The 20th Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2025

Ballots 2025 [1]

Rui Miguel Abreu (Expresso, Rimas e Batidas, We Jazz Helsinki; radio Nota Azuis, on Antena 2/RTP)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Kassa Overall, Cream (Warp)
  2. Sinsuke Fujieda Group, Fukushima (SoFa)
  3. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch)
  4. Makaya McCraven, Off the Record (International Anthem)
  5. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt)
  6. Cosmic Ear, Traces (We Jazz)
  7. Damon Locks, List of Demands (International Anthem)
  8. Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell, We Insist 2025! (Candid)
  9. أحمد [Ahmed], سماع [Sama'a] (Audition) (Otoroku)
  10. Marshall Allen, New Dawn (Mexican Summer)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Sun Ra, Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (1970, Strut)
  2. Pharoah Sanders, The Complete Pharoah Sanders Theresa Recordings (1980-87, Mosaic)
  3. Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver - Stanley Cowell - Cecil McBee - Jimmy Hopps], Live at Slugs' Volume I & II (1970, Strata-East/Mack Avenue)
  4. Joni Mitchell, Joni's Jazz (1968-2023, Rhino)
  5. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme [Monophonic Edition] (1964, Impulse!)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Paul Acquaro (Free Jazz Collective, Jazz Podium)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM)
  2. Marcelo dos Reis, Flora: Our Time (JACC)
  3. Vinny Golia - Ken Filiano - Michael TA Thompson, Catastasis (Nine Winds)
  4. Rodrigo Amado, The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost)
  5. Camila Nebbia - James Banner - Max Andrzejewski, Presencia (Ears & Eyes)
  6. Edition Redux [Ken Vandermark], Broadcast Transformer (Audiographic)
  7. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic)
  8. Marina Džukljev - Christian Weber - Michael Griener, Industriesalon (Trouble in the East)
  9. Ivo Perelman & John Butcher, Duologues 4 (Ibeji)
  10. Signe Emmeluth - Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - Axel Filip, Hyperboreal Trio (Relative Pitch)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Peter Brötzmann Trio, Hurricane (2015, Old Heaven Books)
  2. Noah Howard Quartet, Schizophrenic Blues: Live in Berlin (1977, Cien Fuegos)
  3. Jean-Jacques Avenel & Daunik Lazro, Duo: Bibliothèque De Massy 13 Novembre 1980 (Fou '24)
  4. Jimmy Lyons, Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (NoBusiness)
  5. Bobby Naughton Trio, Housatonic Rumble: Live at Charlie's Tap (1985, NoBusiness)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Scott Albin (Amazon.com)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note)
  2. Hamilton de Holanda Trio, Live in NYC (Sony)
  3. Ensemble C, Every Journey (Adhyâropa)
  4. Olga Amelchenko, Howling Silence (Edition)
  5. Tobias Meinhart, Sonic River (Sonic River)
  6. Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quintet, Sound Remains (Whirlwind)
  7. Yaron Herman, Radio Paradise (Naive)
  8. Yuhan Su, Over the Moons (Endectomorph Music)
  9. Martin Nodeland, Tributaries (Smeik)
  10. Joe Locke & Phil Markowitz, Smoke and Mirrors (Wire Walker)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia, Live at Leverkusen 1994 (Repertoire)
  2. Stanley Cowell, Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974, Strata-East/Mack Avenue)
  3. Ray Russell Quartet, The Complete Spontaneous Event: Live 1967-1969 (Jazz in Britain '24)
  4. Ella Fitzgerald, The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (1967, Verve)
  5. Michel Petrucciani Trio, Jazz Club Montmartre (1988, Storyville '24)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Shannon Ali (Shannon J. Effinger) (freelance)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Marcus Gilmore, Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard (Drummerslams)
  2. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook)
  3. Gary Bartz & NTU, The Eternal Tenure of Sound: Damage Control (OYO)
  4. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch)
  5. Jaleel Shaw, Painter of the Invisible (Changu)
  6. Johnathan Blake, My Life Matters (Blue Note)
  7. Kassa Overall, Cream (Warp)
  8. Sullivan Fortner, Southern Nights (Artwork)
  9. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!)
