

This quintet began with a simple if tricky premise: play common standards, improvising from the melodies and minding the forms and harmonies -- but doing it with the free fluidity of collective improvisers. The musicians may enter and exit at will, and they never play a formal melody chorus, though someone usually hints at the tune or maybe plays it outright, somewhere in the middle. If you ever hear a head-solos-head band and think, Why don’t the horns improvise together?, this music is for you.

Drummer Tom Rainey put Obbligato together on noting how well tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Ralph Alessi entwine in spontaneous counterpoint. (They were all already in the improvising quartet LARK.) Sometimes one horn inches into the lead role, the other on its heels with the obbligatos -- the improvised commentary, like Louis Armstrong behind Bessie Smith. Rainey and bassist Drew Gress have teamed in umpteen inside and outside bands since the 1980s, and have a mutual feel for how to let things unravel and when to tighten up. Regular pianist Kris Davis is replaced on this 2018 live recording from Jazz Club Hannover by their younger colleague Jacob Sacks, who helps prove the band concept by fitting right in.

On Obbligato’s third (and first live) album they sound ever more confident, but (as often happens with long-running improvising groups) the spontaneous action is more regularized. Entrances and exits are less haphazard, more keyed to a song’s turning points. There might even be a little more overt melody-playing. It’s not like they’re keeping the selections a secret -- though Alessi practices a bit of misdirection, quoting from “There Is No Greater Love” (in the band’s book) on “In Your Own Sweet Way,” and from “If I Should Lose You” (also in their repertoire) on “I Fall in Love Too Easily.” One possible reason for greater regularity: They’d already recorded the eight tunes here. Which is not to say the fireworks or fluidity have faded. The way one player phrases a melodic fragment early on may dictate how another treats it minutes later.

“Stella by Starlight” starts out of tempo, trumpet and tenor slowly leapfrogging. Laubrock favors a warm middle range; Alessi, who makes wide leaps sound easy, darts above and below. (He has a formidable high range, an avant Harry James.) Here and there we get something like conventional solos: tenor and the rhythm section kick off “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” Laubrock bringing the appropriate melancholy -- nothing ironic here. (Then trumpet sneaks in, and then tenor exits, then piano sneaks up as trumpet recedes, tidal motion.) Laubrock also gets a lovely melody chorus on “What’s New” (with a little trumpet heckling). It’s a pleasure to hear these outcats negotiating the changes and playing pretty. As the anarchic Misha Mengelberg once said, jazz is the teacher in the 20th century: it shows musicians how to deal with certain problems, and thus is a useful part of any improviser’s toolbox.

With music this multi-linear and densely interwoven, you need to hear everyone all the time to trace the elegant five-way counterpoint. That’s just what you get, thanks to house engineer Raphael Becker-Foss, and North German Radio’s Jans Kunze, who recorded it. The horns stay on mic, regulating their own dynamics, and everyone sounds true -- although in Drew Gress’s case we hear the amplifier, not the bass. But that’s club life.

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/music/tom_rainey_obbligato_cd.htm

This quintet began with a simple if tricky premise: play common standards, improvising from the melodies and minding the forms and harmonies -- but doing it with the free fluidity of collective improvisers. The musicians may enter and exit at will, and they never play a formal melody chorus, though someone usually hints at the tune or maybe plays it outright, somewhere in the middle. If you ever hear a head-solos-head band and think, Why don't the horns improvise together?, this music is for you.

Drummer Tom Rainey put Obbligato together on noting how well tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Ralph Alessi entwine in spontaneous counterpoint. (They were all already in the improvising quartet LARK.) Sometimes one horn inches into the lead role, the other on its heels with the obbligatos -- the improvised commentary, like Louis Armstrong behind Bessie Smith. Rainey and bassist Drew Gress have teamed in umpteen inside and outside bands since the 1980s, and have a mutual feel for how to let things unravel and when to tighten up. Regular pianist Kris Davis is replaced on this 2018 live recording from Jazz Club Hannover by their younger colleague Jacob Sacks, who helps prove the band concept by fitting right in. On Obbligato's third (and first live) album they sound ever more confident, but (as often happens with long-running improvising groups) the spontaneous action is more regularized. Entrances and exits are less haphazard, more keyed to a song's turning points. There might even be a little more overt melody-playing. It's not like they're keeping the selections a secret -- though Alessi practices a bit of misdirection, quoting from "There Is No Greater Love" (in the band's book) on "In Your Own Sweet Way," and from "If I Should Lose You" (also in their repertoire) on "I Fall in Love Too Easily." One possible reason for greater regularity: They'd already recorded the eight tunes here. Which is not to say the fireworks or fluidity have faded. The way one player phrases a melodic fragment early on may dictate how another treats it minutes later.

