The 21st Annual
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll:
2026 Mid-Year
Ballots 2026 Mid-Year [7]
Philip Watson (Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Journal of Music)
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS
- Yvonne Rogers, The Button Jar (Pyroclastic) →
- Ambrose Akinmusire & Mary Halvorson, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) →
- Jason Moran, Plays Duke Ellington (Yes) →
- Alexander Hawkins, No Nation but Imagination (Intakt) →
- Cécile McLorin Salvant, With Every Breath I Take (Nonesuch) →
- Bill Frisell, In My Dreams (Blue Note) →
- Dave Douglas, Transcend (Greenleaf Music) →
- The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, Deface the Currency (Impulse!) →
- Insufficient Funs, Chunk (Diatribe) →
- Ben Wendel, Barcode (Edition) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)
- Julius Hemphill, Dogon A.D. (1972, New World) →
- Joe Henderson, Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase (1978, Resonance) →
- Miles Davis, Ancenseur Pour L'Échafaud (1957, Decca France) →
- Michael Gregory Jackson, Clarity [50th Anniversary Edition] (1976, Moved-By-Sound) →
- Roy Hargrove, Bern (2000, Time Traveler) →
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)
- Christine Abdelnour - Frantz Loriot - David Meier - Pascal Niggenkemper, Et Il Y Aura . . . (Veto) →
- Philipp Eden - Frantz Loriot - Marina Tantanozi, And Raw, Lift My Eyes (Inexhaustible Editions '25) →
- Christoph Erb - Magda Mayas - Gerry Hemingway, Phyla Music (Veto '25) →
- Arkady Gotesman, Music for an Imaginary Ballet (NoBusiness '25) →
- Alexander Hawkins, No Nation but Imagination (Intakt) →
- Sylvain Kassap - Steve Swell - Benjamin Duboc - Chad Taylor, Edges (RogueArt '25) →
- Alexis Marcelo, Solo Piano (Intakt) →
- Vera Morais, Eupnea (Porta Jazz) →
- Camila Nebbia - James Banner - Max Andrzejewski, Presencia (Ears & Eyes '25) →
- Udo Schindler & Paul Rogers, Ephemeral Essences of LowTone Studies (for Duo) (FMR '25) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)
- Art Ensemble of Chicago, People in Sorrow (1969, Play Loud!) →
- Derek Bailey - Evan Parker - Han Bennink, Topographie Parisienne (1981, Fou '25) →
- Marion Brown, Live in Europe 1968 & 1972 (NoBusiness) →
- Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate (1963, Resonance '25) →
- Cecil Taylor Unit, Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music) →
Jason Weiss (The Wire, Tinta Regada)
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS
- Catherine Delaunay, L'Homme Des Damps (Nato) →
- Keyvan Chemirani, Tales of Nar (PeeWee!) →
- Dominique Cravic Et Les Primitifs Du Futur, Les Crimes Du Musette (Buda Musique) →
- Tyshawn Sorey, Members . . . Don't! (Pi) →
- Jean-Luc Thomas Quartet, Sillons (Hirustica) →
- Simon Hanes, Gargantua (Pyroclastic) →
- Luciano Biondini - Michel Godard - Lucas Niggli, Fables of Time (Intakt) →
- Tom Raworth & Giancarlo Nino Locatelli, A Decent Run (We Insist!) →
- E'Joung-Ju - Simon Mary - Anne-Laure Bourget, Samin Dong Rak (Label Ouest) →
- Jean Derome & Somebody Special, Le Sourire (Ambiances Magnétiques) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)
- Either/Orchestra, Nalbandian L'Ethiopien [Éthiopiques 32] (2011, Buda Musique '25) →
- Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, Vol. 1: Concert À Prades-Le-Lez (1974, Souffle Continu) →
- Charles Tyler Ensemble, Voyage From Jericho (1974, Frederiksberg) →
- Cecil Taylor Unit, Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music) →
- Bill Evans, At the BBC (1965, Elemental Music) →
Note: Voter only specified Vol. 1 of Intercommunal Free Dance Orchestra, Concert À Prades-Le-Lez.
Michael J. West (DownBeat, Washington City Paper)
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS
- Aaron Shaw, And So It Is (Leaving) →
- Virginia MacDonald, In Search Of . . . (Cellar) →
- Tyrone Allen II, Upward (Dreams and Fears) →
- Craig Taborn, Dream Archives (ECM) →
- Hugo Fernandez, Rivermind (self-released) →
- Corcoran Holt, Freedom of Art (Holt House Music) →
- Leo Genovese, Solo Brooklyn (577) →
- Angelika Niescier, Chicago Tapes (Intakt) →
- John Beasley & SWR Big Band, Invisible Piano (O-Tone Music) →
- Pat Metheny, Side-Eye III+ (Ubiquity Music) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)
- Randy Weston, The Music of Randy Weston (1985-88, Groovin' High/In + Out) →
- Cecil Taylor Unit, Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music) →
- Charles Tolliver All Stars, Right Now . . . and Then (1968, Strata-East) →
- Roy Hargrove, Bern (2000, Time Traveler) →
- Duke Ellington, Copenhagen 1964 (Storyville) →
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS
- Chris Potter, Alive With Ghosts Today (Edition) →
- أحمد [Ahmed], Play Monk (Otoroku) →
- Maria Schneider Orchestra, American Crow (ArtistShare) →
- Ambrose Akinmusire & Mary Halvorson, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) →
- Alexander Hawkins, No Nation but Imagination (Intakt) →
- Elias Stemeseder & Thomas Morgan, Io Pur Respiro (Squama) →
- Karsten Vogel, Late Night Ballads (Storyville) →
- Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere, Theta Seven (Discus Music) →
- Jason Moran - BlankFor.ms - Marcus Gilmore, Shards (Red Hook) →
- Julia Hülsmann Octet, While I Was Away (ECM) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)
- Art Ensemble of Chicago, People in Sorrow (1969, Play Loud!) →
- Miles Davis, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (Columbia/Legacy) →
- Art Pepper, Everything Happens to Me: 1959 Live at the Cellar (Omnivore) →
- Kenny Wheeler Sextet, What Was (1995, False Walls) →
- Keith Tippett, At the BBC 1969-70 (Rhythm and Blues) →
Jerome Wilson (All About Jazz, Radio Fairfax)
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS
- Columbia Icefield [Nate Wooley], A Silence Opens (Out of Your Head) →
- Mark Turner, Patternmaster (ECM) →
- Michael Formanek, New Digs (Intakt) →
- Harry Skoler, Echoes (Red Brick Hill) →
- Brandon Seabrook, Hellbent Daydream (Pyroclastic) →
- Melissa Aldana, Filin (Blue Note) →
- Udeigwe, Four Lemmas (LU Factors) →
- Bill Frisell, In My Dreams (Blue Note) →
- Yelena Eckemoff, Rosendals Garden (L+H Production) →
- Joshua Achiron, Climbing (Calligram) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL)
NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (unranked)
- John Butcher, Away, I Was (Relative Pitch) →
- Sylvie Courvoisier Trio, Éclats - Live in Europe (Intakt) →
- Alexander Hawkins, No Nation but Imagination (Intakt) →
- Gerry Hemingway, Live at Bau 4 (Hat Hut) →
- Joe Lovano, Paramount Quartet (ECM) →
- Myra Melford & Satoko Fujii, Katarahi (RogueArt) →
- Angelika Niescier, Chicago Tapes (Intakt) →
- Shoko Numao, The Siwnin Sails (Elsewhere '25) →
- Orchestra National De Jazz, With Carla (ONJ) →
- Tyshawn Sorey, Members . . . Don't! (Pi) →
RARA AVIS (REISSUES/ARCHIVAL) (unranked)
- Pierre Favre & Andrea Centazzo, Endless Dialogues 1977 & 2024: The Complete Sessions (Ictus) →
- Barre Phillips & György Kurtág Jr., Togetherness (2014, BMC) →
- Miroslav Vitous, Mountain Call (2003-10, ECM) →