Music Year 2026

Way too early clone, fix this later.

Of course, it's too early for a year-end list. But as the proto-fascist organization of my youth insisted, one should always be prepared. For records in hand, * identifies an advance copy, ** something borrowed or streamed. Some albums released in previous years are included here, noted by a "-NN" (e.g., -25 for 2025) -- these are mostly imports or self-releases, often hard to figure out official dates, but they were either December 2025 releases or unknown (to me, at least) before the current year.

This is a subset of the 2026 Music Tracking file, which includes many additional unheard albums.

I keep adding to the 2025 until the end of calendar 2026, especially where the record was known to exist in 2025 and I'm just getting around to it.

New Records

Records in hand, but which haven't yet been graded (sorted by artist, or release date if future). Those marked ** are downloads in hand.

• Fie Schouten/Vincent Courtois/Sofia Borges/Pierre Baux: Open Space (Relative Pitch) [03-27]
• Jim Robitaille Trio: Sonic (Whaling City Sound) [04-01]
• Atlantic Road Trip: Watch as the Echo Falls (Calligram) [04-03]
• Chicago Soul Jazz Collective: No Wind & No Rain (Calligram) [04-10]
• Caleb Wheeler Curtis: Ritual (Chill Tone) [04-10]
• Abate Berihun & the Addis Ken Project: Addis Ken (Origin) [04-17]
• Ryan Blotnick: The Woods (Fishkill) [04-17]
• Barry Greene: Giants (Origin) [04-17]
• Jared Hall: Hometown (Origin) [04-17]
• Erica von Kleist: Picc Pocket (self-released) [04-23]
• Paulo Almeida: Love in Motion (Dox) [04-24]
• Alister Spence: Always Ever (Alister Spence Music) [04-24]
• Paul Citro: Keep Moving (Home) (Calligram) [05-01]
• DeYeon Kim: Wellspring (TAO Forms) [05-01]
• Ted Rosenthal Trio: The Good Old Days (TMR Music) [05-01]
• Paul Silbergleit Trio: The Stillness of July (Calligram) [05-01]
• Yvonne Rogers: The Button Jar (Pyroclastic) [05-08]

Also Noted:

Records in hand, graded B+ or below, in alphabetical order within grade slots:

Limited sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect.

Reissues/Compilations/Vault Music:

In previous years I tried to separate reissues from compilations, including newly released vault items in the latter. This made sense when I was reviewing a lot of Recycled Goods material, but led to other problems with year-end lists, so anything containing any previously released material is collected here, and anything that is wholly previously unreleased is treated as new, above.

Pending

Records in hand, sorted by artist, or release date if future. Those marked ** are downloads in hand.

• Bill Evans: At the BBC (1965, Elemental Music) [04-18]
• Freddie King: Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Pulsations Concert (Elemental Music, 2CD) [04-18]
• Michel Petrucciani: Kuumbwa (1987, Elemental Music, 2CD) [04-18]
• Cecil Taylor Unit: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music, 2CD) [04-18]

Also Noted: