The 21st Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2026 Mid-Year
Past Polls Index
New Albums Rara Avis
Critics
Acquaro - CatarinoCebulski - FinneyFreeman - HoffHovan - LorraiLuen - PiccirilliPick - VargaWatson - Yokoi

Ballots 2026 Mid-Year [1]

 [Acquaro - Catarino] · [Cebulski - Finney] · [Freeman - Hoff] · [Hovan - Lorrai] · [Luen - Piccirilli] · [Pick - Varga] · [Watson - Yokoi]Next

Paul Acquaro (Free Jazz Collective)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Lao Dan Chicago Quartet, Klotski (Trost) →
  2. Myra Melford & Satoko Fujii, Katarahi (RogueArt) →
  3. Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet, Wailers (European Echoes) →
  4. Brian Marsella & Sae Hashimoto, Tunnel Vision (Red Palace) →
  5. The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, Deface the Currency (Impulse!) →
  6. Camila Nebbia & Chris Corsano, Six or Seven Ways Towards Becoming Undone (Relative Pitch) →
  7. Vinny Golia Quintet, Angular Momentum (Nine Winds) →
  8. Devin Gray - Andrea Parkins - Frank Gratkowski, Hz of Gold (Rataplan) →
  9. Juanma Trujillo - Kenneth Jiménez - Vasco Trilla, Nada Es Nada (Ramble) →
  10. KIND [Jan Klare], Count (Umland '25) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Marion Brown, Live in Europe 1968 & 1972 (NoBusiness) →
  2. Johannes Bauer - Michael Griener - Olaf Rupp, Aufsturz (2007, Scatter Archive) →
  3. Cecil Taylor New Unit, Words & Music: The Last Bandstand (2016, Fundacja Słuchaj) →

Scott Albin (Amazon.com)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Nicole McCabe, Color Theory (Birdwatcher) →
  2. Barcelona Art Orchestra & Miguel Zenón, Expressions: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (Miel Music) →
  3. Odense Jazz Orchestra, Meets Loren Stillman (AMM) →
  4. Dave Holland - Norma Winstone - London Vocal Project, Vital Spark (Music of Kenny Wheeler) (Edition) →
  5. Caleb Wheeler Curtis, Ritual (Chill Tone) →
  6. Alex Hitchcock & Ant Law, House of Light (ZenneZ) →
  7. NOHMI, Brightness & Darkness (ZenneZ) →
  8. Django Festival Allstars, Evolution (Motéma) →
  9. Meg Okura & Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Isaiah (Adhyâropa) →
  10. Asaf Harris, I Thought I Was Ready (self-released) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Muriel Grossmann, Quartet (2008, Modernistas) →
  2. John Taylor With Stan Sulzmann, Quintessence (1987, Jazz in Britain) →
  3. Charlie Mariano & Sal Nistico, Barcelona Meeting (1989, Fresh Sound) →
  4. Duke Ellington, Copenhagen 1964 (Storyville) →
  5. Art Pepper, Everything Happens to Me: 1959 Live at the Cellar (Omnivore) →

Ali Alizadeh [Sir Ali] (Frequence K [Nantes, France], Jazzophone)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Jean-Luc Thomas Quartet, Sillons (Hirustica) →
  2. Louis Matute, Dolce Vita (Naive) →
  3. Ramona Horvath Trio, Absinthe (Fresh Sound '25) →
  4. Martin Wind, Stars (Newvelle) →
  5. Keyvan Chemirani, Tales of Nar (PeeWee!) →
  6. Ben Rosenblum Nebula Project, The Longest Way Round (One Trick Dog) →
  7. Dominique Cravic Et Les Primitifs Du Futur, Les Crimes Du Musette (Buda Musique) →
  8. Catherine Delaunay, L'Homme Des Damps (Nato) →
  9. Samir Aouad, Casablanca (Les Luths Du Monde) →
  10. Louis Billette, Lux II (Jazz Family) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Lou Bennett & Rupert Clemendore, Live at the Golden Circle 1963 - Day 1 (Country & Eastern) →
  2. Lee Mason, Music by Lee Mason (1971, Wewantsounds) →
  3. Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, Vol. 1: Concert À Prades-Le-Lez (1974, Souffle Continu) →
  4. Roy Hargrove, Bern (2000, Time Traveler) →
  5. Ralph Towner & Gary Peacock, Oracle (1993, ECM) →

Note: Didn't specify volume of Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, Concert À Prades-Le-Lez.

Rick Anderson (CD Hotlist: New Releases for Libraries)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

Note: Moved Kenny Barron vote from New to Rara Avis

Bridget Arnwine (Beets & Bebop Media, All About Jazz)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Cécile McLorin Salvant, With Every Breath I Take (Nonesuch) →
  2. Helen Sung Big Band, Oracles (Sunnyside) →
  3. Catherine Russell, Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Dot Time) →
  4. Braxton Cook, Not Everyone Can Go (Nettwerk '25) →
  5. Tia Fuller & Shamie Fuller-Royston, Fuller Sound Vol. 2: Dynasty (Cellar) →
  6. Lakecia Benjamin, We Dream (Artwork) →
  7. Kenny Barron, Songbook (Artwork '25) →
  8. Wynton Marsalis & Vince Giordano, The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong (2012, Blue Engine) →
  9. Kurt Elling & WDR Big Band, In the Brass Palace (Big Shoulders) →
  10. Thundercat, Distracted (Brainfeeder) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Note: Honorable Mentions: Christian Sands North Meets West Trio [Thomas Fonnesbæk & Rasmus Kihlberg], Between Then and Now (Storyville); Corcoran Holt, Freedom of Art (Holt House Music)

Hrayr Attarian (All About Jazz, Jazziz, Free Jazz Collective)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie Extended, Live at Moldejazz (Sonic Transmissions) →
  2. Melissa Aldana, Filin (Blue Note) →
  3. Ivo Perelman & Wadada Leo Smith, Duologues 5 (Ibeji) →
  4. Goal Weight [Maggie Cox & Jennifer Gersten], Keep Telling Yourself That (Relative Pitch) →
  5. Aja Monet, The Color of Rain (Drink Sum Wtr) →
  6. Joy Harjo, Insomnia & Seven Steps to Grace (Smithsonian Folkways) →
  7. Tigran Hamasyan, Manifeste (Naïve) →
  8. David Sanchez, Tambó (Ropeadope) →
  9. Mark Turner, Patternmaster (ECM) →
  10. Gustavo Cortinas, The Drum Also Sings (Desafio Candente) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Cecil Taylor Unit, Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music) →
  2. Roy Hargrove, Bern (2000, Time Traveler) →
  3. Art Pepper, Everything Happens to Me: 1959 Live at the Cellar (Omnivore) →
  4. Grupo Um, Nineteen Seventy Seven (1977, Far Out) →
  5. The Visitors [Earl & Carl Grubbs], Motherland (1975, Craft) →

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

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Nikita Korzoun, A Pot of Gold: Live at Philly Joe's Volume 1 (self-released) →
  2. Jeremy Sassoon, Older and Wiser (ECN Music) →
  3. Chris Morrissey, Infinite Source of Heat (GroundUP Music) →
  4. Philipp Schiepek & Lorenz Widauer, Bangers & Ballads (Wooden Waggon/Galileo) →
  5. BITOI, Sirkulu (Supertraditional '25) →
  6. Andrés Coll Cosmic Trio, Ride to Heaven (XJAZZ Music) →
  7. Stefano Bollani All Stars, Tutta Vita Live (Ponderosa) →
  8. Marleen Dahms' Alloy, Running and Belonging (XJAZZ Music '25) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Miroslav Vitous, Mountain Call (2003-10, ECM) →
  2. The Oscar Peterson Trio, At Baker's Keyboard Lounge: The Complete Recordings (1960, Verve) →

Chris Barton (Los Angeles Times)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. SML, Spontaneous Music Live (International Anthem) →
  2. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, Happy Today (International Anthem/Nonesuch) →
  3. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  4. Ambrose Akinmusire & Mary Halvorson, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) →
  5. Julian Lage, Scenes From Above (Blue Note) →
  6. Adam O'Farrill, Elephant (Out of Your Head) →
  7. Craig Taborn, Dream Archives (ECM) →
  8. Marta Sanchez, For the Space You Left (Out of Your Head) →
  9. Steven Bernstein/Scotty Hard, ResoNation Trio/Ultra Resonance (Royal Potato Family) →
  10. Walter Smith III, Twio Vol. 2 (Blue Note) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Joe Bebco (The Syncopated Times)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Sweet Megg, Massive Negroni (self-released) →
  2. Colin Hancock's Joymakers, A Texas-Sized Band (Turtle Bay) →
  3. Ricky Alexander, Ragology (Turtle Bay) →
  4. Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band, Treasury Volume 3 (Turtle Bay) →
  5. Tyler "Twerk" Thomson, Plays in Bands (self-released) →
  6. House of the Black Gardenia, Mazurka in Jazz (self-released) →
  7. Paul Cosentino's Boilermaker Jazz Band, Everything Is Jumpin' (self-released '25) →
  8. Andrew Oliver & Hal Smith Incomparables, Stomp Your Stuff (Turtle Bay '25) →
  9. Hannah Gill, I Like the Sunrise (Turtle Bay) →
  10. Catherine Russell, Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Dot Time) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Phonographic Yearbook 1924: Open Up Your Golden Gate (Archeophone) →
  2. Traditional Jazz From New Orleans (1960s-80s, Mardi Gras) →