"Stella by Starlight" starts out of tempo, trumpet and tenor slowly leapfrogging. Laubrock favors a warm middle range; Alessi, who makes wide leaps sound easy, darts above and below. (He has a formidable high range, an avant Harry James.) Here and there we get something like conventional solos: tenor and the rhythm section kick off "I Fall in Love Too Easily," Laubrock bringing the appropriate melancholy - nothing ironic here. (Then trumpet sneaks in, and then tenor exits, then piano sneaks up as trumpet recedes, tidal motion.) Laubrock also gets a lovely melody chorus on "What's New" (with a little trumpet heckling). It's a pleasure to hear these outcats negotiating the changes and playing pretty. As the anarchic Misha Mengelberg once said, jazz is the teacher in the 20th century: it shows musicians how to deal with certain problems, and thus is a useful part of any improviser's toolbox.

With music this multi-linear and densely interwoven, you need to hear everyone all the time to trace the elegant five-way counterpoint. That's just what you get, thanks to house engineer Raphael Becker-Foss, and North German Radio's Jans Kunze, who recorded it. The horns stay on mic, regulating their own dynamics, and everyone sounds true -- although in Drew Gress's case we hear the amplifier, not the bass. But that's club life.

https://www.theaudiobeat.com/music/tom_rainey_obbligato_cd.htm

Bereits das dritte Album mit Standards veröffentlicht Schlagzeuger Tom Rainey hier mit seinem Quintett Obbligato. Diesmal nähert man sich live einigen älteren Schlachtrössern, und es klingt so ganz anders, wenig konservativ und rück-wärtsgewandt, als man sich das vielleicht vorstellt. Das Quintett spielt völlig frei um die sechs Stücke und klingt manchmal wie ein Update dessen, was Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh und Lee Konitz in den Sechzigern und Siebzigern auflegten. Es ist eine gemeinsam erimpro-visierte Rekomposition der alten Nummern, die in ihre Bestandteile zerlegt werden und völlig neu erstehen. Das mag man gelegentlich als etwas kuhl und intellektuell empfinden, aber die Fünf schaffen es doch immer wieder, mit wärmenden Grooves ein mitreißendes und urjazziges Gemeinschaftsgefühl hochleben zu lassen.

Rainey's acoustic quintet Obbligato's third album was taped at the back end of a European tour at Jazzclub Hannover. The drummer has made key collaborations with a close circle of musicians in New York since the late 1990s, most notably at first in saxophonist lim Bernes various projects; Obbligato is part of a nucleus of collaborators since 2010. Although Rainey and his peers naturally favour originality in terms of composition as well as improv, Obbligato is an exercise in jazz standard interpretation. Yet straightahead it certainly ain't; neither is it though a recording that strays far from the memorable melodies of evergreens - all of which have appeared on previous Obbligato recordings - as might similarly left field schools of jazz interpretation. Instead themes are often present as reconstructed fragments intriguingly wafting in and out of the material or as a whole with interweaving soloists. Ralph Rainger's 'If I Should Lose You' emphasises the intimate collective counterpoint at the heart of the album with saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and pianist Jacob Sacks, who replaces regular pianist Kris Davis this time, at first sounding smokily reminiscent of the Marsh-Tristano ensemble. What's New also comes with the ensembles simpatico give-and-take before a giddily offbeat, freewheeling episode in which Sacks plays the theme as a background like a late night barroom pianist; Alessi and Laubrock's versions that follow are similarly poignantly old-fashioned. You can fall in love with these classic songs all over again listening to this quite exceptional recording.