AllMusic 2015 Year in Review
Favorite Jazz Albums
Works featuring Chick Corea, Kenny Wheeler, John Scofield, David Sanborn, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny and Charlie Hunter headline our list of the year's best jazz albums.
Sophisticated, accomplished collection of straight-ahead acoustic jazz from the pianist, with guests including saxophonist Benny Golson.
Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra / Arturo O'Farrill
Cuba: The Conversation Continues
Recorded in Havana with a large, sophisticated, and celebratory cast of Cuban and American composers and musicians.
Andrew Bishop / Bishop/Cleaver/Flood
Multi-reedist Bishop's second trio recording views a Renaissance composer and modern domestic life through an avant jazz prism.
This large-scale work based on Allen Grossman's poetry is a masterful creation of artful sophistication and accessibility.
Sophisticated, jazz, fusion, and R&B-infused sophomore album from the gifted bassist.
Wild Man Dance: Live at Wroclaw Philharmonic, Wroclaw, Poland, November 24, 2013
This breathtaking concert captures the premiere of the saxophonist's six-part suite with an international cast.
Charlie Hunter / Charlie Hunter Trio
The guitarist's great album harks back to a time when jazz was actually popular music and the song came ahead of the players.
Compiled from over seven years of concerts, this set offers inspired evidence of two brilliant musicians in intimate dialogue.
The Subliminal and the Sublime
Inspired by nature, vibraphonist/composer Dingman and his sextet meld gorgeous themes with sparkling, detailed undercurrents.
Chris Potter / Chris Potter's Underground / Chris Potter Underground Orchestra
The saxophonist adds two bassists, a vibraphonist, and a string quartet to his core group to deliver a remarkable, expansive set of new compositions.
Highly inventive, atmospheric, and stylistically varied sophomore outing from the sax-and-guitar duo.
The jazz pianist pairs with bassist David Williams and drummer Victor Lewis for his colorful, swinging HighNote debut.
Salvant dazzles your ears while breaking your heart on this romantic, virtuosic follow-up to WomanChild.
A hallucinatory and surprisingly organic collaboration between the trumpeter and electronic musician Shigeto.
The saxophonist celebrates his 40th anniversary as a bandleader, re-teams with Marcus Miller, and issues a killer set of grooves and ballads.
David Torn explores the outer limits of electric guitar and looping on Only Sky.
The singer, songwriter, producer, and arranger offers an encounter with musical traditions of Africa and the Caribbean via spiritual L.A. soul.
Exploding Star Orchestra / Rob Mazurek
Ambitious intergalactic electro-acoustic avant jazz opera continuing to document Chicago-based composer Rob Mazurek at his creative peak.
Originally recorded live in the studio, Thomas Strønen's extensive post-production results in the band's most groove-oriented effort.
Frankfurt Radio Bigband / John Hollenbeck / hr-Bigband
A second set of Hollenbeck's favorites in shimmeringly beautiful arrangements for large ensemble and vocalists.
Gary Burton / Jan Garbarek / Pat Metheny / The SWR Big Band
This tribute to the great bassist includes soloists Pat Metheny and Gary Burton backed by the SWR Big Band.
Second installment of snappy vintage jazz from the late '20s arranged for Brooklyn-based nonet by bandleader/trumpeter Brian Carpenter.
This monumental, wildly successful meeting of two iconic guitarists was cut live in the studio with a large backing group using scant arrangements.
Invisible Astro Healing Rhythm Quartet
Second album from a Bakersfield-based group who play a refined brand of Ethio-inspired spiritual jazz.
The ECM debut of this Danish guitarist with bassist Thomas Morgan and a drummer is remarkable for its understated ideas.
James Falzone / The Renga Ensemble
James Falzone's formidable clarinet/saxophone sextet melds individual and collective artistry in a feast for avant jazz reed lovers.
