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

A
  1. Carsie Blanton & the Burning Hell: Everything Is Great! (self-released) **
A-
  1. The Cucumbers: As You Heard Me (Life Force)
  2. Asher Brinson: Midnight Hurricane (AsherBrin)
  3. Meg Okura/Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble: Isaiah (Adhyâropa)
  4. Taj Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band: Time (Resonatin'/Thirty Tigers) **
  5. Courtney Barnett: Creature of Habit (Mom + Pop/Fiction) **
  6. Rodrigo Amado/This Is Our Language Quartet: Wailers (European Echoes) **
  7. Aja Monet: The Color of Rain (Drink Sum Wtr) **
  8. Tyshawn Sorey: Members . . . Don't (Pi, 2CD)
  9. أحمد [Ahmed]: Play Monk (Otoroku) **
  10. Anthony Joseph: The Ark (Heavenly Sweetness) **
  11. Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band: Treasury Volume 3 (Turtle Bay) **
  12. Mara Calder: We Stay Ugly 'Til the Pretty Decays (Black Metal Archives Label) **
  13. The Tomeka Reid Quartet: Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out of Your Head)
  14. DJ Eprom: We Are the Biobots (JuNouMi) **
  15. Irreversible Entanglements: Future Present Past (Impulse!) **
  16. Adam O'Farrill: Elephant (Out of Your Head)
  17. Mark Lomax II & the Urban Art Ensemble: The Unity Suite (CFG Multimedia) **
  18. Stu Bangas & Wordsworth: Chemistry (1332) **
  19. Ragini Trio: 3 (W.E.R.F.) **
  20. Nandipha808: Who Made Who (Stena Academy) **
  21. Myra Melford/Satoko Fujii: Katarahi (RogueArt)
  22. Robyn: Sexistential (Konichiwa/Young) **
  23. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: Happy Today (International Anthem/Nonesuch) **
  24. Ren: Vincent's Tale (Freckled Angels/Rebel Creator Services) **
  25. Ballister + Luke Stewart: Clocking the Wheel (Aerophonic)
  26. Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon: As of Now (Lex) **
  27. Ron Carter & Yotam Silberstein: Duets (Jojo)
  28. James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Omni (Intakt) **
  29. Work Money Death: A Portal to Here (ATA) **
  30. XG: The Core (Xgalx) **
  31. Joel Futterman/William Parker: Transcendent Universe (Burning Ambulance) **
  32. Miles Okazaki: Boomtown (Pi)
  33. Gogol Bordello: We Mean It, Man! (Casa Gogol) **
  34. RJD2 & Supastition: According To (RJ's Electrical Connections) **
  35. Avalon Emerson & the Charm: Written Into Changes (Dead Oceans) **
  36. Zach Bryan: With Heaven on Top (Belting Bronco/Warner) **
  37. Joachim Kühn: Joachim Kühn & Young Lions (ACT Music) **
  38. Marta Sanchez: For the Space You Left (Out of Your Head)
  39. Buck 65: Do Not Bend (Vertices) **
  40. Maya De Vitry: All My Faith (Mad Maker Studios)
  41. Lime Garden: Maybe Not Tonight (So Young) **
  42. The Outskirts: Orbital (Aerophonic) **
  43. Jesse Davis Quartet: Reflections (Cellar) **
  44. Kneecap: Fenian (Heavenly) **
  45. Martin Wind: Stars (Newvelle) **
  46. Ashley McBryde: Wild (Warner Nashville) **
  47. Adam Brodsky: American Epitaph (Permanent) **
  48. Anna Kolchina: Reach for Tomorrow (OA2)
  49. The Paranoid Style: Known Associates (Bar/None) **
  50. Thomas Dollbaum: Birds of Paradise (Dear Life) **
  51. Ivo Perelman: Trifecta (Mahakala Music, 3CD) **
  52. The Phoenix Trio: Tomorrow Is Today (Giant Step Arts)
  53. Azuka Moweta and His Anioma Brothers Band of Africa: Kenechukwu (Palenque) **
  54. Florence Dore: Hold the Spark (Propeller) **
  55. Jefferson Ross: Low Country Wedding (self-released) **
  56. Carsie Blanton: The Red Album Vol. 2 (self-released, EP) **
  57. Charles Downs Quartet: Inner (ESP-Disk')
  58. SML: Spontaneous Music Live (International Anthem) **
  59. Champian Fulton: House Party (Turtle Bay) **
  60. Kronos Quartet: Glorious Mahalia (Smithsonian Folkways) **
  61. Olof Dreijer: Loud Bloom (Dh2) **
  62. Tanya Tagaq: Saputjiji (Six Shooter) **
  63. Sky Smeed: Live at the Rock House (self-released) **
  64. Bop Alloy: Masters of the Artistry (Bop Alloy) **
