Stan Killian’s Unified is an attractive album right from the first listen. Actually, even before that first listen. Checking out the names of horn players playing alongside Killian listed on the back cover of the CD case, I saw there was already a recipe for success
When Stan Killian came out with Unified a couple of years back, it didn’t knock me back in one certain way, it knocked me back in many ways. Killian brought a stout but sensitive tenor saxophone to compositions he crafted with canny detail, but also pleasing to the ear.
There’s been a ton of great modern and mainstream jazz albums released this year, coming from stalwarts and newcomers alike. It’s not just tradition being upheld with grace and passion, there were loads of creative spurts by newcomers and stalwarts alike
When I sat down to think of all the standout mainstream and modern jazz records released in 2011 I could recommend without any hesitation whatsoever, I came up with 20 selections. Holy crap, 20!
