The 20th Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2025
Ballot 2025
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS
- Isaiah Collier - William Hooker - William Parker, The Ancients (Eremite) →
- Christer Bothén 3, L'Invisible (Thanatosis) →
- Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
- Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity, Great Intentions (Action Jazz) →
- Silt Remembrance Ensemble [Luke Stewart], The Order (Cuneiform) →
- Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi) →
- Zanussi 3, A Keen Beast (Sauajazz) →
- Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
- أحمد [Ahmed], سماع [Sama'a] (Audition) (Otoroku) →
- Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)
- Anthony Braxton, Quartet (England) 1985 (Burning Ambulance) →
- Griot Galaxy, Live on WUOM 1979 (Two Rooms) →
- Irène Schweizer - Rüdiger Carl - Johnny Dyani - Han Bennink, Irène's Hot Four (1981, Intakt) →
- Jimmy Lyons, Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (NoBusiness) →
- John Surman, Flashpoints and Undercurrents (1969, Cuneiform) →
VOCAL
- Hanna Paulsberg Concept & Elin Rosseland, Himmel Over Hav (Grappa) →
- Andreas Røysum Ensemble, With Marvin Tate (Motvind) →
- Sara Serpa & Matt Mitchell, End of Something (Obliquity) →
LATIN
- Miguel Zenón Quartet, Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at the Village Vanguard (Miel Music) →
- Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (Zoho) →
- Inés Velasco, A Flash of Cobalt Blue (self-released) →
DEBUT
- Sverre Sæbo Quintet, If, However, You Have Not Lost Your Self Control (SauaJazz) →
- Things of This Nature, Things of This Nature (Mahakala Music) →
- Christopher Dammann, Sextet (Out of Your Head) →
Note: Also see Year end picks: the best albums of 2025.