The 19th Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2024

Ballots 2024 [6]

Josh Langhoff (Wrigley Field organist)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Open Me, a Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse)
  2. Susie Ibarra-Jeffrey Zeigler-Graham Reynolds, Insectum (Golden Hornet)
  3. Luke Stewart Silt Trio, Unknown Rivers (Pi)
  4. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  5. Alan Braufman, Infinite Love Infinite Tears (Valley of Search)
  6. أحمد [Ahmed], Wood Blues (Astral Spirits)
  7. Kenny Garrett & Svoy, Who Killed AI? (Mack Avenue)
  8. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
  9. Ches Smith, Laugh Ash (Pyroclastic)
  10. Kim Cass, Levs (Pi)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Martin Laurentius (Jazz Thing)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Peter Evans, Extra (We Jazz)
  2. David Murray Quartet, Francesca (Intakt)
  3. Tamara Lukasheva & INSO Lviv Orchestra, Anima (Tangible Music)
  4. Oded Tzur, My Prophet (ECM)
  5. Immanuel Wilkins, Blues Blood (Blue Note)
  6. Florian Weber, Imaginary Cycle (ECM)
  7. Tobias Hoffmann Trio, Start/Stop (Klaeng)
  8. Hildegunn Øiseth, Garden on the Roof (Clap Your Hands)
  9. Simon Oslender-Steve Gadd-Will Lee, All That Matters (Leopard/Broken Silence)
  10. Neon Dilemma [Elias Stemeseder-Robert Landfermann-Leif Berger], Neon Dilemma (Klaeng)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Will Layman (PopMatters)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Miles Davis, Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings (Craft)
  2. Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)
  3. Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Next Step Band: Live at Smalls 1996 (Heartcore)
  4. Wayne Shorter, Celebration, Volume 1 (2014, Blue Note)
  5. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Devin Leonard (Bloomberg Businessweek)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Kim Cass, Levs (Pi)
  2. Steve Coleman and Five Elements, PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
  3. Noah Preminger & Rob Garcia [Dead Composers Club], Hildegard Project: The Music of Hildegard Von Bingen (Connection Works)
  4. Brad Mehldau, Après Fauré (Nonesuch)
  5. Simon Moullier, Elements of Light (Candid)
  6. M.T.B. [Brad Mehldau-Mark Turner-Peter Bernstein], Solid Jackson (Criss Cross Jazz)
  7. Out Of/Into [Joel Ross-Gerald Clayton-Kendrick Scott-Matt Brewer-Immanuel Wilkins], Motion I (Blue Note)
  8. Walter Smith III, Three of Us Are From Houston and Reuben Is Not (Blue Note)
  9. Ben Wendel, Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard (Edition)
  10. Immanuel Wilkins, Blues Blood (Blue Note)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Next Step Band: Live at Smalls 1996 (Heartcore)
  3. Bobby Hutcherson, Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 (Mosaic)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Lance Liddle (Bebop Spoken Here)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Snorre Kirk, What a Day! (Stunt)
  2. David Weiss Sextet, Auteur (Origin)
  3. Roger Kellaway, Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music)
  4. Warren Wolf, History of the Vibraphone (Cellar Music)
  5. Ken Peplowski, Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music)
  6. Gerald Cannon, Live at Dizzy's Club: The Music of Elvin & McCoy (Woodneck)
  7. Tim Armacost Chordless Quintet, Something About Believing (TMA)
  8. Ricky Alexander, Just Found Joy (Turtle Bay)
  9. Brian Landrus, Plays Ellington & Strayhorn (Palmetto)
  10. Ben Wolfe, The Understated (Resident Arts)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Terry Gibbs Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959 (Whaling City Sound)
  2. Art Tatum, Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)
  3. Oscar Peterson, City Lights: Live in Munich 1994 (Mack Avenue)
  4. Cannonball Adderley, Burnin' in Bordeaux: Live in France 1969 (Elemental Music)
  5. Louis Stewart & Jim Hall, The Dublin Concert (1982, Livia)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Mark Lomanno (The Rhythm of Study)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Suzanne Lorge (DownBeat, New York City Jazz Record)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Chick Corea & Béla Fleck, Remembrance (Thirty Tigers)
  2. Wayne Shorter, Celebration, Volume 1 (2014, Blue Note)
  3. Maria Schneider Orchestra, Decades (1992-2020, ArtistShare)
  4. Lakecia Benjamin, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) (Ropeadope)
  5. Catherine Russell & Sean Mason, My Ideal (Dot Time)
  6. Samara Joy, Portrait (Verve)
  7. Pat Metheny, MoonDial (BMG)
  8. Joel Ross, Nublues (Blue Note)
  9. The Bad Plus, Complex Emotions (Mack Avenue)
  10. Fred Hersch, Silent, Listening (ECM)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Paco de Lucia & Pepe de Lucia, Pepito y Paquito (1959-60, BMG)
  2. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  3. Bill Evans, In Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (1970, Elemental Music)
  4. Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)
  5. Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Brad Luen (Semipop Life)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Eirik Hegdal Eklektisk Samband, Turnchest (Particular)
  2. Amaro Freitas, Y'Y (Psychic Hotline)
  3. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  4. Kris Davis Trio, Run the Gauntlet (Pyroclastic)
  5. David Murray Quartet, Francesca (Intakt)
  6. Alfredo Colón, Blood Burden (Out of Your Head)
  7. Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, Louis Armstrong's America (ESP-Disk)
  8. The Core, Roots (Moserobie)
  9. Alan Braufman, Infinite Love Infinite Tears (Valley of Search)
  10. Emmeluth's Amoeba, Nonsense (Moserobie)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Phillip Lutz (DownBeat)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Kevin Lynch (The Shepherd Express, Culture Currents (Vernaculars Speak))

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Meshell Ndegeocello, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin (Blue Note)
  2. Brian Landrus, Plays Ellington & Strayhorn (Palmetto)
  3. Jean-Michel Pilc-François Moutin-Ari Hoenig, You Are the Song (Justin Time)
  4. John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband, Colouring Hockets (Plexatonic)
  5. Anat Cohen Quartetinho, Bloom (Anzic)
  6. Kevin Hays-Ben Street-Billy Hart, Bridges (Smoke Sessions '23)
  7. Doug Richards Orchestra, Through a Sonic Prism: The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim (self-released '23)
  8. Paul Dietrich, 5+4 (Shifting Paradigm)
  9. Yosef-Gutman Levitt (With Lionel Loueke), Soul Song (Soul Song '23)
  10. Frank Carlberg Large Ensemble, Elegy for Thelonious (Sunnyside)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy, Evenings at the Village Gate (1961, Impulse! '23)
  2. Emily Remler, Cookin' at the Queens (1984-88, Resonance)
  3. The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From the Northwest, 1959 (Brubeck Editions '23)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Jim Macnie (DownBeat, Lament for a Straight Line)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  2. Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note)
  3. Out Of/Into [Joel Ross-Gerald Clayton-Kendrick Scott-Matt Brewer-Immanuel Wilkins], Motion I (Blue Note)
  4. Marta Sanchez Trio, Perpetual Void (Intakt)
  5. Steve Coleman and Five Elements, PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
  6. Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)
  7. Angelica Sanchez & Chad Taylor, A Monster Is Just an Animal You Haven't Met Yet (Intakt)
  8. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  9. Matt Mitchell, Zealous Angles (Pi)
  10. Ben Allison-Steve Cardenas-Ted Nash, Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols (Sonic Camera)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. Black Artist Group, For Peace and Liberty: In Paris, Dec 1972 (WeWantSounds)
  3. Tim Berne & Michael Formanek, Parlour Games (1991, Relative Pitch)
  4. Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)
  5. Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10, A Beautiful Day Revisited (2002, Palmetto)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Peter Margasak (Nowhere Street, DownBeat, The Wire, Bandcamp Daily)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (Fönstret)
  2. Adam O'Farrill, Hueso (Food)
  3. Mary Halvorson, Cloudward (Nonesuch)
  4. Space, Embrace the Space (Relative Pitch)
  5. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  6. Alexander Hawkins & Sofia Jernberg, Musho (Intakt)
  7. Nick Dunston, Colla Voce (Out of Your Head)
  8. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, The Way Out of Easy (International Anthem)
  9. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  10. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie, Står Op Med Solen (Aguirre)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Centennial (1923, Archeophone)
  3. Don Byas, Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic '23)
  4. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  5. Nisse Sandström Group, Öppet Ett (1965-67, Caprice '23)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Paul Medrano (Best of Jazz)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Matthew Shipp Trio, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk)
  2. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
  3. أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (Fönstret)
  4. Tyshawn Sorey Trio, The Susceptible Now (Pi)
  5. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  6. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  7. Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers, Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook)
  8. ØKSE, ØKSE (Backwoodz Studioz)
  9. Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note)
  10. Sylvie Courvoisier, To Be Other-Wise (Intakt)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Gayle-Milford Graves-William Parker, WEBO (1991, Black Editions Archive)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: Also see Best Jazz Albums of 2024

Allen Michie (The Arts Fuse)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  2. John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband, Colouring Hockets (Plexatonic)
  3. Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Open Me, a Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse)
  4. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
  5. Kenny Barron, Beyond This Place (Artwork)
  6. Warren Wolf, History of the Vibraphone (Cellar Music)
  7. Bria Skonberg, What It Means (Cellar Live)
  8. Emile Parisien Quartet, Let Them Cook (ACT)
  9. Jamie Baum Septet+, What Times Are These (Sunnyside)
  10. Troy Roberts, Green Lights (Toy Robot Music)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Terry Gibbs Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959 (Whaling City Sound)
  2. Charlie Parker, Bird in Kansas City (1941-51, Verve)
  3. Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)
  4. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  5. Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Milo Miles (The Arts Fuse, Miles to Go)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: New vote for James Carter Organ Trio, Live From Newport Jazz (Blue Note) disqualified (released in 2019)

Bill Milkowski (DownBeat, Absolute Sound, Jazziz, Jazzthing [Germany], The Milkman's Musings)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Kenny Barron, Beyond This Place (Artwork)
  2. Miguel Zenón, Golden City (Miel Music)
  3. Chris Potter-Brad Mehldau-John Patitucci-Brian Blade, Eagle's Point (Edition)
  4. Lionel Loueke & Dave Holland, United (Edition)
  5. Tim Armacost Chordless Quintet, Something About Believing (TMA)
  6. Brian Lynch, 7x7by7 (Holistic MusicWorks)
  7. Walter Smith III, Three of Us Are From Houston and Reuben Is Not (Blue Note)
  8. Out Of/Into [Joel Ross-Gerald Clayton-Kendrick Scott-Matt Brewer-Immanuel Wilkins], Motion I (Blue Note)
  9. Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note)
  10. Conrad Herwig, The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner (Savant)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  2. Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)
  3. Emily Remler, Cookin' at the Queens (1984-88, Resonance)
  4. Charles Tolliver Music Inc., Live at the Captain's Cabin (1973, Cellar Music)
  5. Art Tatum, Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Roz Milner (freelance)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Dave Douglas, Gifts (Greenleaf Music)
  2. Fay Victor, Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (TAO Forms)
  3. Kim Cass, Levs (Pi)
  4. Mary Halvorson, Cloudward (Nonesuch)
  5. Kevin Sun, The Fate of the Tenor (Endectomorph)
  6. Ivo Perelman & Nate Wooley, Polarity 3 (Burning Ambulance)
  7. Ethan Iverson, Technically Acceptable (Blue Note)
  8. Elephant9 With Terje Rypdal, Catching Fire (Rune Grammofon)
  9. Immanuel Wilkins, Blues Blood (Blue Note)
  10. Kamasi Washington, Fearless Movement (Young)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Cecil Taylor Unit, Live at Fat Tuesday's February 9, 1980 [First Visit] (1980, Ezz-Thetics)
  2. Sun Ra, Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (1978, Resonance)
  3. Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Grande-Terre (1998, Verve)
  4. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  5. Tomasz Stanko Quartet, September Night (2004, ECM)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Ralph A. Miriello (Notes on Jazz, Jazz Journalists Association)

NEW ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Rick Mitchell (Jazz in the New Millennium [book/radio program])

NEW ALBUMS

  1. Charles Lloyd, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note)
  2. Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding, Milton + Esperanza (Concord)
  3. Joel Ross, Nublues (Blue Note)
  4. Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
  5. Walter Smith III, Three of Us Are From Houston and Reuben Is Not (Blue Note)
  6. Tarbaby, You Think This America (Giant Step Arts)
  7. Jon Batiste, Beethoven Blues [Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1] (Verve/Interscope)
  8. Nduduzo Makhathini, Unomkhubulwane (Blue Note)
  9. Lizz Wright, Shadow (Blues & Greens)
  10. Lakecia Benjamin, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) (Ropeadope)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Art Tatum, Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)
  2. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
  3. Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Grande-Terre (1998, Verve)
  4. Sun Ra, At the Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Jazz Detective)
  5. Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Chris Monsen (Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Jazznytt, Chris Monsen's Listening Booth)

NEW ALBUMS

  1. AALY Trio [Mats Gustafsson-Peter Janson-Kjell Nordeson], Sustain (Silkheart)
  2. ØKSE, ØKSE (Backwoodz Studioz)
  3. Ivo Perelman-Mark Helias-Tom Rainey, Truth Seeker (Fundacja Sluchaj)
  4. Alan Braufman, Infinite Love Infinite Tears (Valley of Search)
  5. أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (Fönstret)
  6. Darius Jones, Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
  7. Peter Evans, Extra (We Jazz)
  8. Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
  9. Eirik Hegdal Eklektisk Samband, Turnchest (Particular)
  10. Mary Halvorson, Cloudward (Nonesuch)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Gayle-Milford Graves-William Parker, WEBO (1991, Black Editions Archive)
  2. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
  3. Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)
  4. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note)
  5. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: Also see Year end picks: 50 favorite albums of 2024