PostGenre’s Best of 2025

Deeming any album the “best” of a given year is inherently fraught with problems. First, there are the logistical issues. Generally, thousands of recordings are released annually. Given that a year has only 8,760 hours, it is logistically impossible to listen to everything. Often, classifications can help limit the scope. Focusing on only the “best jazz recordings” in a given year, for instance, significantly cuts back the scope. However, it also casts the shadows of tired old debates on bounds and meanings of genred concepts, something our site is not generally hip to anyway. Further, even adopting those preconceptions leaves much to be desired. How do you fairly consider music that is so disparate? How does one compare a loosely composed work that relies more on feeling to an intricately written one that is supposedly more cerebral? And, at what point, does such an effort run the risk of falling into long disproven traps of concepts of “high art” and “low art”? How can one really apply quantitative ranking to something as subjective as art? There is no great answer here, as many commentators pointed out regarding our lists last year.

And yet, there is something to be said about recordings that consistently stand out. If a group of people who regularly listen to and consider a lot of music during the year collectively find themselves drawn to a particular work, it is hard to argue that there isn’t something special about it. What follows is a list of the top ten albums our team felt most drawn to. Ties are ordered alphabetically by the leader’s last name. However,  since ten records only tell so much of the story, as in past years, we have also included several honorable mentions; releases that multiple members of our team felt worthy of merit but did not quite make it to our collective top ten.

If I were to make one comment about the succeeding list, it is that it truly speaks to the continued vitality of the improvised music scene. In a recent Facebook post, a critic claimed that with the recent passing of Jack DeJohnette, there were fewer legends of the music and no younger artists carrying the torch of creative expression. And while the commentator is correct as to the former, the premise does not fit the conclusion. While we should celebrate the legends still with us – and some are noted below – it is clear the music is in safe hands with the next generations. — Rob Shepherd

9 (tie). Jaleel Shaw – Painter of the Invisible (Changu)

[With Painter of the Invisible,] Philly saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator Jaleel Shaw emerges [after a thirteen-year break as a leader] with [a] quartet [that] includes pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Ben Street, [and] drummer Joe Dyson. [G]uitarist Lage Lund and vibraphonist Sasha Berliner guest[] on two tracks each. [The album] celebrates heroes, both musical and otherwise. [These include tributes to Shaw’s]  grandmothers, Pinky and Virginia, [and] his cousin who passed away in 2020. These two family pieces show a side of Shaw rarely seen in his sideman gigs as he approaches these ballads so emotively. Besides family, another major thread of the album is James Baldwin. The first of the two compositions [dedicated to the Civil Rights icon] is “Baldwin’s Blues,” which has Shaw blowing fiercely but free of squawks and shrieks as he soars over the rumbling rhythm section. The penultimate track may well be “The Invisible Man,” a poignant, driving piece drawn from a title of one of Baldwin’s most famous books, and delivered in the context of people who have always been overlooked…. Shaw [also] addresses social justice in “Tamir,” for Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, murdered by the Cleveland Division of Police in 2014. [With Painter of the Invisible,] Shaw masterfully delivers one of the most deeply felt albums in recent memory. – Jim Hynes

Edited and truncated excerpt from Jim Hynes’ review in Glide magazine

9 (tie). Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith – A Defiant Life (ECM)

Timelessness is often the essential criterion for musical greatness. “Will this stand the test of time?” is a fair question, but a end-of-year list is the wrong place to look for an answer. If making art is, as some have suggested, a record of what it is like to be alive at a certain place and time, you could argue that the greatest examples of a vernacular art form should—and maybe must–also be very much of their time. 

By that measure, Defiant Life is a great achievement. No recording I have heard this year has better captured the sense of ambient dread and foreboding of a world melting—literally—into disorder and ennui, a kind of existential stagflation. Spare in texture and unhurried in pace, the music on Defiant Life seems to have arrived as though borne on a comet from outside the solar system.

