This is a great time to be a music fan. Not only is there a plethora of independent labels releasing exciting, fresh and new material, but long time labels are branching out and putting out albums my artists you may have never heard before.
Then, if vintage or historical recordings are of your ilk, there is probably not a better time than the present, as labels both domestic and abroad are either reissuing vintage albums, or are digging into the vaults and coming up with molten gold.
Both genres are included in this collection of Top Ten lists, culled from the best of the best jazz journalists. Every album by each writer is worth examining, as these guys know their stuff. If you see an album on more than one list, consider this a more than subtle hint to check it out.
Happy Hunting!
I. George Harris
- The Savory Collection (Mosaic)
- Teddy Wilson Classic Brunswick and Columbia Sessions 1934-1942 (Mosaic)
- Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco-You’re Driving Me Crazy (Sony)
- Danny Green Trio & Strings: One Day It Will (Origin Arts)
- Dave McMurray: Music Is Life (Blue Note)
- Oscar Peterson: Oscar Peterson Plays (Universal)
- Wes Montgomery: In Paris (Resonance)
- Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong: Cheek to Cheek (Universal)
- Dave Tull: Texting and Driving (Dave Tull)
Yellowjackets: Raising Our Voice (Yellowjackets)
II.John McDonough-Downbeat
- The [Bill] Savory Collection – Mosaic
- Tony Bennett-Diane Krall: Gershwin – Columbia
- Stacy Kent: I Know the Dream – OKeh
- The Unheard Artie Shaw: James Langton Orch w. Dan Levinson – Hep Jazz
- Ken Peplowski Big Band: Sunrise – Arbors
- Lee Konitz-Dan Telfer: Decade – Verve
- Dexter Gordon: Tokyo – Elemental
- Cecile McLorin Salvant: The Window – Mack Ave
- Rolf Kuhn: Yellow and Blue – MPS
Eddie Daniels: Heart of Brazil – Resonance
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- Fred Hersch Trio: Live in Europe – Palmetto
- Joachim Kuhn: Melodic Ornette Coleman – ACT
III. Mark F. Turner-allaboutjazz.com
Steve Coleman and Five Elements – Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 (Pi Recordings)
Christian McBride’s New Jawn (Mack Avenue)
Evan Salvacion Levine – Mestizo (Shifting Paradigm)
Anteloper (Jaimie Branch, Jason Nazary) – Kudzu (International Anthem)
Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth (Young Turks )
Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret – The Other Side of Air (Firehouse 12)
Bobby Broom – Soul Fingers (Jazzline)
Henry Threadgill – Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus (Pi Recordings)
Aaron Parks – Little Big (Ropeadope)
Stefon Harris & Blackout – Sonic Creed (Motéma Music
IV. Scott Yanow-Downbeat
Amy Cervini – No One Ever Tells You – Anzic
Anat Cohen Tentet – Happy Song – Anzic
John Coltrane – Both Directions At Once – Impulse
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Cheek To Cheek – Verve
Monika Herzig – Sheroes – Whaling City Sound
Dave Liebman & John Stowell – Petite Fleur: The Music Of Sidney Bechet – Origin
Don Menza – Sonny Daze – Alessa
On the Levee Jazz Band – Big Al Records
Dave Tull – Texting And Driving – Toy Car Records
Various Artists – The Savory Collection – Mosaic
Teddy Wilson – Classic Brunswick & Columbia Sessions 1934-1942 – Mosaic
V. David R. Adler
Wayne Shorter, Emanon (Blue Note)
Miguel Zenón featuring Spektral Quartet, Yo Soy La Tradición (Miel)
Cécile McLorin Salvant, The Window (Mack Avenue)
Miles Okazaki, Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Monk, Vols. 1-6(ind.)
Esperanza Spalding, 12 Little Spells (Concord)
Caroline Davis, Heart Tonic (Sunnyside)
The Bad Plus, Never Stop II (Legbreaker)
Dan Weiss, Starebaby (Pi)
Robbie Lee & Mary Halvorson, Seed Triangular (New Amsterdam)
Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret, The Other Side of Air (Firehouse 12)
VI. Michael Nastos-Hot House Magazine, Detroit Free Press, WCBN-FM
Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Awase (ECM)- Ron English, Dance/Cry/Dance (Detroit Music Factory)
- Rich Halley 3, The Literature (Pine Eagle)
- Makaya McCraven, Universal Beings (International Anthem)
- Ken Thomson Sextet (New Focus/Panoramic)
- Chris Pasin, Ornettiquette (Planet Arts)
Amos Hoffman – Noam Lemish, Pardes (AHNLCD)- GayeLynn McKinney-McKinFolk: The New Beginning (Detroit Music Factory)
- Carl Michel Group, Music in Motian – The Compositions of Paul Motian (Play On)
- John Bailey, In Real Time (Summit)
VII Thomas Conrad-Jazz Times
