Listen to an album a day in 2025: January

I want to force myself to read more, and putting on an album isn't the best way, would be better to just read with a timer to commit, but there's noise outside my window, so I like to put on pleasant things, and it's cool to hear music. So I'm going to list albums I'm listening to. I'm going to favor instrumental albums and update, and change if I don't actually listen to albums I'm projecting into the future. Will link to wikipedia page of famous albums. And artist. 

I know Spotify is corrupt, doesn't pay artists enough, and has an AI music problem (one, two). But I don't pay for it, and listen to commercials even though the heroine of Laid suggests that's not to be done. You don't like the links, don't click them. Pay for another service for me, and I'll link that up. 

1/1/2025. Mike Stern Voices (2001) (Spotify)

Mike Stern – guitar

Michael Brecker – saxophone

Jon Herington – rhythm guitar

Richard Bona – bass, kalimba, vocals

Chris Minh Doky – double bass

Lincoln Goines – bass guitar

Dennis Chambers – drums

Vinnie Colaiuta – drums

Bob Franceschini – saxophone

Philip Hamilton – vocals

Elisabeth Kontomanou – vocals

Arto Tuncboyaciyan – percussion, vocals

Jim Beard – production, keyboards

Bart Migal – engineering

Greg Calbi – mastering

1/2/2025. A Go Go (1998) John Scofield

John Scofield – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, whistle

John Medeski – acoustic piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, clavinet, organ,

Chris Wood – acoustic bass guitar, electric bass

Billy Martin – drums, tambourine

1/3/2025. Fearless Moment (2024) by Kamasi Washington

Kamasi Washington – tenor saxophone (all tracks), alto saxophone (track 6)

Brandon Coleman – keyboards, organ (all tracks); key bass (tracks 3, 6, 10), vocoder (5)

Cameron Graves – piano (tracks 1–3, 5, 7–12)

Dontae Winslow – trumpet (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–12)

Ronald Bruner Jr. – drums (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7–12)

Ryan Porter – trombone (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–12)

Tony Austin – drums (tracks 1, 2, 5–12)

Allakoi Peete – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7–12)

Kahlil Cummings – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7–12)

Miles Mosley – double bass (tracks 1, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12)

Patrice Quinn – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 11)

Woody Aplanalp – guitar (tracks 1, 5, 9)

Carlos Niño – percussion (track 1)

Banchamlak Abegase – vocals (track 1)

Henok Elias – vocals (track 1)

Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner – electric bass (tracks 2, 4)

DJ Battlecat – turntables (track 2), talk box (5)

Taj Austin – vocals (track 2)

Ras Austin – vocals (track 2)

Terrace Martin – alto saxophone (track 3)

Rickey Washington – flute (tracks 4, 8, 11)

George Clinton – vocals (track 4)

D Smoke – vocals (track 4)

Joel Whitley – guitar (track 4)

Robert Miller – drums (track 5)

André 3000 – flutes (track 6)

Mono/Poly – synthesizer (track 6)

Ben Williams – upright bass (track 7)

Dwight Trible – vocals (tracks 8, 11)

BJ the Chicago Kid – vocals (track 10)

1/4 Tea For Three Ari Hoenig 

Ari Hoenig (drums, vocals only on #11), 

Gadi Lehavi (piano)

Ben Tiberio (bass).

Recorded at Big Orange Sheep Studios, Brooklyn, New York, on July 28, 2023

1/5/25. One World Shachar Elnatan, Gadi Lehavi

Went on a Gadi Lehavi run, he's also in GTO Trio One From The Road 2018 with bassist Tal Mashiach and drummer Ofri Nehemya.

Insta, 

SF Jazz: Born in Tel Aviv in 1996, Lehavi was first attracted to the piano at six months of age and began playing as soon as he could reach the keys, picking out familiar tunes by ear and gravitating to classical and jazz as his tastes developed. He began formal classical piano lessons at the age of nine with Israeli classical virtuoso Michal Tal and began jazz studies at the Rimon School of Music in Ramat HaSharon at age 10 under pianists Rami Levin and Avi Adrian. A performance at the Red Sea Jazz Festival at 12 led to a trip to the U.S. the following year for an intensive five-week program at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he came to the attention of saxophone luminaries Dave Liebman and Ravi Coltrane, the latter of whom became a long-term collaborator whose creative partnership with Lehavi continues to the present day.

13 year od Gadi Lehavi on YouTube.

Lehavi made his recording debut on saxophonist Eli Degibri’s 2013 album Twelve at the tender age of 17 (Spotify)

5 years ago on YouTube GTO Trio.

Wishes 2019 YouTube.

No Vowel Allowed YouTube

His Wikipedia page needs updating.

1/6/2025 Moon Safari (1998) by Air

Air is a French music duo from Versailles, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel.

1/7. Mahler Symphony 5 by Wiener Philharmoniker 1997 Pierre Boulez. (Spotify)(Wikipedia)

1/8. Wicked The Soundtrack (2024) (Spotify).

1/9. Saturday At The Village Vanguard (1961) by Bill Evans (Spotify).

Scott LaFaro – bass

Paul Motian – drums

1/10/2025. Carmen by Bizet 1PM EST on YouTube.

Available till 10 July 2025. 

Carmen: Deepa Johnny (OperaBase) 

1/11 Koln Concert (1975) Keith Jarrett (Spotify).

1/12 At the Pershing: But Not for Me (1958) by Ahmad Jamal

Israel Crosby – bass

Vernel Fournier – drums

1/13 Brilliant Corners 91957) Thelonious Monk.