On Harmon-muted trumpet, Smith is an oracle and a seer, a modern-day Tiresias wandering through the frozen wasteland of an inscrutable world without meaning. Yet the warmth of his open-horn tone is profoundly human, as on his “Floating River Requiem,” dedicated to the Congolese anti-colonialist political leader Patrice Lumumba, who was assassinated in 1961. Iyer’s “Kite,” a dedication to Palestinian writer and poet Refaat Alareer, killed in Gaza in 2023, opens with chiming low notes from the composer’s Rhodes piano, the sound world of “In A Silent Way.” As the vaguely modal harmony slowly moves from darkness to light, Smith’s open trumpet becomes the dead poet’s spirit, ascending to heaven. Spiritual jazz, for sure.

There are times when the vibe of the recording recalls Promises (Luaka Bop, 2021), the collaboration between saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and British producer Floating Points, but Defiant Life is more substantial and states its thesis with greater clarity and conviction.

I’d like to point out here the importance of Manfred Eicher’s production to the project. Here, as on Craig Taborn’s similarly haunting solo piano recordings for the label, Eicher’s signature distant, reverberant sound field is an ideal frame for Iyer’s and Smith’s otherworldly utterances.  Space, in every sense of that word, is the third player on the date.

Ten or fifteen or even five years from now, we may have forgotten the ominous circumstances that gave birth to this record. One can only hope. But whatever its inspiration might have been, music this austerely beautiful deserves a shot at immortality. – John Chacona

8. Butcher Brown- Letters from the Atlantic (Concord)

In their latest release, the boys from Richmond, Virginia, have kept the fuzzy, funky jams they’ve been known for from the start but stripped everything down to the simplest grooves. What results is a clear continuation of this group’s development and camaraderie in what is arguably their most cohesive statement of an album in years. – Anthony Dean-Harris

6. (tie) James Brandon Lewis – Apple Cores (Anti-)

It is very easy to identify James Brandon Lewis as a tenor saxophonist. While technically accurate, that classification is also woefully inadequate. Put the bamboo, brass, and hard rubber out of mind to reveal what he truly is: one of the best sonic historians. For a music so heavily tied to tradition, works by younger generations honoring those who came before is hardly an anomaly, but, far too often, an overly retrospective attitude is applied. In reality, the best historical analyses not only look backwards but also forward to the ramifications of yesteryear on today and tomorrow. And this is exactly where JBL excels. That perspective is also what allows him to so capably honor non-musical heroes. In the case of Apple Cores, primarily a trio date with bassist Josh Werner and percussionist Chad Taylor, inspiration comes from Don Cherry and Amiri Baraka. A careful listener can hear the former’s interest in different musical cultures through things like Werner’s dub lines and Taylor’s hypnotic mbira on “Prince Eugene,” while the latter’s boldly fearless storytelling is all over the recording. And yet, it is all presented in thoroughly modern ways, with the album drawing free jazz, hip hop, funk, and rock in as part of a singularly cohesive Black artistic excellence. – Rob Shepherd

6. (tie) Aaron Parks – By All Means (Blue Note)

Aaron Parks has always played the piano with a sense of timeless gorgeousness, a signature lushness that swaddles the ears. In his latest release for Blue Note Records with his long-standing group of bassist Ben Street, the legendary drummer Billy Hart, and group newcomer Ben Solomon, Parks rises to the occasion of making a Blue Note album intended to stand the test of time while maintaining a contemporaneousness that is both entirely of its time and assuredly just beyond it. – Anthony Dean-Harris

