Here are the best CD releases of 2008, handpicked by WWOZ show hosts. Many of the discs are by local New Orleans artists, while others are from national and international acts, and all of them make great stocking stuffers. So head on over to Louisiana Music Factory or Amazon.com and give the gift of music!

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Joel "Heavy D" Dinerstein [view show host profile]

Contemporary Jazz, Tuesday 12 - 3 a.m.

1. Charles Lloyd - Rabo de Nube (ECM)
2. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Avatar (Blue Note)
3. Bobby Previte & the New Bump - Set the Alarm for Monday (Palmetto)
4. Cassandra Wilson - Loverly (Blue Note)
5. David Murray Black Saint Quartet - Sacred Ground (Justin Time)

 

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Tom Morgan [view show host profile]

New Orleans Music Show, Tuesday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Jazz Roots, Wednesday 9 - 11 a.m.

1. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent)
2. Jimmy Carpenter - Toiling in Obscurity (Independent)
3. Chuck Perkins - A Love Song for NOLA (Independent)
4. Coco Robicheaux - Like I Said, Yeah U Rite! The Techneaux Swamp Sessions (Independent)
5. The Pfister Sisters - Puttin' It On (Mambo Goddess Records)

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Sondra Bibb [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Thursday 4 - 7 p.m.

1. Charles Lloyd - Rabo de Nube (ECM)
2. Pat Metheny - Day Trip (Nonesuch)
3. Nicholas Payton - Into the Blue (Nonesuch)
4. Danilo Perez - Across the Crystal Sea (Emarcy)
5. Kenny Garrett - Sketches of MD (Mack Avenue)
6. Steve Turre - Rainbow People (HighNote)
7. Taylor Eigsti - Let it Come to You (Concord)
8. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Avatar (Blue Note)

 

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Jelly Roll Justice [view show host profile]

Contemporary Jazz, Monday and Friday 3 - 6 a.m., Saturday 5 - 6 a.m.

1. Trio Da Paz & Joe Locke - Live at JazzBaltica (Max Jazz)
2. Grant Stewart - Young at Heart (Sharp Nine)
3. Robert Walter - Cure All (Palmetto)
4. Little Freddie King - Messin' Around tha House (Wacko Wade Music)
5. Ellis Marsalis - Open Letter to Thelonious (Elm)

 

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T.R. Johnson [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Tuesday 4 - 7 p.m.

 

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Murf Reeves

Guest host on Keith Hill's New Orleans Music Show, Monday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

1. Black Crowes - Warpaint (Silver Arrow)
   Fun, groovy rock 'n roll with some tight musicianship. Their live show at House of Blues was real good, and they have good musical sense when choosing covers. (The band includes William Bell and John Martyn.)
2. Billy Joel - The Stranger (Sony)
   Songwriting that still takes you to a specific place while staying hopeful.
3. People Under the Stairs - Fun DMC (Gold Dust Media)
   Great West Coast hip-hop. The focus is on beats that are warm and fun, that engage and entertain.
4. Brice Miller - A Day in the Life (Miller Mack Media & Brice Miller Productions)
   An artist who has learned from this city's musical history and kept it alive with his own modern twist.
5. Cedric Watson - Cedric Watson (Valcour)
   Watson's songs are lush, with just the right amount of folk and jazz to create great dancing music.

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Suzanne Corley [view show host profile]

Tudo Bem, Saturday 2 - 4 p.m.
World Journey, Saturday 4 - 6 p.m.

1. Chambao - Con Otro Aire (Sony International)
   Spanish/Flamenco
2. Glaucia Nasser - A Vida Num Segundo (Tratore Music Brasil)
   Brazilian
3. Omara Portuondo and Maria Bethânia - Omara Portuondo e Maria Bethânia (Biscoito Fino)
   Brazilian/Cuban
4. Mario Lucio - Badyo (Phantom Sound & Vision)
   Cape Verde
5. Vusi Mahlasela - Guiding Star (ATO Records)
   South Africa

 

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Olivia Greene [view show host profile]

Frequent guest host

1. Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go! (Basin Street)
2. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent)
3. Irvin Mayfield and Ellis Marsalis - Love Songs, Ballads and Standards (Basin Street)
4. The Pfister Sisters - Puttin' It On (Mambo Goddess Records)
5. Dr. Michael White - Blue Crescent (Basin Street)

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Lisa Barrios [view show host profile]

Traditional Jazz, Thursday 9 - 11 a.m.

1. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent)
   The title cut and "Door Poppin'" are my favorites.
2. Original Royal Players - In Their Footsteps (Independent)
   I'm likin' "Love the Big Ones" and "Too Sweet Da Bounce."
3. Los Po-Boy-Citos - New Orleans Latin Soul (Independent)
   I keep going back to "Fried Neck Bones & Some Home Fries" and "Barrio Blue."

 

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Charles "Charlie B" Burchell [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Monday 4 - 7 p.m.

1. Esperanza Spaulding - Esperanza (Heads Up International)
2. Donald Harrison - The Chosen (Nagel-Heyer)
3. James Carter - Present Tense (Emarcy/Universal)
4. Nicholas Payton - Into the Blue (Nonesuch)
5. Joey DeFrancesco - Joey D! (HighNote)

 

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David Kunian [view show host profile]

The Kitchen Sink, Tuesday 10 p.m. - Wednesday 12 a.m.
Jazz Lunatique, Thursday 12 - 3 a.m.

