Top Jazz Albums 2016 – the Critics
I have my own selection of best jazz albums – but there are always a few that I haven’t heard. It is remarkable how dissonant the critics are with their best-of lists. It all feels very subjective. Here are a few that I googled.
- Tim Garland – One
- Branford Marsalis Quartet with Kurt Elling – Upward Spiral
- Dinosaur – Together, As One
- Donny McCaslin – Beyond Now
- Brad Mehldau – Ballads and Blues
- Charles Lloyd & The Marvels – I Long To See You
- EST Symphony – EST Symphony
- Impossible Gentlemen – Let’s Get Deluxe
- Aziza – Aziza
- Phronesis – Parallax
- Kit Downes & Tom Challenger – Vyamanikal
- Jazz At Lincoln Centre – Live In Cuba
- Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau – Nearness
- John Scofield – Country For Old Men
- Jeremy Pelt – Jive Culture
- Bill Frisell – When You Wish Upon A Star
- Dhafer Youssef – Diwan of Beauty and Odd
- Barnes/O’Higgins & The Sax Section – Oh Gee!
- Jack DeJohnette/Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison In Movement
- Michael Wollny Trio – Klangspuren
10) John Scofield, Country for Old Men (Impulse!)
9) The Robert Glasper Experiment, ArtScience (Blue Note)
8) AZIZA, Aziza (Dare2)
7) Donny McCaslin, Beyond Now (Motema Music)
6) Kris Davis, Duopoly (Pyroclastic)
5) Esperanza Spalding, Emily’s D+Evolution (Concord)
4) MAST, Love and War (Alpha Pup)
3) Jack DeJohnette/Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison, In Movement (ECM)
2) Julian Lage, Arclight / Live in Los Angeles (Mack Avenue)
1) Jeff Parker, The New Breed (International Anthem, Ltd.)
10 Vijay Iyer & Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith – A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM)
9 Battle Trance – Blade Of Love (New Amsterdam)
8 Tyshawn Sorey – The Inner Spectrum Of Variables (Pi)
7 Jeremy Pelt – #jiveculture (HighNote)
6 Freddie Hendrix – Jersey Cat (Sunnyside)
5 John Raymond – Real Feels (Shifting Paradigm)
4 Donny McCaslin – Beyond Now (Motema)
3 Michael Formanek’s Ensemble Kolossus – The Distance (ECM)
2 Black Bombaim & Peter Brötzmann – Black Bombaim & Peter Brötzmann (Shhpuma)
1 JD Allen – Americana (Savant)
- Henry Threadgill’s Ensemble Double Up, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi).
- Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Real Enemies (New Amsterdam).
- Frank Kimbrough, Solstice (Pirouet).
- Fred Hersch Trio, Sunday Night at the Vanguard (Palmetto).
- Brad Mehldau Trio, Blues and Ballads (Nonesuch).
- Wadada Leo Smith, America’s National Parks (Cuneiform, 2 CDs).
- Dave Douglas & Frank Woeste, Dada People (Greenleaf).
- Krakauer’s Ancestral Groove, Checkpoint (Table Pounding Records).
- Kenny Barron Trio, Book of Intuition (Impulse!).
- Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family, Beginning of a Memory (Palmetto).
1: Greg Abate & Phil Woods: Kindrid Spirits Live (Whaling City Sound)
2: Bucky Pizzarelli: Renaissance (Arbors Records)
4: Dr Lonnie Smith: Evolution (Blue Note)
5: Nils Landgren With Janis Siegel: Some Other Time, A Tribute To Leonard Bernstein (Act)
6: Aly Keïta, Jan Galega Brönnimann, Lucas Niggli: Kalo-Yele (Intakt Records)
7: Sam Crockatt Quartet: Mells Bells (Whirlwind Recordings)
8: Ian Shaw: The Theory Of Joy (Jazz Village)
9: Huw V Williams: Hon (Chaos)
11: Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: All My Yesterdays (Resonance)
12: Avisghai Cohen: Into The Silence (Ecm)
14: Herlin Riley: New Direction (Mack Avenue)
15: Aldevis Tibaldi: Twentysix Three (Galetone Records)
17: Snarky Puppy: Culcha Vulcha (Decca)
- Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double Up, ‘Old Locks and Irregular Verbs’
- Wadada Leo Smith, ‘America’s National Parks’
- Jack DeJohnette / Matt Garrison / Ravi Coltrane, ‘In Movement’
- Mary Halvorson Octet, ‘Away With You’
- Michael Formanek / Ensemble Kolossus, ‘The Distance’
- Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, ‘A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke’
- Nels Cline, ‘Lovers’
- Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family, ‘Beginning of a Memory’
- Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, ‘Time/Life (Song for the Whales and Other Beings)’
- Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone, ‘Sélébéyone’
- Henry Threadgill’s Ensemble Double Up, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi)
- Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Real Enemies (New Amsterdam)
- Frank Kimbrough, Solstice (Pirouet)
- Fred Hersch Trio, Sunday Night at the Vanguard (Palmetto)
- Brad Mehldau Trio, Blues and Ballads (Nonesuch)
- Wadada Leo Smith, America’s National Parks (Cuneiform, 2 CDs)
- Dave Douglas & Frank Woeste, Dada People (Greenleaf)
- Krakauer’s Ancestral Groove, Checkpoint (Table Pounding Records)
- Kenny Barron Trio, Book of Intuition (Impulse!)
- Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family, Beginning of a Memory (Palmetto)
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