Larry Birnbaum (Stereophile)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. أحمد [Ahmed], Play Monk (Otoroku) →
  2. Ambrose Akinmusire & Mary Halvorson, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) →
  3. Melissa Aldana, Filin (Blue Note) →
  4. Sylvie Courvoisier Trio, Éclats - Live in Europe (Intakt) →
  5. Dave Douglas, Transcend (Greenleaf Music) →
  6. Joe Lovano, Paramount Quartet (ECM) →
  7. Angelika Niescier, Chicago Tapes (Intakt) →
  8. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  9. Maria Schneider Orchestra, American Crow (ArtistShare) →
  10. Mark Turner, Patternmaster (ECM) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Donald Byrd, The Cat Walk (1961, Blue Note) →
  2. Miles Davis, Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings (Craft) →
  3. Pierre Favre Trio, Bird Food (1968, Songs) →
  4. Ahmad Jamal, At the Jazz Showcase: Live in Chicago (1976, Resonance) →
  5. Michel Petrucciani, Kuumbwa (1987, Elemental Music) →

Jason Bivins (Dusted, Point of Departure)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Harriet Tubman & Georgia Muldrow, Electical Field of Love (Pi) →
  2. Julian Lage, Scenes From Above (Blue Note) →
  3. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Omni (Intakt) →
  4. Joe Lovano, Paramount Quartet (ECM) →
  5. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  6. Tyshawn Sorey, Members . . . Don't! (Pi) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Pierre Favre Trio, Bird Food (1968, Songs) →
  2. Steve Lacy Three, Live Lugano 1984 First Visit (Ezz-Thetics '25) →
  3. Evan Parker - Paul Rogers - Louis Moholo, Tebugo (1992, Jazz in Britain '25) →

Larry Blood (Out Front, Outback on KZSC-FM)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Thommy Andersson, Shimmering Blue (SteepleChase) →
  2. Aymeric Avice - Luke Stewart - Chad Taylor, Deep in the Earth High in the Sky (RogueArt) →
  3. Melissa Aldana, Filin (Blue Note) →
  4. Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet, Wailers (European Echoes) →
  5. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie Extended, Live at Moldejazz (Sonic Transmissions) →
  6. Kirk Knuffke, Brother (SteepleChase) →
  7. Guus Janssen, Live at the Pletterij (Geestgronden) →
  8. Josh Berman Trio, Everybody Else's Life Too (Corbett vs. Dempsey) →
  9. Steven Bernstein/Scotty Hard, ResoNation Trio/Ultra Resonance (Royal Potato Family) →
  10. Northwoods Improvisers, Unified View (Entropy Stereo '25) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. The Bottle Tapes (1996-2005, Corbett vs. Dempsey '25) →
  2. Mal Waldron, Stardust & Starlight: At the Jazz Showcase (1979, Resonance) →
  3. I Compani, Basta! The Last Concerts 2025 (I Compani) →
  4. Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra, Out to Lunch (2005, Aguirre) →

Richard Blute (Free Jazz Collective)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. TOC + Jean-Luc Guionnet, Quelques Idées D'Un Vert Incolore Dorment Furieusement (Circum-Disc '25) →
  2. Ivo Perelman - Matthew Shipp - William Parker - Bobby Kapp, Synesthesia (Defkaz) →
  3. Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr, Fly (Sauajazz) →
  4. Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet, Wailers (European Echoes) →
  5. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie Extended, Live at Moldejazz (Sonic Transmissions) →
  6. Fred Lonberg-Holm - João Madeira - Bruno Pedroso - Carlos Zinagaro, Convergência Do Vôo (4DaRecord) →
  7. Hyper Elastic Jinx, We Vote Force Majeure (Barefoot) →
  8. Jonas Cambien - Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard - Dag Erik Knedal Andersen, The Ear Behind the Airport (Motvind) →
  9. Caroline Kraabel - Pat Thomas - John Edwards - Steve Noble, Transgressive Coastlines (Shrike) →
  10. Trevor Watts - Barry Guy - Ramon Lopez, The First Touch (Fundacja Słuchaj) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Cecil Taylor New Unit, Words & Music: The Last Bandstand (2016, Fundacja Słuchaj) →

