Every year I am asked by various magazines -- Jazziz, Absolute Sound, Germany's Jazzthing as well as the Jazz Journalists Association -- to come up with my Top 10 albums of the year. And every year I just have to laugh at that assignment. Just 10?!! Impossible! Inevitably, I do get around to whittling my list down to a previous few, though one year I actually did list my Top 200 albums of the year for the JJA annual list. When I instituted this blog in 2021, I listed 30 of my favorite albums of the year. This year I'm going for 100. Here's my Top 10 (in order), followed by another 90 (in no particular order):
1. Franco Ambrosetti, Nora (Enja) — This magnificent collection of romantic ballads is the 80-year-old Swiss trumpeter’s answer to his heroes’ (Charlie Parker and Clifford Brown) encounters with strings in the 1950s. With Grammy-winning arranger Alan Broadbent conducting a 22-piece string orchestra, backed by a core group of pianist Uri Caine, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Peter Erskine, along with solo contributions from guest guitarist John Scofield, Ambrosetti takes his time and tells a story on each one of these melodic gems. In the vein of other classic partnerships like Miles Davis with Gil Evans or Frank Sinatra with Gordon Jenkins, Ambrosetti embraces Broadbent’s gorgeous arrangement with rare intimacy and grace, delivering golden tones on his flugelhorn like those other great singers of songs.
2. Julian Lage, View with a Room (Blue Note)
3. Charles Lloyd Trios, Chapel (Blue Note)
4. John Scofield, John Scofield (ECM)
5. Pasquale Grasso, Be-Bop! (Sony Masterworks)
6. Bill Frisell, Four (Blue Note)
7. Marta Sanchez, SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) (Whirlwind Reordings)
8. Dave Stryker, As We Are (Strike Zone)
9. Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Mesmerism (Yeros7 Music)
10. Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, Popular Culture (Community Music, Vol. 4) (Royal Potato Family)
11. Steven Bernstein & The Hot 9, Manifesto of Henryisms: Community Music, Vol. 3 (Royal Potato Family)
12. Seamus Blake, New York Factor, Vol. 1 (self-released)
13. Tyshawn Sorey Trio + 1, The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism (Pi)
14. Javon Jackson, The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni (Solid Jackson)
15. Immanuel Wilkins, The 7th Hand (Blue Note)
16. Mary Halvorson, Amaryllis (Nonesuch)
17. The Jon Cowerd Trio, Pride And Joy (Le Cog Records)
18. Myra Melford, For the Love of Fire and Water (RogueArt)
19. Enrico Rava/Fred Hersch, The Song Is You (ECM)
20. Keith Jarrett, Bordeaux Concert (ECM)
21. Terri Lyne Carrington, New Standards Vol. 1 (Candid)
22. Al Foster, Reflections (Smoke Sessions)
23. Gaia Wilmer Large Ensemble, Folia: The Music of Egbert Gismonti (Sunnyside)
24. Fareed Haque, Return to the Joyous Lake (Wahdude Music)
25. Marc Copland Quartet, Someday (InnerVoice Jazz)
26. Conrad Herwig, The Latin Side of Mingus (Savant)
27. Mary Halvorson, Belladona (Nonesuch)
28. Melissa Aldana, 12 Stars (Nonesuch) 29. Redman/Mehldau/McBride/Blade, LongGone (Nonesuch)
30. JD Allen, Americana Vol. 2 (Savant)
31. Goldings, Bernstein & Stewart, Perpetual Pendulum (Smoke Sessions)
32. John Stein, Lifeline (Whaling City Sound)
33. Mike Clark/Leon Lee Dorsey/Mike LeDonne, Blues on Top (Jazz Avenue1)
34. Samara Joy, Linger Awhile (Verve)
35. Alex Norris, Fleet from the Heat (SteepleChase)
36. Laszlo Gardony, Close Connection (Sunnyside)
37. Burton/McPherson Trio featuring Dezron Douglas, The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village (Giant Step Arts)
38. Miguel Zenón, Mùsica De Las Américas (Miel Music)
39. Peter Erskine, Live in Italy (Fuzzy Music)
40. Eubanks Evans Experience, EEE (Imani Records)
41. Cécile McLorin Salvant, Ghost Song (Nonesuch)
42. Dave Liebman, Truth and Honesty (Newvelle Records)
43. Erik Friedlander, A Queen's Firefly (Skiptone Records)
44. Bobby Watson, Back Home in Kansas City (Smoke Sessions)
45. Caleb Wheeler Curtis, Heat Map (Imani Recordings
46. Anat Cohen, Quartetinho (Anzi Records)
47. Will Vinson, Tripwire (Whirlwind Recordings)
48. Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double, March (Firehouse 12)
49. Duduka Da Fonseca, Quarteto Universal (Sunnyside)
50. Harish Raghavan, In Tense (Whirlwind Recordings)
51. Eddie Palmieri, Sonido Solar (Truth Revolution Recording)
52. Thumbscrew, Multicolored Midnight (Cuneiform Records)
53. Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini, Auburn Whisper (GroupUP!)
