New Music Monday for January 4, 2021
Four-time Juno Award winner
Neil Swainson was born and raised in the province of British Columbia, moving to his home base of Toronto in the late ‘70s. Over his career he’s recorded on albums with George Shearing, Jay McShann and Woody Shaw and performed with Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, Mel Torme, James Moody, Lee Konitz and many others. Initially released in 1988, the bassist’s only album as a leader, “49
th Parallel,” has now been made available again. It features a quintet with jazz legends Joe Henderson on tenor and trumpeter Woody Shaw, drummer Jerry Fuller and Gary Williamson on piano.
Year in review: 25 of the best jazz albums of 2020
By JAZZ.FM91
The jazz clubs all closed, and so did everything else. But thankfully, the music never stopped.
This was a challenging year for most people. Yet jazz artists from around the world went on to release an impressive amount of great music for some, the best of their careers. That music brought us a sense of excitement and hope at a time when we needed it most.
One day, these musicians will be seeing us in the audience once again, finally able to soak in the sounds of live music. Until then, we have these standout records (along with so many others) to bring the joys of life to our best and worst days.