The 20th Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2025 Mid-Year
Past Polls Index
New Albums Rara Avis
Critics
Acquaro - CollinsConsidine - GeikenGottschalk - KennyKoblin - NilandOrlov - SteinSullivan - Yokoi

Ballots 2025 Mid-Year [1]

 [Acquaro - Collins] · [Considine - Geiken] · [Gottschalk - Kenny] · [Koblin - Niland] · [Orlov - Stein] · [Sullivan - Yokoi]Next

Paul Acquaro (Free Jazz Collective, Jazz Podium)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. The Hemphill Stringtet, Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head) →
  2. Edition Redux [Ken Vandermark], Broadcast Transformer (Audiographic) →
  3. John Dikeman - Sun-Mi Hong - Aaron Lumley - Marta Warelis, Old Adam on Turtle Island (Relative Pitch) →
  4. Harri Sjöström, SoundScapes #4 Festival Berlin 2023 (Fundacja Słuchaj) →
  5. Elia Aregger Trio, Live (Unit) →
  6. Camila Nebbia - Dietrich Eichmann - John Hughes - Jeff Arnal, Chrononaux (Generate '24) →
  7. Marc Ribot, Map of a Blue City (New West) →
  8. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  9. Hélène Labarrière, Puzzle (Jazzdor) →
  10. Felix Henkelhausen Quintet, The Excruciating Pain of Boredom (self-released) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Jimmy Lyons, Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (NoBusiness) →
  2. Peter Brötzmann Trio, Hurricane (2015, Old Heaven Books) →
  3. Jean-Jacques Avenel & Daunik Lazro, Duo: Bibliothèque De Massy 13 Novembre 1980 (Fou '24) →
  4. Noah Howard Quartet, Schizophrenic Blues: Live in Berlin (1977, Cien Fuegos) →
  5. Noah Howard Group, Berlin Concert (1975, Cien Fuegos) →

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. Jacques Schwarz-Bart & Gregory Privat, 22 (Buddham) →
  5. Premazzi Nasser Quartet, From What I Recall (OA2) →
  6. Jasper Blom Quartet + Metropole Orkest, Metropolarity (Whirlwind) →
  7. Satoko Fujii This Is It!, Message (Libra) →
  8. 3 Cohens & WDR Big Band, Interaction (Anzic) →
  9. Carl Allen, Tippin' (Cellar) →
  10. Tyreek McDole, Open Up Your Senses (Artworks) →

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) →
  4. Ella Fitzgerald, The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (1967, Verve) →
  5. Michel Petrucciani Trio, Jazz Club Montmartre (1988, Storyville '24) →

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

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Muddy Gurdy, Seven (Buda Musique '24) →
  2. Memet Polat Quartet, Roots in Motion (Aftab) →
  3. Aleph Quintet, Hiwar (Igloo) →
  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. Adrien Brandeis, Resurgence (Montondea Productions) →
  10. Adam O'Farrill, For These Streets (Out of Your Head) →

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. Charles Kynard, Woga (1972, We Want Sounds) →

Glenn Astarita (All About Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

Hrayr Attarian (Jazziz, All About Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  2. Marshall Allen, New Dawn (Mexican Summer) →
  3. Yazz Ahmed, A Paradise in the Hold (Night Time Stories) →
  4. Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell, We Insist 2025! (Candid) →
  5. Gustavo Cortiñas, The Crisis Knows No Borders (Desafio Candente) →
  6. John Patitucci, Spirit Fall (Edition) →
  7. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!) →
  8. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note) →
  9. Joona Toivanen Trio, Gravity (We Jazz) →
  10. Savina Yannatou Primavera en Salonico and Larnia Bedioui, Watersong (ECM) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Sun Ra, Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (1970, Strut) →
  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. Anthony Braxton, B-X0 N0-47A (1969, BYG) →
  5. Walter Davis Jr, A Being Such as You (1979, Red) →

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

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Keelepeksjad, Kalev Tuli Koju (Ava Muusika) →
  2. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note) →
  3. Xhosa Cole, On a Modern Genius, Vol. 1 (Stoney Lane) →
  4. Makiko Hirabayashi Weavers, Gifts (Enja) →
  5. Malakoff Kowalski, Songs With Words (Sony) →
  6. Avishai Cohen, Ashes to Gold (ECM '24) →
  7. Naissam Jalal, Souffles (Les Couleurs Du Son) →
  8. Sunna Gunnlaugs, Ástin, Bjartsýnin Og Andskotans Blaðrið Í Fólkinu (Sunny Sky '24) →
  9. Toms Rudzinskis, Interception (Jersika '24) →
  10. Leszek Możdżer - Lars Danielsson - Zohar Fresco, Beamo (ACT Music) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Chris Barton (Los Angeles Times, DownBeat)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  2. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  3. Gregory Uhlmann - Josh Johnson - Sam Wilkes, Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes (International Anthem) →
  4. Brad Mehldau, Ride Into the Sun (Nonesuch) →
  5. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  6. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM) →
  7. James Brandon Lewis Trio, Apple Cores (Anti-) →
  8. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  9. Nate Mercereau - Josh Johnson - Carlos Niño, Openness Trio (Blue Note) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

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. Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys, Mutiny in the Parlor (self-released) →
  4. Eight Dice Cloth, The Songs and Arrangements of Armand J. Piron (self-released) →
  5. Jim Kweskin, Doing Things Right (Jalopy) →
  6. Nanna Carling, Melodies for Two (The End) →
  7. Doreen's Jazz New Orleans, Vol. 33: Walkin' Through the Streets (self-released) →
  8. Dawn Patrol Jazz Band, A Tribute to Benny Strickler and the Yerba Buena Jazz Band (self-released) →
  9. Meryl Zimmerman, Easy to Love (self-released '24) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Red Norvo, World Broadcast Recordings (1944-45, Circle/Jazzology) →
  2. Ella Fitzgerald, The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (1967, Verve) →

Bill Beuttler (Emerson College, Boston Globe)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

Philip Booth (Jazziz, JazzTimes, Relix, Culture Pop)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

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. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  4. Deepstaria Enigmatica, The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk) →
  5. Will Mason Quartet, Hemlocks, Peacocks (New Focus) →
  6. Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton, Live at Pioneer Works, 26 October 2023 (ESP-Disk) →
  7. Dave Sewelson - Gabby Fluke-Mogul - George Cartwright - Anthony Cox - Steve Hirsh, Murmuration (Mahakala Music) →
  8. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  9. Violeta Garcia, IN/OUT (Bongo Joe) →
  10. Happy Family, 4037 (Cuneiform) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Marcela Breton (freelance)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Classic Vanguard Small Group Swing Sessions (1953-57, Mosaic '24) →
  2. Emily Remler, Cookin' at the Queens: Live in Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 (Resonance '24) →
  3. Marian McPartland, At the Peninsula Library 1972 (Liberation Hall) →

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

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Isaiah Collier - William Hooker - William Parker, The Ancients (Eremite) →
  2. Sophie Agnel & John Butcher, Rare (Les Disques Victo) →
  3. Alexander Hawkins, Song Unconditional (Intakt) →
  4. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, The Way Out of Easy (International Anthem '24) →
  5. Stefan Keune - Sandy Ewen - Damon Smith, Two Felt-Tip Pens: Live at Moers (Balance Point Acoustics) →
  6. Paul Flaherty, A Willing Passenger (Relative Pitch) →
  7. Joe Chambers - Kevin Diehl - Chad Taylor, Onilu (Eremite) →
  8. Sophie Agnel, Song (Relative Pitch) →
  9. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) →
  10. Peter Evans & Petter Eldh, JazzFest (More Is More) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Evan Parker, The Heraclitean Two-Step, Etc. (1994-2024, False Walls '24) →
  2. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance) →
  3. Dave Burrell & Sam Woodyard, The Lost Session: Paris 1979 (NoBusiness) →
  4. Jimmy Lyons, Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (NoBusiness) →

Bill Brownlee (Plastic Sax)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM) →
  2. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) →
  3. Gerald Clayton, Ones & Twos (Blue Note) →
  4. Anouar Brahem, After the Last Sky (ECM) →
  5. Ches Smith, Clone Row (Otherly Love) →
  6. Cosmic Ear, Traces (We Jazz) →
  7. Myra Melford, Splash (Intakt) →
  8. Carl Allen, Tippin' (Cellar) →
  9. James Brandon Lewis Trio, Apple Cores (Anti-) →
  10. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Irène Schweizer - Rüdiger Carl - Johnny Dyani - Han Bennink, Irène's Hot Four (1981, Intakt) →
  2. Art Pepper, Geneva 1980 (Omnivore) →
  3. Charles Mingus, Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977, Resonance) →
  4. Sun Ra, Uncharted Passages: New York Piano Soliloquies 1977-79 (Modern Marmonic) →
  5. John Hicks, Steadfast (1975, Strata-East/Mack Avneue) →

