16th Annual Jazz Critics Poll: 2021

Ballots 2021 [5]

George Kanzler (Hot House, New York City Jazz Record)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Kimbrough (Newvelle)
  2. Ulysses Owens Jr Big Band, Soul Conversations (Outside In Music)
  3. Rossano Sportiello, That's It (Arbors)
  4. Greg Abate, Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron (Whaling City Sound)
  5. Doug MacDonald, Serenade to Highland Park (DMAC Music)
  6. Jihye Lee Orchestra, Daring Mind (Motéma Music)
  7. Steven Feifke Big Band, Kinetic (Outside In Music)
  8. Kenny Garrett, Sounds From the Ancestors (Mack Avenue)
  9. Edmar Castañeda, Family (Arpa y Voz)
  10. Uptown Jazz Tentet, What's Next (Irrabagast -20)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Bill Evans, Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) (Concord)
  2. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  3. Louis Armstrong, The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66 (Mosaic)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Fred Kaplan (Slate, Stereophile)

NEW RELEASES

  1. David Sanford Big Band Featuring Hugh Ragin, A Prayer for Lester Bowie (Greenleaf Music)
  2. Kimbrough (Newvelle)
  3. Archie Shepp & Jason Moran, Let My People Go (Archieball)
  4. William Parker, Painters Winter (AUM Fidelity)
  5. John Zorn, New Masada Quartet (Tzadik)
  6. Julian Lage, Squint (Blue Note)
  7. Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo, El Arte Del Bolero (Miel Music)
  8. Jason Moran, The Sound Will Tell You (Yes)
  9. Bill Charlap Trio, Street of Dreams (Blue Note)
  10. Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Soundprints, Other Worlds (Greenleaf Music)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Mingus, Mingus at Carnegie Hall [Deluxe Edition] (1974, Atlantic)
  2. Nina Simone, The Montreux Years (1968-90, BMG)
  3. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Yoshi Kato (San Francisco Chronicle, DownBeat)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  2. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels, Tone Poem (Blue Note)
  3. Jihye Lee Orchestra, Daring Mind (Motéma Music)
  4. Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios, Songs From My Father (Whaling City Sound)
  5. Helen Sung, Quartet + (Sunnyside)
  6. Nicholas Payton, Smoke Sessions (Smoke Sessions)
  7. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
  8. Johnathan Blake, Homeward Bound (Blue Note)
  9. Satoko Fujii, Piano Music (Libra)
  10. Bremer McCoy, Natten (Luaka Bop)

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. Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time OutTakes (1959, Brubeck Editions -20)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Elzy Kolb (freelance)

NEW RELEASES

  1. William Parker, Painters Winter (AUM Fidelity)
  2. Adam O'Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia)
  3. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  4. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  5. Helen Sung, Quartet + (Sunnyside)
  6. Barry Altschul's 3Dom Factor, Long Tall Sunshine (Not Two)
  7. Orrin Evans, The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions)
  8. Wadada Leo Smith-Jack DeJohnette-Vijay Iyer, A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)
  9. Alchemy Sound Project, Afrika Love (ARC)
  10. Lena Bloch & Feathery, Rose of Lifta (Fresh Sound New Talent)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)
  2. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  3. Sheila Jordan, Comes Love: Lost Session 1960 (Capri)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Stuart Kremsky (Mr. Stu's Record Room)

NEW RELEASES

  1. William Parker, Mayan Space Station (AUM Fidelity)
  2. Ivo Perelman, Brass and Ivory Tales (Fundacja Sluchaj)
  3. Whit Dickey-William Parker-Matthew Shipp, Village Mothership (TAO Forms)
  4. Ben Goldberg, Everything Happens to Be. (BAG Productions)
  5. Wadada Leo Smith-Jack DeJohnette-Vijay Iyer, A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)
  6. Ches Smith & We All Break, Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)
  7. Larry Ochs-Donald Robinson Duo, A Civil Right (ESP-Disk)
  8. Benoît Delbecq, The Weight of Light (Pyroclastic)
  9. Beady Beast [Christy Doran & Franz Hellmuller], On the Go (Between the Lines)
  10. Mario Pavone Dialect Trio + 1, Blue Vertical (Out of Your Head)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Harvie S Trio, Going for It (1985, Savant)
  2. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)
  3. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