  10. Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons, Live in Philadelphia (Otherly Love/Ars Nova Workshop)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roy Brooks, The Free Slave (1970, Muse/Time Traveler)
  2. Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1954-55, Verve)
  3. Bobby Hutcherson, Montara (1975, Blue Note)
  4. The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (1965, Verve)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Ali Alizadeh [Sir Ali] (Jazz Attitude [Frequence K/Jet FM, Nantes, France], Jazzophone)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Mukta, A Night at Pannonica (Cepazz)
  2. Mehmet Polat Quartet, Roots in Motion (Aftab)
  3. Shems Bendali Quintet, Casbah Qassioun (Jazz Family)
  4. The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra, Mixed Bag (Summit)
  5. Tobias Wiklund, Inner Flight Music (Stunt)
  6. Longnon Big Band, Istanbounce (Continuo Jazz)
  7. Emmanuel Bex, Eddy M'a Dit (PeeWee)
  8. Simon Spang-Hanssen, Turtle Talk (Spangster)
  9. Prima Kanta, In a Purple Time (Linoleum)
  10. Leila Olivesi, African Rhapsody (Attention Fragile)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance)
  2. Manu Dibango, Dibango 82 (1982, We Want Sounds)
  3. Kristen Noguès & John Surman, Diriaou (1998, Souffle Continu)
  4. Simon Spang-Hanssen, Afrolantic (2002, Spangster)
  5. Khan Jamal, Give the Vibes Some (1974, Souffle Continu)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Mirian Arbalejo (Ditirambop)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Hrayr Attarian (Jazziz, All About Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Marshall Allen, New Dawn (Mexican Summer)
  2. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)
  3. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch)
  4. Theon Cross, Affirmations: Live at the Blue Note New York (New Soil)
  5. Yazz Ahmed, A Paradise in the Hold (Night Time Stories)
  6. John Patitucci, Spirit Fall (Edition)
  7. Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio, Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms)
  8. Gustavo Cortiñas, The Crisis Knows No Borders (Desafio Candente)
  9. Bloomers, Cyclism (Relative Pitch)
  10. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Sun Ra, Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (1970, Strut)
  2. Kenny Dorham, Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live From the Blue Morocco (1957, Resonance)
  3. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance)
  4. Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1965, Blue Note)
  5. Bill Evans, Portraits at the Penthouse: Live in Seattle (1966, Resonance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Angela Ballhorn (Jazzthetik, Jazz'N'More, Jazz-Fun.de)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Avishai Cohen, Ashes to Gold (ECM '24)
  2. Marleen Dahms' Alloy, Running and Belonging (Xjazz)
  3. Gulli Gudmundsson - Jeroen van Vliet - Koen Smits, Flóð Og Fjara (Challenge)
  4. Conor Chaplin - Anton Eger - Mathias Heise - Rasmus Sørensen, The Action 4s (April)
  5. Makiko Hirabayashi Weavers, Gifts (Enja)
  6. Keelepeksjad, Kalev Tuli Koju (Ava Muusika)
  7. Malakoff Kowalski, Songs With Words (Sony)
  8. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia)
  9. Leszek Możdżer - Lars Danielsson - Zohar Fresco, Beamo (ACT Music)
  10. O.N.E., Well, Actually . . . (April)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Keith Jarrett - Gary Peacock - Paul Motian, The Old Country: More From the Deer Head Inn (1992, ECM '24)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Dave Barber (WYSO [Yellow Springs, OH])

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Franpi Barriaux (Citizen Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (England) 1985 (Burning Ambulance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Chris Barton (Los Angeles Times)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch)
  2. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi)
  3. Craig Taborn - Nels Cline - Marcus Gilmore, Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic)
  4. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia)
  5. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
  6. SML, How You Been (International Anthem)
  7. Cécile McLorin Salvant, Oh Snap (Nonesuch)
  8. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)
  9. Chicago Underground Duo, Hyperglyph (International Anthem)
  10. Paul Cornish, You're Exaggerating! (Blue Note)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Joe Bebco (The Syncopated Times)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Colin Hancock's Jazz Hounds & Catherine Russell, Cat & the Hounds (Turtle Bay)