5. Nels Cline – Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note)

Nels Cline is an interesting figure in improvised music. To the wider public, he is likely best known for his over two-decade membership in the top indie rock band, Wilco. But his heart also unquestionably lies in something even more experimental. One does not record their own version of John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1967) without a serious dedication to free expression. But the guitarist shines best where the impulses of rock and avant-garde jazz collide. His Consentrik Quartet and the group’s debut album find the two not merely flirting but embracingly intertwined. Of course, the meeting of jazz and rock is hardly new. The whole idea of “fusion” is this writ large. But this ensemble – with saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Chris Lightcap, and drummer Tom Rainey – wholly avoids the stereotypes and excesses while still combining both. Instead, the hues of jazz and rock are more subtle, more relaxed. The record often lulls you in with the smooth gentleness of a Jimmy Giuffre 3 or Motian-Lovano-Frisell recording before it completely disorients you and you find yourself on a different conceptual track, whether the heavy shredding on “Satomi” or the punkish dysfunction of “The Bag.” The closer, “Time of No Sirens,” somehow even hints at the lush orchestrations that dominated his Lovers (Blue Note, 2016). – Rob Shepherd

You can read Rob Shepherd’s interview with Nels on this album here. You can also read Brian Kiwanuka’s review of the album here.

4. Mary Halvorson – About Ghosts (Nonesuch)

There has been a distinct evolution in Mary Halvorson’s style as of late. Although the guitarist’s writing has been expertly mining the chemistry of somewhat sizable ensembles for some time, on Amaryllis (Nonesuch, 2022), the compositional structure became particularly focused on the collective synergy of the musicians. About Ghosts, like Amaryllis, is marked by a strong presence of extended passages of holistic, multilayered themes that move into brilliant solos. The album opener, “Full of Neon,” has an uncanny atmosphere courtesy of warped synths and horns that subtly contort before coalescing into a gorgeous dark motif. During trombonist Jacob Garchik’s skillful solo, the comping is notably improvisatory and expressive. Unlike Halvorson’s previous two records, this band now includes Immanuel Wilkins (alto saxophone) and Brian Settles (tenor saxophone), and on tunes like “Absinthian”, their power is used to great effect. After a captivating theme of energetic horn conversation, Wilkins rips into a fascinating, knotty solo. The horns are integral in more subtle moments as well, like “Eventidal”, where their shadowy, lush tones provide an intriguing partner to Halvorson and Patricia Brennan’s (vibraphone) beautiful balladry. About Ghosts is a confident step forward by an artist who is constantly finding new ways to innovate. – Brian Kiwanuka

Mary also released another excellent album this year, ‘Bone Bells,’ a duo with Sylvie Courvoisier. You can read Rob Shepherd’s conversation with both Mary and Sylvie on that album here.

3. Amina Claudine Myers – Solace of the Mind (Red Hook)

Keyboardist, vocalist and composer Amina Claudine Myers is often identified with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. But while she was one of the earliest members of the Chicago collective, Myers spent her first two decades in Texas and in Arkansas, where she was born in 1942.

Listening to Solace of the Mind, you can almost smell the rich, loamy soil of the Arkansas River bottomland. This is profoundly rooted music with strong echoes of the Black church, especially on “African Blues” with a melody that evokes “Deep River,” and the ancient “Steal Away.” But there are also hints of Scriabin and Debussy in the moonlit mystery of “Twilight” and nature sounds in the rolling, flowing “Song for Mother E,” which returns to the church at its close. This is patient music, unfolding in its own time, in no hurry to make its points. Recorded beautifully in a resonant acoustic, Solace of the Mind offers an experience of interiority, lightly worn and profound embodiment. This is magic and a balm for a mode of living that is increasingly abstract and groundless. Amina Claudine Myers has given us not only solace for the mind, but also for the body and the soul. And isn’t that exactly what we need right now? – John Chacona

You can read Rob Shepherd’s conversation with Amina on this album here. Or Jim Hynes’ review of the album here.