David Kunian (WWOZ-FM New Orleans, Offbeat, New Orleans Jazz Museum)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Irreversible Entanglements, Open the Gates (International Anthem)
  2. Nicholas Payton, Smoke Sessions (Smoke Sessions)
  3. Craig Klein, Talkative Horns (Tromboklein Music)
  4. Sun Ra Arkestra, Swirling (Strut -20)
  5. Makaya McCraven, Deciphering the Message (Blue Note)
  6. Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra, Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem -20)
  7. Dr. Lonnie Smith, Breathe (Blue Note)
  8. Dave Rempis-Tomeka Reid-Joshua Abrams-Tim Daisy-Tyler Damon, The Covid Tapes: Solos, Duos, & Trios (Aerophonic)
  9. Miguel Zenón-Ariel Bringuez-Demian Cabaud-Jordi Rossy, Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman (Miel Music)
  10. Matt Booth & Palindromes, Mythomania (Ears & Eyes)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Julius Hemphill, The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (1977-2007, New World)
  2. Louis Armstrong, The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66 (Mosaic)
  3. Roy Brooks, Understanding (1970, Reel-to-Real)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Art Lange (freelance)

NEW RELEASES (listed alphabetically; 5.5 points each)

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!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Josh Langhoff (Wrigley Field organist, NorteņoBlog)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Amir ElSaffar Rivers of Sound, The Other Shore (Outnote)
  2. Dan Blake, Da Fé (Sunnyside)
  3. Rich Halley-Dan Clucas-Clyde Reed-Carson Halley, Boomslang (Pine Eagle)
  4. Veronica Swift, This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue)
  5. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble, Now (International Anthem)
  6. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises (Luaka Bop)
  7. Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future (Impulse!)
  8. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis, The Democracy! Suite (Blue Engine)
  9. Eliane Elias, Mirror Mirror (Candid)
  10. Miho Hazama & Danish Radio Big Band, Imaginary Visions (Edition)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Michael Gregory Jackson, Frequency Equilibrium Koan (1977, self-released -20)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Will Layman (PopMatters)

NEW RELEASES

  1. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  2. Johnathan Blake, Homeward Bound (Blue Note)
  3. Jon Irabagon, Bird With Streams (Irabbagast)
  4. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  5. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
  6. Adam O'Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia)
  7. Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The News (ECM)
  8. Orrin Evans, The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions)
  9. Maria Grand, Reciprocity (Biophilia)
  10. Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Sun Ra, Lanquidity [Definitive Edition] (1978, Strut)
  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

Devin Leonard (Bloomberg)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Steve Coleman and Five Elements, Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II (MDW NTR) (Pi)
  2. Henry Threadgill Zooid, Poof (Pi)
  3. Caroline Davis, Portals, Volume 1: Mourning (Sunnyside)
  4. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  5. Chris Potter Circuits Trio, Sunrise Reprise (Edition)
  6. Tom Rainey Obbligato, Untucked in Hannover (Intakt)
  7. Ben Monder-Tony Malaby-Tom Rainey, Live at the 55 Bar (Sunnyside)
  8. Kevin Hays-Ben Street-Billy Hart, All Things Are (Smoke Sessions)
  9. Christopher Hoffman, Asp Nimbus (Out of Your Head)
  10. Noah Preminger & Kim Cass, Thunda (Day Bridge)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)
  2. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  3. Jeanne Lee, Conspiracy (1975, Moved-by-Sound)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

