15th Annual Jazz Critics Poll: 2020
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Ballots 2020 [6]

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Brian Morton (DownBeat, The Wire, Jazz Journal, The Penguin Guide to Jazz)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Jimmy Heath, Love Letter (Verve)
  2. Matt Wilson Quartet, Hug! (Palmetto)
  3. Charles Tolliver, Connect (Gearbox)
  4. Enrico Rava-Matthew Herbert-Giovanni Guidi, For Mario (Live) (Accidental)
  5. Gerald Clayton, Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
  6. Bobby Watson, Keepin' It Real (Smoke Sessions)
  7. Matthew Shipp, The Piano Equation (Tao Forms)
  8. Ray Russell, Fluid Architecture (Cuneiform)
  9. Trevor Watts, The Lockdown Solos (Hi4Head)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Lennie Tristano, The Duo Sessions (1967-76, Dot Time)
  2. The Ray Russell Quartet, Spontaneous Event: Live Vol 1: 1967-69 (Jazz in Britain)
  3. Mike Westbrook, Love and Understanding: Citadel/Room 315 Sweden '74 (My Only Desire)

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Russ Musto (New York City Jazz Record, TheJazzAdvocate.com)

NEW RELEASES (listed alphabetically; 5.5 points each)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL (listed alphabetically; 2 points each)

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Michael G. Nastos (Hot House, Michigan Jazz Festival BOD, WCBN 88.3 FM [Ann Arbor, MI])

NEW RELEASES

  1. Gilfema, Three (Sounderscore)
  2. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  3. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Hero Trio (Whirlwind)
  4. Amjad Ali Khan & Sharon Isbin, Strings for Peace (Zoho)
  5. Somi With Frankfurt Radio Big Band, Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper (Salon Africana)
  6. Enzo Carniel & House of Echo, Walls Down (Jazz & People)
  7. Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, Dawn Chorus (Innova)
  8. Kurt Elling, Secrets Are the Best Stories (Edition)
  9. Kenny Barron-Dave Holland Trio Featuring Johnathan Blake, Without Deception (Dare2)
  10. Christian McBride, The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons (Mack Avenue)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Just Coolin' (1959, Blue Note)
  2. Bob James, Once Upon a Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions (Resonance)
  3. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)

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Ivana Ng (DownBeat, The New York City Jazz Record)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Ambrose Akinmusire, On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment (Blue Note)
  2. Nubya Garcia, Source (Concord)
  3. Jyoti, Mama, You Can Bet! (SomeOthaShip)
  4. Matana Roberts & Pat Thomas, The Truth (Otoroku)
  5. Nicole Mitchell & Moor Mother, Offering: Live at Le Guess Who (Don Giovanni)
  6. Nicole Mitchell & Lisa E. Harris, EarthSeed (FPE)
  7. Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids, Shaman! (Strut)
  8. Laraaji, Through Luminous Eyes (All Saints)
  9. Irreversible Entanglements, Who Sent You? (International Anthem)
  10. Shabaka and the Ancestors, We Are Sent Here by History (Impulse)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  2. Sun Ra, Haverford College 1980 (Enterplanetary Koncepts)

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Stuart Nicholson (Jazzwise)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Pat Metheny, From This Place (Nonesuch)
  2. Charles Lloyd, 8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero) (Blue Note)
  3. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  4. Rymden, Space Sailors (Jazzland)
  5. Mike Nock-Hamish Stuart-Julien Wilson-Jonathan Zwartz, This World (Lionshare -19)
  6. Oded Tzur, Here Be Dragons (ECM)
  7. Adam Palma, Meets Chopin (MTJ -19)
  8. Gina Schwarz, Panonica (Cracked an Egg)
  9. Shahin Novrasli, From Baku to New York City (Jazz Village -19)
  10. Omer Avital Qantar, New York Paradox (Jazz & People)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. The Miles Davis Quintet, The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions (Craft -19)
  2. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)
  3. Buddy Rich, Just in Time: The Final Recording (1986, Gearbox -19)

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Tim Niland (Music & More)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Anna Högberg Attack, Lena (Omlott)
  2. Luis Lopes Humanization 4tet, Believe, Believe (Clean Feed)
  3. James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor, Live in Willisau (Intakt)
  4. Larry Ochs-Aram Shelton Quartet, Continental Drift (Clean Feed)
  5. Alexander von Schlippenbach, Slow Pieces for Aki (Intakt)
  6. Matthew Shipp Trio, The Unidentifiable (ESP-Disk)
  7. Full Blast, Farewell Tonic (2007, Trost)
  8. Abbey Rader & John McMinn, Duo From the Heart (Abray)
  9. Jon Irabagon, I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues: Volume 3: Anatomical Snuffbox (Irabbagast)
  10. Raoul Björkenheim, Solar Winds (Long Song)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Sun Ra Arkestra, Heliocentric Worlds 1 & 2 Revisited (1965, Ezz-thetics)
  2. Horace Tapscott With the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Ancestral Echoes: The Covina Sessions, 1976 (Dark Tree)
  3. Sam Rivers, Ricochet [Sam Rivers Archive Project, Volume 3] (1978, NoBusiness)

