2025 Totals: New Jazz Albums

This category is for new albums of new music, released in 2025 (or 2024 but discovered in 2025), consisting of music that is less than 10 years old (recorded in or since January 1, 2016). For reissues and new albums of older music, see Rara Avis.

Critics were asked to list up to 10 albums in descending order, or they could submit an unranked list (preferably alphabetized by artist). Albums in unranked lists are accorded 1 point each. Albums in ranked lists are accorded points according to rank: 1: 3.0; 2: 2.4; 3: 2.0; 4: 1.8; 5: 1.6; 6: 1.4; 7: 1.3; 8: 1.2; 9: 1.1; 10: 1.0.

The listings are sorted by votes (in parentheses at the end of the line), with points (the preceding number) used as a tiebreaker. The arrow at the end of the line will route you to a page listing all of the critics who voted for the album. Some entries may have footnotes, which follow the list. There is also a Notes section at the bottom of the page.

Total albums receiving votes: 0. Of these, 30 were initially released in 2024 (5.2%), and 540 in 2025. This is down from 7.0% in 2024.

All 168 critics voted in this category. 5 critics (2.9%) voted for fewer than the maximum 10 albums. 39 critics (23.2%) submitted unranked lists.

Notes:

Albums that belong in Rara Avis (were reissued or recorded at least in part in or before 2015) but which received votes here:

• Melvin Gibbs, Amasia: Anamibia Sessions 2 (2006-25, Hausu Mountain) 5 (3)
• Ryan Truesdell Presents Gil Evans Project, Shades of Sound: Live at Jazz Standard, Vol. 2 (2014, Outside In Music) 4.8 (2)
• Masabumi Kikuchi, Hanamichi: The Final Studio Recording Vol. II (2013, Red Hook) 3.8 (2)
• Phil Haynes & Free Country, Liberty Now! (1996-2025, Corner Store Jazz) 2.3 (2)
• Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet, Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor (2004-24, Cellar Music) 1 (1)
• Salsa de la Bahia Vol. 3: A Collection of SF Bay Area Salsa and Latin Jazz: Renegade Queens (1991-2025, Patois) 1.3 (1)
• Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra, Strange Strings (1967, Cosmic Myth '24) 1.3 (1)
• Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Grande-Terre (1998, Verve '24) 1 (1)

New albums awarded 1 point for each vote they erronrously received under Rara Avis:

• Keith Jarrett, New Vienna (2016, ECM) 6.2 (3) + 4 (4) = 10.2 (7)
• Chick Corea - Christian McBride - Brian Blade, Trilogy 3 (2020, Candid) 4.7 (3) + 2 (2) = 6.7 (5)

Other albums that erroneously received votes under Rara Avis were not awarded extra points (votes) here, because they didn't receive any actual votes here:

• Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Centennial: The Music of Thad Jones: Live at the Village Vanguard (2024, BCM+D '24) 2 (1)
• Al Jarreau & NDR Big Band, Ellington (2016, ACT Music '24) 1 (1)
• Scandinavian Art Ensemble With Tomasz Stanko, The Copenhagen Session Vol. 2 (2016, April) 1 (1)

If an album received one or more votes both in the previous year and this year, and if it received more votes (not just more points) this year, the two year totals are added together. This applies to::

• None.

New Jazz Albums that received votes in 2024 as well as 2025. These are numbered by their position in 2024:

10. أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (Fönstret '24) 38.7 (18) + 3 (1) = 41.7 (19)
12. Immanuel Wilkins, Blues Blood (Blue Note '24) 35.6 (22) + 1.1 (1) = 36.7 (23)
35. Jenny Scheinman, All Species Parade (Royal Potato Family '24) 13.8 (9) + 1 (1) = 14.8 (10)
64. Lux Quartet, Tomorrowland (Enja/Yellowbird '24) 8.2 (6) + 1 (1) = 9.2 (7)
75. Samara Joy, Portrait (Verve '24) 7.2 (4) + 1 (1) = 8.2 (5)
89. Avishai Cohen, Ashes to Gold (ECM '24) 6 (4) + 3 (1) = 9 (5)
112. Ben Goldberg - Todd Sickafoose - Scott Amendola, Here to There (Secret Hatch '24) 5 (3) + 1.6 (1) = 6.6 (4)
128. Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, Spin (Ronin Rhythm '24) 4.2 (3) + 3 (1) = 7.2 (4)
150. Jon Batiste, Beethoven Blues (Verve '24) 3.7 (2) + 2.8 (2) = 6.5 (4)
159. Ben Wendel, Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard (Edition '24) 3.4 (3) + 1.3 (1) = 4.7 (4)
164. Mike Holober & the Gotham Jazz Orchestra, This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters (Palmetto '24) 3.4 (2) + 3 (1) = 6.4 (3)
211. The Attic & Eve Risser, La Grande Crue (NoBusiness '24) 2.8 (2) + 1 (1) = 3.8 (3)
308. Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Grande-Terre (1998, Verve '24) 1.8 (1) + 1 (1) = 2.8 (2)
361. Moor Mother, The Great Bailout (Anti- '24) 1.4 (1) + 1.3 (1) = 2.7 (2)
451. Floros Floridis - Matthias Bauer - Joe Hertenstein, Temporal Driftness (Evil Rabbit '24) 1.1 (1) + 1 (1) = 2.1 (2)
488. Renee Rosnes, Crossing Paths (Smoke Sessions '24) 1 (1) + 1 (1) = 2 (2)

The other '24 releases only received votes in 2025:

• Kevin Sun, Quartets (Endectomorph Music '24) 2 (2)
• Almufaraka, Master of Disorder (Circum-Disc/Tour De Bras '24) 3 (1)
• The Fury, Live in Brooklyn (Giant Step Arts '24) 3 (1)
• Thomas Fonnesbæk, In Rome (Storyville '24) 1.8 (1)
• Marilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen, Forest (Fundacja Słuchaj '24) 1.4 (1)
• Paul Dunmall, Red Hot Ice (Discus Music '24) 1.3 (1)
• Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra, Strange Strings (1967, Cosmic Myth '24) 1.3 (1)
• Peter Lenz, Breathe: Music for Large Ensembles (GamsbART '24) 1.2 (1)
• Charles Owens Trio, The Music Tells Us (La Reserve '24) 1.1 (1)
• Bob Bralove & Patti Weiss, Acoustic Conversations (BLove Music '24) 1 (1)
• Michel Doneda & Thierry Waziniak, Le Chemin Du Jour (Intrication '24) 1 (1)
• Paul Dunmall Quartet, Here Today Gone Tomorrow (RogueArt '24) 1 (1)
• Joe Fonda & Bass of Operation (Fundacja Słuchaj '24) 1 (1)
• Caity Gyorgy, Hello! How Are You? (La Reserve '24) 1 (1)