Read James Hall's review of the Grammy-nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble's Eternal Interlude, which recently made my list of favorite jazz albums of 2009:

"Though a place at the table should always be reserved for the preservation of big band music from the swing age, it remains an unexpected treat to find music that launches out of tradition as confidently and skillfully as Hollenbeck's does. Like his melodies, which so often sail freely and patiently over a busy backdrop of pointillistic dexterity, Hollenbeck has proven an imperviously unique force in jazz, adapting stylistic and thematic material that would otherwise be considered completely foreign to the idiom..."read more

• Album Review: John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble's Eternal Interlude

Image Courtesy of Sunny Side Records

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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