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

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Mike Borella (Avant Music News)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  2. Zu, Ferrum Sidereum (House of Mythology) →
  3. Corima, Hunab Ku (Soleil Zeuhl) →
  4. Circular Arcs, Conventicle (Castor & Pollux Music '25) →
  5. Remergency, Wave Benders (Squid Note) →
  6. Simon Hanes, Gargantua (Pyroclastic) →
  7. أحمد [Ahmed], Play Monk (Otoroku) →
  8. Goal Weight [Maggie Cox & Jennifer Gersten], Keep Telling Yourself That (Relative Pitch) →
  9. Finola Merivale & Catherine Sikora, Abhaile (Fort Evil Fruit) →
  10. Miles Okazaki, Boomtown (Pi) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Note: "no particular order"

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

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)

Bill Brownlee (Plastic Sax)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. Craig Taborn, Dream Archives (ECM) →
  2. Irreversible Entanglements, Future Present Past (Impulse!) →
  3. Angelika Niescier, Chicago Tapes (Intakt) →
  4. Dave Douglas, Transcend (Greenleaf Music) →
  5. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, Happy Today (International Anthem/Nonesuch) →
  6. Ambrose Akinmusire & Mary Halvorson, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) →
  7. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  8. Ben Allison - Steve Cardenas - Ted Nash, Triological (Sunnyside) →
  9. Bill Frisell, In My Dreams (Blue Note) →
  10. The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, Deface the Currency (Impulse!) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Peggy Lee, Too Marvelous for Words (1955, Peggy Lee Associates) →
  2. Marion Brown, Live in Europe 1968 & 1972 (NoBusiness) →
  3. Duke Ellington, Copenhagen 1964 (Storyville) →
  4. Art Pepper, Everything Happens to Me: 1959 Live at the Cellar (Omnivore) →
  5. Daunik Lazro - Joëlle Léandre - Paul Lovens, For Baritone Sax, Double Bass & Drumset (2013, Relative Pitch) →

Dan Buskirk (WPRB [Princeton], Fun2Know Podcast)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  2. SML, Spontaneous Music Live (International Anthem) →
  3. Asher Gamedze, A Semblance: Of Return (Northern Spy) →
  4. Onilu, Jakuta's Dance (577) →
  5. Christopher Hoffman, REX (Out of Your Head) →
  6. Julian Lage, Scenes From Above (Blue Note) →
  7. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Omni (Intakt) →
  8. Alan Braufman, Anthem for Peace (The Control Group/Valley of Search) →
  9. Maria Grand, Both Sides (Lilaila) →
  10. Fabiano do Nascimento & Vittor Santos E Orquestra, Vila (Far Out) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Roland Brival, Créole Gypso (1980, Soundway) →
  2. Julius Hemphill, Dogon A.D. (1972, New World) →
  3. Kelan Phil Cohran & Legacy, African Skies (1993, Listening Position '25) →
  4. Marion Brown, Awofofora (1976, Aguirre) →
  5. Noah Howard, The Black Ark (1969, Superior Viaduct) →

Pete Butchers (Jazz Today . . . . .)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

Nuno Catarino (jazz.pt)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. LEIDA, Mythological Portraits (Artway) →
  2. أحمد [Ahmed], Play Monk (Otoroku) →
  3. Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet, Wailers (European Echoes) →
  4. The Tomeka Reid Quartet, Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head) →
  5. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, Happy Today (International Anthem/Nonesuch) →
  6. Marta Sanchez, For the Space You Left (Out of Your Head) →
  7. Michael Formanek, New Digs (Intakt) →
  8. Almut Kühne - João Pedro Brandão - Marcos Cavaleiro, Stones and Seeds (Carimbo Porta-Jazz) →
  9. Angelika Niescier, Chicago Tapes (Intakt) →
  10. Joe Lovano, Paramount Quartet (ECM) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Charles Tyler Ensemble, Voyage From Jericho (1974, Frederiksberg) →
  2. Bill Evans, At the BBC (1965, Elemental Music) →
  3. Schlippenbach Trio, Elf Bagatellen (1990, Cien Fuegos) →
  4. Cecil Taylor Unit, Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music) →
  5. Joe Henderson, Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase (1978, Resonance) →

 

 [Acquaro - Catarino] · [Cebulski - Finney] · [Freeman - Hoff] · [Hovan - Lorrai] · [Luen - Piccirilli] · [Pick - Varga] · [Watson - Yokoi]Next