1. Bobby Lounge - Somethin's Wrong (Abitian)
2. Andre Williams & the New Orleans Hellhounds - Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot)
3. Dr. John & the Lower 911 - City That Care Forgot (Savoy)
4. Dr. Michael White - Blue Crescent (Basin Street)
5. Don Cherry - Live at Café Montmartre 1965 (ESP)
6. Sun Ra - Strange Strings (Atavistic)
7. Microscopic Sextet - Lobster Leaps In (Cuneiform)
8. Tom McDermott and Connie Jones - Creole Nocturne (Arbors)
9. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent)
10. Carl LeBlanc - Seventh Ward Griot (Preservation Hall)
11. Hart McNee - Mimi's Rumba (Frenchmen Street Records)
12. The Happy Talk Band - THERE there (Independent)
13. The Magnetic Ear - Live at the Saturn Bar (Independent)
14. Asylum Street Spankers - What? And Give Up Show Business? (Yellow Dog Records)
15. Los Po-Boy-Citos - New Orleans Latin Soul (Independent)
16. Irma Thomas - Simply Grand (Rounder)
17. Robert Walter - Cure All (Palmetto)
18. John Ellis & Double-Wide - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Hyena Records)
19. Walter "Wolfman" Washington - Doin' the Funky Thing (Independent)
20. Henry Butler - PiaNOLA Live (Basin Street)
21. Jesse McBride - Jesse McBride presents the Next Generation (AFO)

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Sherwood Collins [view show host profile]

New Orleans Music Show, Thursday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

1. The Revivalists - The Revivalists (Independent)
   This band really hits me: Great songwriting, awesome vocalist, killer musicians . . . all from college-age kids. I think they can really hit it big.
2. Eric Lindell - Low on Cash, Rich in Love (Alligator Records)
   A new CD with new compositions lands Lindell on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." My fiancée and I have been dancing to "Josephine" all year long.
3. Big Sam's Funky Nation - Peace, Love, and Understanding (Independent)
   It really shows the evolution of this band into something really funky. I wish "Up in Here" was just a bit longer, but all in all, a great album.
4. The Campbell Brothers - Rallytime (Tulip Records)
   Marc Stone did a wonderful job putting this album together. "A Change is Gonna Come" has never cried so much on an instrument as it does on Darick Campbell's lap steel.
5. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane Sessions (Preservation Hall Records)
   Great compilation CD/DVD put together by Ben Jaffe.

Other great albums in no particular order:

• Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go! (Basin Street)
• Jimmy Robinson - Vibrating Strings (Independent)
• Billy Iuso & the Restless Natives - Paradise Lost . . . (Nawlins Music)
• Various Artists - Funky Kidz (Asap Productions)
• Gravy - Said & Done (Blue Eyed Dog Publishing)
• Leo Nocentelli - Say Na Hey (Pesuky Music)

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The Minister of Swing [view show host profile]

Swing and Big Band, Friday 12 - 3 a.m.

1. Raymond Scott - Ectoplasm (Basta)
   Fun 1938 recordings released just in time for the Raymond Scott centennial in 2008.
2. Red Nichols - 1930-1931 (Classics)
   It's getting harder and harder to find this label, so pick this up while you can. Nichols plays with a young Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Gene Krupa.
3. Red McKenzie - Red McKenzie Vol. 1 (Timeless)
   This was a 2001 release that went out of print and has been re-issued. Terrific early hot recordings with Red singing and playing the comb.

 

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Big D [view show host profile]

Blues and R&B: Sittin' at the Crossroads with Big D, Tuesday 12 - 3 a.m.

My "Best of 2008" list is broken into two parts: "local" and "outside the city."

Local Artist Releases

1. Eric Lindell - Low On Cash, Rich In Love (Alligator Records)
2. Irma Thomas - Simply Grand (Rounder Records)
3. Big Daddy O - What You Got to Go Through (Rabadash Records)
4. Little Freddie King - Messin' Around the House (Made Right)
5. Grayson Capps - Rott 'n' Roll (Hyena Records)

Releases from Outside the City

1. J.J. Grey & Mofro - Orange Blossoms (Alligator Records)
2. Sonny Landreth - From the Reach (Landfall Records)
3. Kenny Neal - Let Life Flow (Blind Pig Records)
4. Sean Costello - We Can Get Together (Delta Groove)
5. Larry Garner - Here Today Gone Tomorrow (Dixie Frog)

 

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Saadir Williams [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Friday 4 - 7 p.m.

1. Esperanza Spaulding - Esperanza (Heads Up International)
2. Dianne Reeves - When You Know (Blue Note)
3. Nicole Henry - The Very Thought of You (Banister Records)

 

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A.J. Rodrigue [view show host profile]

Kitchen Sink, Wednesday 10 p.m. - Thursday 12 a.m.

1. Andre Williams and the New Orleans Hellhounds - Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot Records)
2. Quintron - Too Thirsty for Love (Goner Records)
3. 007 - You Only Drop Once (Independent)
4. Bobby Lounge - Somethin’s Wrong (Abitian Records)
5. Eddie Bo - In the Pocket With Eddie Bo! (Phantom Sound and Vision)
6. Walter "Wolfman" Washington - Doin' The Funky Thing (Zoho Music)
7. Carl LeBlanc - New Orleans' Seventh Ward Griot (Preservation Hall Records)
8. Blind Boys of Alabama - Down in New Orleans (MI)
9. Cedric Watson - Cedric Watson (Valcour Records)
10. Hart McNee - MiMi's Rumba (Frenchmen Street Records)
11. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club At Carnegie Hall (Abitian Records)  
12. Ernie K-Doe - Here Come the Girls! (Great American Music)
13. Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Yep Roc Records)
    

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Add a comment below if you would like to submit your own picks for 2008 or to comment on the picks above.