In addition to my list of favorite albums from 2009, I've put together a list of some great reading, watching, and listening material that might give you some jazz gift ideas for the holiday season.

I've added two albums to my list of favorites from 2009. Both albums use an old (and in jazz years, ancient) tool to bring about music that could exist during no other time than this very moment in musical history:

• Darcy James Argue's Secret Society - Infernal Machines

  This "steampunk big band" plays guitar-heavy music tinged with rock and classical styles. Argue's pieces are haunting and eruptive, and his dextrous band is capable of thrilling maneuvers.

• John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble - Eternal Interlude

  Parts of this album sound like moments from an opera or scenes straight out of the Ballet Russes. The textures, inspired by minimalism and free jazz, among many other styles, have a strong sense of either character or landscape. The range of moods and sonic planes that Hollenbeck's compositions access make it easy to forget that you are listening to a big band.

Image Courtesy of Sunny Side Records

Recently I was listening to Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto on their 1964 live album Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2, and I was inspired to write a brief description of bossa nova. Also check out my profile of bossa nova composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, many of whose songs, including "The Girl From Ipanema," "Corcovado," and "How Insensitive" have become standards in the jazz repertoire.

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Any jazz musician can tell you that much of the time spent in the practice room is devoted to ear training. To improvise requires being able to hear the harmony of a tune, and jazz harmony can get pretty complex and knotty. The best ear training takes place on the bandstand, but jazz education programs can teach basic skills to make the process easier. Now, thanks to certain podcasts and websites, you can develop these skills from the comfort of your own home.

Check out this podcast by New York-based drummer Dan Wolf (full disclosure: Dan is a friend of mine). It's one of the best online jazz ear training programs I've come across so far. It starts very simply, drilling basic intervals and chord qualities, and gradually increases in difficulty and complexity.

Please share links to more ear training podcasts or websites in the comments section of this post, so I can add them to the site's bank of jazz education resources.

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