2. Ambrose Akinmusire – honey from a winter stone (Nonesuch)

Trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire’s imagination and vision transcend[] any concept of boundaries and structures. He seems almost ego-less. Some of his pieces have very little trumpet, almost like the basketball point guard that savors assists more than points. The end goal and vision are most important. The music [on honey from a winter stone] is [a] compelling, abstract, discordant, [and] gorgeous [work that] spans a full spectrum of accessible to what-the-heck-is-going-on, which is why it is so compelling…. Returning is the Mivos Quartet and pianist Sam Harris, with new additions Chiquitamagic on synthesizer [], Justin Brown on drums, and the improvisational vocalist/rapper Kokayi, who often creates his lyrics in the moment. Akinmusire considers the album a “self-portrait,” and like his previous works, addresses the fears and struggles he and fellow Black men face. The work is also an homage to the [organic music] of the late composer Julius Eastman … and, to some extent, Steve Reich’s minimalism. [It is also] all about tension and release. These cycles are ever-present. Every facet of searing trumpet playing and compositional craft is here. Chamber music yields to hip-hop. which surrenders to jazz[,] and back and forth through several sections of tension and release that somehow slithers into the ether, leaving us wanting even more. There’s just nothing like this out there unless you retreat back six years to Origami Harvest. Akinmusire has again delivered a fascinating and oddly irresistible project. – Jim Hynes

Edited and truncated excerpt from Jim Hynes’ review in Glide magazine

You can read Rob Shepherd’s interview with Ambrose on this album here.

1. Patricia Brennan – Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)

A fierce expansion on the percussive focus of More Touch (Pyroclastic Records, 2022) and the addition of intricate saxophone parts made Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic Records, 2024) a bold step forward for vibraphonist Patricia Brennan. The progression from More Touch  to Breaking Stretch sounded natural, but the difference between those albums and Of The Near And Far (Pyroclastic Records, 2025) is a quantum leap into another realm. Brennan has returned with a new band, speaking with a cosmos-inspired compositional voice that defies categorization… Of The Near And Far is an otherworldly, cinematic album [that is] full of fascinating progressive tunes that patiently build to extraordinary heights… Every track is essential – it’s a must-listen for anyone interested in creative music. – Brian Kiwanuka

Click here for Brian Kiwanuka’s more comprehensive review Of the Near and Far. You can also read Rob Shepherd’s conversation with Patricia on this album in two parts. The first is here. and the second here. .

Honorable Mentions- The following are albums on the lists (ten choices) or extended lists (more than ten) of two or more writers, sorted alphabetically by the artist’s last name. It seemed these recordings were worth honoring as well:

• Zoh Amba – Sun (Smalltown Supersound)

You can read Rob Shepherd’s interview with Zoh Amba on the album here.

• Sasha Berliner – Fantôme (Outside in Music)

• Theon Cross – Affirmations (Live at the Blue Note New York) (New Soil/Division 81)

You can read Rob Shepherd’s conversation with Theon on this album here.

• Fieldwork – Thereupon (Pi)

You can read Jim Hynes’ review of the album for our site here.

• Nicole Glover – Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Savant)

You can read Jim Hynes’ review of the album for our site here.

• Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner – The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi)

• Charles Lloyd – Figure in Blue (Blue Note)

• Thomas Morgan – Around You Is a Forest (Loveland)

You can read Jim Hynes’ review of the album here.

• Quantum Blues Quartet (Tisziji Muñoz, Paul Shaffer, Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Will Calhoun) – Quantum Blues (Ropeadope)

You can read Rob Shepherd’s interview with both Tsziji and Paul on this album here. You can also read Jim Hynes’ review of the album here.

• Matthew Shipp String Quartet with Ivo Perelman – Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms)

You can read our interview with both Ivo and Matt on this album in two parts. The first is here. and the second here. Jim Hynes also reviewed Armageddon Flower for the site.

• Ches Smith- Clone Row (Otherly Love)

You can read Jim Hynes’ review of the album for our site here.

• Craig Taborn, Nels Cline, Marcus Gilmore – Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic)

You can read Jim Hynes’ review of the album here.

• Brandon Woody – For the Love of it All (Blue Note)

• Brandee Younger – Gadabout Season (Impulse!)

You can read Rob Shepherd’s interview with Brandee on the album here.

Stay tuned for individual lists.