Their writers were asked to choose 10 new releases each. Albums and box sets released between November 9th 2020 and November 12th 2021.
Jazz Times is an American magazine, so the list is slanted accordingly.
Results in coment to follow.
The Jazz Times Top 40 New Releases of 2021
by 5 Comments
Yes. Another list.
https://jazztimes.com/features/lists/year-in-review-top-40-jazz-albums-2021/
In reverse order:
40: Mike LeDonne-It’s All Your Fault (Savant)
39: Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Soundprints – Other Worlds (Greenleaf)
38: Steve Coleman and Five Elements – Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II (MDW NTR) (Pi)
37: Dan McCarthy – A Place Where We Once Lived (Self-released)
36: John Pizzarelli – Better Days Ahead: Solo Guitar Takes On Pat Metheny (Ghostlight)
35: Jihye Lee Orchestra – Daring Mind (Motéma)
34: Jamire Williams – But Only After You Have Suffered (International Anthem)
33: Oz Noy – Snapdragon (Abstract Logix)
32: Nadje Noordhuis – Gullfoss (Little Mystery)
31: Vince Mendoza – Freedom Over Everything (Modern)
30: Eivind Aarset – Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey (Jazzland)
29: Various Artists – Indaba Is (Brownswood)
28: Brian Lynch – Songbook Vol. 1: Bus Stop Serenade (Hollistic Music Works)
27: The Cookers – Look Out! (Gearbox)
26: Thumbscrew – Never Is Enough (Cuneiform)
25: James Francies – Purest Form (Blue Note)
24: Amir AlSaffar/Rivers Of Sound – The Other Shore (Outnote)
23: Percy Jones/Alex Skolnick/Kenny Grohowski/Tim Motzer – PAKT (MoonJune)
22: Craig Taborn – Shadow Plays (ECM)
21: Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios – Songs From My Father (Whaling City Sound)
20: Irreversible Entanglements – Open The Gates (International Anthem)
19:Chick Corea Akoustic Band – LIVE (Concord Jazz)
18: Sons Of Kemet – Black To The Future (Impulse!)
17: Cameron Graves – Seven (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
16: Charles Lloyd & The Marvels – Tone Poem (Blue Note)
15: Kenny Garrett – Sounds From The Ancestors (Mack Avenue)
14: Veronica Swift – This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue)
13: Henry Threadgil Zooid – Poof (Pi)
12: Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly Of Shadows – Architecture Of Storms (Soundspore)
11: Dr. Lonnie Smith – Breathe (Blue Note)
10: Archie Shepp and Jason Moran – Let My People Go (Archieball)
9: Pat Metheny – Side Eye NYC (VI.IV) (Modern)
8: William Parker – Migration Of Silence Into And Out Of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 (Centering)
6: Ches Smith and We All Break – Path Of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
5: Vijay Iyer – Uneasy (ECM)
4: Johnathan Blake – Homeward Bound (Blue Note)
3: Anna Webber – Idiom (Pi)
2: Floating Points/Pharaoh Sanders/London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
1: James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quintet – Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
For some peculiar reason there isn’t a No. 7 listed in the article. Mysterious…
Yes I know you haven’t heard of most of these artists. Neither have I, but so what?
Interesting that they regard Promises as Jazz. Three of their top six won votes in my end of year poll, so my taste must overlap theirs to a significant degree. I’m not familiar with their number one. I’ll rectify that later today. Thanks for posting, Mike.
“Promises” gets lumped into “Jazz” in people’s lists purely because of Paraoh Sanders’ presence on it, I feel. A lovely record, but not a jazz record.
Thanks Mike. I too will forage around in this list
There is so much excellent music out there that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. THese end of year lists can hep put that right.
Nice long clip of James Brandon Lewis and band live that I will listen to properly later
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpDXuai8UIw
It’s rather interesting to see all the different labels that the artists record for. Quite a few I’ve never heard of,