Thelonious Monk – piano (all tracks), celesta (3)

Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone (all but 4)

Ernie Henry – alto saxophone (1–3)

Clark Terry – trumpet (5)

Oscar Pettiford – double bass (1–3)

Paul Chambers – double bass (5)

Max Roach – drums (all but 4), timpani (5)

1/14/2025. Another Mind (2003) Hiromi (Spotify)

Hiromi Uehara - Piano

Mitch Cohn - Bass (1–3, 6, 8)

Dave DiCenso - Drums

with guests:

Anthony Jackson - Bass (4, 5, 7)

Jim Odgren - Alto saxophone (2, 3)

David Fiuczynski - Guitar (2)

1/15/25. Jubilee (2021) by Japanese Breakfast  (Spotify)

Michelle Zauner – vocals, production, bass (4), piano (7), acoustic guitar (3), electric guitar (6, 7, 8, 10), percussion (1), synthesizers (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10) string arrangements (1, 3, 9), horn arrangements (1)
Craig Hendrix – production (1–4, 6–10), drums (1–4, 7–10), bass (1, 3, 6–10), electric guitar (4, 8), acoustic guitar (10), slide guitar (3), Rhodes (9), piano (10), synthesizers (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10), percussion, string arrangements (1, 3, 9), horn arrangements (1, 4, 8), vocals (8), engineering
Jack Tatum – production, synthesizers, programming, electric guitar, E-bow electric guitar, bass, vocals, engineering (2, 5)
Ryan Galloway – production, electric guitar, synthesizers (4)
Alex Giannascoli – production, Rhodes, piano, synthesizers (7)
Molly Germer – violin (1, 3, 9)
Veronica Jurkiewicz – viola (1, 3, 9)
Carolina Diazgranados – cello (1, 3, 9)
Adam Schatz – saxophone (1, 4, 8)
Aaron Rockers – trumpet (1, 4, 8)
Adam Dotson – trombone (1, 4, 8)

1/16/25. Light, Dark, Light Again (2023) Angie McMahon (Spotify).

1/17/25. La Traviata by Verdi. I can't say I know which is the best version, I use spotify. On Reddit they like the Beverly Sills version. Maria Callas gets a nod or two. Traviata from La Scala in 1955 with Callas, Di Stefano, and Bastianini under Giulini is mentioned. 

Listening is valuable, but seeing opera is pretty cool. This version of La Traviata is on Opera Vision until 9 May 2025. It's got 2 South Koreans singing, they do a brilliant job. 

1/18/25. Breaking album format, because I just have a playlist of Pahua. Here is what NY Times writes 1/9/25:

"Across her career, the singer and producer Paulina Sotomayor has fed an omnivorous, culture-spanning musical appetite. The Mexico City native learned to sing in the regional Mexican tradition of mariachi and performed with the folk-rock band Jefes del Desierto. She later teamed up with her brother Raul, a producer and percussionist, to create electronic dance music inflected with the syncopated rhythms of Colombian cumbia and Peruvian chicha. Now performing solo under the name Pahua, Sotomayor synthesizes her influences in richly textured folktronica, anchoring fluttering woodwinds and polyrhythmic percussion with thudding, dance-floor-ready beats.

At Friday’s performance (1/10/25), organized by the nonprofit World Music Institute, Pahua will share a bill with Willy Soul, a founder of the globally minded, funk-forward party series Funky Seshwa. Tickets are $30.90 on dice.fm. OLIVIA HORN"

1/19/25. Listening to Rumi musicians listed in Wikipedia: 

Muhammad Reza Shajarian (Spotify)

Shahram Nazeri

Davood Azad

Ustad Mohammad Hashem Cheshti

1/20/25. Junta (1989) by Pfish (Spotify). This is their first album. 

1/21/25. Odelay (1986) by Beck.

1/22. The Jewel In The Lotus (1974) Bennie Maupin (spotify).

Bennie Maupin – saxophones, flute, bass clarinet, voice, glockenspiel

Herbie Hancock – acoustic and electric pianos

Buster Williams – bass

Billy Hart – drums (right channel)

Freddie Waits – drums, marimba (left channel)

Bill Summers – percussion

Charles Sullivan – trumpet on "Mappo" and "Excursion"

1/23. Too Late To Cry (1987) Alison Krauss (Spotify)

Alison Krauss – fiddle, vocals

Russ Barenberg – acoustic guitar

Sam Bush – mandolin

John Cowan – vocals

Dave Denman – vocals

Jerry Douglas – Dobro

Roy Huskey Jr. – upright bass

Lonnie Meeker – acoustic guitar, vocals

John Schmaltz – banjo

Tony Trischka – banjo

1/24.  Will The Circle Be Unbroken (1972) by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. (Spotify).

1/25.  I Love A Love Song (2023) Rachel and Vilray (Spotify).

1/26. Nipple (1969) Peter Brötzmann Sextet (Spotify)

1/27.  Iron Man (Recorded 1963, released 1968) Eric Dolphy  (Spotify, second album was Iron Man)

1/28.  Birdland (Live) (2015) by Buddy Rich. (Spotify). I'm watching Whiplash (2014) and it's the first CD he listens to. Whiplash has its own movie soundtrack (spotify).

1/29 This Time It's Love(1998) by Kurt Elling (Spotify)

1/30 Patty Waters Sings (1965) (Spotify) with a wild free jazz final song Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair. (Fascinating article about her.) She died last summer. 

1/31/2025. A Love Supreme (1964) by John Coltrane (Spotify).