  65. Joshua Idehen: I Know You're Hurting, Everyone Is Hurting, Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got to Try (Heavenly) **
  66. Thomas Anderson: Letters From the Hermit Kingdom (Out There) **

Pending:

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

  • Elan Mehler: Renee Said (Newvelle) [03-17]
  • Claudio Scolari Project: Lines of Now (Principal) [04-24]
  • Rebecca Rafla: Fundamentally Unfinished (Rebecca Raffla Music) [06-22]
  • Ran Blake & Dominique Eade: Roots & Byways (Sunnyside) [07-03]
  • Colin Heshmat: Elastic Groove (HMC) [07-23]
  • Andrew Kim: Lineage (Origin) [07-24]
  • Bob Nell & Michael Bisio Trios: We Are Here (Origin) [07-24]
  • Mike Clark: Kuon Ganjo (Time Without Beginning) (Wide Hive) [08-07]
  • Adam De Lucia: The Man Who Would Be King (self-released) [08-07]
  • Armand Sangalang: Waypoints (Calligram) [08-07]
  • Clark Sommers: WaBaSH (Calligram) [08-07]
  • Kelly Green: Eat Your Greens! (Green Soul) [08-28]
  • Liz Cracchiolo: Just a Girl I'm a Woman (Pacific Coast Jazz) [09-18]

Also Noted:

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

B+(***)
  • Michael Aadal: Aggressive Hymns, Energetic Ballads (Losen)
  • Juhani Aaltonen + Raoul Björkenheim: Nostalgia (Eclipse Music) **
  • David Adewumi: The Flame Beneath the Silence (Giant Step Arts)
  • Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman: Miami Lice: Season Four (Rhymesayers Entertainment) **
  • Ambrose Akinmusire/Mary Halvorson: Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (Nonesuch) **
  • Naseem Alatrash: Bright Colors on a Dark Canvas (Levantine Music)
  • Thommy Andersson: Shimmering Blue (SteepleChase) **
  • Angine De Poitrine: Vol. II (Spectacles Bonzaï) **
  • Aymeric Avice/Luke Stewart/Chad Taylor: Deep in the Earth High in the Sky (RogueArt) *
  • Steven Bernstein/Scotty Hard: ResoNation Trio/Ultra Resonance (Royal Potato Family)
  • Yaya Bey: Fidelity (Drink Sum Wtr) **
  • Black Nile: Indigo Garden (Hen House Studios) **
  • Nat Birchall Quartet: Path of Enlightenment (Ancient Archive of Sound) **
  • Sofia Borges/Rieko Okuda/Peter Van Huffel: Lagrangian Points (4DaRecord) **
  • Anthony Branker & Other Ways of Knowing: Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit (Origin)
  • Patricia Brennan/Sylvie Courvoisier: Talamanti (Antlia) **
  • Betty Bryant: Nothin' Better to Do (Bry-Mar Music) **
  • Julie Campiche [Solo]: Unspoken (Ronin Rhythm) **
  • Garret T. Capps: I Still Love San Antone (Nudie) **
  • Daniel Carter/Steve Hirsh: Convocation (Mahakala Music) **
  • Chalk: Crystalpunk (Alter Music) **
  • Charli XCX: Wuthering Heights (Atlantic) **
  • Chrome Hill & Dōjō: Free Rangers (Clean Feed) **
  • Emmet Cohen: Universal Truth (Mack Avenue) **
  • ContraPunctus [Mike McGinnis/Carmen Staaf/Gui Duvignau/Hamir Atwal]: ContraPunctus (Adhyâropa) **
  • Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: Éclats - Live in Europe (Intakt) **
  • Caleb Wheeler Curtis: Ritual (Chill Tone)
  • Dälek: Brilliance of a Falling Moon (Ipecac) **
  • Lao Dan Chicago Quartet: Klotski (Trost) **
  • Daphni: Butterfly (Jiaolong) **
  • Kris Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet: The Solastalgia Suite (Pyroclastic)
  • The Delines: The Set Up (Decor/El Cortez/Jealous Butcher) **
  • Dave Douglas: Transcend (Greenleaf Music) **
  • Dry Cleaning: Secret Love (4AD) **
  • Matt Dwonszyk: Live at the Sidedoor (self-released)
  • Eddy Current Suppression Ring: In Light of Recent Events (Suppression) **
  • Marty Ehrlich: Cartographies of Flight: Lines Set Afloat Towards Hope (Corbett vs. Dempsey) **
  • Entropic Hop: The Quest for the Normal Is the Death of the Self (ESP-Disk')
  • Christine Fawson: It Could Happen to You (self-released)
  • Fcukers: Ö (Ninja Tune) **
  • Michael Formanek: New Digs (Intakt) **
  • Marie-Paule Franke: Through the Cracks, the Light Is Born (MariPosa)
  • George: Looking for Consonance (Out of Your Head)
  • Richard Gilman-Opalsky: A Fierce and Gentle Force (Edgetone)
  • Goal Weight [Maggie Cox & Jennifer Gersten]: Keep Telling Yourself That (Relative Pitch) **
