Notes on Albums

Credits

Sometimes it is unclear how to parse an album cover, for artist credits and/or titles. I have many rules of thumb that at some point it would be nice to list, but like most rules of thumb, they can lead to exceptions. Some cases from this year:

• Bruno Angelini - Sakina Abdou - Angelika Niescier, Lotus Flowers (Abalone): Left-to-right cover scan goes Niescier-Abdou-Angelini, which Discogs (among others) followed. But back cover credits list has the order above. Angelini wrote all of the pieces, and sites his own (and not the others') website.

Separate or Combind Albums?

In general, votes are not allowed to combine distinct albums in one slot.

• Alana Amore Colvin, Huckleberries and Lullabies/Oh, Allegra (self-released): Actually, two separately released EPs, one month apart. They should be treated as separate releases, but the vote came in late, and as long as there was only one, I let it go. If a second vote for just one appears, I'll have to reevaluate.

New Jazz Albums vs. Rara Avis

The rule is: any album which contains reissued material and/or was recorded before Jan. 1, 2016 should be considered under Rara Avis. On the other hand, any previously unreleased album recorded on or after Jan. 1, 2016 should be considered under New Jazz Releases. While this seems like it should be pretty cut and dry, every year a few albums appear that challenge these rules. With them, we allow voters some discretion in which category to place an album in.

Some albums we've noted here (N for New, RA for Rara Avis below, VC for voter choice, meaning that either will be accepted, and points awarded to the more popular category):

• Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet: Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor (2004-24, Cellar Music): Two-CD set, one new and one old. The old marks this as Rara Avis, but the title reflects the new recording, so the old set (recorded elsewhere) can be viewed as some kind of "bonus disc." RA preferred, but VC.

Debut Albums

The more technical definition of the rule is that any album by an individual artist who has not been main-credited with an album in a previous year. Alternatively, any artist that has been main-credited with an album is no longer eligible for this category. The first version reflects that we do not distinguish between release dates within a single year. (Zoh Amba received votes for three different albums in her debut year. All were accepted.) "Main-credited" means named first on the artist slugline. Sometimes that isn't totally clear, so some more-or-less arbitrary judgments need to be made. Artists named second, third, or later in the line retain their eligibility status, even if this happens a lot (as in the examples of Marcus Gilmore and Thomas Morgan below).

A group is only eligible if every member of the group is eligible, and if the group has no albums in previous years. Group membership in and of itself does not disqualify a person from being considered for a debut album.

Just because an artist/album is eligible as a debut does not mean that voters have to consider it. A voter may decide that someone is already too famous to be considered under this category. On the other hand, a voter may also decide that someone who is technically ineligible is so obscure that a new record should be considered as a debut. One case where this might crop up is someone who self-released an early album, then later produced a "proper debut" on a fairly major label. (Kim Cass was an example in 2024.) While voters can exercise a fair amount of discretion here, highly implausible votes may still be rejected.

The examples below focus on grey areas.

Albums voters have raised questions about their debut status:

• Marcus Gilmore, Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard (self-released): Discogs credits Gilmore with 9 other albums since 2009, which would exclude him under the old rule, but none of them list him first, so he is eligible. Discogs credits him with playing on 106 albums since 2005. That doesn't disqualify him.
• Thomas Morgan, Around You Is a Forest (Loveland Music): Discogs credits Morgan with 17 albums since 2006, which would exclude him under the old rule, but he's listed first on none of them, which makes him eligible under the looser new rule. The new album has one solo piece and the rest duets, featuring his software production, so it's very much his own album. Discogs credits him with performing on 154 albums. That doesn't disqualify him.

Here is a list of albums accepted as Debut which would have been rejected under the strict definition:

• Sonic Chambers Quartet: Kiss of the Earth (577): Quartet, saxophonist Byron Asher has several albums under his own name (or groups, like Skrontch Music claimed by him). The others appear to be eligible, including Tomas Majcherski, who is the primary songwriter.
• Believe, Spirits of the Dead Are Watching (Relative Pitch): Quartet, first group album but three members have previous solo albums: Peter Farrar, Clayton Thomas, and Laurance Pike. Should still be ineligible.
• Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk): Group shouldn't be eligible, as it includes saxophonist Chad Fowler, who has many records (13 Discogs, 7 as first credit). The others appear to be eligible, despite some fairly long side credit resumes; e.g., "Misterioso Africano" (Khari Wynn) has appeared on Public Enemy records since 2002.
• Heat On [Lily Finnegan], Heat On (Cuneiform): Group shouldn't be eligible, as it includes long-established Edward Wilkerson Jr. and Fred Jackson Jr., also Nick Macri (Discogs gives him 77 side-credits, one effectively under his name). But Bandcamp page identifies this as Finnegan's group, with her writing all of the songs. The closest thing she has to a prior is a 2nd credit behind Gabby Fluke-Mogul in 2024. Given all this, and that the title is the group name, and that if Finnegan had an ounce of recognition her name would have appeared on the cover, I'm letting this slip by (partly by adding Finnegan's name in brackets).
• Perceptions Trio [Charley Rose - Silvan Joray - Paulo Almeida], The Wicked Crew (Sense): Per Discogs, Almeida and Rose are credited with one album but not first (2020); but Rose has a previous trio album (2021), and Joray has two previous albums (2020, 2023). None are well known, although I thought I recognized Rose (I had his name spelled Charlie in the m2025 file, and there is another musician Charlie Rose, as well as the famous broadcaster). I advised against this pick, but accepted it anyway.
• Mateusz Rybicki, Apokalypsis (Audio Cave): Artist has a previous lead co-credit from 2016.
• Sarter Kit, What I Am and What I Am Not (Squama): Trio, but effectively the debut of leader-writer Tara Sarter. Elias Stemeseder (keyboards) would have disqualified this as a group. The other member, Lukas Akintaya (drums), also has one previous album. Sarter has one previous side-credit (2/12 tracks on an album by Janek Van Laak, a 2024 debut).

On the other hand, some rejected Debut vote albums:

• Marshall Allen, New Dawn (Week-End): Despite the label has hyped this as his debut, I count 8 previous albums going back to 2000 where he is the lead credit, not counting his albums as director of the Sun Ra Arkestra ghost band. Should be ineligible.

• Wrens, Half of What You See (Out of Your Head): Group album, Jason Nazary (drums) seems to be the leader. Discogs credits him with 8 albums (4 disqualifiers), and 60 credits back to 2006. Elias Stemeseder is also disqualified. Ryan Easter and Lester St. Louis have previous side-credits, but not disqualifying. Pitchfork refers to this as the group's second album, after Alligator Shoes [on Flatbush], which Discogs doesn't list.