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Sean J. O'Connell (DownBeat, Los Angeles Times)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Jyoti, Mama, You Can Bet! (SomeOthaShip)
  2. Charles Lloyd, 8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero) (Blue Note)
  3. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  4. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Jazz Is Dead 001 (Jazz Is Dead)
  5. Josh Johnson, Freedom Exercise (Northern Spy)
  6. Brad Mehldau, Suite: April 2020 (Nonesuch)
  7. Thundercat, It Is What It Is (Brainfeeder)
  8. Gerald Clayton, Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
  9. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Axiom (Ropeadope)
  10. Sam Gendel, Satin Doll (Nonesuch)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  2. Ella Fitzgerald, Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes (1962, Verve)
  3. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Just Coolin' (1959, Blue Note)

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Ysi Ortega (Stalker 21, El Intruso)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12)
  2. Camila Nebbia, Aura (Ears & Eyes)
  3. Nate Wooley, Seven Storey Mountain VI (Pyroclastic)
  4. Peter Evans-Joel Ross-Nick Jozwiak-Savannah Harris, Being & Becoming (More Is More)
  5. Ingrid Laubrock, Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (Intakt)
  6. Dan Weiss Starebaby, Natural Selection (Pi)
  7. Gregg August, Dialogues on Race: Volume One (Iacuessa)
  8. Thumbscrew, The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform)
  9. Dan Rosenboom, Absurd in the Anthropocene (Gearbox)
  10. Tim Berne's Snakeoil, The Fantastic Mrs. 10 (Intakt)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  2. Nina Simone, Fodder on My Wings (1982, Verve)
  3. Sun Ra Arkestra, Heliocentric Worlds 1 & 2 Revisited (1965, Ezz-thetics)

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Dan Ouellette (DownBeat, Stereophile, QWEST.TV, Jazz & Beyond Intel)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Thana Alexa, ONA (self-released)
  2. Jyoti, Mama, You Can Bet! (SomeOthaShip)
  3. Webber/Morris Big Band, Both Are True (Greenleaf Music)
  4. Ron Miles, Rainbow Sign (Blue Note)
  5. Liberty Ellman, Last Desert (Pi)
  6. Lakecia Benjamin, Pursuance: The Coltranes (Ropeadope)
  7. Susan Alcorn Quintet, Pedernal (Relative Pitch)
  8. Dafnis Prieto Sextet, Transparency (Dafnison Music)
  9. Joel Harrison + 18, America at War (Sunnyside)
  10. Jason Miles & Kind of New, Black Magic (Ropeadope)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  2. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)
  3. Nina Simone, I Put a Spell on You (1965, Verve)

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Sergio Piccirilli (El Intruso)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Camila Nebbia, Aura (Ears & Eyes)
  2. Ingrid Laubrock, Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (Intakt)
  3. Nate Wooley, Seven Storey Mountain VI (Pyroclastic)
  4. Peter Evans-Joel Ross-Nick Jozwiak-Savannah Harris, Being & Becoming (More Is More)
  5. Thumbscrew, The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform)
  6. Dan Weiss Starebaby, Natural Selection (Pi)
  7. Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12)
  8. Susana Santos Silva Impermanence, The Ocean Inside a Stone (Porta-Jazz)
  9. Webber/Morris Big Band, Both Are True (Greenleaf Music)
  10. Lisa Mezzacappa Six, Cosmicomics (Queen Bee)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. London Jazz Composers Orchestra, That Time (1972-80, Not Two)
  2. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  3. New York Contemporary Five, Consequences Revisited (1963-64, Ezz-thetics)

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Peter Quinn (Jazzwise, The Arts Desk)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  2. Pat Metheny, From This Place (Nonesuch)
  3. Ambrose Akinmusire, On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment (Blue Note)
  4. Sun Ra Arkestra, Swirling (Strut)
  5. Charles Lloyd, 8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero) (Blue Note)
  6. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Axiom (Ropeadope)
  7. Artemis, Artemis (Blue Note)
  8. John Scofield, Swallow Tales (ECM)
  9. Aaron Diehl, The Vagabond (Mack Avenue)
  10. Allison Neale, Quietly There (Ubuntu Music)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Charles Mingus, Pithecanthropus Erectus (WaxTime in Color -19)
  2. Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane, Monk's Music (1957, American Jazz Classics)
  3. Duke Ellington-Charles Mingus-Max Roach, Money Jungle (1962, Blue Note Tone Poet)