James Hughes / James Hughes-Jimmy Smith Quintet / Jimmy Smith Quintet
On its second album, this Detroit quintet display growing confidence with a modern meld of hard- and post-bop.
Jeff Lorber / The Jeff Lorber Fusion
Modal grooves and funky vamps make this set -- with guests Bob Mintzer and Robben Ford -- a winner.
Tales, Musings, and Other Reveries
A bold, stylistically adventurous album featuring the trumpeter's distinctive two-drummer band.
Joey Baron / Marc Copland / Gary Peacock / Gary Peacock Trio
Legendary bassist celebrates his 80th birthday with a fine trio date playing career milestones and new tunes.
Scofield reunites his '90s quartet with saxophonist Joe Lovano for a creatively inspired, emotionally resonant session.
To celebrate the jazz legend's 100th birthday, the singer and a killer trio deliver a riveting set in tribute to her influence and legacy.
A massive, accessible, revelatory debut by the veteran L.A. saxophonist, his large band, strings, and a choir.
At 70, the pianist changes his method to produce a new solo work culled from five improvised performances.
Kenny Wheeler / Kenny Wheeler Quintet
Poignant, lyrical final studio album from the acclaimed avant-garde jazz trumpeter.
Kris Davis / Kris Davis Infrasound
The creative jazz pianist premieres her improvisatory, rocked-up, and deeply vibrational octet featuring four bass clarinets.
A yearning, literate collection of songs from around the world held together by Elling's nuanced, lyrical vocals.
Reunited with his longtime trio, the Beninese guitarist dazzles with a live-in-the-studio concert of all new material.
With an all-star international cast, the bassist creates massive grooves and infectious melodies to link the past to the future.
Marta Sánchez / Marta Sánchez Quintet
The debut album by the Madrid-born pianist/composer's N.Y.C.-based quintet delivers creative jazz with both nuance and adventurousness.
The Norwegian trumpeter and quintet beautifully illustrates a musical journey from his homeland to North America.
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Metropole Orkest / Snarky Puppy
Brooklyn's jazz-funk heroes team with a symphony orchestra and swing hard in an ambitious groovefest.
The pianist leads yet another exemplary creative jazz quintet, with music inspired by Uruguayan author, historian, and journalist Eduardo Galeano.
Covered: The Robert Glasper Trio Recorded Live at Capitol Studios
Reunited with his original acoustic trio, the pianist successfully grafts stylish pop and R&B song forms onto jazz.
Utilizing granular elements of Parker's music, Mahanthappa crafts an ecstatic tribute to the legendary bop saxophonist.
Sidsel Endresen / Stian Westerhus
The second recorded meeting between these two improvising powerhouses was cut live in a recording. The result is breathtaking.
Sound Prints / Dave Douglas / Joe Lovano
Sound Prints: Live at Monterey Jazz Festival
Live album debut from the Douglas/Lovano-led group featuring two newly commissioned songs by saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
Stanley Clarke / Biréli Lagrène / Jean-Luc Ponty
This acoustic trio offers a relaxed, swinging set of standards and originals that showcases the warm side of musical virtuosity.
Brotherlee Love: Celebrating Lee Morgan
A soulful, swaggering homage to the late jazz trumpet legend Lee Morgan.
Inspired collaboration between the genre-bending piano trio and the acclaimed jazz saxophonist.
The cutting-edge sax-bass-drums trio continues to explore the nexus between creative jazz and electronica on its second Cuneiform release.
The Canadian sextet uses Afro-beat as a launch pad for hard-grooving explorations of Latin, Caribbean, and Ivorian club sounds.
After a series of collaborative albums, the Swedish avant jazz-funk trio delivers a houserocking gem.
Tim Berne / Tim Berne's Snakeoil
With the addition of guitarist Ryan Ferreira, the saxophonist's band dynamically explores space, texture, and expansive lyric structures.
The pianist's long-standing trio expertly demonstrate the concept that "a break in music is still music: a span of time in which to act."