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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 just established saxophonists; Pharaoh Sanders, Archie Shepp, Charles Lloyd, Henry Threadgill, Gary Bartz, Dave Liebman, Kenny Garrett, Chris Potter, Steve Coleman, and Joe Lovano all produced something this year. How do you even begin to compare them?

Well, our team valiantly tried its best. Even then, perhaps a commentary on the circumstances in which we found ourselves, a consensus was more difficult than usual. I can’t pretend to speak for anyone else, but I have no doubt there were many great albums released that I have personally overlooked. But, those caveats aside, here are the ten that we collectively felt were the best releases of 2021. Ties are ordered alphabetically by the leader’s last name. — Rob Shepherd

7 (tie). Kenny Garrett, Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue)

Over the past four decades, Kenny Garrett has released several excellent recordings. The saxophonist’s 20th release as a leader stands out even among his prior discography. A significant driving factor behind its success lies in its ability to sketch a compelling narrative arc across the history of Black music by showcasing the intersectionality of different sounds and musical ideas.

I have long asserted that you can only fully understand the rise of hip hop if you view it within the context of the history of jazz. Though the roots of “jazz” date back to the late 19th century, the form really took off with the rise of bebop in the 1940s and 1950s. This movement, led overwhelmingly by young Black men mostly from urban areas, emphasized the creative possibilities inherent in improvisation and pushing boundaries. If you jump forward two or three decades, the common trope is that somehow jazz “died.” That perspective is deeply flawed but, like all theories, has some underpinnings. By the 1970s, not many young artists were directly digging into the historical tradition of jazz. Instead, many within the same demographic group that a generation earlier invented bebop, abandoned the form in favor of some new experiments with sampling. And since, many have supported a misconception that some great chasm exists between “hip hop” and “jazz.” Even with the rise over the past twenty years in jazz-hip hop hybrids, the assumption is often that the two are somehow divided in a meaningful way. 

“It’s Time to Come Home,” the first track of Sounds from the Ancestors, directly undermines these views. It begins with a fairly straight-ahead sounding theme underscored by West African and Afro-Latin influenced percussion. Vocals in Yoruba are added. While the rhythm section and piano continue throughout the tune, Garrett’s usually ebullient phrasing begins to dissipate and turn into just a series of staccato squeals. After listening to these deconstructed sounds, it begins to sound like a DJ scratching a record. The implication throughout is that jazz and hip hop are less divided than one may think; both come from the same African roots and represent much of the same thing, just with slightly different aesthetic emphasis. In case someone missed the message, the bandleader makes these connections undeniably clear on “Hargrove” by finding a space between his own music, the old spiritual “Wade in the Water,” Coltrane’s “Ascension” from A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965), and the funky hip-hop influence R&B of Roy’s RH Factor. With “When the Days Were Different” brings cheerful gospel-inspired phrasing into the equation while “For Art’s Sake” finds a commonality between the music of Art Blakey and afrobeat legend Tony Allen. Ancestors is more than just another beautiful recording by Garrett, though it is that as well; it is a call for unity and an end to divisions. After the events of the last two years, this message is perhaps more important than ever.  – Rob Shepherd

Rob Shepherd’s coverage of Garrett’s performance of songs from this album at this summer’s Newport Jazz Festival can be found here. 

Sounds from the Ancestors is available through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

7 (tie). Jonny Greenwood – Spencer (Mercury KX)

Considering what most people would expect to hear in a film about a former member of the British royal family, it would have been easy for Jonny Greenwood to turn in a completely conventional score for Spencer. Thankfully, the English musician decided to be a bit more adventurous. The compositions are hauntingly beautiful, and some of the most stunning moments are the least expected. Baroque elegance gives way to impressive jazz improvisation on “Arrival.” A rush of tumultuous strings on “Calling The Whipper In” is met with avant-garde cacophony. The excellence of scores like Spencer and There Will Be Blood makes it obvious why directors keep on calling Greenwood back into the studio. — Brian Kiwanuka

Brian Kiwanuka’s more detailed review of Spencer can be found here.

