Below are the albums we collectively felt were the best of 2023 (technically from Thanksgiving 2022 to Thanksgiving 2023). Ties are ordered alphabetically by the leader’s last name. Following the list are honorable mentions; recordings multiple members of our small group thought worthy of merit but did not make the top ten. One trend that […]
In terms of my music writing, 2023 started off frustratingly with a few interviews that fell through and one that took place but ultimately exploded in my face. However, the year ended very strongly. During 2023, I produced several album reviews and released thirty-two interviews, with many more done but yet to be released. Many […]
My annual list is the only time each year I try to get more personal with my writing, speaking in the first person and laying out my thoughts on the year passed. While at the outset of 2022, I decided to feature more interviews on the site, I never intended to focus so overwhelmingly on […]
From the mixes of a beat scientist to a double work with a string quartet, our team’s selections for the best albums of 2022 reflect the vibrancy of the contemporary improvised music scene. Some works pull your heartstrings, others are incredibly cerebral, yet others are super funky and make you want to groove. In many […]
In some ways, 2021 can be seen as a return of music. In reality, through live-stream and various recordings, music continued to be created the year before. But 2021 felt like- to steal a subtitle of one of the albums on my top ten list- a freeing out of our constrictions. Certainly, live music returned. […]
[Editor’s Note: We are excited to have Anthony Dean-Harris join us again for our year-end lists to share his 25 favorite “jazz” albums and 10 “other” albums of 2021. Anthony is a skilled writer whose credits include being a contributor to Downbeat and serving as the former Editor-in-Chief of Nextbop. He is also an accomplished […]
Immediately following the year that artificially paused many releases, in 2021, the floodgates broke loose. It was nearly impossible to keep track of all recordings released between this Thanksgiving and the prior one. And, even ignoring this, the quality and volume made it especially difficult to rank even the ones you did notice. Consider even […]
Remember the old “Saturday Night Live” parody of the “60 Minutes” Point/Counterpoint debate, the one remembered for the line “Jane, you ignorant slut”? Things didn’t get that heated on the December 3, 2021, edition of WBGO’s excellent “Jazz United” podcast, but co-hosts Nate Chinen and Greg Bryant revealed a definite difference of opinion in their […]
After a year canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic Newport Jazz Festival has announced it will be presenting the 2021 Festival at its home for the past four decades, Fort Adams State Park. To ensure safety, however, it will be scaled back from its usual scope. Four stages will be reduced to two, and […]
Here it is, a “Best Of” list for the worst of years. Alright, that’s a bit jokey; the fact is that 2020 produced an extraordinary efflorescence of great music. Lilacs out of the dead land of pandemic-ravaged, polarized America. This list was culled from a larger list of superb recordings, 20 of them in all. […]
