Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor

The magazine’s jazz critics look back over the past year and highlight their favorite albums.

Paul Robicheau

Here are my five favorite jazz releases from 2024.

The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, Charles Lloyd. Still one of the most consistent, prolific performers in jazz at age 86, California’s sage saxman and flutist stretches out on an impressionistic double album strengthened by the deft support of drummer Brian Blade, bassist Larry Grenadier, and, especially, returning pianist Jason Moran. His keys lend tonal colorations throughout (and briskly sprayed notes to “Monk’s Dance”) that balance the contemplative air. Yet, even as a Moran-free trio, this group soared at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in July.

Breaking Stretch, Patricia Brennan Septet. This Mexican-born vibraphonist raises her game with complex compositions negotiated by a bold septet that injects percolating Latin percussion and pretzel-like punctuations from three horn players that include recent Mary Halvorson bandmate Adam O’Farrill.

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis. The trio fusing post-hardcore iconoclasts Fugazi’s rhythm section and experimental guitarist Anthony Pirog enlist tenor firebrand Lewis for more of a jazz outing both surprisingly smooth and intricately searing. When they opened the Quad stage of the Newport Jazz Fest’s final day, the eruptive element took over through Lewis’s volcanic lead.

Night Reign, Arooj Aftab. The Berklee-groomed Pakistani-American singer burrows into sumptuous nocturnal moods shaped by her mournful vocals, which bridge the sound of jazz (she delves into an interpretation of standard “Autumn Leaves”) and Qawwali, the Sufi devotional music of her homeland.

Francesca, David Murray Quartet. I remember the ’80s, when saxophonist Murray ruled the jazz scene with various ensembles. So, it’s a real delight that he’s still in command on this momentum-rife outing, the familiar buttery bite of his bass clarinet and tenor in sync with an excellent, bustling young band.

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Michael Ullman

Best of 2024

Top ten:

• Kenny Barron, Beyond This Place
• Kris Davis, Run the Gauntlet
• David Murray, Francesca
• Arild Andersen, Landloper
• Wadada Leo Smith and Amina Claudine Myers, Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens
• Matt Wilson, Good Trouble
• Vijay Iyer, Compassion
• Patricia Brennan, Breaking Stretch 
• Ches Smith, Laugh Ash
• Matthew Shipp, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz
• Lynne Arriale, Being Human
• Louis Hayes, Artform Revisited

Reissues: and older stuff

• Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-70 (Mosaic 7 CDs)
• Bill Evans in Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (2 LPs, Elemental Records)
• Andrew Hill Sextet Plus Ten, A Beautiful Day, Revisited (Palmetto Records, 2 LPs)
• Emily Remler, Cookin’ at the Queens
• Miles Davis in France 1963 and 1964

Vocals:

• Sara Serpa, Encounters and Collisions
• Samara Joy, Portrait
• Norma Winstone, Kit Downes, Outpost of Dreams (ECM)

Latin:

• Eliane Elias, Time and Again
• Hamilton de Holanda, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Collab

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Steve Feeney

New Releases

• Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)
• Caleb Wheeler Curtis, The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Imani)
• Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
• Matthew Shipp Trio, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk)
• Thumbscrew, Wingbeats (Cuneiform)
• Luke Stewart Silt Trio, Unknown Rivers (Pi)
• James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Transfiguration (Intakt)
• Dave Douglas, Gifts (Greenleaf Music)
• Steve Coleman and Five Elements, PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
• Tarbaby, You Think This America (Giant Step Arts)

Rara avis (Reissues/Archival)

• Keith Jarrett-Gary Peacock-Paul Motian, The Old Country (1992, ECM)
• Emily Remler, Cookin’ at the Queens (1984-88, Resonance)
• Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (1971, Impulse!)
• Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)

Vocal

• Madeleine Peyroux, Let’s Walk (Just One/Thirty Tigers)

Latin

• Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Hamilton de Holanda, Collab (Sony Music Brazil)

Devut

• Neta Raanan, Unforeseen Blossom (Giant Step Arts)
• Ivanna Cuesta, A Letter to the Earth (Orenda)

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Brooks Geiken

New Albums (unranked)

• Bill Banfield’s Jazz Urbane, Take Time to Listen (Muse/Bluemoon)
• Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few, The World Is on Fire (Division 81)
• Gustavo Cortiñas, Live in Chicago (Desafio Candente)
• Vincent Hsu & the Jazz Supreme Orchestra, Music for the River Jazz Suite: The Spirit of Love River and Mississippi River (Truth Revolution)
• Brian Lynch, 7X7BY7 (Holistic MusicWorks)
• Roy McGrath-Hana Fujisaki-Kitt Lyles-Gustavo Cortiñas, Entre Amigos (self-released)
• Yulia Musayelyan, Strange Times (Wherego Music)
• Scott Colley-Edward Simon-Brian Blade, Three Visitors (GroundUP)
• Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits, On Different Paths (Truth Revolution)
• Darryl Yokley’s Sound Reformation, Un Mundo en Soledad (Truth Revolution Recording Collective)

Rara avis (Reissues/Archival) (unranked)

• Hampton Hawes, For Real! (1958, Craft)
• Harold Land, The Fox (1960, Craft)
• Sun Ra, Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (1978, Resonance)
• Omar Sosa, 88 Well Tuned Drums (1996-2018, Otá)
• Charles Tolliver Music Inc., Live at the Captain’s Cabin (1973, Cellar Music)

Vocal

• Bruna Black & John Finbury, Vã Revelação (Green Flash)
• Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Swing Forever (Ovation)
• Gino Amato, Latin Crossroads (Ovation)

Latin

• Oscar Hernández & Alma Libre, No Words Needed (Ovation)
• Dafnis Prieto, 3 Sides of the Coin (Dafnison Music)
• Dave Schumacher & Cubeye, Smoke in the Sky (Cellar)

Debut

• Felipe Brito, Não Deixe Para Amanhã (Outside In Muisic)
• Jubu Smith, Jubu (Little Village)

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Tom Hull

New Albums

• Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra, Louis Armstrong’s America (ESP-Disk)
• Fay Victor, Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (Tao Forms)
• Luke Stewart Silt Trio, Unknown Rivers (Pi)
• Emmeluth’s Amoeba, Nonsense (Moserobie)
• Darius Jones, Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)
• Steve Coleman and Five Elements, PolyTropos/Of Many Turns (Pi)
• Dave Douglas, Gifts (Greenleaf Music)
• The Core, Roots (Moserobie)
• Ballister, Smash and Grab (Aerophonic)
• أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (Fönstret)

Reissues/Historical

• Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
• Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)
• NRG Ensemble, Hold That Thought (1996, Corbett vs. Dempsey)
• Phil Haynes’ 4 Horns and What?, The Complete American Recordings (1989-95, Corner Store Jazz)
• Charles Gayle-Milford Graves-William Parker, WEBO (1991, Black Editions Archive)

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Allen Michie

• Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic)
• John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband, Colouring Hockets (Plexatonic)
• Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse)
• Vijay Iyer, Compassion (ECM)
• Kenny Barron, Beyond This Place (Artwork)
• Warren Wolf, History of the Vibraphone (Cellar Music)
• Bria Skonberg, What It Means (Cellar Live)
• Emile Parisien Quartet, Let Them Cook (ACT)
• Jamie Baum Septet+, What Times Are These (Sunnyside)
• Troy Roberts, Green Lights (Toy Robot Music)

Rara avis (Reissues/Archival)

• Terry Gibbs Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959 (Whaling City Sound)
• Charlie Parker, Bird in Kansas City (1941-51, Verve)
• Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)
• McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’ (1966, Blue Note)
• Miles Davis Quintet, Miles in France 1963 & 1964 [The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8] (Columbia/Legacy)

Vocal

• Samara Joy, Portrait (Verve)
• Jazzmeia Horn, Messages (Empress Legacy)
• Tierney Sutton and San Gabriel 7, Good People (JRL-SGS)

Latin

• Zaccai Curtis, Cubop Lives! (Truth Revolution Recording Collective)
• Chucho Valdés & Royal Quartet, Cuba and Beyond (InterCat Music Group)
• Dayramir González, V.I.D.A. [Verdad, Independencia, Diversidad y Amor] (self-released)

Debut

• Sarah Hanahan, Among Giants (Blue Engine)
• Monique Chao Jazz Orchestra, Time Chamber (Da Vinci Jazz)
• Charles Chen, Charles, Play! (Cellar Music)

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Jon Garelick

New Albums (unranked)

• Jamie Baum Septet+, What Times Are These (Sunnyside)
• Kris Davis Trio, Run the Gauntlet (Pyroclastic)
• Mary Halvorson, Cloudward (Nonesuch)
• Charlie Kohlhase’s Explorer’s Club, A Second Life (Mandorla Music)
• Matt Mitchell, Zealous Angles (Pi)
• Riley Mulherkar, Riley (Westerlies)
• Travis Reuter, Quintet Music (self-released)
• Tyshawn Sorey Trio, The Susceptible Now (Pi)
• Juanma Trujillo, Howl (Endectomorph Music)
• Miguel Zenón, Golden City (Miel Music)

Rara avis (Reissues/Archival)

1. Don Byas, Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic ’23)
2. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (1995, Elemental Music)
3. Miles Davis, Miles ’54: The Prestige Recordings (Craft)

Vocal

• Samara Joy, Portrait (Verve)

Latin

• Miguel Zenón, Golden City (Miel Music)
• Roxana Amed, Becoming Human (Sony Music Latin)
• Fernando Huergo Big Band, Relentless (Whaling City Sound)

Debut

• Riley Mulherkar, Riley (Westerlies)
• Ivanna Cuesta, A Letter to the Earth (Orenda)