The 20th Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2025

Ballots 2025 [4]

James Hale (DownBeat, SoundStageNetwork.com)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt) →
  2. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  3. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia) →
  4. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi) →
  5. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  6. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note) →
  7. John Scofield & Dave Holland, Memories of Home (ECM) →
  8. Myra Melford, Splash (Intakt) →
  9. Kneebody, Reach (GroundUP Music) →
  10. Jane Ira Bloom, Songs in Space (Outline) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance) →
  2. Joe Henderson, Multiple (1973, Craft) →
  3. Joe Pass, Virtuoso (1973, Craft) →
  4. Michel Petrucciani Trio, Jazz Club Montmartre (1988, Storyville '24) →
  5. Jaki Byard, Blues for Smoke (1960, Candid) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Eyal Hareuveni (Free Jazz Collective, Salt Peanuts, Percorsi Musicali)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Sophie Agnel, Song (Relative Pitch) →
  2. أحمد [Ahmed], سماع [Sama'a] (Audition) (Otoroku) →
  3. El Infierno Musical, II (Klanggalerie) →
  4. Anna Högberg Attack, Ensamseglaren (Fönstret) →
  5. Rodrigo Amado, The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost) →
  6. Lava Quartet, Ethereal Chant (Fundacja Słuchaj) →
  7. Izumi Kimura & Gerry Hemingway, How the Dust Falls (Auricle) →
  8. Tim Berne - Tom Rainey - Gregg Belisle-Chi, Yikes Too (Screwgun/Out of Your Head) →
  9. Paal Nilssen-Love Circus With the Ex Guitars, Turn Thy Loose (PNL) →
  10. The Ex, If Your Mirror Breaks (Ex) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Fred Frith and the Gravity Band (2014, Klanggalerie) →
  2. Peter Brötzmann - Jason Adasiewicz - Steve Noble - John Edwards, The Quartet: Cafe Oto, London, February, 10 & 11, 2023 (Otoroku) →
  3. Mujician, In Concerts (1993-2010, Jazz in Britain) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Chris Heim (KMUW-FM [Wichita, KS])

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ron Blake, Scratch Band (7Ten33 Productions) →
  2. JD Allen, Love Letters (The Ballad Sessions) (Savant) →
  3. Keith Jarrett, New Vienna (2016, ECM) →
  4. Thomas Fonnesbæk, In Rome (Storyville '24) →
  5. Ted Piltzecker, Peace Vibes (OA2) →
  6. Ben Sidran, Are We There Yet (Bonsai/Nardis) →
  7. Mike Freeman Zonavibe, Circles in a Yellow Room (VOF) →
  8. Conrad Herwig, Reflections - Facing South (Savant) →
  9. Nanami Haruta, The Vibe (Origin) →
  10. Wild Iris Brass Band, Way Up (Ear Up) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Ike Quebec, The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions (1959-62, Blue Note) →
  2. Kenny Dorham, Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live From the Blue Morocco (1957, Resonance) →
  3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967, Resonance) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Tad Hendrickson (freelance)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio, Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms) →
  2. Craig Taborn - Nels Cline - Marcus Gilmore, Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic) →
  3. Marshall Allen, New Dawn (Mexican Summer) →
  4. Ches Smith, Clone Row (Otherly Love) →
  5. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook) →
  6. Chicago Underground Duo, Hyperglyph (International Anthem) →
  7. Anouar Brahem, After the Last Sky (ECM) →
  8. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  9. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi) →
  10. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Jaimie Branch, Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise [IA11 Edition] (2019, International Anthem) →
  2. Stanley Cowell, Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →
  3. Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver - Stanley Cowell - Cecil McBee - Jimmy Hopps], Live at Slugs' Volume I & II (1970, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Andrey Henkin (JazzTimes, Stereophile, Jazzwise, Jazz Passings)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Angles 11, Tell Them It's the Sound of Freedom (Fundacja Sluchaj) →
  2. Mats Gustafsson - Ken Vandermark - Tomeka Reid - Chad Taylor, Pivot (Silkheart) →
  3. Kim Jung Jae, Shamanism (Relative Pitch) →
  4. Littorina Saxophone Quartet, Leaking Pipes (NoBusiness) →
  5. Eric McPherson, Double Bass Quartet (Giant Step Arts) →
  6. Ava Mendoza - Gabby Fluke-Mogul - Carolina Pérez, Mama Killa (Burning Ambulance) →
  7. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia) →
  8. Ben Stapp, Uzmic Ro'Samg (577) →
  9. Dan Weiss Quartet, Unclassified Affections (Pi) →
  10. John Zorn & Dave Lombardo, Memories, Dreams, and Reflections (Tzadik) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Dave Burrell & Sam Woodyard, The Lost Session: Paris 1979 (NoBusiness) →
  2. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967, Resonance) →
  3. James Newton Quartet, Live in Willisau Switzerland 1983 (Rhythm 'n' Flow) →
  4. Irène Schweizer - Rüdiger Carl - Johnny Dyani - Han Bennink, Irène's Hot Four (1981, Intakt) →
  5. Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley, Flashing Spirits (1988, Burning Ambulance) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Dylan Hicks (NR MINT)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Stanley Cowell, Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →
  2. Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley, Flashing Spirits (1988, Burning Ambulance) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Geoffrey Himes (JazzTimes, Chamber Music)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Charles Lloyd, Figure in Blue (Blue Note) →
  2. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia) →
  3. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Chris Potter - Eric Harland - Larry Grenadier, First Meeting: Live at Dizzy's Club (5Passion) →
  4. Henry Threadgill, Listen Ship (Pi) →
  5. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi) →
  6. Lucian Ban - John Surman - Mat Maneri, Cantica Profana (Sunnyside) →
  7. Ron Blake, Scratch Band (7Ten33 Productions) →
  8. Billy Hart Quartet, Just (ECM) →
  9. Joe Lovano, Homage (ECM) →
  10. Baltimore Jazz Collective, Baltimore Jazz Collective (Stricker Street) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Thelonious Monk, Bremen 1965 (Sunnyside) →
  2. Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1965, Blue Note) →
  3. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance) →
  4. Keith Jarrett, New Vienna (2016, ECM) →
  5. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note '24) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Rob Hoff (WQLN NPR [Erie, PA], WETF [South Bend, IN], JazzErie)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt) →
  2. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  3. Miguel Zenón Quartet, Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at the Village Vanguard (Miel Music) →
  4. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook) →
  5. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi) →
  6. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  7. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  8. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) →
  9. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic) →
  10. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver - Stanley Cowell - Cecil McBee - Jimmy Hopps], Live at Slugs' Volume I & II (1970, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →
  2. Charlie Parker, Bird in Kansas City (1941-51, Verve '24) →
  3. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance) →
  4. Ryan Truesdell Presents Gil Evans Project, Shades of Sound: Live at Jazz Standard, Vol. 2 (2014, Outside In Music) →
  5. George Colligan, Live at the Jazz Standard (2014, Whirlwind) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Larry Hollis (Cadence)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Billy Hart, Multidirectional (Smoke Sessions) →
  2. Todd Herbert, Captain Hubs (TH Productions) →
  3. Joe Farnsworth, The Big Room (Smoke Sessions) →
  4. Eric Alexander, Like Sugar (Cellar Live) →
  5. Al Foster, Live at Smoke (Smoke Sessions) →
  6. Joe Magnarelli, Concord (SteepleChase) →
  7. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note) →
  8. Sharel Cassity, Gratitude (Sunnyside) →
  9. George Coleman, George Coleman With Strings (HighNote) →
  10. Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet, Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor (2004-24, Cellar Music) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Chet Baker, Five From '65: The Quintet Summer Sessions (New Land) →
  2. Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1965, Blue Note) →
  3. Roland Kirk Quartet, Domino: Live at Radio Bremen TV-Studios 1963 (1963, MIG) →
  4. Roy Brooks, The Free Slave (1970, Muse/Time Traveler) →
  5. Alts 'N Outs: The Other Side of Blue Note (1958-64, Blue Note) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Mark Holston (Latino, Jazziz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Alan Broadbent, Threads of Time (Savant) →
  2. Ryan Truesdell Presents Gil Evans Project, Shades of Sound: Live at Jazz Standard, Vol. 2 (2014, Outside In Music) →
  3. Cyrus Chestnut, Rhythm, Melody and Harmony (HighNote) →
  4. Mike Clark, Itai Doshin (Wide Hive) →
  5. JD Allen, Love Letters (The Ballad Sessions) (Savant) →
  6. The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra, Mixed Bag (Summit) →
  7. Eddie Daniels, To Milton With Love (Resonance) →
  8. Lafayette Harris Jr., All in Good Time (Savant) →
  9. Seth MacFarlane, Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements (Verve) →
  10. Thom Rotella, Right Time Left (HighNote) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Emily Remler, Cookin' at the Queens: Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 (Resonance '24) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

