The 19th Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2024

Ballots 2024 [3]

Anthony Dean-Harris (KMHD [Portland], DownBeat)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Jeremy Pelt, Tomorrow's Another Day (HighNote)
  2. Hiatus Kaiyote, Love Heart Cheat Code (Brainfeeder)
  3. BADBADNOTGOOD, Mid Spiral: Order (XL)
  4. Kiefer, Something for Real (Stones Throw)
  5. Lionel Loueke & Dave Holland, United (Edition)
  6. Adam O'Farrill, Hueso (Food)
  7. Joe Sanders, Parallels (Whirlwind)
  8. Julieta Eugenio, Stay (Cristalyn)
  9. Nala Sinephro, Endlessness (Warp)
  10. The Bad Plus, Complex Emotions (Mack Avenue)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Jos Demol (Jazz'halo)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Albert Vila Trio, Reality Is Nuance (Fresh Sound New Talent '23)
  2. Renaud Garcia-Fons, Cinematic Double Bass: Music for Imaginary Films (RGB '23)
  3. TGB, Room 4 (Clean Feed)
  4. Carlos Barretto, Solo: Lonely Dog (self-released)
  5. Alexandre Frazão Quinteto, Quintessência (self-released)
  6. Bruno Castellucci, Legacy (GAM)
  7. Danielle Esposito, Per altri motivi (Hypnote)
  8. Michel Massot-Tuur Florizoone-Marine Horbaczewski, Lignes de fruite (Aventura Musica)
  9. Chris Mentens, XMNTNS (self-released)
  10. Bas Bulteel, Eye of the Storm (WERF)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus to Pre Bird Revisited (1960-61, Ezz-Thetics)
  2. Bill Evans, The Legendary Trio at Birdland 1960 Revisited (Ezz-Thetics)
  3. Sidney Bechet, Live in Paris: 1952-1958 (Frémeaux & Associés)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Steve Dollar (freelance)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)
  3. Prince Lasha Quintet Featuring Sonny Simmons, The Cry! (1962, Craft)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Laurence Donohue-Greene (The New York City Jazz Record)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. JD Allen, The Dark, the Light, the Grey and the Colorful (Savant)
  2. Ben Goldberg-Todd Sickafoose-Scott Amendola, Here to There (Secret Hatch)
  3. Stephan Crump, Slow Water (Papillon Sounds)
  4. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  5. Borderlands Trio [Stephan Crump-Kris Davis-Eric McPherson], Rewilder (Intakt)
  6. Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)
  7. Peter Evans, Extra (We Jazz)
  8. Lux Quartet, Tomorrowland (Enja/Yellowbird)
  9. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  10. Nacka Forum, Peaceful Piano (Moserobie)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)
  2. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  3. Yusef Lateef, Atlantis Lullaby: The Concert From Avignon (1972, Elemental Music)
  4. Byard Lancaster, The Complete Palm Recordings 1973-1974 (Souffle Continu)
  5. 2R+2B [Gunārs Rozenbergs-Raimonds Raubiško-Boriss Bannihs-Vladmirs Boldirevs], Live at the Tbilisi Jazz Festival 1978 (Jersika)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Troy Dostert (All About Jazz, Free Jazz Collective)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Alain Drouot (Downbeat, Citizen Jazz)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Modney, Ascending Primes (Pyroclastic)
  2. Janel Leppin Ensemble Volcanic Ash, To March Is to Love (Cuneiform)
  3. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  4. Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, Louis Armstrong's America (ESP-Disk)
  5. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  6. Borderlands Trio [Stephan Crump-Kris Davis-Eric McPherson], Rewilder (Intakt)
  7. Steve Coleman and Five Elements, PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
  8. Wendy Eisenberg, Viewfinder (American Dreams)
  9. Jason Stein-Marilyn Crispell-Damon Smith-Adam Shead, Spi-raling Horn (Balance Point Acoustics)
  10. Dave Rempis & Tashi Dorji Duo, Gnash (Aerophonic)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
  2. NRG Ensemble, Hold That Thought (1996, Corbett vs. Dempsey)
  3. Art Tatum, Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Ken Dryden (New York City Jazz Record, Hot House, Timeless Jazz [WUTC-FM])

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Fred Hersch, Silent, Listening (ECM)
  2. Michael Dease, Grove's Groove (Le Coq)
  3. Kenny Barron, Beyond This Place (Artwork)
  4. Charles McPherson, Reverence (Smoke Sessions)
  5. Denny Zeitlin, Panoply (Sunnyside)
  6. Marshall Gilkes and WDR Big Band, Life Songs (Alternate Side)
  7. Ben Allison-Steve Cardenas-Ted Nash, Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols (Sonic Camera)
  8. Jon Gordon, 7th Ave South (ArtistShare)
  9. Dave Pietro, The Talisman (SteepleChase)
  10. Emmet Cohen, Vibe Provider (Mack Avenue)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Art Tatum, Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)
  2. Nat King Cole, Live at the Blue Note Chicago (1953, Iconic)
  3. Emily Remler, Cookin' at the Queens (1984-88, Resonance)
  4. Bill Evans, In Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (1970, Elemental Music)
  5. Louis Stewart & Jim Hall, The Dublin Concert (1982, Livia)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Chuck Eddy (Eliminated for Reasons of Space, Napster, Spin)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Open Me, a Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse)
  2. Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few, The World Is on Fire (Division 81)
  3. William Parker-Cooper-Moore-Hamid Drake, Heart Trio (AUM Fidelity)
  4. Linda Sikhakhane, Iladi (Blue Note)
  5. Sunny Five [Tim Berne-David Torn-Ches Smith-Devin Hoff-Marc Ducret], Candid (Intakt)
  6. Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers, Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook)
  7. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Transfiguration (Intakt)
  8. Luke Stewart Silt Trio, Unknown Rivers (Pi)
  9. Ezra Collective, Dance, No One's Watching (Partisan)
  10. Lakecia Benjamin, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) (Ropeadope)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

John Ephland (DownBeat, All About Jazz)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Lee Rice Epstein (Free Jazz Collective, But does it swing?)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Matthew Shipp Trio, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk)
  2. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  3. Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, Louis Armstrong's America (ESP-Disk)
  4. Jason Stein-Marilyn Crispell-Damon Smith-Adam Shead, Spi-raling Horn (Balance Point Acoustics)
  5. أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (Fönstret)
  6. Space, Embrace the Space (Relative Pitch)
  7. Matt Mitchell, Illimitable (Obliquity)
  8. Anthony Braxton, 10 Comp (Lorraine) 2022 (Braxton House)
  9. John Zorn, New Masada Quartet, Volume 3: Live at Roulette (Tzadik)
  10. Weird of Mouth [Mette Rasmussen-Craig Taborn-Ches Smith], Weird of Mouth (Otherly Love)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10, A Beautiful Day Revisited (2002, Palmetto)
  2. Tony Oxley, Angular Apron (1992, Corbett vs. Dempsey)
  3. Phil Haynes' 4 Horns and What?, The Complete American Recordings (1989-95, Corner Store Jazz)
  4. Ron Miles, Old Main Chapel (2011, Blue Note)
  5. Sun Ra, At the Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Jazz Detective)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Steve Feeney (ArtsFuse, Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)
  2. Caleb Wheeler Curtis, The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Imani)
  3. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
  4. Matthew Shipp Trio, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk)
  5. Thumbscrew, Wingbeats (Cuneiform)
  6. Luke Stewart Silt Trio, Unknown Rivers (Pi)
  7. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Transfiguration (Intakt)
  8. Dave Douglas, Gifts (Greenleaf Music)
  9. Steve Coleman and Five Elements, PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
  10. Tarbaby, You Think This America (Giant Step Arts)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)
  2. Emily Remler, Cookin' at the Queens (1984-88, Resonance)
  3. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  4. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Gary Finney (WQLN NPR [Eric, PA])

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
  2. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  3. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  4. Charles Tolliver Music Inc., Live at the Captain's Cabin (1973, Cellar Music)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Phil Freeman (Burning Ambulance, Stereogum, The Wire, DownBeat)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Lisa Ullén, Heirloom (Fönstret)
  2. Matthew Shipp Trio, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk)
  3. Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers, Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook)
  4. Nubya Garcia, Odyssey (Concord Jazz)
  5. Thembi Dunjana, God Bless iKapa. God Bless Mzantsi (AfricArise)
  6. Amaro Freitas, Y'Y (Psychic Hotline)
  7. Tyshawn Sorey Trio, The Susceptible Now (Pi)
  8. Nala Sinephro, Endlessness (Warp)
  9. Mary Halvorson, Cloudward (Nonesuch)
  10. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  2. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  3. Charles Gayle-Milford Graves-William Parker, WEBO (1991, Black Editions Archive)
  4. Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)
  5. Cecil Taylor Unit, Live at Fat Tuesday's February 9, 1980 [First Visit] (1980, Ezz-Thetics)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Filipe Freitas (JazzTrail)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  2. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
  3. Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)
  4. Oded Tzur, My Prophet (ECM)
  5. Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note)
  6. Peter Evans, Extra (We Jazz)
  7. Miguel Zenón, Golden City (Miel Music)
  8. Jon Irabagon's Outright!, Recharge the Blade (Irabbagast)
  9. Anna Webber, Simpletrio2000 (Intakt)
  10. Nduduzo Makhathini, Unomkhubulwane (Blue Note)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10, A Beautiful Day Revisited (2002, Palmetto)
  3. Tomasz Stanko Quartet, September Night (2004, ECM)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Will Friedwald (Wall Street Journal, New York Sun, KSDS Jazz Radio [San Diego])

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Ken Peplowski, Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music)
  2. Catherine Russell & Sean Mason, My Ideal (Dot Time)
  3. Jeremy Pelt, Tomorrow's Another Day (HighNote)
  4. Sun Ra Arkestra [Under the Direction of Marshall Allen], Lights on a Satellite (In+Out)
  5. Kenny Barron, Beyond This Place (Artwork)
  6. Bria Skonberg, What It Means (Cellar Live)
  7. Grace Kelly With Strings, At the Movies (PAZZ Productions)
  8. Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, Tree Jazz: The Shape of Christmas to Come (Palmetto)
  9. Ghost Train Orchestra & Kronos Quartet, Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog (Cantaloupe '23)
  10. Veronica Swift, Veronica Swift (Mack Avenue '23)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Martha Raye, Martha Raye & Co-Stars in Hollywood (1936-44, Sepia)
  2. Don Byas, Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic '23)
  3. Classic V-Disc Small Group Jazz Sessions, 1943-49 (Mosaic)
  4. King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Centennial (1923, Archeophone)
  5. Sun Ra, Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (1978, Resonance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: Extra votes disqualified: Rara Avis: Louis Jordan, World Broadcast Recordings 1944/45 (GHB/Circle); Vocal: Caity Gyorgy, Hello! How Are You? (La Reserve)

Pat Frisco (WHFR-FM [Dearborn, MI])

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Jason Stein-Marilyn Crispell-Damon Smith-Adam Shead, Spi-raling Horn (Balance Point Acoustics)
  2. François Houle-Kate Gentile-Alexander Hawkins, Fatrasies (Victo)
  3. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  4. Dave Rempis-Jason Adasiewicz-Joshua Abrams-Tyler Damon, Propulsion (Aerophonic)
  5. Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)
  6. Stemeseder Lillinger Quartet, Umbra II (Intakt)
  7. PNY Quintet, Over the Wall (RogueArt)
  8. Albert Beger-Ziv Taubenfeld-Shay Hazan-Hamid Drake, Cosmic Waves (NoBusiness)
  9. Floros Floridis-Matthias Bauer-Joe Hertenstein, Temporal Driftness (Evil Rabbit)
  10. Luke Stewart Silt Trio, Unknown Rivers (Pi)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Cecil Taylor Unit, Live at Fat Tuesday's February 9, 1980 [First Visit] (1980, Ezz-Thetics)
  2. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
  3. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  4. Karen Borca Trio Quartet & Quintet, Good News Blues: Live at the Vision Festival 1998 & 2005 (NoBusiness)
  5. Sun Ra, Inside the Light World: Sun Ra Meets the OVC (1986, Strut)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Jon Garelick (Boston Globe, Arts Fuse, Jazziz, DownBeat)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Don Byas, Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic '23)
  2. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
  3. Miles Davis, Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings (Craft)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Ana Gavrilovska (Uncut, Maggot Brain, Aquarium Drunkard)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Richard Gehr (Relix)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Kim Cass, Levs (Pi)
  2. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  3. Joy Guidry, Amen (Whited Sepulchre)
  4. The Necks, Bleed (Northern Spy)
  5. Joe Fonda Quartet, Eyes on the Horizon (Long Song)
  6. Jenny Scheinman, All Species Parade (Royal Potato Family)
  7. Out Of/Into [Joel Ross-Gerald Clayton-Kendrick Scott-Matt Brewer-Immanuel Wilkins], Motion I (Blue Note)
  8. John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband, Colouring Hockets (Plexatonic)
  9. Leo Genovese-Demian Cabaud-Marcos Cavaleiro, Estrellero 2 (Sunnyside)
  10. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, The Way Out of Easy (International Anthem)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. Sun Ra, Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (1978, Resonance)
  3. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  4. Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)
  5. Cecil Taylor Unit, Live at Fat Tuesday's February 9, 1980 [First Visit] (1980, Ezz-Thetics)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Brooks Geiken (Arts Fuse, Latinjazznet)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT