Music
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.
Bob Weir protected the integrity and idealism of the Grateful Dead’s music, playing the band’s songs year after year with a sense of wonder that he never lost touch with.
The performances made one thing clear: what had in Mozart’s day been a failed musical venture now makes for show-stopping pageantry.
The Disco Biscuits chose Boston as its base for a three-night New Year’s run that unfolded in three different venues.
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.
“Unfinished” supplies a thoughtful analysis of the relationship between music, musicians, and AI.
The 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll: Latin Jazz Albums
While the intent of this category was to prod critics into exploring Latin Jazz, it has been dominated by a small number of artists.
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