Spencer is available through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

7 (tie). Julian Lage – Squint (Blue Note)

Julian Lage always seems to find the core idea of what a guitar should sound like. His bluesy core is sweetness in the ear and he knows exactly what he’s doing alongside Jorge Roeder on the bass and Dave King on drums. This is a perfect guitar trio album. – Anthony Dean-Harris

Squint is available through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

7 (tie). Ches Smith and We All Break – Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)

Everybody knows the influence on creative improvised music exerted by styles and musicians from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Trinidad. Haiti is the most populous nation in the Caribbean and the second-oldest republic in the hemisphere, yet the music of the island nation is all but unknown in the United States.

Into this mystery steps drummer and vibraphonist Ches Smith who encountered it almost by accident when he was invited to accompany a Haitian dance class two decades ago. Smith quickly immersed himself in the rhythmic language of Haitian Vodou drumming, which shares a common African root with Afro-Cuban music but developed on a separate track.

Smith formed a band, We All Break, as a way to work with this rich language and Path Of Seven Colors is the fruit of his immersion. It is at once an act of evangelism and an homage. The double-album is also a chronicle of the role that Vodou music has played in the evolution of Smith’s music. Seven of the 15 songs here were recorded in 2015 and issued as We All Break. With only Smith on drums, Daniel Brevil and Markus Schwartz on vocals and tanbou (hand drums), and pianist Matt Mitchell, who functioned essentially as a fourth drummer, textures on this session were lean and the connection with Haitian ceremonial music strong.

For the 2020 session, Smith doubled the size of the ensemble with the addition of Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene’s tanbou and vocals bringing a fourth drum voice to the percussive conversation that is at the heart of Vodou music. Sirene Dantor Rene’s vocals add a joyous top line to the melodies, both traditional and composed by Brevil, while bassist Nick Dunston and alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón form a connection with creative improvised music traditions from Puerto Rico and North America.

The newer session, presented first, becomes a point of reference for the development of Smith’s concept since the more austere 2015 recording. Over a bed of traditional Haitian Vodou polyrhythms, Smith adds dark, polytonal harmonies that clarify and intensify the mystery and power of the ritual music on which they are built. Zenón, immediately recognizable, has explored similar territory with the music of his home island of Puerto Rico, but he sounds especially energized and engaged with this new challenge. His fiery, harmonically daring solos are highlights. Mitchell is essentially a rhythm section player. Yet his ability to split his brain turns his piano into another drum choir on the montuno-like figures he often plays. Given solo space, he leaps into dazzlingly complex action.

With Path Of Seven Colors, Ches Smith makes a strong case for the centrality of Haitian music and once again proves that there is no contradiction between tradition and innovation.— John Chacona

Path of Seven Colors is available on Bandcamp or through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

4 (tie). Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh , Tyshawn Sorey – Uneasy (ECM)

Uneasy has Vijay Iyer (piano), Linda May Oh (bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) at the top of their game. In the opening minutes of “Drummer’s Song” (Geri Allen), Iyer takes the playful theme from serenity to punchy groove to set the stage for Sorey to command his kit with an impressive dynamism. The bright melody and tight rhythms of “Drummer’s Song” make it an addicting listen, but “Uneasy” (Iyer) shows a different side of the trio that is just as impactful. Oh’s beautiful solo has a soft tone that fits the contemplative atmosphere of the beginning of the tune perfectly. The piece eventually gets more combative as the trio conjures a captivating storm with an incredible Iyer solo at its center. Uneasy is the first recording of this trio and, hopefully, it’s not the last – they have amazing chemistry. — Brian Kiwanuka

Uneasy is available through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

4 (tie). Esperanza Spalding – Songwrights’ Apothecary Lab (Concord)

In her asking the rather direct question, “What do you need a song for?”, Esperanza Spalding has provided healing of all forms with her lab, making formwelas (songs) for every corner and need of the human experience, or will make her way of doing so eventually. It’s a bold collection of recordings that intimate this is only the beginning. – Anthony Dean-Harris

Songwrights Apothecary Lab is available through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

4 (tie). Kaidi Tatham, An Insight to All Minds  (First Word)

Over the last several years, much attention has been given to the London scene. Nubya Garcia, Ashley Henry, Daniel Casimir, and Shabaka Hutchings are some of the many talented artists coming from there. While Kaidi Tatham is not generally as well known, at least in the US, as some of his colleagues, he should be. During his career thus far, Tatham has performed with a wide range of talented artists including Ethiojazz legend Mulatu Astatke, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Slum Village, and Amy Winehouse. Twenty years ago, Tatham pioneered broken beat – a fusing of electronic music, 1970s jazz fusion influences, disco, 1980s contemporary R&B, funk, hip hop, and 1980s new wave – with Bugz in the Attic. This diverse background has given Tatham a unique and compelling approach to music which is evident on his third solo album under his own name, An Insight to All Minds. 

The album’s depiction of a lone Black astronaut floating in space is a perfect summation of the album. Like the navigator, Tatham is by himself, alone in an unsettled terrain. While a few rappers visit, Tatham plays every instrument on the album. Piano, synthesizer, flute, guitar, bass, drums. All of them. But because his background is so expansive, you would never guess there is a single mind behind all of the magic. A hallmark of the album is how the artist is untethered to stylistic conventions and willing to take risks by combining ideas. “Try n follow” sounds like some room between the Headhunters and 1970s CTI recordings while the immediately following “Intergalactic Relations” begins with a 1980s electro sound that morphs into a laid-back R&B infused groove. “Carry it Mongo Man” takes Latin rhythms and fuses them with orchestral sounding synths and an upbeat keyboard line that at times recalls Weather Report. 

But one can’t overlook Tatham’s piano playing. Even with all the synthesized sounds and heavy beats which recur throughout the album, once you get him behind the traditional 88 keys, he forms beautiful melodies which shine through as if emerging from his surroundings. This is particularly apparent on the title track and on “Dsxswc.” With Tatham’s openness towards all sounds and mastery of the keys, An Insight to All Minds makes it clear why he’s even once been dubbed  “the UK’s Herbie Hancock.”  – Rob Shepherd

An Insight to All Minds is available on Bandcamp or through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

3. Wadada Leo Smith, Jack DeJohnette, and Vijay Iyer – A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)

Wadada Leo Smith can blaze through breathtaking dexterous runs, but one of most alluring aspects of the trumpeter’s approach is his expressive patience – the long soulful notes. On A Love Sonnet For Billie Holiday, Smith manages to be forceful and reserved at the same time. Vijay Iyer’s piano is even more of a mix of both sides of this spectrum. When the playing moves into freer territory, Iyer’s inventive improvisation is key to taking the adventure to the next level. 

The rhythmic anchor of this trio set is provided by drummer Jack DeJohnette, who is colossal in the more turbulent sections of “Song For World Forgiveness” and “The A.D. Opera: A Long Vision with Imagination, Creativity and Fire, a dance opera (For Anthony Davis).” All three of these musicians have had fantastic careers and this engrossing avant-garde set is more evidence that they are masters of their craft. — Brian Kiwanuka

Rob Shepherd’s interview with Wadada Leo Smith can be found here.

A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday is available through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

2. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)

Though both use strings to make sound, a piano and guitar duo is not common instrumentation. Perhaps it is out of concern that both are such powerful instruments that one may overrun the other. This would seem to be of even more concern when both artists each have a very distinctive voice. Countless people across history have played the guitar, yet there is no other guitarist who sounds even close to Halvorson. The same can be said about the piano and Courvoisier. Both artists are confident in their unique and potent sounds. With such firepower, their combined forces could have resulted in either a towering inferno or nothing but soot. Fortunately, Searching for the Disappeared Hour is the former. 