  2. Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band, Treasury Volume 2 (Turtle Bay)
  3. Arcadia Dance Orchestra, St. Louis Jazz (Rivermont)
  4. Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys, Mutiny in the Parlor (self-released)
  5. Eight Dice Cloth, The Songs and Arrangements of Armand J. Piron (self-released)
  6. Jim Kweskin, Doing Things Right (Jalopy)
  7. Nanna Carling, Melodies for Two (The End)
  8. Doreen's Jazz New Orleans, Vol. 33: Walkin' Through the Streets (self-released)
  9. Loren Schoenberg and His Jazz Orchestra, So Many Memories (Turtle Bay)
  10. The High Society New Orleans Jazz Band, Live at Birdland (Turtle Bay)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Larry Birnbaum (Stereophile)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch)
  2. Mulatu Astatke, Mulatu Plays Mulatu (Strut)
  3. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic)
  4. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
  5. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM)
  6. Myra Melford, Splash (Intakt)
  7. Joe Morris & Elliott Sharp, Realism (ESP-Disk)
  8. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Chris Potter - Eric Harland - Larry Grenadier, First Meeting: Live at Dizzy's Club (5Passion)
  9. Pat Thomas, The Bliss of Bliss (Konnekt)
  10. Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton, Live at Pioneer Works, 26 October 2023 (ESP-Disk)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Miles Davis, The Musings of Miles (1955, Craft)
  2. Kenny Dorham, Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live From the Blue Morocco (1957, Resonance)
  3. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance)
  4. Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Himself (1957, Craft)
  5. Lee Morgan, Here's Lee Morgan (1960, Craft)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Larry Blumenfeld (Wall Street Journal)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia)
  2. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook)
  3. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note)
  4. Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (Zoho)
  5. Henry Threadgill, Listen Ship (Pi)
  6. The Hemphill Stringtet, Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head)
  7. Sullivan Fortner, Southern Nights (Artwork)
  8. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)
  9. Billy Hart Quartet, Just (ECM)
  10. Anouar Brahem, After the Last Sky (ECM)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Thelonious Monk, Bremen 1965 (Sunnyside)
  2. Bill Evans, Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings (1959-61, Craft)
  3. Charles Mingus, Mingus at Monterey (1964, Candid)
  4. Miles Davis, Miles '55: The Prestige Recordings (Craft)
  5. William Parker, In Order to Survive (1993, Black Saint)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Richard Blute (Free Jazz Collective)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio, Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms)
  2. Rodrigo Amado, The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost)
  3. Paula Sanchez & Katharina Weber, . . . And Discovering Fishes That Have Their Own Light (Cubus)
  4. Yes Deer, Everything That Shines, Everything That Hurts (Superpang)
  5. Nick Dunston, Reverse Broadcast (Carrier)
  6. Frances-Marie Uitti - Milana Zarić - Elisabeth Harnik, Unified Field (Strange Strings)
  7. Sophie Agnel, Learning (Otoroku)
  8. Stian Larsen - Colin Webster - Ruth Goller - Andrew Lisle, Temple of Muses (Relative Pitch)
  9. Tim Berne - Tom Rainey - Gregg Belisle-Chi, Yikes Too (Screwgun/Out of Your Head)
  10. James McKain, Damon Smith & Weasel Walter, . . . Seeing the Way the Mole Tunnels . . . (Balance Point Acoustics/International School of Evidence)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (England) 1985 (Burning Ambulance)
  2. Mujician, In Concerts (1993-2010, Jazz in Britain)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Philip Booth (JazzTimes, Jazziz, Culture Pop: Sound & Screen)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Chris Cheek, Keepers of the Eastern Door (Analog Tone Factory)
  2. Chick Corea - Christian McBride - Brian Blade, Trilogy 3 (2020, Candid)
  3. Randal Despommier, South (Sunnyside)
  4. Joe Farnsworth, The Big Room (Smoke Sessions)
  5. Charles Lloyd, Figure in Blue (Blue Note)
  6. Brad Mehldau, Ride Into the Sun (Nonesuch)
  7. Nordkraft Big Band - Remy Le Boeuf - Danielle Wertz, Silent Course (Gateway Music)
  8. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia)