C. Andrew Hovan (All About Jazz, DownBeat)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Joe Farnsworth, The Big Room (Smoke Sessions) →
  2. Sullivan Fortner, Southern Nights (Artwork) →
  3. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!) →
  4. Artemis, Arboresque (Blue Note) →
  5. Jimmy Greene, As We Are Now (Greene Music Works) →
  6. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note) →
  7. Dave Stryker, Stryker With Strings Goes to the Movies (Strikezone) →
  8. Gregory Groover Jr., Old Knew (Criss Cross Jazz) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Bill Evans, Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings (1959-61, Craft) →
  2. Pharoah Sanders, The Complete Pharoah Sanders Theresa Recordings (1980-87, Mosaic) →
  3. Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1965, Blue Note) →
  4. Keith Jarrett - Gary Peacock - Paul Motian, The Old Country: More From the Deer Head Inn (1992, ECM '24) →
  5. Roy Brooks, The Free Slave (1970, Muse/Time Traveler) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: Uncounted excess picks for Rara Avis: Sonny Criss, Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool) (1968, Craft); Ken McIntyre & Eric Dolphy, Looking Ahead (1961, Craft); Nathan Davis, Happy Girl (MPS)

Tom Hull (Tom Hull - On the Web, Notes on Everyday Life)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  2. Miguel Zenón Quartet, Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at the Village Vanguard (Miel Music) →
  3. Archer, Sudden Dusk (Aerophonic) →
  4. Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi) →
  5. Sheila Jordan With Roni Ben-Hur & Harvie S, Portrait Now (Dot Time) →
  6. Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio, Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms) →
  7. Rodrigo Amado, The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost) →
  8. Isaiah Collier - William Hooker - William Parker, The Ancients (Eremite) →
  9. أحمد [Ahmed], سماع [Sama'a] (Audition) (Otoroku) →
  10. Motian & More, Gratitude (Phonogram Unit) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. James Moody, 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note March 26, 2005 (Origin) →
  2. Jimmy Lyons, Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (NoBusiness) →
  3. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (England) 1985 (Burning Ambulance) →
  4. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance) →
  5. Griot Galaxy, Live on WUOM 1979 (Two Rooms) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: Also see The Best Jazz Albums of 2025

Peter Hum (The Ottawa Citizen)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Marcus Gilmore, Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard (Drummerslams) →
  2. Billy Hart, Multidirectional (Smoke Sessions) →
  3. Al Foster, Live at Smoke (Smoke Sessions) →
  4. Sullivan Fortner, Southern Nights (Artwork) →
  5. Miguel Zenón Quartet, Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at the Village Vanguard (Miel Music) →
  6. Johnathan Blake, My Life Matters (Blue Note) →
  7. Joe Lovano, Homage (ECM) →
  8. Aaron Parks, By All Means!! (Blue Note) →
  9. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM) →
  10. Paul Cornish, You're Exaggerating! (Blue Note) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Thelonious Monk, Bremen 1965 (Sunnyside) →
  2. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance) →
  3. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance) →
  4. Horace Silver, Silver in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (1965, Blue Note) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Jim Hynes (Glide, PostGenre, Making a Scene!)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  2. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic) →
  3. Jaleel Shaw, Painter of the Invisible (Changu) →
  4. Mark Turner, Reflections On: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Step Arts) →
  5. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook) →
  6. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM) →
  7. Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio, Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms) →
  8. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  9. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  10. Aaron Parks, By All Means!! (Blue Note) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Pharoah Sanders, Love Is Here: The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings (Transcendence Sounds) →
  2. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967, Resonance) →
  3. Carlos Garnett, Cosmos Nucleus (1976, Muse/Time Traveler) →
  4. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Strasbourg 82 (Gearbox) →
  5. Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver - Stanley Cowell - Cecil McBee - Jimmy Hopps], Live at Slugs' Volume I & II (1970, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Willard Jenkins (The Independent Ear, DownBeat, DC Jazz Festival, Ain't But a Few of Us)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (1966, Blue Note '24) →
  2. Kenny Dorham, Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live From the Blue Morocco (1957, Resonance) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Note: O'Farrill album not explicitly listed under Latin Jazz.

