My 60 Favorite Nonesuch Albums (Part 1 of 3)
I celebrate the label's 60th anniversary by showcasing 60 albums
I’ve grown so wary of record labels. In all fairness, some of them don’t care much for me either. I get friendlier pitches from overseas telemarketers.
But a few of those music merchants still earn my trust and admiration.
It’s not a long list. But Nonesuch is definitely on it, and has been since I was barely out of swaddling clothes.
I’ll listen to almost anything the Nonesuchians release, because they maintain exalted standards, and operate with unblemished integrity—even within the constricting environment of a large corporate parent company.
That can’t be easy. But if Nonesuch can balance the demands of commerce and artistry with such perseverance, there’s hope that others might do the same.
Nonesuch has kept it up for sixty turbulent years. This year marks a milestone birthday for the label, founded in early 1964,
In celebration, I’m offering a list of my 60 favorite Nonesuch albums.
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My 60 Favorite Nonesuch Albums (Part 1 of 3)
I’m not claiming this is an exhaustive survey—or even a representative sample. I had to leave out many a dulcet-toned treasure. I’m just saying that I love each of these records.
There were only sixty slots in my virtual jukebox. Something had to give.
But that’s cool. Let me know, in the comments, which records you would add to this survey.
I’m listing these in alphabetical order.
John Adams: City Noir (2014)
A sax concerto from John Adams would catch my interest under any circumstances. But when he draws explicitly on cool jazz influences, especially Stan Getz’s cherished Focus album with double string quartet from 1962, this gets all my Michelin stars.
Sam Amidon: Sam Amidon (2020)
Sam Amidon is impossible to classify, but (fortunately) easy to enjoy. This album made my best of year list in 2020, when I described it as a “19th Century Singing Style Juxtaposed with 21st Century Soundscapes.” I continue to expect the unexpected from this artist—and I might say the same of the Nonesuch label itself.
Laurie Anderson: Big Science (1982)
She dazzled me with Big Science. On the album cover, Laurie Anderson looks like she has just stepped out of a time machine, ready to merge technology and art pop into some new sci-fi music genre. This was the whacked-out future we deserved but never got.
The Bad Plus Joshua Redman (2015)
At the dawn of the new millennium, the jazz piano trio got redefined in less heroic and more collectivistic, genre-busting terms. Few bands played a larger role in this than The Bad Plus in their original lineup (Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson and David King)—maybe the best threesome to come out of Minnesota since Killebrew, Carew and Oliva. Their stay at Nonesuch was short-lived, resulting in just this 2015 pairing with saxophonist Joshua Redman. That’s a shame—this band might have served as house rhythm section for other projects of this sort.
Bali: Music from the Morning of the World (1967)
Ethnomusicologist David Lewiston made these recordings in Indonesia in 1966, and they shook up many listeners with a shimmering microtonal music that sounded traditional and avant-garde at the same time. This was the first album of Indonesian music I ever owned, and it started me on a lifelong journey which eventually resulted in my own musical pilgrimage to the country.
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