Happy new year and best wishes to everyone for a beautiful 2020! I have been decidedly inactive on this site for some time now, but I thought I would drop a note to reflect one last time on 2019.
The 2019 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll has now been published, and Francis Davis has again let me chime in. Go buy all of this great music!
The overview results are here
Davis’ commentary is here
…and my contribution is here
My favorite part of this poll is reading each of the contributor’s picks, which can be done here
My best of 2019 are as follows…
NEW RELEASES
- David Torn-Tim Berne-Ches Smith, Sun of Goldfinger (ECM)
- Anna Webber, Clockwise (Pi)
- Camila Meza & the Nectar Orchestra, Ambar (Sony Masterworks)
- Bill Frisell, Harmony (Blue Note)
- Timespine, Urban Season (Shhpuma)
- Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell, The Adornment of Time (Pi)
- Gregg Belisle-Chi, Book of Hours (Ears & Eyes)
- Kris Davis, Diatom Ribbons (Pyroclastic)
- Sonar With David Torn, Tranceportation (Volume 1) (RareNoise)
- Stefan Aeby, Piano Solo (Intakt)
REISSUES/HISTORICAL
- Eric Dolphy, Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions (Resonance -3CD)
- Nat “King” Cole, Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943) (Resonance -7CD)
- Paul Bley-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, When Will the Blues Leave (ECM)
VOCAL
- Camila Meza & the Nectar Orchestra, Ambar (Sony Masterworks)
DEBUT
- Nick Dunston, Atlantic Extraction (Out of Your Head)
LATIN
- Camila Meza & the Nectar Orchestra, Ambar (Sony Masterworks)