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LATIN

Derk Richardson (The Absolute Sound, Peghead Nation, KPFA 94.1 FM [Berkeley])

NEW RELEASES

  1. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  2. Sara Serpa, Recognition (Biophilia)
  3. Angelica Sanchez & Marilyn Crispell, How to Turn the Moon (Pyroclastic)
  4. Roscoe Mitchell With Ostravská Banda, Performing Distant Radio Transmission Also Nonaah Trio, Cutouts for Woodwind Quintet and 8.8.88 (Wide Hive)
  5. The Nels Cline Singers, Share the Wealth (Blue Note)
  6. Matthew Shipp, The Piano Equation (Tao Forms)
  7. Thumbscrew, The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform)
  8. Ingrid Laubrock + Kris Davis, Blood Moon (Intakt)
  9. Carla Bley-Andy Sheppard-Steve Swallow, Life Goes On (ECM)
  10. Emi Makabe, Anniversary (Greenleaf Music)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Bill Dixon & Cecil Taylor, Duets 1992 (Triple Point -19)
  2. Nina Simone, Fodder on My Wings (1982, Verve)
  3. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)

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Britt Robson (JazzTimes, Bandcamp, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Eric Revis, Slipknots Through a Looking Glass (Pyroclastic)
  2. Edward "Kidd" Jordan-Joel Futterman-William Parker-Hamid Drake, A Tribute to Alvin Fielder: Live at Vision Festival XXIV (Mahakala Music)
  3. Kenny Barron-Dave Holland Trio Featuring Johnathan Blake, Without Deception (Dare2)
  4. Falkner Evans, Marbles (Consolidated Artists Productions)
  5. Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela, Rejoice (2010, World Circuit)
  6. Micah Thomas, Tide (self-released)
  7. Immanuel Wilkins, Omega (Blue Note)
  8. Manuel Valera New Cuban Express Big Band, José Martí En Nueva York (Greenleaf Music)
  9. Jeff Parker, Suite for Max Brown (International Anthem)
  10. Jyoti, Mama, You Can Bet! (SomeOthaShip)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Pharoah Sanders, Live in Paris 1975: Lost ORTF Recordings (Transversales Disque)
  2. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)
  3. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)

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LATIN

Lloyd Sachs (DownBeat)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Carla Bley-Andy Sheppard-Steve Swallow, Life Goes On (ECM)
  2. Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra, Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem)
  3. JD Allen, Toys/Die Dreaming (Savant)
  4. Kenny Barron-Dave Holland Trio Featuring Johnathan Blake, Without Deception (Dare2)
  5. Sun Ra Arkestra, Swirling (Strut)
  6. Chad Taylor Trio, The Daily Biological (Cuneiform)
  7. James Carney Sextet, Pure Heart (Sunnyside)
  8. Dave Rempis-Jeff Parker-Ingebrigt Håker Flaten-Jeremy Cunningham, Stringers and Struts (Aerophonic)
  9. Dave Douglas, Marching Music (Greenleaf Music)
  10. Ahmed Abdullah Diaspora Meets Afro Horn, Jazz: A Music of the Spirit: Out of Sistas' Place (self-released -19)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)
  2. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  3. Charles Mingus, @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (Sunnyside)

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Bret Saunders (Denver Post, KBCO-FM [Denver])

NEW RELEASES

  1. Ron Miles, Rainbow Sign (Blue Note)
  2. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  3. Tani Tabbal Trio, Now Then (Tao Forms)
  4. Charles Lloyd, 8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero) (Blue Note)
  5. Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra, Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem)
  6. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Hero Trio (Whirlwind)
  7. Susan Alcorn Quintet, Pedernal (Relative Pitch)
  8. Matthew Shipp Trio, The Unidentifiable (ESP-Disk)
  9. Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood, Live (International Anthem)
  10. Nate Wooley, Seven Storey Mountain VI (Pyroclastic)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Sun Ra Arkestra, Egypt 1971 (Strut)
  2. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)
  3. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)

