Jazz
While the intent of this category was to prod critics into exploring Latin Jazz, it has been dominated by a small number of artists.
It takes a peculiar combination of talent and luck to win this category. By luck, I mean getting your one-and-only shot at a debut album enough promotion to be recognized.
By far, the hardest part of this job is rounding up voters.
By Andrey Henkin For 2025, my Jazz Passings website accumulated 1,028 entries, with 242 receiving detailed write-ups, far shy of 1,211 and 308 from 2024. That said, it did feel, purely subjectively, like there were so many more major passings in 2025 than in recent memory. Statistical analysis doesn’t back that up, but people’s feelings…
In recent years, the category has been dominated by Cécile McLorin Salvant, who won handily again this year, her seventh time, one for each of her albums.
2025 turned out to be a feast year for devotees of soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. The music found on both of these releases could be thought of as exemplifying three areas Bloom has explored in depth and refined to purity.
The magazine’s jazz critics look back over the past year and highlight their favorite albums.
Welcome back! The second half-life of the Either/Orchestra.
Being a one-man or one-woman band while toiling in the shadows is not glamorous work. Over the last 13 years, producer Alex Lemski undertook this role and supplied a great deal of exciting, important music to the people of Boston.
The 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll: Rara Avis (Reissues/Historical)
Since 2014, the category has been dominated by previously unreleased music, mostly live shots.
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