  • Golems of the Red Planet: Surf Masada: The Compositions of John Zorn (Heyday Again) **
  • Vinny Golia Quintet: Angular Momentum (self-released) **
  • Brad Goode Quintet: Live Your Dream: Live at the North Street Cabaret (Origin)
  • Gyrofield: Your Fight (Field Research, EP) **
  • Joy Harjo: Insomnia & Seven Steps to Grace (Smithsonian Folkways) **
  • Wendell Harrison & Tribe: Tribute to Pharoah Sanders: Live at the Concert of Colors Detroit 2025 (Org Music) **
  • Phil Haynes/Ben Monder/Peyton Pleninger: Terra (Corner Store Jazz)
  • Alden Hellmuth: Tether (Leiter) **
  • Hemlocke Springs: The Apple Tree Under the Sea (AWAL) **
  • IDK: E.T.D.S. A Mixtape by .IDK. (Rhymesayers Entertainment) **
  • Imarhan: Essam (City Slang) **
  • The Interplay Jazz Orchestra: Bite Your Tongue (Bigtime)
  • Jon Irabagon: Focus Out (Irrabagast)
  • Jon Irabagon and Dan Oestreicher: Saturday's Child (Irrabagast)
  • Grace Ives: Girlfriend (True Panther/Capitol) **
  • Jamile/Vinicius Gomes: Boundless Species (La Reserve)
  • Ingrid Jensen: Landings (Newvelle) **
  • Carolyn Lee Jones: Eklektika (Catn'round Sound)
  • Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra: & Avin Omar (We Jazz, EP) **
    • Steve Kovalcheck: Buckshot Blues (OA2)
  • Ella Langley: Dandelion (Sawgod/Columbia) **
  • Lazy Californians: Back to San Francisco (Angel Island)
  • Lip Critic: Theft World (Partisan) **
  • Joe Lovano: Paramount Quartet (ECM) **
  • Shawn Lovato: Biotic (Endectomorph Music)
  • Brian Lynch: Torch Bearers (Holistic MusicWorks) **
  • Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of . . . (Cellar) **
  • Chris Madsen/Dana Hall/Clark Sommers: Threefold (Calligram)
  • Mandy, Indiana: Urgh (Sacred Bones) **
  • Michael Marcus Quartet: Next Stop Down (ESP-Disk')
  • Nicole McCabe: Color Theory (Birdwatcher) **
  • Melanie C: Sweat (Red Girl/Virgin) **
  • Ava Mendoza: Alive Alone, Alive Together (Burning Ambulance) **
  • M.I.A.: M.I.7 (Ohmni) **
  • Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns: Bitches Blues (Rune Grammofon) **
  • Andrew Moorhead: Mirage (OA2)
  • Jason Moran/BlankFor.ms/Marcus Gilmore: Shards (Red Hook) **
  • Megan Moroney: Cloud 9 (Columbia Nashville) **
  • Simon Moullier: Ceiba (Simon Moullier Music)
  • Kacey Musgraves: Middle of Nowhere (Lost Highway) **
  • Quinsin Nachoff: Patterns From Nature (Whirlwind)
  • Namasenda: Limbo (Year0001) **
  • Camila Nebbia & Chris Corsano: Six or Seven Ways Towards Becoming Undone (Relative Pitch) **
  • Willie Nelson: Dream Chaser (Legacy) **
  • Angelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes (Intakt) **
  • Luke Norris: Moment From the Past (self-released)
  • Octo Octa: Sigils for Survival (T4T LUV NRG) **
  • Kate Olson: So It Goes (OA2)
  • Outer Worlds Jazz Ensemble: The Kármán Line (ATA) **
  • Genesis Owusu: Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge (Ourness) **
  • Sergio Pereira: Colors of Time (Sergio Pereira Music)
  • Ivo Perelman/Wadada Leo Smith: Duologues 5 (Ibeji) **
  • Ivo Perelman/Damon Smith: Duologue: Core of Existence (Squid Note) **
  • Leigh Pilzer: Keep Holding On (Strange Woman)
  • John Pizzarelli: Dear Mr. Bennett (Green Hill Music) **
  • PVA: No More Like This (It's All for Fun) **
  • Raye: This Music May Contain Hope (Human Re Sources) **
  • Reverso: Between Two Silences (Alternate Side)
  • Kemuel Roig: Both Sides Now (Life in Music)
  • Ben Rosenblum: The Longest Way Round (One Trick Dog)
  • Ted Rosenthal Trio: The Good Old Days (TMR Music)
  • Scott Sadlon: Songs From Thin Air (Buddha Boy)
  • Christopher Sánchez: Latin Jazz Meets Opera (Zoho)
  • David Sanchez: Tambó (Ropeadope) **
  • Jill Scott: To Whom It May Concern (Human Re Sources/Blues Babe) **
  • Harlan Silverman: Music for Stillness (Intentional)
  • Walter Smith III: Twio Vol. 2 (Blue Note) **
  • Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra: Ellington Masterworks (MCG Jazz)
  • Peter Somuah: Walking Distance (ACT Music) **
  • Tokischa: Amor & Droga (Warner Latina) **
  • Harriet Tubman & Georgia Muldrow: Electrical Field of Love (Pi)
  • Vaiano's Paisanos: Vaiano's Paisanos (Jalopy) **
  • Jack Wood: For Every Man There's a Woman (Jazz Hang)
  • Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 26: Antonio Carlos & Jocafi (Jazz Is Dead) **
  • Zel: Still Right Here (self-released) **
B+(**)
  • Joshua Abrams: Music for Pulse Meridian Foliation (Drag City) **
  • Joshua Achiron: Climbing (Calligram)
  • Melissa Aldana: Filin (Blue Note) **
  • Eddie Allen's Push: Rhythm People (Origin)
  • Ben Allison/Steve Cardenas/Ted Nash: Triological (Sunnyside) **
  • Paulo Almeida: Love in Motion (Dox)
  • David Ambrosio/Donny McCaslin/Ingrid Jensen/Bruce Barth/Victor Lewis: Civil Disobedience: Blue Note in the Progressive Sixties (Blue Frog) [**]
  • Marisa Anderson: The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music (Thrill Jockey) **
  • Julian Argüelles: Echo Fields (Escapade) **
  • Elles Bailey: Can't Take My Story Away (Cooking Vinyl) **
  • Teller Bank$: Hate Island ($357ENT) **
  • MC Paul Barman & Kenny Segal: Antinomian Pandemonium (Fused Arrow) **
  • Sam Barsh/Mark Guiliana/Keyon Harold: Straight08 (La Reserve) **
  • Lakecia Benjamin: We Dream (Artwork) **
  • Chuck Bergeron: Bass & Face: Duets With Ten Premier Vocalists (Summit)
  • Eric Bibb: One Mississippi (Repute) **
  • Ryan Blotnick: The Woods (Fishkill)
  • Boards of Canada: Inferno (Music 70/Warp) **
  • Bobby Bradford/Mark Dresser/Hafez Modirzadeh: Sonic House Reunion (NoBusiness)
  • Alan Braufman: Anthem for Peace (The Control Group/Valley of Search) **
  • Chicago Soul Jazz Collective: No Wind & No Rain (Calligram)
  • Dawn Clement: Dear Ms. Dearie (Origin)
  • Carl Clements and the Real Jazz Trio: Retrospective (Greydisc)
  • J. Cole: The Fall-Off (Cole World/Dreamville/Interscope) **
  • Andrés Coll Cosmic Trio: Ride to Heaven (XJAZZ Music) **
  • Columbia Icefield: A Silence Opens (Out of Your Head)
  • Cyger & Butterworth: Plaid Pants (Outrageous8)
  • Daggerboard: The Skipper and Mike Clark (Wide Hive)
  • Michael Dease With the MSU Jazz Trombones: Spartan Strong (Origin)
  • Michael Dease Big Band: Return Trajectory (Origin)
  • Alabaster DePlume: Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue (International Anthem, EP) **
  • Jessye DeSilva: Glitter Up the Dark (Nine Athens) **
  • Dave Douglas: Four Freedoms (Greenleaf Music) **
  • Duchess: A Marvelous Party (Anzic) **
  • Hilary Duff: Luck . . . or Something (Atlantic) **
  • John Ellis & Double Wide: Fireball (Sunnyside) **
  • Elucid & Sebb Bash: I Guess U Had to Be There (Backwoodz Studioz) **
  • Emperor X: Unified Field (Bar/None) **
  • Feeble Little Horse: Bitknot (Saddle Creek) **
  • The Femcels: I Have to Get Hotter (Getting Hotter) **
  • Bill Frisell: In My Dreams (Blue Note) **
  • Sophie Gault: Unhinged (Torrez Music Group) **
  • Hannah Gill: I Like the Sunrise (Turtle Bay) **
  • Phillip Golub: Partisan Ship (Berthold) **
  • Gordon Grdina/Russ Lossing: Turnpike (Attaboygirl) **
  • Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio: Ash (Attaboygirl) **
  • Rafael Greco: Versos Bajo Mi Sombra/Verses Under My Shadow (Blue Canoe)
  • Al Green: To Love Somebody (Fat Possum, EP) **
  • Andy Haas: In Praise of Insomnia (Resonant Music)
  • Andy Haas: Messianic Time (Resonant Music)
  • Jared Hall: Hometown (Origin)
  • Simon Hanes: Gargantua (Pyroclastic)
  • Aldous Harding: Train on the Island (4AD) **
  • Alexander Hawkins: No Nation but Imagination (Intakt) **
  • Christopher Hoffman: Rex (Out of Your Head)
  • Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements: Conversations of Hope (Edition) **
  • Gregory Hutchinson: Kind of Now: The Pulse of Miles Davis (Warner Music Arts) **
  • Jon Irabagon: Raw Dog (Corbett vs. Dempsey) **
  • Ital Tek: Mind Abandon (Planet Mu) **
  • Ize Trio: Global Prayer (self-released)
  • Tomas Janzon: Jazz Diary (Changes Music)
  • Ernesto Jodos/Rocio Giménez López: Una Casa Con Dos Pianos (Blue Art) **
  • Aubrey Johnson: The Lively Air (Greenleaf Music) **
  • Whitney Johnson/Lia Kohl/Macie Stewart: Body Sound (International Anthem) **
  • The Joymakers: A Texas-Sized Band (Turtle Bay) **
  • Kehlani: Kehlani (Atlantic) **
  • The Paul Keller Orchestra: Thank You Notes: The Music of Gregg Hill (Cold Plunge)
  • Kinact: Kinshasa in Action (Nyege Nyege Tapes) **
  • KJADE: On Everything I Love (self-released) **
  • The Klezmatics: We Were Made for These Times (Asphalt Tango) **
  • Janel Leppin's Ensemble Volcanic Ash: Pluto in Aquarius (Cuneiform) **
  • Tom Lippincott: Ode to the Possible (self-released)
  • Gil Livni: All In (OA2)
  • Lisanne Lyons: May I Come In (OA2)
  • Doug MacDonald: Tribute to South Central (Dmac Music)
  • Jennifer Madsen: Girl Talk (SingBaby Productions)
  • Luke Marantz/Simon Jermyn: Echoes (Chill Tone)
  • March to August: Highway 75 (Crisp) **
  • Roc Marciano: 656 (self-released) **
  • Buck Meek: The Mirror (4AD) **
  • The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis: Deface the Currency (Impulse!) **
  • Michaela Anne: These Are the Days (Georgia June) **
  • Liudas Mockūnas/Samuel Blaser/Marc Ducret: Twisted Summer (Jersika) **
  • Mod Lang: Borrowed Time (Just Add Water) **
  • Model/Actriz: Swan Songs (True Panther/Dirty Hit, EP) **
  • Gurf Morlix: Cobwebs & Stardust (Rootball) **
  • New England Jazz Collaborative: Tributaries (ACP)
  • The New Pornographers: The Former Site Of (Merge) **
  • Pascal Niggenkemper Ensemble Tuvalu: D'Une Rive à L'Autre (Subran) **
  • Nite Bjuti: Minwi (Intakt) **
  • OM: Südpol (Intakt) **
  • Bill Orcutt: Music in Continuous Motion (Palilalia) **
  • John Pachnos: John Pachnos (Avgonyma Music)
  • Ben Patterson: Stretch (Origin)
  • Jeremy Pelt: Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote) **
  • Pony: Clearly Cursed (Take This to Heart) **
  • Praed: Al Wahem (Ruptured/Annihaya) **
  • Puma Blue: Croak Dream (PIAS) **
  • Ratboys: Singin' to an Empty Chair (New West) **
  • Mariam Rezaei/Sakina Abdou/Kobe Van Cauwenberghe: 1984 [I IX VIII IV]: The Forward Process (Dropa Disc) **
  • Ron Rieder: Compositions in Blue and Other Hues (Meson)
  • Jim Robitaille Trio: Sonic (Whaling City Sound)
  • Yvonne Rogers: The Button Jar (Pyroclastic)
  • Joel Ross: Gospel Music (Blue Note) **
  • Jeff Rupert Quartet: Sea Spell (Rupe Media)
  • Olaf Rupp: Berlin Eiskeller (Scatter Archive) **
  • Harvie S: Bright Dawn (Origin)
  • Sad Daddy: Ozark Shine (Catfish Music/Free Dirt) **
  • Sault: Chapter 1 (Forever Living Originals) **
  • Fie Schouten/Vincent Courtois/Sofia Borges/Pierre Baux: Open Space (Relative Pitch)
  • Aktu el Shabazz: As Seen on TV (766303 DK) **
  • Sideshow: Tigray Funk (10k) **
  • Paul Silbergleit Trio: The Stillness of July (Calligram)
  • Jae Skeese & ILL Tone Beats: The Good Part, Vol. 1 (Griselda) **
  • Skerik: Skerik 061725 (Loosegroove) **
  • Harry Skoler: Echoes (Red Brick Hill) **
  • Bria Skonberg: Brass (Cellar Music Group) **
  • Slayyyter: Wor$t Girl in America (Columbia) **
  • Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X (Rough Trade) **
  • Omar Sosa/Joo Kraus/Diego Pinera: Vibe Factor (Music Hub) **
  • Yuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall: Invocation (self-released, EP)
  • Alister Spence: Always Ever (Alister Spence Music)
  • Squirrel Nut Zippers: Squirrel Nut Zippers Starring in "Fat City" (The Ballad of Lil' Tony) (Music Maker) **
  • Colin Stetson/Greg Fox/Trevor Dunn: Nethering (Envision) **
  • Dave Stryker: Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session (Strikezone)
  • Soojin Suh: Prism of Existence (Endectomorph Music) **
  • Kevin Sun: Lofi at Lowlands 三 (Endectomorph Music) **
  • Mattias Svensson: Embrace (Origin)
  • Earl Sweatshirt/MIKE/Surf Gang: Pompeii//Utility (10k) **
  • Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: A Blue Time (Circle 9)
  • Katelyn Tarver: Tell Me How You Really Feel (Nettwerk) **
  • They Might Be Giants: The World Is to Dig (Idlewild) **
  • Pat Thomas & XT: Strata, Act (Joy Contemporary) (We Jazz) **
  • Tinariwen: Hoggar (Wedge) **
  • Viktoria Tolstoy & Jacob Karlzon: Who We Are (ACT Music) **
  • Álvaro Torres Trio: Mairena (Fresh Sound New Talent)
  • The Twilight Sad: It's the Long Goodbye (Rock Action) **
  • Underscores: U (self-released) **
  • Gary Versace Trio: Three Track Mind (Sunnyside) **
  • Victor Vieira-Branco's Bark Culture: The Giant Is Awkward (Temperphantom) **
  • Marta Warelis: Still Life With Lemons (Relative Pitch) **
  • Joe Webb: Neath Beat (Edition) **
  • Ben Wendel: BaRcoDe (Edition) **
  • What You May Call It: Da Qi (MechaBenzaiten)
  • White Denim: Wd13 (Bella Union) **
  • Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 1 (Blue Note) **
  • Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (Blue Note) **
  • Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 3 (Blue Note) **
  • Winged Wheel: Desert So Green (12XU) **
  • Xaviersobased: Xavier (1C/Surf Gang/Atlantic) **
  • Zu: Ferrum Sidereum (House of Mythology) **
B+(*)
  • Ali & Charif Megarbane: Tirakat (Habibi Funk) **
  • Tyrone Allen II: Upward (Dreams and Fears)
  • Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine (Loose Future) **
  • Atlantic Road Trip: Watch as the Echo Falls (Calligram)
  • Richard Baratta: Another Kind of Bird (Savant) **
  • Barcelona Art Orchestra & Miguel Zenón: Expressions: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (Miel Music) **
  • Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic (In Finé) **
  • Abate Berihun & the Addis Ken Project: Addis Ken (Origin)
  • Bonnie "Prince" Billy: We Are Together Again (No Quarter/Domino) **
  • Luciano Biondini/Michel Godard/Lucas Niggli: Fables of Time (Intakt) **
  • Bobby Broom: Notes of Thanks (Steele) **
  • By Storm: My Ghosts Go Ghost (Dead Air/By(e) Storm) **
  • Anthony Caceres: Let's Take a Trip (Jig in G)
  • Ron Carter & Ricky Dillard: Sweet, Sweet Spirit (Blue Note) **
  • Owen Chen: Eternal Wind: The Ghibli Collection (OA2)
  • Paul Citro: Keep Moving (Home) (Calligram)
  • Cola: Cost of Living Adjustment (Fire Talk) **
  • Corima: Hunab Ku (Soleil Zeuhl) **
  • George Cotsirilos: In the Wee Hours (OA2)
  • Stew Cutler & Friends: Under Cover (Mostly) (self-released) **
  • Amalie Dahl's Dafnie Extended: Live at Moldejazz (Sonic Transmissions) **
  • Mikaela Davis: Graceland Way (Kill Rock Stars) **
  • Django Festival Allstars: Evolution (Motéma) **
  • Armen Donelian: Inquiry (Sunnyside)
  • Neale Eckstein: Build Our Dreams (self-released) **
  • Art Edmaiston & Chad Fowler: Memphis Mandala (Mahakala Music) **
  • Gabriel Espinosa: The Brazilian Project (Origin)
  • Fakemink: The Boy Who Cried Terrified (EtnaVeraVela, EP) **
  • Fire-Toolz: Lavender Networks (Warp) **
  • Flying Lotus: Big Mama (Brainfeeder, EP) **
  • Nick Fraser: Areas (Elastsic) **
  • Peter Furlan: The Peter Furlan Project Live at Maureen's Jazz Cellar (Beany Bops)
  • Girl Scout: Brink (Human Garbage) **
  • Devin Gray/Andrea Parkins/Frank Gratkowski: Hz of Gold (Rataplan) **
  • Barry Greene: Giants (Origin)
  • Jon Hamar: Música Callada (Origin Classical)
  • Heavenly: Highway to Heavenly (Skep Wax) **
  • Steven Husted and Friends: Two Nights - "Live!" (self-released)
  • Kathy Ingraham: Jazz Dreams (Peirdon)
  • Javon Jackson: Jackson Plays Dylan (Solid Jackson/Palmetto)
  • David Janeway Trio: Live at Blue LLama (SteepleChase)
  • Robert Jospé Quartet: The Night Sky (self-released)
  • Joyce Manor: I Used to Go to This Bar (Epitaph, EP) **
  • JPEGMafia: Experimental Rap (Peggy/AWAL) **
  • DoYeon Kim: Wellspring (TAO Forms)
  • La La Lars: Lilla Lars (Gothborgen, EP) **
  • Ladytron: Paradises (Nettwerk) **
  • Julian Lage: Scenes From Above (Blue Note) **
  • Brian Landrus: Just When You Think You Know (BlueLand/Palmetto)
  • Scott Lee: Greetings From Florida: Postcards From Paradise (Sunnyside)
  • Janel Leppin: Slowly Melting (Cuneiform) **
  • Los Cenzontles/Taj Mahal/David Hidalgo/Gary Haleamau/Sonny Kim: Adios Ke Aloha: Waves of the Same Sea (Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center) **
  • Nduduzo Makhathini: The Myth We Choose (Blue Note) **
  • Mammal Hands: Circadia (ACT Music) **
  • Bruno Mars: The Romantic (Atlantic) **
  • Kristen Mather de Andrade: Sim Fin (Ansonica)
  • Media Puzzle: New Racehorse (Impressed) **
  • Pat Metheny: Side-Eye III+ (Ubiquity Music) **
  • Mitski: Nothing's About to Happen to Me (Dead Oceans) **
  • Ashley Monroe: Dear Nashville (Mountainrose Sparrow) **
  • Van Morrison: Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge (Townsend Music/Orangefield) **
  • Fabiano do Nascimento & Vittor Santos E Orquestra: Vila (Far Out) **
  • Negative Press Project: Friction Quartet (Envelopmental Music)
  • The New Gypsies: The New Gypsies Featuring Vic Juris (2017, SteepleChase) **
  • Maisy Owen: Dark on a Sunny Day (Tompkins Square) **
  • Poppy: Empty Hands (Sumerian) **
  • Benjie Porecki: Faster Than We Know (Funklove Productions)
  • Chris Potter: Alive With Ghosts Today (Edition) **
  • Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: Arsenio and Beyond: Live at the Bronx Music Hall (Jazzheads)
  • Schapiro 17: Best Laid Plans (Summit)
  • Brandon Seabrook: Hellbent Daydream (Pyroclastic)
  • Noé Sécula/Jorge Rossy: A Sphere Between Other Obsessions (Fresh Sound New Talent) **
  • Serengeti: Symphony of Psalms (CC King) **
  • Serokolo 7: Maramfa Musick Pro (Nyege Nyege Tapes) **
  • Shabaka: Of the Earth (Shabaka) **
  • Aaron Shaw: And So It Is (Leaving) **
  • The Sleeveens: National Anthem (Goner) **
  • Slut Intent: Slutworld (self-released, EP) **
  • Snail Mail: Ricochet (Matador) **
  • Karen Stachel, Norbert Stachel & LehCats: Live @ the Breakroom With Giovanni Hidalgo (Purple Room Productions, 2CD)
  • Station Model Violence: Station Model Violence (Anti Fade) **
  • Matthew Stevens: Matthew Stevens (Candid) **
  • Harry Styles: Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. (Erskine/Columbia) **
  • Craig Taborn: Dream Archives (ECM) **
  • Taroug: Chott (Denovali) **
  • Vance Thompson: Lost and Found (Moondo)
  • Thundercat: Distracted (Brainfeeder) **
  • Mark Turner: Patternmaster (ECM) **
  • Udeigwe: Four Lemmas (LU Factors) **
  • Gregory Uhlmann: Extra Stars (International Anthem) **
  • Karsten Vogel: Late Night Ballads (Storyville) **
  • Jessie Ware: Superbloom (EMI) **
  • Weird Nightmare: Hoopla (Sub Pop) **
  • Rich Willey: Laid Back Vol. 1 (Boptism)
  • Steve Wilson: Enduring Sonance (Smoke Sessions) **
  • Zen Zadravec: New Paradigm (Marmite)
B
  • Wayne Alpern: Varieties & Extravaganzas (Henri Elkan Music)
  • Wendy Eisenberg: Wendy Eisenberg (Joyful Noise) **
  • David Friedman/Tony Miceli: Glow (SteepleChase) **
  • Friko: Something Worth Waiting For (ATO) **
  • Tigran Hamasyan: Manifeste (Naïve) **
  • David Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7: Home for Dinner (Org Music) **
  • Erica von Kleist: Picc Pocket (self-released)
  • Jason Kruk: Beyond the Veil (SunGoose)
  • Los Thuthanaka: Wak'a (self-released, EP) **
  • Tal Mashiach: Who's Around? (Anzic)
  • The Monochrome Set: Lotus Bridge (Tapete) **
  • Neurosis: An Undying Love for a Burning World (Neurot) **
  • Nubiyan Twist: Chasing Shadows (Strut) **
  • Beto Paciello: The Stoic Suite (Moons Arts)
  • Chenxi Pan: This Very Moment (Origin)
  • Shane Parish: Autechre Guitar (Palilalia) **
  • Maria Schneider Orchestra: American Crow (ArtistShare, EP) **
  • Dave Schumacher & Cubeye: Agua Con Gas (Cubeye Music)
  • Shalosh: What We Are Made Of (ACT Music) **
  • Tyshawn Sorey: Monochromatic Life (Afterlife) (Dacamera) **
  • Carolyn Trowbridge: Found Memories (self-released)
B-
  • Flea: Honora (Nonesuch) **
  • Paul Kahn: Willingness (Carl Cat, EP)
  • Michael Moody: The Ecstasy of Love (self-released)
  • They Might Be Giants: Eyeball (Idlewild, EP) **
C+
C

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.

A
A-
  1. Art Pepper: Everything Happens to Me: 1959 Live at the Cellar (Omnivore, 4CD) **
  2. Joe Henderson: Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase (1978, Resonance, 2CD)
  3. The Lawrence Marable Quartet: Tenorman (1956, Jazz: West/Blue Note) **
  4. Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical: Galaxia Tropical (Analog Africa) **
  5. Sunny Murray/Sabu Toyozumi: Sun's Blessings (1999, NoBusiness)
  6. James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet: These Are Soulful Days (2021, TAO Forms) **
  7. Tyrone Washington: Natural Essence (1967, Blue Note Tone Poet) **
  8. Joe Henderson Quartets: Tetragon (1967-68, Craft) **
  9. Cecil Taylor New Unit: Words & Music: The Last Bandstand (2016, Fundacja Słuchaj) **
  10. Mal Waldron: Stardust & Starlight: At the Jazz Showcase (1979, Resonance)
  11. Antoine Dougbé: Antoine Dougbé Et L'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou (1977-82, Analog Africa) **
  12. Duke Ellington: Copenhagen 1964 (Storyville) **
  13. Cecil Taylor Unit: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (Elemental Music, 2CD)
  14. Les Rallizes Dénudés: Disque 4: '76 Studio Et Live (Temporal Drift) **
  15. Louis Stewart: Joyce Notes (1982, Livia) **
  16. Daniel Carter/Sabir Mateen/William Parker/Lou Grassi: Keeping It in Context (1996, NoBusiness)
  17. Kenny Barron/Ray Drummond/Ben Riley: So Many Lovely Things: Live in Brecon (1995, Elemental Music, 2CD)

Pending

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

  • Tom Ricci: Happening in Buenos Aires: Live at Borges 1975 (self-released) [06-20]
  • Satoko Fujii: Satoko Fujii's Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra (2014, Libra, 2CD) [07-10]

Also Noted:

B+(***)
  • Angine De Poitreau: Vol. 1 (2024, Spectacles Bonzaï) **
  • Johannes Bauer/Michael Griener/Olaf Rupp: Aufsturz (2007, Scatter Archive) **
  • Marion Brown: Awofofora (1976, Aguirre) **
  • Eddie Condon: Surprise! Eddie Condon at Town Hall, c. April 1944 (1944, Jazz Lives) **
  • Bill Evans: At the BBC (1965, Elemental Music)
  • Fight the Fire: Digital Reggae, Conscious Roots and Dub in Nigeria 1986-91 (Soundway) **
  • Bennie Green: Back on the Scene (1958, Blue Note) **
  • Muriel Grossmann: Quartet (2008, Modernistas) **
  • Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra: Vol. 1: Concert À Prades-Le-Lez (1974, Souffle Continu) **
  • Ahmad Jamal: At the Jazz Showcase: Live in Chicago (1976, Resonance)
  • Yusef Lateef: Alight Upon the Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase (1975, Resonance, 3CD)
  • Hank Mobley: Hank (1957, Blue Note) **
  • The Oscar Peterson Trio: At Baker's Keyboard Lounge: The Complete Recordings (1960, Verve, 2CD) **
  • Tom Raworth & Peter Brötzmann: No Hard Feelings: For Steve Lacy (2005, Corbett vs. Dempsey) **
  • Dick Spottswood & Tompkins Square Present . . . 1925 Songs (Tompkins Square) **
  • Vardis: 100 M.P.H. '79 Revisited (1978-80, High Roller) **
B+(**)
  • Marion Brown: Live in Europe 1968 & 1972 (NoBusiness)
  • Terry Callier: At the Earl of Old Town (1967, Time Traveler, 2CD)
  • Marty Ehrlich/Julius Hemphill: Circle the Heart (1982, Relative Pitch) **
  • Pierre Favre Trio: Bird Food (1968, Songs) **
  • Grupo Um: Nineteen Seventy Seven (1977, Far Out) **
  • Roy Hargrove: Bern (2000, Time Traveler)
  • Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra: Vol. 2: Concert À Prades-Le-Lez (1974, Souffle Continu) **
  • Freddie King: Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Pulsations Concert (Elemental Music, 2CD)
  • Daunik Lazro/Joëlle Léandre/Paul Lovens: For Baritone Sax, Double Bass & Drumset (2013, Relative Pitch) **
  • Doug MacDonald Trio: Live in Beverly Hills (2012, DMAC Music)
  • Charlie Mariano/Sal Nistico: Barcelona Meeting (1989, Fresh Sound) **
  • Lee Morgan: City Lights (1957, Blue Note) **
  • Red Norvo: The Secret Session (1942, Dot Time) **
  • Michel Petrucciani: Kuumbwa (1987, Elemental Music, 2CD)
  • John Prine: Live at Old Town School of Folk (2010, Oh Boy) **
  • Paul Ricci: The Path (1996-2021, Origin)
  • This Is Lorelei: Box for Buddy, Box for Star [Super Deluxe] (Double Double Whammy, 2CD) **
  • Twisted Teens: Blame the Clown (2025, Jazz Life) **
  • The Visitors [Earl & Carl Grubbs]: Motherland (1975, Craft) **
B+(*)
  • Kaiso Power: Sound Revolution in Trinidad 1970-1980 (Soundway) **
  • John Taylor With Stan Sulzmann: Quintessence (1987, Jazz in Britain) **
  • John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite (1989-2024, Acoustical Concepts)
  • Miroslav Vitous: Mountain Call (2003-10, ECM) **
B
B-