My Favorites of 2011

It's been a while, indeed. '11 has been a kicker, though, and I'm glad to see it go. With that, I still found many treasures to make my life happy. My favorite novel is Amor Towles's Rules of Civility, a book I find myself thinking about nearly daily. I saw many concerts, including U2's 360 Tour, which was stunning, a beautiful Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the Branford Marsalis Quartet and last month, Black Crowe Rich Robinson at the Cafe du Nord. Truth & Salvage Co. rocked me five times, not including that awesome Giants game and a super Christmas present of their 2011 Fall Tour poster.

I spent much of my attention filling in my back-catalogue, falling in love with the Greenwich Village folk scene and much of early Dylan; Dave van Ronk's excellent first albums and many albums of the '70s singer-songwriters. I loved listening to my children sing Pete Seeger songs while having my head spun with some of the most amazing jazz from the 1950s and 1960s. My favorite discovery of a non-'11 disc is by the young whipper-snapper Dylan LeBlanc, who released an amazing country-folk album last year titled, "Pauper's Field". It's a stunningly beautiful, haunting record that paints pictures of criminals, lost lovers, unloving children and doting parents, all wound within a seeming concept-album story from yesteryear. And to boot, on vinyl. A true find.

While I came upon some wonderful releases this year, here are my Top 10 (mainly in no order):

10. Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderozzo - Songs of Mirth and Melancholy - a beautiful duet record of piano and saxphones.
9. Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Del McCoury Band - American Legacy - a perfect blend of New Orleans jazz and bluegrass. A match made in heaven.
8. Jason Isbell & 400 Unit Here We Rest - caught him in June and October and his record and performances top his former band, my beloved Drive-By Truckers.
7. Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire - not perfect but a great, moody introspective set of songs.
6. Steve Earle - I'll Never Get Out of This Alive - a tremendous story of Nawlins and the resurrection of that bedeviled city.
5. Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irions - Bright Examples - folk rock by Arlo's daughter and her hubby. A happy, peaceful album with great guitar playing by Johnny and Neal Casal. Her grandpa'd be proud.
4. Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or So What - who said seventy would slow one down? His best record in three decades. Simon can still write haunting lyrics.
3. Whiskerman - a great folk rocker out of Oakland that I discovered randomly in the newspaper. This eponymous release has Graham Patzer playing violin while singing and I haven't forgotten it.
2. The Blank Tapes - another band out of Oakland, lead by Matt Adams. This is truly the find of the year. Technically, the BT would be labeled 'lo-fi' and yet Adams's records cover all sorts of rock styles. There's a great mid-'60s mellow vibe to many of the songs while capturing an early'70s country-rock vibe. I fell in love with the Blank Tapes so deeply I scooped up every one of the band's records in the first month of discovering them - all nine!!! Support your local artists!!!
1. My favorite record of the year: Rich Robinson's Through a Crooked Sun. The heart of the Black Crowes, this album covers the gammut of Rich's influences all the while sounding fresh and innovative. His playing is stellar, his song-writing makes one see who really pushed the other brother with the hooks we've all come to love, and the constant reminder that music of the present is nothing but a mixture of the past.

That's it, 2011. Here's to another one.

P.S. - late in the game! My self-purchased Christmas present just arrived and it's already made my list: the special edition Chris Robinson Brotherhood 10" single. With two live cuts at venues I caught gigs at (though not those specific nights), this 180-gram vinyl has a great sound, performance and song choices. I caught the CRB twice this year and both shows were amazing. Very free, a la the Grateful Dead (without, thank God, Bob Weir and his noodliness) with long, focussed jams, tight transitions and overall stellar playing. Very different from his brother, Rich. Add the two together and you don't get the Black Crowes, you get two completely different voices. A nice change for both brothers. The CRB shows were long - the special April 20th show ran three hours, twenty minutes (whereas Rich played an hour and fifty) and you were given long songs with Neal, Chris and the keyboardist Adam McDougal taking forays into wonderful musical directions. Here's a band that's been around since late Fall playing like it's been together for at least five or six years. This is a good deal. That's it. Happy New Year's. Remember all of your past NYEs and the great music recorded on this day!