John Litweiler (WHPK-FM [Chicago], Point of Departure)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet, The Chicago Symphonies (TUM)
  2. Potsa Lotsa XL, Silk Songs for Space Dogs (Leo -20)
  3. Larry Ochs & Aram Shelton Quartet, Continental Drift (Clean Feed -20)
  4. Angelika Niescier & Alexander Hawkins, Soul in Plain Sight (Intakt)
  5. Wadada Leo Smith-Douglas R Ewart-Mike Reed, Sun Beans of Shimmering Light (Astral Spirits)
  6. Henry Threadgill Zooid, Poof (Pi)
  7. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
  8. Roscoe Mitchell, Dots: Pieces for Percussion and Woodwinds (Wide Hive)
  9. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  10. Rich Halley-Dan Clucas-Clyde Reed-Carson Halley, Boomslang (Pine Eagle)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Joel Futterman, Creation Series (2008, NoBusiness)
  2. Joe Harriott Quintet, Free Form & Abstract Revisited (1960-62, Ezz-Thetics)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Suzanne Lorge (New York City Jazz Record, DownBeat, Jazziz)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Arturo O'Farrill, . . . Dreaming in Lions . . . (Blue Note)
  2. Pat Metheny, Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Modern)
  3. Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Live! (Concord Jazz)
  4. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  5. Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Virtual Birdland (Zoho)
  6. Gretchen Parlato, Flor (Edition)
  7. Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios, Songs From My Father (Whaling City Sound)
  8. Eliane Elias, Mirror Mirror (Candid)
  9. Brandee Younger, Somewhere Different (Impulse!)
  10. Patricia Brennan, Maquishti (Valley of Search)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  2. Keith Jarrett, Sun Bear Concerts (1976, ECM)
  3. Alice Coltrane, Kirtan: Turiya Sings (1982, Impulse!)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Phillip Lutz (DownBeat)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Dave Liebman Expansions, Selflessness: The Music of John Coltrane (Dot Time)
  2. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises (Luaka Bop)
  3. Vijay Iyer-Linda May Han Oh-Tyshawn Sorey, Uneasy (ECM)
  4. Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition)
  5. Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The News (ECM)
  6. Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Soundprints, Other Worlds (Greenleaf Music)
  7. Julian Lage, Squint (Blue Note)
  8. Hafez Modirzadeh, Facets (Pi)
  9. Pat Metheny, Road to the Sun (Modern)
  10. Jon Irabagon, Bird With Streams (Irabbagast)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Horace Silver Quintet, 6 Pieces of Silver (1956, Blue Note)
  2. Sun Ra, Lanquidity [Definitive Edition] (1978, Strut)
  3. Eberhard Weber, Once Upon a Time: Live in Avignon (1994, ECM)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Jim Macnie (DownBeat, TONE Audio, Lament for a Straight Line)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Kimbrough (Newvelle)
  2. James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)
  3. Amir ElSaffar Rivers of Sound, The Other Shore (Outnote)
  4. Adam O'Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia)
  5. Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile, Snark Horse (Pi)
  6. Arturo O'Farrill, . . . Dreaming in Lions . . . (Blue Note)
  7. Ben Goldberg, Everything Happens to Be. (BAG Productions)
  8. Tom Rainey Obbligato, Untucked in Hannover (Intakt)
  9. Johnathan Blake, Homeward Bound (Blue Note)
  10. Gregg Belisle-Chi, Koi: Performing the Music of Tim Berne (Relative Pitch)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Julius Hemphill, The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (1977-2007, New World)
  2. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle (1965, Impulse!)
  3. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Retrospect in Retirement of Delay: The Solo Recordings (1962-65, Omnivore)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Howard Mandel (Downbeat, ArtsJournal/JazzBeyondJazz, The Wire, Jazz Journalists Association, NPR)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Michael Wollny-Emile Parisien-Tim Lefebvre-Christian Lillinger, XXXX (ACT Music)
  2. Amir ElSaffar Rivers of Sound, The Other Shore (Outnote)
  3. Artifacts [Tomeka Reid-Nicole Mitchell-Mike Reed], . . . And Then There's This (Astral Spirits)
  4. Ben Goldberg, Everything Happens to Be. (BAG Productions)
  5. Kimbrough (Newvelle)
  6. Henry Threadgill Zooid, Poof (Pi)
  7. Wadada Leo Smith-Jack DeJohnette-Vijay Iyer, A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)
  8. Johnathan Blake, Homeward Bound (Blue Note)