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Ronald Schepper (Textura)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  2. Gregg August, Dialogues on Race: Volume One (Iacuessa)
  3. Nat Bartsch, Forever More (ABC Music)
  4. Lakecia Benjamin, Pursuance: The Coltranes (Ropeadope)
  5. The Westerlies, Wherein Lies the Good (Westerlies)
  6. Chip Wickham, Blue to Red (Lovemonk)
  7. Lara Downes & Friends, Some of These Days (Flipside Music)
  8. Brandi Disterheft Trio, Surfboard (Justin Time)
  9. Francesco Cataldo, Giulia (Alfa Music)
  10. Ryan Cohan, Originations (Origin)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Charles Mingus, @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (Sunnyside)
  2. Bill Evans, Live at Ronnie Scott's (1968, Resonance)
  3. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)

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LATIN

Rich Scheinin (SFJAZZ)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Nduduzo Makhathini, Modes of Communication: Letters From the Underworlds (Blue Note)
  2. James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor, Live in Willisau (Intakt)
  3. Charles Lloyd, 8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero) (Blue Note)
  4. Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger, Force Majeure (International Anthem)
  5. Lafayette Gilchrist, Now (Lafayette Gilchrist Music)
  6. George Burton, Reciprocity (self-released)
  7. Immanuel Wilkins, Omega (Blue Note)
  8. Wayne Escoffery, The Humble Warrior (Smoke Sessions)
  9. Anna Högberg Attack, Lena (Omlott)
  10. Quin Kirchner, The Shadows and the Light (Astral Spirits)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  2. Sam Rivers, Ricochet [Sam Rivers Archive Project, Volume 3] (1978, NoBusiness)
  3. Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland (1967, Resonance)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Gene Seymour (CNN, Bookforum, The Nation)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Jimmy Heath, Love Letter (Verve)
  2. Ron Miles, Rainbow Sign (Blue Note)
  3. Aaron Diehl, The Vagabond (Mack Avenue)
  4. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Data Lords (ArtistShare)
  5. Liberty Ellman, Last Desert (Pi)
  6. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis, The Music of Wayne Shorter (Blue Engine)
  7. Joshua Redman-Brad Mehldau-Christian McBride-Brian Blade, Round Again (Nonesuch)
  8. Matthew Shipp Trio, The Unidentifiable (ESP-Disk)
  9. Artemis, Artemis (Blue Note)
  10. Fred Hersch, Songs From Home (Palmetto)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Edward Simon, 25 Years (1995-2018, Ridgeway)
  2. Ella Fitzgerald, Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes (1962, Verve)
  3. Frank Sinatra, Nice 'N Easy [60th Anniversary Edition] (Capitol)

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LATIN

Mike Shanley (JazzTimes, Pittsburgh Current, Shanley on Music)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Chad Taylor Trio, The Daily Biological (Cuneiform)
  2. Michael Formanek Quartet, Untamed . . . Pre-Apocalyptic (Out of Your Head)
  3. Luke Norris, Northernsong (Ears & Eyes)
  4. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Hero Trio (Whirlwind)
  5. Threadbare [Jason Stein-Ben Cruz-Emerson Hunton], Silver Dollar (NoBusiness)
  6. Matthew Shipp, The Piano Equation (Tao Forms)
  7. Tim Berne's Snakeoil, The Fantastic Mrs. 10 (Intakt)
  8. Liberty Ellman, Last Desert (Pi)
  9. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Molecular (Intakt)
  10. Angelica Sanchez & Marilyn Crispell, How to Turn the Moon (Pyroclastic)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto (1968, Impulse)
  2. Johnny Griffin & Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ow! Live at the Penthouse -19 (Reel to Real)
  3. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Just Coolin' (1959, Blue Note)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

John Sharpe (The New York City Jazz Record, All About Jazz)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Angelica Sanchez & Marilyn Crispell, How to Turn the Moon (Pyroclastic)
  2. Lucian Ban-John Surman-Mat Maneri, Transylvanian Folk Songs (Sunnyside)
  3. Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12)
  4. Anna Webber, Untamed . . . Rectangles (Out of Your Head)
  5. Anna Högberg Attack, Lena (Omlott)
  6. Steve Swell, The Center Will Hold (Not Two)
  7. John Butcher-John Edwards-Mark Sanders, Crucial Anatomy (Trost)
  8. Alexander Hawkins & Tomeka Reid, Shards and Constellations (Intakt)
  9. Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura, Pentas: Tribute to Eric and Chris Stern (Not Two)
  10. Matthew Shipp & Nate Wooley, What If? (RogueArt)

REISSUES/HISTORICAL

  1. Borah Bergman-Wilber Morris-Sunny Murray, Monks (1996, SomeRealMusic)
  2. Sam Rivers, Ricochet [Sam Rivers Archive Project, Volume 3] (1978, NoBusiness)
  3. London Jazz Composers Orchestra, That Time (1972-80, Not Two)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

 

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