  9. John Patitucci, Spirit Fall (Edition)
  10. John Scofield & Dave Holland, Memories of Home (ECM)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Bill Evans, Further Ahead: Live in Finland 1964-1969 (Elemental Music)
  2. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance)
  3. Charles Mingus, Mingus at Monterey (1964, Candid)
  4. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967, Resonance)
  5. The Charlie Rouse Band, Cinnamon Flower: The Expanded Edition (1977, Resonance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Mike Borella (Avant Music News)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ava Mendoza - Gabby Fluke-Mogul - Carolina Pérez, Mama Killa (Burning Ambulance)
  2. Sun & Rain, Waterfall (Out of Your Head)
  3. Lingyuan Yang, Cursed Month (Chaospace)
  4. Yodok III, Nidarosdomen (Consouling Sounds)
  5. Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton, Live at Pioneer Works, 26 October 2023 (ESP-Disk)
  6. Violeta Garcia, IN/OUT (Bongo Joe)
  7. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi)
  8. Anna Högberg Attack, Ensamseglaren (Fönstret)
  9. Webber/Morris Big Band, Unseparate (Out of Your Head)
  10. Sifters, Sifters (Obliquity)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: Debut record by Dave Sewelson - George Cartwright - Gabby Fluke-Mogul - Anthony Cox - Steve Hirsh rejected; Deepstaria Enigmatica should also be ineligible due to Chad Fowler, but the other members appear to be eligible (even Khari Wynn, drummer for Public Enemy since 2002)

Marcela Breton (freelance)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)
  2. George Coleman, George Coleman With Strings (HighNote)
  3. Joe Farnsworth, The Big Room (Smoke Sessions)
  4. Rubén Reinaldo, Fusión Olivica (Free Code Jazz)
  5. John Santos Sextet & Friends, Horizontes (Machete)
  6. Deborah Silver & The Count Basie Orchestra, Basie Rocks! (Green Hill)
  7. Salsa de la Bahia Vol. 3: A Collection of SF Bay Area Salsa and Latin Jazz: Renegade Queens (1991-2025, Patois)
  8. Inés Velasco, A Flash of Cobalt Blue (self-released)
  9. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance)
  2. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate (1963, Resonance)
  3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967, Resonance)
  4. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Stuart Broomer (Free Jazz Collective, Musicworks, New York City Jazz Record, Point of Departure, The Whole Note)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Rodrigo Amado, The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost)
  2. Sophie Agnel, Song (Relative Pitch)
  3. Joëlle Léandre & Evan Parker, Long Bright Summer (RogueArt)
  4. Luz Prado - Wade Matthews - Abdul Moimême, Trust From Intimacy (ScatterArchive)
  5. The Necks, Disquiet (Northern Spy)
  6. KnCurrent, KnCurrent (Deep Dish)
  7. Sven-Åke Johansson - Pierre Borel - Seymour Wright - Joel Grip, Two Days at Café Oto (Otoroku)
  8. Isaiah Collier - William Hooker - William Parker, The Ancients (Eremite)
  9. Alexander Hawkins, Song Unconditional (Intakt)
  10. Joe Chambers - Kevin Diehl - Chad Taylor, Onilu (Eremite)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. AMM & Sachiko M, Testing (2004 Matchless)
  2. Henry Kaiser, Domo Arigato Derek Sensei (1976-2006, Balance Point Acoustics)
  3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate (1963, Resonance)
  4. Evan Parker, The Heraclitean Two-Step, Etc. (1994-2024, False Walls '24)
  5. Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1965, Blue Note)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Bill Brownlee (Plastic Sax)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia)
  2. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic)
  3. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)
  4. Gerald Clayton, Ones & Twos (Blue Note)
  5. Charles Lloyd, Figure in Blue (Blue Note)
  6. SML, How You Been (International Anthem)
  7. Wadada Leo Smith & Sylvie Courvoisier, Angel Falls (Intakt)
  8. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM)
  9. Carl Allen, Tippin' (Cellar)
  10. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. James Newton Quartet, Live in Willisau Switzerland 1983 (Rhythm 'n' Flow)
  2. Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley, Flashing Spirits (1988, Burning Ambulance)
  3. Irène Schweizer - Rüdiger Carl - Johnny Dyani - Han Bennink, Irène's Hot Four (1981, Intakt)
  4. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance)
  5. Sun Ra, Uncharted Passages: New York Piano Soliloquies 1977-79 (Modern Marmonic)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT