Back to 2025 Jazz
Remembering the best of the year's unsung albums
I divide my year-end lists into
Jazz and
Non-Jazz lists. I separate the jazz out because about two-thirds
of the 1500 new music albums I listen to most years are jazz. There's
little point in breaking the other third into genres: there are many,
widely scattered and/or overlapping, and none I sample in much depth.[1]
I do a much better job of covering the jazz spectrum, except "smooth
jazz" — although, back in 2005, I did take it seriously enough
to write
this piece. I'm not
intrinsically opposed to groove or funk or ambient or techno or
any flavor of fusion, and I'd be delighted to see any decent form
of jazz gain a popular following. But as the 16 albums I featured
in my recent
Back to 2025 Non-Jazz attest, there are many disjunctions between
popular and personally everywhere you look.
Having posted the Non-Jazz lookback, following it up with a Jazz
edition was only fair. Both pieces attempt to highlight selections
from my favorite albums of 2025 that few other people have written
about. It's hardly news that I liked widely acclaimed jazz albums
by Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Steve Lehman, Linda May Han
Oh, Fieldwork, and Nels Cline, or non-jazz albums by Wednesday,
CMAT, Billy Woods, Lily Allen, and Big Thief. You don't need me
to tell you about those albums. My utility is in discovering odd
albums that don't get a lot of critical notice.
For non-jazz, I whittled my list down by striking off all of
the records Robert Christgau had written about — he covers a
lot of ground, our tastes overlap considerably, and most people who
read me have already read him — and also the top-100 albums in my
Metacritic/EOY Aggregate.
I could have used the
jazz subset of that
file for sifting out the rare gems from my jazz list, but I thought
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll top jazz albums list would work
better. I factor in many of the latter's critics, so the lists are
similar, but very limited jazz coverage in mainstream publications
boosts some albums that are only marginally defined as jazz.[2]
The poll counted 168 ballots, but the spread was so wide that
only 17 albums appeared on 10% or more ballots (34 albums on 5%).
I initially thought I might use 2 or 3 votes as the cutoff, but when
I checked my list of 92 albums, I found that fewer than a third of
my albums had received 4 or more votes (30), while 7 had 3, 6 had 2,
and 16 had 1 — one of those, Sheila Jordan: Portrait Now,
my own. (I also provided 1 of 2 votes for Motian & More:
Gratitude, a superb Portuguese album that strikes me as more
obscure. I'd love to know how many voters heard albums like that.)
That left 30 albums that got no votes in a poll of 168 critics.
Since I had included 16 albums in my Non-Jazz revisit, I needed
to cut those 30 down, quite a bit. The first thing I did was scratch
off albums by artists who had other albums that got votes: Rodrigo
Amado, Scheen Jazzorkester, Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii, and Marshall
Allen (I picked The Omniverse Oriki over albums that got 11
and 8 votes). That got me to 25, then 24 after I merged the second
Carlos Zingaro album into the first. After that, I just picked what
I think of as a nice bouquet.
◆ ◆ ◆
Nils Agnas: Köper Sig Ur En Kris (Moserobie)
Swedish drummer, leads a quartet with Max Agnas (on two pianos) and
Mauritz Agnas (bass) — the latter two are in Agnas Bros., but
Nils is a younger cousin — and saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar,
in his usual very fine form, playing four jazz tunes (Ornette Coleman,
Joe Henderson, two from Carla Bley) and "Over the Rainbow." Quaint
line from the hype sheet: "The only foreign musician he has performed
so far with is the great Zoh Amba" (who's all of 24 now).
Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band: What Is? (self-released)
Arranger and conductor, started playing bass in a Grateful Dead
tribute band, leads a scraggly commune of 11 musicians — 3 reeds,
4 brass (including French horn), vibes/xylo/congas, guitar, bass, drums
— through what will pass for hippie standards, including "Dixie
Chicken," "Free Man in Paris" (segueing into "Freedom Jazz Dance"),
"She Said She Said," "Saint Stephen" (paired with what I recognize as
the theme music to Treme), "Uncle John's Band" (which slides
into some James Bond movie music), "Into the Mystic," "Whipping Post,"
"What Is Hip?" This music is less recent than the Berlin, Porter, and
Arlen show tunes were in the 1950s when they became jazz staples, so
why not have fun with them now? Note guest spots for Stephen
Bernstein and Oz Noy.
