16th Annual Jazz Critics Poll: 2021

Ballots 2021 [1]

Karl Ackermann (All About Jazz, Chicago Jazz Magazine)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  2. Allen Lowe, A Love Supine: Ascension Into the Maelstrom (ESP Disk)
  3. Ill Considered, Liminal Space (New Soil)
  4. Matthew Shipp, Codebreaker (TAO Forms)
  5. Johan Lindström Septett, On the Asylum (Moserobie)
  6. Marc Johnson, Overpass (ECM)
  7. Pearring Sound, Socially Distanced Duos (self-released)
  8. Wadada Leo Smith, Trumpet (TUM)
  9. East Axis [Matthew Shipp-Allen Lowe-Gerald Cleaver-Kevin Ray], Cool With That (ESP-Disk)
  10. Michael Monhart-Michael Bisio-Ben Chadabe, MMBC Terma (self-released)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Billy Bang, Lucky Man (2008, BBE)
  2. Eberhard Weber, Once Upon a Time: Live in Avignon (1994, ECM)
  3. Roberto Miranda's Home Music Ensemble, Live at Bing Theatre: Los Angeles, 1985 (Dark Tree)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Paul Acquaro (Free Jazz Collective)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet, Let the Free Be Men (Trost)
  2. Nate Wooley, Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text)
  3. Angelika Niescier & Alexander Hawkins, Soul in Plain Sight (Intakt)
  4. Jakob Bro-Arve Henriksen-Jorge Rossy, Uma Elmo (ECM)
  5. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels, Tone Poem (Blue Note)
  6. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  7. Fire!, Defeat (Rune Grammofon)
  8. Jon Irabagon, Bird With Streams (Irabbagast)
  9. Matthew Shipp & William Parker, Re-Union (RogueArt)
  10. Chamber 4, Dawn to Dusk (JACC)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Total Music Association, Walpurgisnacht (1971, NoBusiness)
  3. Marc Ribot, Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus (1989-93, Knockwurst)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

David R. Adler (freelance)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  2. Kimbrough (Newvelle)
  3. Michael Mayo, Bones (Artistry Music)
  4. Ben LaMar Gay, Open Arms to Open Us (International Anthem)
  5. Caroline Davis, Portals, Volume 1: Mourning (Sunnyside)
  6. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  7. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills, Notes With Attachments (Impulse!)
  8. Gregg Belisle-Chi, Koi: Performing the Music of Tim Berne (Relative Pitch)
  9. Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile, Snark Horse (Pi)
  10. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  3. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Michael J. Agovino (The Village Voice, Pitchfork, Esquire, L.A. Review of Books)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Craig Taborn, Shadow Plays (ECM)
  2. Makaya McCraven, Deciphering the Message (Blue Note)
  3. Nicholas Payton, Smoke Sessions (Smoke Sessions)
  4. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  5. Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition)
  6. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  7. Wadada Leo Smith, Sacred Ceremonies (TUM)
  8. Harold Mabern, Mabern Plays Coltrane (Smoke Sessions)
  9. Dave Liebman Expansions, Selflessness: The Music of John Coltrane (Dot Time)
  10. Craig Taborn, 60 X Sixty (Pyroclastic)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)
  2. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  3. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings (Blue Note)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Scott Albin (Amazon.com)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Miho Hazama & Danish Radio Big Band, Imaginary Visions (Edition)
  2. Pierrick Pédron, Fifty-Fifty: New York Sessions (Gazebo)
  3. Samo Salamon-Dominique Pifarely-Michel Godard-Dejan Terzic, Live Ones: Vol. 1 (self-released)
  4. Miguel Zenón-Ariel Bringuez-Demian Cabaud-Jordi Rossy, Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman (Miel Music)
  5. Cowboys & Frenchmen, Our Highway (Outside In Music)
  6. Thomas Lossius Septet, Seven Words for Ekstasia (AMP)
  7. Timo Lassy, Trio (We Jazz)
  8. Jacky Naylor, The Industrial Suite (Ubuntu)
  9. Gwen Cahue, Margin Call (Quest)
  10. Code Quartet, Genealogy (Justin Time)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Joe Henderson, The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions (1963-66, Mosaic)
  2. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)
  3. Bud Powell, 1962 Copenhagen (SteepleChase)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Shannon Ali (Shannon J. Effinger) (New York Times, The Washington Post, Pitchfork, NPR Music)