The excellent Crop Circles (Relative Pitch, 2017) gave a glimpse at their collaboration but, because of how it was structured – the songs were collected from other projects each did individually – generally found one artist taking the lead on each piece. Searching for the Disappeared Hour, however, shows both artists in full form and the brilliance that can come when they meet. With pieces composed specifically for the duo, the album allows new colors to emerge. Neither musician shies away from their rampant individualism but instead finds ways to pull the others’ expertise into their own sphere. Courvoisier’s classical leanings and Halvorson’s jazz ones are given equal weight, producing music that is indebted to both but not relegated to either. – Rob Shepherd  

Rob Shepherd’s interview with Sylvie & Mary on the album can be found here.

Searching for the Disappeared Hour is available on Bandcamp.

1. James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quartet  – Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)

At this point, it’s probably foolish to talk about the notion of a “leading voice” in the Black American tradition of creative/improvised music. The music is expanding in too many directions and developing so rapidly that there can’t be a single heroic lodestar to be a modern-day Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, or Miles Davis.

But damned if James Brandon Lewis isn’t making his case.

Lewis has been on an extraordinary run lately, releasing a string of recordings that explode with creativity and ardor. Notwithstanding the high level of his artistry, the rare combination of a compelling and timely concept, evocative compositions, and committed performances make Jesup Wagon his most coherent and eloquent statement yet.

Lewis is a self-described science geek. Little wonder, then, that his restless and inquisitive intellect would be attracted to the life and accomplishments of the polymathic inventor and scientist George Washington Carver. Jesup Wagon is a tone parallel to Carver’s universe that creates an evocative sound world that is at once ancient and completely of the moment.

I think the key to this world is the oracular bass of William Parker. His vast knowledge of the tradition and his deep connection with the natural world provide the musical and spiritual foundation for Lewis’ project. Christopher Hoffman’s cello moves deftly from the rhythm section to a role similar to the one that Abdul Wadud gave to the instrument in Julius Hemphill’s ensembles. Added cello to the authoritative bass of William Parker gives the music a foundation that is both solid and airy like a great tree with a massive trunk that tapers into delicate branches.

Kirk Knuffke might seem like an unusual choice for a front-line partner, but he rips into his lines with a declamatory fervor that matches the leader’s. Eschewing the brighter-toned trumpet for Knuffke’s piquant and nostalgic cornet gives the ensemble an earthily 19th century sound. You can almost smell the loamy soil that Carver’s Jesup Wagon, conceived as a mobile agricultural school, once traversed.

By now, the hookup between Lewis and Chad Taylor is one of the deepest and most interesting in creative improvised music. He sets waves of percussion into motion to build and crest, a perfect foil for the saxophonist’s focus and intensity.

As captured in the close-miked, slightly dry recording, Lewis’ declamatory tone has the grainy urgency of a country preacher. His high notes buzz with an insistent vibrato while his low notes throb and land with gut-punch force. Every note is hurled into the world with utter commitment and fiery intent.

The music grips you from the portentous, prayerful invocation of the opening title cut and doesn’t let go until the dying notes of “Chemurgy’s” Ornettish dirge. Jesup Wagon is the strongest statement yet by an artist who has come fully and gloriously into his power. – John Chacona

Jesup Wagon is available on Bandcamp or through our Amazon Affiliate Store.

Honorable Mentions- The following are albums on the lists (10 choices) or extended lists (25 choices) of two or more writers, sorted alphabetically by the artist’s last name. Given the wide range of opinions this year, it seemed these were worth honoring as well:

BADBADNOTGOOD – Talk Memory (XL Recordings/Innovative Leisure) – Check out Rob Shepherd’s interview with Leland Whitty.

Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)

Jon Lundbom & Bryan Murray – Beats by Balto! Vol. 2 (Chant)

Pino Palladino & Blake Mills – Notes With Attachments (New Deal/Impulse!)

Kevin Sun- <3 Bird (Endectomorph)

Henry Threadgill Zooid – Poof (Pi)- Click here for John Chacona’s review.

Thumbscrew – Never Is Enough (Cuneiform)- Read Brian Kiwanuka’s review here.

Stay tuned as we will be sharing a few writers’ individual lists as well. Feel like our list missed one of your favorites? Agree or disagree with the choices above? Please comment below.