Frank Carlberg: Dream Machine (Red Piano)
Finnish pianist, has a couple dozen albums since 1992, was inspired by
a 1959 sci-fi gadget to compose four "Dream" suites (13 pieces in
all), with complementary keyboards from Leo Genovese (organ, farfisa,
synths), outstanding tenor sax from Hery Paz, backed with bass (John
Hébert) and drums (Dan Weiss).
Lao Dan/Vasco Trilla: New Species (NoBusiness)
Chinese musician, trained in traditional flutes, regarded as a master
with a number of albums since 2018, picked up tenor sax and branched
into free jazz, although credits line here includes "diy flute, dizi
Chinese flute)." Duo with Spanish drummer recorded in Shenzhen,
bridges their worlds effectively.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions: The Last Quintet
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Late, probably the last record recorded by Chicago saxophonist Mars
Williams, struck by cancer and dead within three months. Quintet adds
a second saxophonist, Edward Wilkerson Jr., plus Jim Baker (piano),
Brian Sandstrom (bass), and Steve Hunt (drums), with everyone
supplementing their primary credits, including digeridoo (Wilkerson),
toys (Williams), and "miscellaneous paraphernalia" (Hunt). Group name
goes back to a 2010 quartet (minus Wilkerson, who may have been added
for backup, and may have been the lead early, but Williams certainly
got his licks in later). Song titles may have come from Kim Stanley
Robinson, but the Mars featured here was in the room.
Freedom Art Quartet: First Dance (self-released)
Group founded in 1991 by Lloyd Haber (drums) and Omar Kabir
(trumpet/flugelhorn/sea shells/didgeridoo), released an album in 2003
(with Abraham Burton and Jaribu Shahid), returns here with Alfredo
Colon (alto sax) and Adam Lane (bass), playing eight Haber
originals. Fast and furious freebop.
Korham Futaci: Heavyweight Rehearsal Tapes (PUMA)
Turkish saxophonist, a founder of the avant group Konstrukt, leads his
own quartet here with Baris Ertürk (reeds), bass, and drums. The title
is both on point and a bit too modest, as these pieces are powerful,
with bits of rock and folk in the foundation, and the improv is
polished enough.
David Grollman/Andy Haas/Sabrina Salamone: SCRT
(self-released)
Improv trio, drums, saxophone, violin, with some spoken word poetry
written by the drummer's late wife, Rita Stein-Grollman. Beyond its
own merits, the poetry provides some focus, which sharpens the
surrounding music.
Instant Arts Quartet: Lingua Franca (High Two)
Philadelphia-based percussionist Kevin Diehl, best known for leading
Sonic Liberation Front, with bass (Pete Dennis) and two horns: Terry
Lawson (tenor sax) and Matt Lavelle (trumpet, alto/bass clarinet),
with some switches to bamboo flute, gong, and bells. The horns spin
freely, relentless conflict and communication, as no one's writing
harmony lines here.
KIND: Count (Umland)
Group led by German alto saxophonist Jan Klare, dozen-plus albums
since 1998, also plays bassoon, all original compositions, group a
sextet with clarinet (Shabnam Parvaresh), trombone (Shannon Barnett),
cello (Emily Wittbrodt), bass (David Helm), and percussion (Bruna
Cabral). Superb postbop, as the ever-shifting harmonics revolve
eccentrically around an ever-changing rhythmic drive.
Larry Ochs/Joe Morris/Charles Downs: Every Day → All the
Way (ESP-Disk)
Tenor/sopranino sax, bass, drums; the former best known for his work
in ROVA, but has a long history of bracing free sax work, to which
this is an excellent addition.
Claire Ritter: Songs of Lumière (Zoning)
Pianist, from North Carolina, record label name from Mary Lou
Williams, has a dozen-plus albums since 1987, several collaborations
with Ran Blake, claims over 300 compositions. I'm rarely this taken
by solo piano: I usually require a lot of flash, or a "left hand
like God," neither of which apply here.