John Coltrane Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)- Francesco Cafiso We Play for Tips (EFLAT)
- Wolfgang Muthspiel Where the River Goes (ECM)
- Miles Davis & John Coltrane The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 (Columbia/Legacy))
- Kenny Barron Quintet Concentric Circles (Blue Note)
- Bobo Stenson Trio Contra la Indecisión (ECM)
- Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints Scandal (Greenleaf)
- Noah Preminger/Frank Carlberg Whispers and Cries (Red Piano)
- Tord Gustavsen Trio The Other Side (ECM)
- Christian McBride Christian McBride’s New Jawn (Brother Mister Productions/Mack Avenue)
VIII. Ken Weiss
Steve Coleman and Five Elements – Live at the
Village Vanguard. Vol 1 The Embedded Sets (Pi)
Satoko Fujii – Solo (Libra)
Sylvie Courvoisier – Trio D’Agala (Intakt)
Henry Threadgill – 14 or 15 Kestra AGG Dirt…And
More Dirt (Pi)
Thumbscrew – Theirs (Cuneiform)
Jonathan Finlayson – 3 Times Round (Pi)
Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra – Down a Rabbit Hole
(Summit)
Stefan Aeby Trio – The London Concert (Intakt)
Jemeel Moondoc Quartet – The Astral Revelations
(Rogueart)
Kaze Atody – Man Circum (Libra)
IX. Bernie Koenig
Borderland Trio – Asteroidea (Intakt)
Fred Frith and Hans Koch – You Are Here (Intakt)
Jasp Blonk – Irrelevant Comment (Kontrans)
Rohan Dasgupta, Luigi Di Chiappari, Riccardo
Di Fiandra, Daniele Di Pentima – Anatma (Slam)
Sylvie Courvoisier Trio – D’Agala (Intakt)
Deniz Peters – Simon Rose Edith’s Problem (Leo)
Jorg Fischer & Ingo Deul – Vinkenslag (Sporeprint)
Kukuruz Quartet, Julius Eastman – Piano
Interpretations (Intakt)
HBH Trio – Signals From the Mind (Slam)
X. Larry Hollis
Black Art Jazz Collective – Armor of Pride
(Highnote)
Eddie Henderson – Be Cool (Smoke Sessions)
Kenny Barron Quintet – Concentric Circles (Blue
Note)
Brad Goode Quintet – That’s Right (Origin)
Jim Snidero/Jeremy Pelt – Jubilatation (Savant)
John Bailey – In Real Time (Summit)
Ted Nash Quintet – Live at Dizzy’s (Plastic Sax)
Wayne Escoffery – Vortex (Sunnyside)
Lauren Sevian – Bliss (Positone)
Cory Weeds Little Big Band – Explosion (Cellar
Live)
Larry Hollis-historical
Miles Davis/John Coltrane – Final Tour vol. 6 (Legacy)
Thelonious Monk Quartet – Monk (Gearbox)
Woody Shaw – Tokyo 1981 (Elemental)
Jackie McLean – Montreal 1988 (Hi Hat)
Dexter Gordon Quartet – Tokyo 1975 (Elemental)
Cannonball Adderley Quintet – At the Lighthouse (Jazz Images)
Grant Green – Funk in France (Resonance)
Tubby Hayes – A Little Workout (Acrobat)
Erroll Garner – Night Concert (Mack Avenue)
Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette – After the Fall
(ECM)
XI. Nora McCarthy
Steve Reich – Drumming (Kuniko)
James Weidman – Spiritual Impressions (Inner
Circle Music)
Jason Kao Hwang/Burning Bridge – Blood (self-
release)
Lansing Mcloskey – Zealot Canticles (self-release)
Warren Benbow – Harmolodic Adventure (Dengel
Music Company)
Sonny Simmons, Plays the Music of Vidar
Johansen (The Traveller)
Kenny Wheeler – Six For Six (Cam Cine TV
Music, Inc.)
Jazzmob – Infernal Machine (Jazzaway Records)
Ra-Kalam Bob Moses – The Skies of Copenhagen
(Ra-Kalam Records)
Cecil Taylor Unit – It’s In the Brewing Luminous
(hat Hut Records)
XII. Jerome Wilson
Charles Lloyd and the Marvels + Lucinda Williams – Vanished Gardens (Blue Note)
Claudia Doffinger – Graz Composers Orchestra,
(Monochrome)
Edward Simon – Sorrows and Triumph
(Sunnyside)
Kate Reid – The Heart Already Knows (Self-released)
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble – Atwood
Suites (Sunnyside)
Owen Broder – Heritage (ArtistShare)
Kate McGarry/Keith Ganz/Gary Versace – The
Subject Tonight is Love (Binxtown)
Jim McNeely/The Frankfurt Radio Big Band –
Barefoot Dances and Other Visions (Planet Arts)
Kevin Bales/Keri Johnsrud – Beyond The
Neighborhood – The Music of Fred Rogers (Self-
released)
Binker and Moses – Alive In The East? (Gearbox)
Jerome Wilson-historical
Various Artists – Amarcord Nino Rota,
(Corbett v Dempsey)
Mike Gibbs Band – Symphony Hall, Birmingham
1981 (Dusk Fire)
Miles Davis & John Coltrane – The Final Tour,
(Columbia/Legacy)
Steve Lacy – Stamps (Corbett v Dempsey)
XI. Zim Tarro
Barre Phillips – End to End (ECM)
Matthias Tschopp – Untitled (Wide Ears
Records)
Marty Elkins – Fat Daddy (Nagel Heyer Records)
Rats Live on No Evil Star – Darrell Katz (JCA
Recordings)
Joani Taylor – In a Sentimental Mood (Cellar
Live)
Havard Wiik – This is Not a Waltz (Self-released)
Emmet Cohen – Masters Legacy Series (Cellar
Live)
Rachel Caswell – We’re All in the Dance (Turtle Ridge
Records)