Wow. Just a couple days after posting my list of best CDs of 2005, I got an email from the manager of the Crimson Jazz Trio:

Thanks for including CJ3 in your best-of list…we appreciate the support!

Best wishes,
Marjorie & CJ3

A few of you readers, such as you are, must have clicked over to the Crimson Jazz Trio web site and shown up in their web site stats. Hopefully, a few of you actually bought a copy, too. It’s worth a listen or 40. Check out a few audio samples if you’re on the fence. Stunning reinterpretations of classic songs.

So why was it only No. 17 on my list? Well, every disc on that list is amazing, ordered only by fine gradations of genius. And why give it this extra attention? Because, unfortunately, it’s relatively obscure. You might catch a short review in some jazz magazine or other, but you’re not going to hear about it at, say, Pitchfork. Shame.

This goes for several other artists on my list, like Sweeter Than the Day and The Tiptons. In case nobody else tells you, you heard it here. Check ’em out.