NEW RELEASES

  1. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  2. Jeremy Pelt, Griot: This Is Important! (HighNote)
  3. Jamire Williams, But Only After You Have Suffered (International Anthem)
  4. Brandee Younger, Somewhere Different (Impulse!)
  5. Matthew Stevens, Pittsburgh (Whirlwind)
  6. Jaimie Branch, Fly or Die Live (International Anthem)
  7. Terence Blanchard, Absence (Blue Note)
  8. Kenny Garrett, Sounds From the Ancestors (Mack Avenue)
  9. Abdullah Ibrahim, Solotude: My Journey, My Vision (Gearbox)
  10. Johnathan Blake, Homeward Bound (Blue Note)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)
  2. Abbey Lincoln, It's Magic (1958, Riverside)
  3. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Larry Appelbaum (JazzTimes, WPFW-FM)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Jason Moran, The Sound Will Tell You (Yes)
  2. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  3. Jeff Lederer's Sunwatcher, Eightfold Path (Little(i)Music)
  4. Kate McGarry + Keith Ganz Ensemble, What to Wear in the Dark (Resilience)
  5. Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The News (ECM)
  6. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  7. Dr. Lonnie Smith, Breathe (Blue Note)
  8. Relief: A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund (Mack Avenue)
  9. Sara Serpa, Intimate Strangers (Biophilia)
  10. Archie Shepp & Jason Moran, Let My People Go (Archieball)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Mingus, Mingus at Carnegie Hall [Deluxe Edition] (1974, Atlantic)
  2. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  3. Sheila Jordan, Comes Love: Lost Session 1960 (Capri)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Mirian Arbalejo (La Cesión de las Voluntades)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Abdullah Ibrahim, Solotude: My Journey, My Vision (Gearbox)
  2. Archie Shepp & Jason Moran, Let My People Go (Archieball)
  3. Ethan Iverson & Umbria Jazz Orchestra, Bud Powell in the 21st Century (Sunnyside)
  4. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  5. Alex Riel-Bo Stief-Carsten Dahl, Our Songs (Storyville)
  6. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  7. Jean-Marie Machado, Majakka (La Buissonne)
  8. Bill Charlap Trio, Street of Dreams (Blue Note)
  9. George Cables, Too Close for Comfort (HighNote)
  10. Pablo Martín Caminero, Al Toque (Karonte)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  3. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Hrayr Attarian (Jazziz, All About Jazz)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  2. Ivo Perelman, Brass and Ivory Tales (Fundacja Sluchaj)
  3. Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future (Impulse!)
  4. Dr. Lonnie Smith, Breathe (Blue Note)
  5. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
  6. Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet, The Chicago Symphonies (TUM)
  7. The Flatland Quartet, Songs From the Urban Forest (Gold Lion Arts)
  8. Kenny Garrett, Sounds From the Ancestors (Mack Avenue)
  9. William Parker, Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Centering/AUM Fidelity)
  10. Maria Grand, Reciprocity (Biophilia)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  2. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  3. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Chris Barton (Los Angeles Times, DownBeat)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future (Impulse!)
  2. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  3. Jaimie Branch, Fly or Die Live (International Anthem)
  4. Ben Goldberg, Everything Happens to Be. (BAG Productions)
  5. Irreversible Entanglements, Open the Gates (International Anthem)
  6. Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes, Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar More Songs (Leaving)
  7. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises (Luaka Bop)
  8. Henry Threadgill Zooid, Poof (Pi)
  9. Wadada Leo Smith-Jack DeJohnette-Vijay Iyer, A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)
  10. Julian Lage, Squint (Blue Note)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)
  3. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings (Blue Note)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Andy Beta (Pitchfork, Washington Post, New York Times, Bandcamp)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises (Luaka Bop)
  2. Sam Gendel & Josiah Steinbrick, Mouthfeel/Serene (Full Bloom)
  3. Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society, Mandatory Reality (Eremite)
  4. Patricia Brennan, Maquishti (Valley of Search)
  5. Ben LaMar Gay, Open Arms to Open Us (International Anthem)
  6. Wadada Leo Smith-Douglas R Ewart-Mike Reed, Sun Beans of Shimmering Light (Astral Spirits)
  7. Bremer McCoy, Natten (Luaka Bop)
  8. Irreversible Entanglements, Open the Gates (International Anthem)
  9. Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes, Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar More Songs (Leaving)
  10. Bitchin Bajas, Switched On Ra (Drag City)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Horace Tapscott & Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79 (Nimbus West -20)
  3. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Bill Beuttler (Emerson College, Boston Globe)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Jason Moran, The Sound Will Tell You (Yes)
  2. Julian Lage, Squint (Blue Note)
  3. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  4. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  5. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  6. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  7. Esperanza Spalding, Songwrights Apothecary Lab (Concord)
  8. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
  9. Adam O'Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia)
  10. Henry Threadgill Zooid, Poof (Pi)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Louis Armstrong, The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66 (Mosaic)
  2. Erroll Garner, Liberation in Swing: The Octave Records Story & Complete Symphony Hall Concert (1959-73, Mack Avenue)
  3. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Dan Bilawsky (All About Jazz, JazzTimes, New York City Jazz Record)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Nadje Noordhuis, Gullfoss (Little Mystery)
  2. Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows, Architecture of Storms (SoundSpore)
  3. Dan McCarthy, A Place Where We Once Lived (self-released)
  4. Veronica Swift, This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue)
  5. Simon Moullier Trio, Countdown (Fresh Sound New Talent)
  6. Steven Feifke Big Band, Kinetic (Outside In Music)
  7. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  8. JD Allen, Queen City (Savant)
  9. Mariel Bildsten, Backbone (Outside In Music -20)
  10. Scott DuBois, Summer Water (Sunnyside)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)
  3. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Larry Birnbaum (Stereophile)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (Standards) 2020 (New Braxton House)
  2. Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The News (ECM)
  3. Whit Dickey-William Parker-Matthew Shipp, Village Mothership (TAO Forms)
  4. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  5. Wadada Leo Smith, Sacred Ceremonies (TUM)
  6. Ron Carter-Jack DeJohnette-Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Skyline (5 Passion)
  7. Chris Potter Circuits Trio, Sunrise Reprise (Edition)
  8. Thumbscrew, Never Is Enough (Cuneiform)
  9. Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition)
  10. Ben Goldberg, Everything Happens to Be. (BAG Productions)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  2. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  3. Sun Ra, Lanquidity [Definitive Edition] (1978, Strut)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Larry Blumenfeld (Wall Street Journal, Daily Beast, Jazziz)

