Quarterly Report

This post is by Scott and Dan

It's been three months since we began to post tributes to our favorite jazz albums of the 1980s. Together, we have offered commentary on 84 individual albums recorded during the decade. We hope that our comments are insightful and valuable to readers who have an interest in jazz, and we hope you stay tuned as we progress through the year. Our goal is to produce 300 or more posts. Looking at the choices we've written about so far, some interim summary comments might be useful. 

First, the array of styles is very eclectic, encompassing a wide range of categories that jazz lovers know about. We have fusion, avant garde, bebop, Latin and numerous entries that are hard to classify. This is what we expected for the decade in which jazz became postmodern. The coexistence of styles, which also influence each other, is the essence of postmodernism, in contrast to an orderly progression from one style to the next.

Second, the selections reflect the growing internationalization of jazz during the 1980s. Significantly, European jazz labels were spawned during this period, helping to sustain the availability of recorded jazz during a period in which American labels began to lose interest. Dutch, Danish, German, and Italian labels are all strongly represented in our survey. So far, few jazz artists from outside the U.S. are represented among our favorites. That will change very quickly as we have over 30 albums by non-U.S. artists or bands in our queue.

On a personal level, we are enjoying the process immensely. Almost every post is preceded by a revisitation of the music being reviewed, often in much greater detail than we've listened ever before. This has revealed many new insights into the artists and the albums. A remarkable quality of jazz is continuous discovery, which leads to deeper appreciation and enjoyment. We have also learned from each other's choices and opinions. 

Moving ahead, we would love to hear more from our readers. It's easy to post comments that challenge our claims, correct our errors, and expand on specifics.