The 21st Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2026 Mid-Year

Ballot 2026 Mid-Year

Allen Michie (The Arts Fuse)

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS

  1. James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet, These Are Soulful Days (2021, TAO Forms) →
  2. Django Festival Allstars, Evolution (Motéma) →
  3. Meg Okura & Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Isaiah (Adhyâropa) →
  4. Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra & Sean Irvine, Forgotten Stories Suite (Chronograph) →
  5. Gregory Hutchinson, Kind of Now: The Pulse of Miles Davis (Warner) →
  6. Chris Potter, Alive With Ghosts Today (Edition) →
  7. Dave McMurray, I Love Life Even When I'm Hurting (Blue Note '25) →
  8. Simon Spang-Hanssen, Afrolantic (Spangster/Alisio Music) →
  9. Emilio Solla & La Inestable De Brooklyn, Handmade (Club Del Disco) →
  10. Out Of/Into [Joel Ross - Gerald Clayton - Kendrick Scott - Matt Brewer - Immanuel Wilkins], Motion II (Blue Note '25) →

RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)

  1. Mal Waldron & Sam Rivers, Live in Mestre Venezia 1984 (Caligola '25) →
  2. Roy Hargrove, Bern (2000, Time Traveler) →
  3. Oscar Peterson, Around the World (1969-81, Mack Avenue/Two Lions '25) →
  4. Carla Bley, Joyful Noise (Live in Hamburg 1984) (Moosicus) →
  5. Paul McCandless, Live at Kimball's East 1992 (Moosicus) →