Dan Buskirk (WPRB [Princeton], Fun2Know Podcast)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Joe Chambers - Kevin Diehl - Chad Taylor, Onilu (Eremite) →
  2. James Brandon Lewis Trio, Apple Cores (Anti-) →
  3. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt) →
  4. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  5. Dan Weiss Quartet, Unclassified Affections (Pi) →
  6. Yazz Ahmed, A Paradise in the Hold (Night Time Stories) →
  7. Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio, Dream a Dream (Libra) →
  8. David Murray Quartet, Birdly Serenade (Impulse!) →
  9. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) →
  10. Daniel Carter & Ayumi Ishito, Endless Season (577) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Rashied Ali & Leroy Jenkins, Swift Are the Winds of Life [Expanded Edition] (1975, Survival) →
  2. Ella Fitzgerald, The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (1967, Verve) →
  3. Vince Guaraldi, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! (Lee Mendelson Film Productions) →
  4. Sun Ra, Stray Voltage (1970s-80s, Modern Harmonic) →
  5. William Hooker, A Time Within: Live at the New York Jazz Museum, January 14, 1977 (Valley of Search) →

Note: Ballot also mentions Marshall Allen, New Dawn (Mexican Summer) in the margin, but album wasn't counted.

Nuno Catarino (jazz.pt)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Myra Melford, Splash (Intakt) →
  2. Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life (ECM) →
  3. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson, Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) →
  4. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  5. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  6. Satoko Fujii GEN, Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra) →
  7. Motian & More, Gratitude (Phonogram Unit) →
  8. James Brandon Lewis Trio, Apple Cores (Anti-) →
  9. Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons, Live in Philadelphia (Otherly Love/Ars Nova Workshop) →
  10. Iúri Oliveira, Manifesto (Respirar De Ouvido) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Dave Burrell & Sam Woodyard, The Lost Session: Paris 1979 (NoBusiness) →
  2. Bill Evans, Further Ahead: Live in Finland 1964-1969 (Elemental Music) →
  3. Joe Pass, Virtuoso (1973, Craft) →

Jeff Cebulski (New York City Jazz Record, Chicago Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt) →
  2. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  3. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  4. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →
  5. Michael Dease, City Life: Music of Greg Hill (Origin) →
  6. Billy Hart Quartet, Just (ECM) →
  7. Charlie Kohlhase's Explorerer Club, A Second Life (Mandorla Music) →
  8. Florian Arbenz - Michael Arbenz - Ron Carter, The Alpine Session: Arbenz Vs. Arbenz Meets Ron Carter (Hammer) →
  9. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  10. Chicago Jazz Orchestra, More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (Chicago Jazz Orchestra) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Vince Guaraldi Trio, Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964, Craft) →
  2. Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver - Stanley Cowell - Cecil McBee - Jimmy Hopps], Live at Slugs' Volume I & II (1970, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →
  3. Keith Jarrett, New Vienna (2016, ECM) →
  4. Charlie Rouse, Two Is One (1974, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →
  5. Stanley Cowell, Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974, Strata-East/Mack Avenue) →

John Chacona (All About Jazz, Postgenre Media, Let's Call This)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Ambrose Akinmusire, Honey From a Winter Stone (Nonesuch) →
  2. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook) →
  3. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) →
  4. Dan Weiss Quartet, Unclassified Affections (Pi) →
  5. Adam O'Farrill, For These Streets (Out of Your Head) →
  6. Noah Preminger, Ballads (Chill Tone) →
  7. Sullivan Fortner, Southern Nights (Artwork) →
  8. Ted Rosenthal Trio, High Standards (TMR Music) →
  9. Jeong Lim Yang, Synchronicity (Sunnyside) →
  10. Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967, Resonance) →
  2. Ryan Truesdell, Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard, Vol. 2 (2014, Outside In Music) →
  3. Wes Montgomery, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960, Craft) →

Gary Chapin (Free Jazz Collective)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Marilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen, Forest (Fundacja Słuchaj '24) →
  2. The Hemphill Stringtet, Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head) →
  3. Tim Berne - Tom Rainey - Gregg Belisle-Chi, Yikes Too (Screwgun/Out of Your Head) →
  4. Matthew Welch & Dan Plonsey, Eudimorphodon (Kotekan) →
  5. Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton, Live at Pioneer Works, 26 October 2023 (ESP-Disk) →
  6. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch) →
  7. Uroboro, As in an Unpicking of Time's Garment (Discus Music '24) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Tim Berne's Snakeoil, Snakeoil OK (2013, Screwgun) →
  2. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (England) 1985 (Burning Ambulance) →

Troy Collins (Point of Departure)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

 

 [Acquaro - Collins] · [Considine - Geiken] · [Gottschalk - Kenny] · [Koblin - Niland] · [Orlov - Stein] · [Sullivan - Yokoi]Next