NEW RELEASES

  1. William Parker, Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Centering/AUM Fidelity)
  2. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  3. Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet, The Chicago Symphonies (TUM)
  4. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  5. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  6. Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, Tinctures in Time (Community Music Vol. 1) (Royal Potato Family)
  7. Hank Roberts Sextet, Science of Love (Sunnyside)
  8. Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue, Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses (Pi)
  9. Henry Threadgill Zooid, Poof (Pi)
  10. Adam O'Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  2. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  3. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Philip Booth (JazzTimes, Jazziz, Relix)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios, Songs From My Father (Whaling City Sound)
  2. Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Live! (Concord Jazz)
  3. Chris Potter, There Is a Tide (Edition -20)
  4. Kurt Elling, SuperBlue (Edition)
  5. Nate Smith, Kinfolk 2: See the Birds (Edition)
  6. Pat Metheny, Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Modern)
  7. Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows, Architecture of Storms (SoundSpore)
  8. Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge, Within Us: Celebrating 25 Years of the Jazz Surge (MAMA/Summit)
  9. The Baylor Project, Generations (Be a Light)
  10. Orrin Evans, The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  3. Harvie S Trio, Going for It (1985, Savant)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Mike Borella (Avant Music News)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  2. Anthony Braxton, 12 COMP (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12)
  3. Sana Nagano, Smashing Humans (577)
  4. Strictly Missionary, Heisse Scheisse (Astral Spirits)
  5. Bisbâyé, Le Sens De La Fin (Cuneiform)
  6. Gabby Fluke-Mogul–Matteo Liberatore–Joanna Mattrey–Ava Mendoza, Death in the Gilded Age (Tripticks Tapes)
  7. Body Meπa, The Work Is Slow (Hausu Mountain)
  8. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble, Now (International Anthem)
  9. Jessica Pavone, Lull (Chalkin)
  10. Gabriel Zucker, Leftover Beats From the Edges of Time (ESP Disk)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  2. Bloodcount, 5 (1997, Screwgun)
  3. Bloodcount, Attention Spam (1997, Screwgun)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Shaun Brady (Philadelphia Inquirer, JazzTimes, Tidal)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  2. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  3. William Parker, Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Centering/AUM Fidelity)
  4. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  5. Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet, The Chicago Symphonies (TUM)
  6. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (Standards) 2020 (New Braxton House)
  7. Thumbscrew, Never Is Enough (Cuneiform)
  8. Orrin Evans, The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions)
  9. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  10. Maurice Louca, Saet El Hazz (The Luck Hour) (Sub Rosa/Northern Spy)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  2. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)
  3. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Marcela Breton (JJA)

NEW RELEASES (listed alphabetically; 5.5 points each)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Alice Coltrane, Kirtan: Turiya Sings (1982, Impulse!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Stuart Broomer (Free Jazz Collective, Musicworks, New York City Jazz Record, Point of Departure, Wholenote)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Natural Information Society & Evan Parker, Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Aguirre/Eremite)
  2. Ahmed, Nights on Saturn (Communication) (Astral Spirits)
  3. Anthony Braxton, 12 COMP (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12)
  4. Nate Wooley, Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text)
  5. Joëlle Léandre-Pauline Oliveros-George Lewis, Play as You Go (Trost)
  6. Wadada Leo Smith-Henry Kaiser-Alex Varty, Pacifica Koral Reef (577 -22)
  7. Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet, Let the Free Be Men (Trost)
  8. Disquiet [Christof Kurzmann-Sofia Jernberg-Joe Williamson-Mats Brandlmayr], Disquiet (Trost)
  9. Iain Sinclair & London Experimental Ensemble, Dark Before Dark (577)
  10. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Code of Being (Intakt)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Cecil Taylor Ensemble, Göttingen (1990, Fundacja Sluchaj)
  2. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN