Notes on Albums

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

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

On the other hand, some (not all) of the rejected Debut vote albums: