I’m not much on top ten lists. It was a great year for music. It was a great decade for music. All signs point to the ‘teens being an even more rich, vibrant and prolific decade. I was just paging through the new All About Jazz (NY print edition) and the number of names and styles and labels is simply astounding. Nobody is going to like all of it, some will question whether much of it even belongs there. But I think this freedom of expression and the resulting proliferation of music is cause for real celebration. It seems to get wilder every year. And I think the next decade is going to amaze us all. May you live in interesting times.

Ethan Iverson relates some great metronome stories over at DO THE MATH, and the conversation continues below in comments.

Keystone returns in 2010 with a new score for Spark of Being, an image-driven film by Bill Morrison, created in our collaboration at Stanford University. We’ll be running a trailer here in mid-January.

Festival of New Trumpet Music starts the year quickly with Forward Flight: a gathering of new brass music, January 13 – 16 at Abrons Art Center at Henry Street Settlement. Chamber music by Ornette Coleman for trumpet, string quartet and percussion; Brass Music of Charles Wuorinen, including NY Premiere of Brass Quintet played by Urban Brass; The Low Anthem; Rob Mazurek; Opsvik & Jennings; Anti-Social Music plays all-premieres; Meridian Arts plays David Sanford; Open Circuit with Taylor Ho Bynum, Itaru Oki, Herb Robertson, Franz Hautzinger, Jean Luc Capozzo. More info to follow soon.

Weill Music Institute Young Artist Concert at Zankel Hall on February 12: eleven musicians from around the world come together to create a new repertoire. I will write a piece for them as well, and workshop with them along with Uri Caine and Clarence Penn.

Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music runs from May 17 to June 5, 2010. This will be my eighth year directing this very special ‘music retreat.’ Music 24/7. This year’s faculty will include Ravi Coltrane Quartet, Jeff Parker, Donny McCaslin, Myra Melford, Matana Roberts, Ben Monder, Mary Halvorson, Giorgio Magnenensi, Matt Brewer, Michael Bates, Roberto Rodriguez, Clarence Penn, Darcy James Argue, Gerald Cleaver, and others. Application deadline is January 15, visit the site for more details.

Making summer plans? I have been invited again to the festival in Trentino, Italy called I Suoni delle Dolomiti. July 10, 2010 I will be playing atop Monte Bondone. The concert is free. But you have to make the hike to be there. This concert will not likely be streamed world-wide in real time… Be there! It’s fun.

Happiest tidings for the year end, and hope to see you all out there some time in the coming year.