54. Lincoln Goines, The Art of the Bass Choir (Origin Records)
55. Jakob Bro/Joe Lovano, Once Around The Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian (ECM)
56. Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio D'Été, Turning Point (5Passion Records)
57. Samo Salamon, Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy for Solo Guitar (Samo Records)
58. Alternative Guitar Summit, Honoring Pat Martino, Vol. 1 (HighNote)
59. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead, Poetic (self release)
60. Corey Christiansen, Standards (self release)
61. Michael Musillami, Flight of Evangeline (Playscape Recording)
62. Tim Fitzgerald, Tim Fitzgerald's Full House (Cellar Music Group)
63. Dennis Mitcheltree, Golden Rule (Dengor Music)
64. Fay Claassen/David Linx, And Still We Sing (Jazzline)
65. Andrew Cyrille, William Parker & Enrico Rava, 2 Blues for Cecil (TUM Records)
66. Julieta Eugenio, Jump (Greenleaf Music)
67. Jason Palmer, Live From Summit Rock in Seneca Village (Giant Step Arts)
68. Steve Cardenas/Ben Allison/Ted Nash, Healing Power (Sunnyside)
69. Doug Wamble, Blues in the Present Tense (Halcyon Records)
70. Jon Irabagon, Rising Sun (Irabbagast)
71. Pete Malinverni, Plays Bernstein (Planet Arts)
72. Dafnis Prieto w/Luciana Souza, Cantar (Dafnison Music)
73. Nate Najar, Jazz Samba Pra Sempre (Blue Line Music)
74. John Lee, The Artist (Cellar Music Group)
75. Grant Stewart Quartet, The Lighting Of The Lamps (Cellar Music Group)
76. Eli Degibri, Henri and Rachel (Degibri Records)
77. Brian Lynch and Spheres of Influence, Songbook Vol. 2: Dance the Way U Want To (Hollistic MusicWorks)
78. Kris Allen, June (Truth Revolution Recording)
79. Gary Smulyan, Tadd’s All, Folks (SteepleChase)
80. Sheila Jordan, Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music Group)
81. Yvonnick Prené, Listen! (Sunnyside)
82. The Nu Band, Renual (Not Two)
83. Jane Ira Bloom/Mark Helias, See Our Way (Radiolegs Records)
84. Jeff Denson/Romain Pilon/Brian Blade, Finding Light (Ridgeway Records)
85. Michael Blake, Combobulate (Newvelle Records)
86. Mike Allemana, Vonology (ears & eyes)
87. Jason Yeager Septet, Unstuck in Time: The Kurt Vonnecut Suite (Sunnyside)
88. Roberto Occhipinti, The Next Step (Modica Music)
89. SImon Belelty, Pee Wee (JOJO Records)
90. Matthew Soucy, Recollecting (inner-Bop Records)
91. The Margaret Slovak Trio, Ballad for Brad (Slovak Music)
92. Wadada Leo Smith, The Emerald Duets (TUM)
93. Ches Smith, Interpret It Well (Pyroclastic Records)
94. James Singleton, Malabar (Sinking City Records)
95. Kate Baker & Vic Juris, Return to Shore (StrikeZone)
96. Gene Ess, Ah-Bop (SIMP Records)
97. The OGJB Quartet, Ode to O (TUM)
98. Oz Noy, Riverside (Outside In Music)
99. Brian Landrus, Red List (Palmetto)
100. The Headhunters, Speakers in the House (Ropeadope)
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