  9. Burnt Sugar/The Arkestra Chamber, Angels Over Oakanda (Avant Groidd)
  10. Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The News (ECM)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Cecil Taylor, Corona (1996, Corbett vs. Dempsey)
  2. Don Cherry, The Summer House Sessions (1968, Blank Forms Editions)
  3. Julius Hemphill, The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (1977-2007, New World)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Peter Margasak (DownBeat, The Wire, Chamber Music, The Quietus, Bandcamp Daily)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Jeff Parker, Forfolks (International Anthem)
  2. Punkt. Vrt. Plastik [Kaja Draksler/Petter Eldh/Christian Lillinger], Somit (Intakt)
  3. Natural Information Society & Evan Parker, Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Aguirre/Eremite)
  4. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Searching for the Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic)
  5. Adam O'Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia)
  6. Chris Pattishall, Zodiac (self-released)
  7. Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi)
  8. Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, (Exit) Knarr (Odin)
  9. Ahmed, Nights on Saturn (Communication) (Astral Spirits)
  10. Irène Schweizer & Hamid Drake, Celebration (Intakt)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Julius Hemphill, The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (1977-2007, New World)
  2. Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (1965, Omnivore)
  3. Tom Prehn, Centrifuga & Sohlverv (1964, Corbett vs. Dempsey)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Lee Mergner (JazzTimes)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Christian McBride & Inside Straight, Live at the Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue)
  2. John Pizzarelli, Better Days Ahead: Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny (Ghostlight)
  3. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels, Tone Poem (Blue Note)
  4. Orrin Evans, The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions)
  5. Kate McGarry + Keith Ganz Ensemble, What to Wear in the Dark (Resilience)
  6. Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition)
  7. Helen Sung, Quartet + (Sunnyside)
  8. Bill Charlap Trio, Street of Dreams (Blue Note)
  9. Kurt Elling, SuperBlue (Edition)
  10. Johnathan Blake, Homeward Bound (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. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Ken Micallef (Stereophile, JazzTimes, DownBeat)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Marc Cary, Life Lessons (Sessionheads United)
  2. Burnt Sugar/The Arkestra Chamber, Angels Over Oakanda (Avant Groidd)
  3. William Parker & Patricia Nicholson, No Joke! (ESP-Disk)
  4. Alexis Parsons, Alexis (New Artists)
  5. Kevin Sun, <3 Bird (Endectomorph)
  6. Tobias Meinhart, The Painter (Sunnyside)
  7. James Francies, Purest Form (Blue Note)
  8. Matthew Stevens, Pittsburgh (Whirlwind)
  9. Stephanie Nilles, I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag - The White Flag (Sunnyside)
  10. Dan Wilson, Vessels of Wood and Earth (Brother Mister/Mack Avenue)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  2. Lee Morgan, The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (1970, Blue Note)
  3. Nina Simone, The Montreux Years (1968-90, BMG)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Milo Miles (The Arts Fuse, Miles to Go)

NEW RELEASES (listed alphabetically; 5.5 points each)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (listed alphabetically; 2 points each)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN

Ralph A. Miriello (Notes on Jazz)

NEW RELEASES

  1. Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Live! (Concord Jazz)
  2. Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition)
  3. Lyle Mays, Eberhard (self-released)
  4. Alex Sipiagin, Upstream (Posi-Tone)
  5. Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Soundprints, Other Worlds (Greenleaf Music)
  6. Steve Gadd Band, At Blue Note Tokyo (BFM Jazz)
  7. Ron Carter-Jack DeJohnette-Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Skyline (5 Passion)
  8. Jakob Bro-Arve Henriksen-Jorge Rossy, Uma Elmo (ECM)
  9. Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios, Songs From My Father (Whaling City Sound)
  10. Dave Zinno Unisphere, Fetish (Whaling City Sound)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller, In Harmony (2006-07, Resonance)
  2. Roseanna Vitro, Listen Here (1982, Skyline)
  3. Wolfgang Lackerschmid & Chet Baker, Quintet Sessions 1979 (Dot Time -20)

VOCAL

DEBUT

LATIN