Rick Roe: Wake Up Call: The Music of Gregg Hill (Cold
Plunge)
Tenth album I've heard since 2017 of Hill's compositions, all by
his former Michigan State students (Roe, Michael Dease, Randy
Napoleon, Rodney Whitaker, and the younger, lesser-known Techno
Cats). I always figured these were vanity projects, notable mostly
because no other composer with no real performance credits has done so
much promotion. But this postbop with an extra shot of swing is a
consistent delight, especially the tenor sax of Marcus Elliot, but
also some slick piano, with Robert Hurst on bass and Nate Winn on
drums.
Samo Salamon & Ra Kalam Bob Moses Orchestra: Dream Suites
Vol. 1 (Samo)
Guitarist and percussionist wrote three long pieces (24:46, 13:38,
17:12) for large ensembles of 19, 16. and 18, total 27 musicians,
nearly all familiar names, which add marks of individuality to the
collective reverie.
Wrens: Half of What You See (Out of Your Head)
On paper I figured this group was led by Jason Nazary, the drummer who
produced and took most of the technical credits, but the album is
dominated by rapper Ryan Easter, who also plays some trumpet, while
cellist Lester St. Louis and pianist Elias Stemeseder work their
skewed electronics. Interesting in every direction.
Carlos "Zingaro"/João Madeira: Arcada Pendular (4DaRecord)
Portuguese violin and bass duo, the former with many albums since
1988, many more side credits since 1969, no explanation for the
quote marks (which are omitted more often than Alves is added). Duo
expanded to quartet, with Flo Stoffner (guitar) and Fred Lonberg-Holm
(cello), has another album on my list, Na Parede (4DaRecord).
That left me with the following albums, more or less as good as the
ones I reviewed above. Numbers are from my ranked list:
- Amalie Dahl: Breaking/Building Habits (SauaJazz)
- Ziv Taubenfeld/Helena Espvall/João Sousa: You, Full of Sources and Night (NoBusiness)
- Loot: Loot (ICP)
- Mikko Innanen & Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: Live in Espoo (Fiasko/Sonic Transmissions)
- Nils Petter Molvaer: Khmer Live in Bergen (Edition)
- Chris Jonas: Backwardsupwardsky: Music From the Deserts (Edgetone)
- Hein Westgaard & Matt Maneri: Chamber (Gotta Let It Out)
- Anla Courtis & Lehtisalo: 1972 (Full Connect)
In my
Best Jazz Albums of 2025,
you can find reviews for these, the rest of the top 92 new jazz albums,
6 late 2024 adds to the A-list, and 34 albums of older jazz released or
added in 2025, plus lists of everything else I've listened to,
including 195 (+18) B+(***) new jazz and 44 (+4) old jazz
albums that just missed the grade.
◆ ◆ ◆
[1] This was off the top of my head, but my
2025 tracking file has some numbers:
1593 total albums, 961 of them jazz (60.3%), so 632 non-jazz (39.7%).
The latter include some loosely-defined genres, like: hip-hop (122),
country (79), electronica (67), world (66), blues (22), metal (4), and
classical (1). That should leave 271 in rock, pop, soul or whatever,
but the actual number is 290, since some albums show up in multiple
genre lists. I wish there was a handy reference for genre tagging,
but I hate doing that kind of work myself — even ignoring the
obvious quantity problem. While I listen to much more jazz than
non-jazz, the A-lists usually balance out — 2025 broke with
92 jazz vs. 108 non-jazz, but most years are more even. (As I've
noted, 2025 was a banner year for underground hip-hop, and better
than average for alt-country and dance-pop.)
[2] Some examples of records that did significantly better in the
metacritic file than in the poll are:
The Necks: Disquiet (8 vs. 44);
Yazz Ahmed: A Paradise in the Hold (18 vs. 27);
Mulatu Astatke: Mulatu Plays Mulatu (26 vs. 59);
SML: How You Been (30 vs. 106);
Theon Cross: Affirmations (50 vs. 86);
Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas: Totality (51 vs. 202);
Anthony Joseph: Rowing Up River to Get Our Names Back (58 vs. 296);
Natural Information Society: Perseverance Flow (63 vs. 161).
Other albums listed as jazz in my metacritic file but receiving 0 votes:
Sumac & Moor Mother: The Film (25);
Holden & Zimpel: The Universe Will Take Care of You (28);
Laufey: A Matter of Time (29);
Emma Jean Thackray: Weirdo (31);
Brìghde Chaimbeul: Sunwise (40). I included the Anthony Joseph
and Sumac/Moor Mother albums in my non-jazz piece.
Jazz albums from
The Best Jazz Albums of 2025. In brackets is the number of votes
and points each album got in the
Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. :
- Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts (Nonesuch) [53:90.5]
- Patricia Brennan: Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic) [50:89.6]
- Linda May Han Oh: Strange Heavens (Biophilia) [41:64.3]
- Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) [31:53.5]
- Fieldwork: Thereupon (Pi) [28:47.6]
- James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt) [25:44]
- Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) [24:34.2]
- Branford Marsalis Quartet: Belonging (Blue Note) [23:39.2]
- Sylvie Courvoisier/Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) [23:36.8]
- Craig Taborn/Nels Cline/Marcus Gilmore: Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic) [21:31.3]
- Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio: Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms) [20:30.6]
- Isaiah Collier/William Hooker/William Parker: The Ancients (Eremite) [19:31.1]
- Miguel Zenón Quartet: Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at the Village Vanguard (Miel Music) [16:24.6]
- Tomas Fujiwara: Dream Up (Out of Your Head) [13:18.2]
- James Brandon Lewis Trio: Apple Cores (Anti-) [12:16.4]
- أحمد [Ahmed]: سماع [Sama'a] (Audition) (Otoroku) [10]
- John Scofield/Dave Holland: Memories of Home (ECM) [10:12.9]
- Cosmic Ear: Traces (We Jazz) [9:12.9]
- Rodrigo Amado: The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost) [8:14]
- Jaleel Shaw: Painter of the Invisible (Changu) [8:12.8]
- David Murray Quartet: Birdly Serenade (Impulse!) [8:11.8]
- Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (Cantaloupe Music) [7:12.9]
- Adam O'Farrill: For These Streets (Out of Your Head) [7:8.6]
- Thomas Morgan: Around You Is a Forest (Loveland Music) [5:8.2]
- Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Dream a Dream (Libra) [5:7]
- Joe Chambers/Kevin Diehl/Chad Taylor: Onilu (Eremite) [5:6.8]
- Jason Kao Hwang: Myths of Origin (True Sound) [4:6.6]
- Damon Locks: List of Demands (International Anthem) [4:6.4]
- PlainsPeak: Someone to Someone (Irabbagast) [4:5]
- Ned Rothenberg: Looms & Legends (Pyroclastic) [4:4.3]
- Colin Hancock's Jazz Hounds Featuring Catherine Russell: Cat & the Hounds (Turtle Bay) [3:5.6]
- Peter Brötzmann/Jason Adasiewicz/Steve Noble/John Edwards: The Quartet: Cafe Oto, London, February, 10 & 11, 2023 (Otoroku) [3:5.4]
- John O'Gallagher/Ben Monder/Andrew Cyrille/Billy Hart: Ancestral (Whirlwind) [3:5.2]
- Archer: Sudden Dusk (Aerophonic) [3:5]
- SML: How You Been (International Anthem) [3:4.8]
- Dee Dee Bridgewater + Bill Charlap: Elemental (Mack Avenue) [3:4.5]
- Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk) [3:3.6]
- Joe Morris/Elliott Sharp: Realism (ESP-Disk) [3:3.3]
- Eunhye Jeong/Michael Bisio Duo: Morning Bells Whistle Bright (ESP-Disk) [3:3]
- Sinsuke Fujieda Group: Fukushima (SoFa) [2:4.2]
- George Coleman: George Coleman With Strings (HighNote) [2:3.5]
- Antonio Borghini & Banquet of Consequences: Resta Chi Va (We Insist!) [2:2.4]
- Earscratcher: Otoliths (Aerophonic) [2:2.4]
- Marty Ehrlich: Trio Exaltation: This Time (Sunnyside) [2:2.1]
- Motian & More: Gratitude (Phonogram Unit) [2:2.1]
- Omer Avital: New York Now & Then (Zamzama) [2:2]
- Hamid Drake & Pat Thomas: A Mountain Sees a Mountain (Old Heaven Books) [1:3]
- Laura Jurd: Rites & Revelations (New Soil) [1:3]
- Italian Surf Academy + Denver Butson: Ennio Morricone Is Dissolving (41st Parallel) [1:2.4]
- Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band: Treasury Volume 2 (Turtle Bay) [1:2.4]
- Rubén Reinaldo: Fusión Olívica (Free Code Jazz) [1:1.8]
- Dave Rempis/Russ Johnson/Jakob Heinemann/Jeremy Cunningham: Embers and Ash (Aerophonic) [1:1.8]
- Sheila Jordan With Roni Ben-Hur & Harvie S: Portrait Now (Dot Time) [1:1.6]
- Anthony Joseph: Rowing Up River to Get Our Names Back (Heavenly Sweetness) [1:1.6]
- Lucian Ban/John Surman/Mat Maneri: Cantica Profana (Sunnyside) [1:1.4]
- Heat On: Heat On (Cuneiform) [1:1.4]
- Sarathy Korwar: There Is Beauty, There Already (Otherland) [1:1.4]
- Wheelhouse: House and Home (Aerophonic) [1:1.2]
- Ivo Perelman/John Butcher: Duologues 4 (Ibeji) [1:1.1]
- Joe Alterman Feat. Houston Person: Brisket for Breakfast (self-released) [1:1]
- Nnenna Freelon: Beneath the Skin (Origin) [1:1]
- Satoko Fujii This Is It!: Message (Libra) [1:1]
- Rodrigo Amado/Chris Corsano: The Healing: Live at ZDB (2016, European Echoes) [0]
- Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band: What Is? (self-released) [0]
- Scheen Jazzorkester & Ståle Storløkken: Double Reality Beyond Space and Time (Grong) [0]
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions: The Last Quintet (Corbett vs. Dempsey) [0]
- Larry Ochs/Joe Morris/Charles Downs: Every Day → All the Way (ESP-Disk) [0]
- Amalie Dahl: Breaking/Building Habits (SauaJazz) [0]
- Freedom Art Quartet: First Dance (self-released) [0]
- Instant Arts Quartet: Lingua Franca (High Two) [0]
- Frank Carlberg: Dream Machine (Red Piano) [0]
- Ziv Taubenfeld/Helena Espvall/João Sousa: You, Full of Sources and Night (NoBusiness) [0]
- Loot: Loot (ICP) [0]
- Keiji Haino/Natsuki Tamura: What Happened There? (Libra) [0]
- Carlos "Zingaro"/João Madeira: Arcada Pendular (4DaRecord) [0]
- Carlos "Zingaro"/Flo Stoffner/Fred Lonberg-Holm/João Madeira: Na Parede (4DaRecord) [0]
- Korham Futaci: Heavyweight Rehearsal Tapes (PUMA) [0]
- Mikko Innanen & Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: Live in Espoo (Fiasko/Sonic Transmissions) [0]
- Kaze & Koichi Makigami: Shishiodoshi (Circum/Libra) [0]
- Nils Agnas: Köper Sig Ur En Kris (Moserobie) [0]
- Samo Salamon & Ra Kalam Bob Moses Orchestra: Dream Suites Vol. 1 (Samo) [0]
- KIND: Count (Umland) [0]
- Wrens: Half of What You See (Out of Your Head) [0]
- Nils Petter Molvaer: Khmer Live in Bergen (Edition) [0]
- Rick Roe: Wake Up Call: The Music of Gregg Hill (Cold Plunge) [0]
- David Grollman/Andy Haas/Sabrina Salamone: SCRT (self-released) [0]
- Chris Jonas: Backwardsupwardsky: Music From the Deserts (Edgetone, LP) [0]
- Hein Westgaard & Matt Maneri: Chamber (Gotta Let It Out) [0]
- Claire Ritter: Songs of Lumière (Zoning) [0]
- Lao Dan/Vasco Trilla: New Species (NoBusiness) [0]
- Anla Courtis & Lehtisalo: 1972 (Full Connect) [0]
- Marshall Allen: The Omniverse Oriki (High Two) [0]
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