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Who Are the Best Young Lions of Jazz Today?

The Wynton Marsalis thread got me to thinking. Some consider him the best jazz artist today. I actually don't know who the best jazz artist is today or who the best jazz artists are since I'm steeped in the past listening to Hard Bop like a mad man. The jazz I love, the musicians I love, the heroes and gods for me are guys like Miles, Monk, Sonny Rollins, Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Horace Silvers, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Fredie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, Bill Evans, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley and others. My wife gets aggravated since I repeatedly play these giants.

I don't pay much attention to contemporary / modern jazz artists with the exception of John Scofield, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Pat Metheny, all who I've seen multiple times and love.

I've listened to Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and have enjoyed their work. I've heard a little of Marsalis.

Who are the best of the Young Lions of Jazz? I know Marsalis is "in the conversation."
foster_9
jazzcourier
205 posts
 
Jon Irabagon...Young-talented-no "baggage"- Think of a bright new voice on the alto saxophone with roots in the Bop masters.
What is the cutoff point for "young lion"-? Got to be 25 or so,if that be the case some of the artists mentioned are in their forties with tons of recordings to their credit.
foster_9 OP
1,638 posts
 
Jazzcourier, I guess I should have said "Contemporary" Lions instead of Young Lions.
grimace
624 posts
 
Here's a few of my recent picks in no particular order:

Marcus Strickland - Idiosyncracies (2009 Strick Music)

Sam Yahel - Hometown (this is a fantastic record for both performance AND sound quality)(2009 Positone)

ACT (Ben Wendeel, Harish Raghavan & Nate Wood) on the BJUR Label (BJUR 011) - this one might be a little hard to find but it's really worth it. A little far out but very accessible.

John Roney Trio -Rate of Change (2005 Effendi)

Wayne Escoffery - Hopes and Dreams (2007 Savant)

Frank Catalano - Cut It Out?! (1997 Demalrk)

Sunny Jain Collective - Mango Festival (2004 Zoho)

The KindofBlue label is putting out some really excellent recordings.

John Zorn's Tzadik label has been very prolific recently. The recordings are excellent and the music goes from mild to wild, but all very high quality. Alhambra Love Songs (Tzadik 2009) is excellent.

Jerry Bergonzi - Simply Put (2009-Savant)

Anouar Brahem - The Astounding Eyes of Rita (2009 - ECM)

These folks arent't all "young" but they are all playing now and putting out some fantastic music. I'm sure I'm missing some new stuff that's excellent too.
oddmorning
44 posts
 
Some younger players who are worth checking out include:
J.D. Allen- Tenor
Vijay Iyer- Piano
Steve Lehman- Alto
Tyshawn Sorey- Drums
Mary Halvorson- Guitar
More to discover