Martin Johnson (NPR Fresh Air, Wall Street Journal)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  2. Sara Serpa & Matt Mitchell, End of Something (Obliquity) →
  3. Chicago Underground Duo, Hyperglyph (International Anthem) →
  4. Dan Weiss Quartet, Unclassified Affections (Pi) →
  5. Patricia Brennan, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic) →
  6. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  7. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia) →
  8. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!) →
  9. Webber/Morris Big Band, Unseparate (Out of Your Head) →
  10. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Sanford Josephson (Jersey Jazz Magazine)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Matthieu Jouan (Citizen Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Brìghde Chaimbeul, Sunwise (Tak:til) →
  2. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) →
  3. Lagon Nwar, Lagon Nwar (AirFono) →
  4. Signe Emmeluth - Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - Axel Filip, Hyperboreal Trio (Relative Pitch) →
  5. Bruno Angelini - Sakina Abdou - Angelika Niescier, Lotus Flowers (Abalone) →
  6. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM) →
  7. Cosmic Ear, Traces (We Jazz) →
  8. Adam O'Farrill, For These Streets (Out of Your Head) →
  9. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  10. Ronny Graupe's Szelest, Newfoundland Tristesse (BMC) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate (1963, Resonance) →
  2. Charles Mingus, Mingus at Monterey (1964, Candid) →
  3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967, Resonance) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Ammar Kalia (The Guardian, The Observer, DownBeat, Jazzwise)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Laura Jurd, Rites & Revelations (New Soil) →
  2. Wojtek Mazolewski, Solo (WMQ/NoPaper) →
  3. Makaya McCraven, Off the Record (International Anthem) →
  4. Enji, Sonor (Squama) →
  5. Emma Rawicz, Inkyra (ACT Music) →
  6. Sarathy Korwar, There Is Beauty, There Already (Otherland) →
  7. Fergus McCreadie, The Shieling (Edition) →
  8. Yazz Ahmed, A Paradise in the Hold (Night Time Stories) →
  9. L'Antidote, L'Antidote (Ponderosa Music) →
  10. Pino Palladino & Blake Mills, That Wasn't a Dream (Impulse!) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Don Cherry & Latif Khan, Music/Sangam (1978, Heavenly Sweetness) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT

Richard B. Kamins (Step Tempest)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Mark Turner, Reflections On: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Step Arts) →
  2. Kenny Wheeler Legacy, Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores (Greenleaf Music) →
  3. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note) →
  4. Miguel Zenón Quartet, Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at the Village Vanguard (Miel Music) →
  5. The Hemphill Stringtet, Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head) →
  6. Joe Chambers - Kevin Diehl - Chad Taylor, Onilu (Eremite) →
  7. Rin Seo Collective, City Suite (Cellar Music) →
  8. Kenny Barron, Songbook (Artwork) →
  9. Tomas Fujiwara, Dream Up (Out of Your Head) →
  10. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Stanley Cowell, Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →
  2. Frank Kimbrough, The Call (2010, Sunnyside) →
  3. The Dave Robbins Big Band, Happy Faces (1963-65, Cellar Music) →
  4. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance) →
  5. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance) →

VOCAL

LATIN

DEBUT