Looking back over this past year, I really believe 2010 has been the most incredible year in music I've ever experienced. It's certainly been the best year I've seen since I started The Guitar Channel in 2004. On one hand, I've never witnessed as much amazing live music as I have this year. There were the great Winter NAMM gigs (such as OHM w/ Mike Kenneally, Alex Machacek w/ Ric Fierabracci, the Bombastic Meatbats, and more), awesome Chicago gigs by Mike Stern, Allan Holdsworth, and others, and of course the festivals - starting with the incredible Baked Potato 40th Anniversary Jazz Festival in May, the legend-packed Crossroads Guitar Festival in June, and the capper: the amazing New Universe Music Festival last month.
Then of course, there were the great albums of 2010. And there were a lot of them. Here are my favorite albums that were released this year, in no particular order.
Alex Machacek featuring Marco Minnemann - 24 Tales (Review)
A remarkable disc featuring music Machacek composed over a 52-minute Minnemann drum solo.
Michael Landau, Robben Ford, Jimmy Haslip, Gary Novak - Renegade Creation (Review)
Awesome blues rock super group that brings together guitar legends Landau and Ford. Killer playing; amazing guitar tones.
This one came out of nowhere and really grabbed me. Great collection of fusion tunes with a killer guest list that includes Alex Machacek, Jeff Kollman, Greg Koch, Nat Janoff, and many others.
Fantastic old-school jazz rock album from the legendary drummer. Includes guests Jimmy Herring and David Gilmore.
Prashant Aswani - Sonically Speaking (Review)
Tasty, melodic instrumental rock disc with killer playing and writing. Includes guests Brett Garsed and Rob Caggiano.
Bombastic Meatbats featuring Chad Smith - More Meat
Awesome throwback fusion with great grooves. Features Jeff Kollman on guitar.
Charlie Hunter - Public Domain
This may seem like an out-of-left-field choice, but I can't get enough of this album. Features Hunter playing solo versions of old public domain classics chosen by his grandfather.
Other favorites from 2010:
Kirk Fletcher - My Turn
John McLaughlin - To The One (Review)
John Czajkowski and Marco Minnemann - West ZooOpolis
Steve Lukather - All's Well That Ends Well
Tetsuo Sakurai - Vital World (Review)
Ranjit Barot - Bada Boom
Michael Dolce - Everything Til Now
Jeff Richman - Like That (Interview)
See Also:
Favorite Albums of 2009
Favorite Albums of 2008
Favorite Albums of 2007
Favorite Albums of 2006