AllMusic 2014 Year in Review
Favorite Jazz Albums
Big names like Branford Marsalis, Jason Moran and Nels Cline make appearances on our list of best jazz albums of the year, alongside younger artists like Theo Croker, Tumi Mogorosi and Hiromi.
Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra / Arturo O'Farrill
Buoyed by guests and 28 percussion instruments, this date celebrates the drum as a cultural force in a spirited, wide-ranging program of big-band jazz.
A deep dive into Cuba's vast musical variety and wound in a thoroughly modern, utterly enchanting mix of originals, folk songs, and classics.
The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
On his sophomore Blue Note date, this trumpeter puts the emphasis on his bold and diverse compositions to thrilling effect.
The guitarist and loop-meister has made a big splash on the D.C. experimental music scene; here's the evidence why.
Arild Andersen / Tommy Smith / Paolo Vinaccia
The second offering by this trio was recorded in a studio; it's more exploratory, lyric, and deeply satisfying.
Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro
Pianist Billy Childs celebrates the music of the late folksinger Laura Nyro.
Billy Hart Quartet / Billy Hart
This experienced quartet delivers expansive, disciplined group interplay in composition and improvisation over eight tunes.
In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral
The great saxophonist adds depth and breadth in a new chapter of his long career by delivering a stunning solo concert.
Brian Blade / Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band
On its fourth album, the band returns to Blue Note and goes deeper into its exploration of song forms through modern jazz.
Morning Forest aka Nose Up Bottom Down
Colorful, vibrant, and often rhythmically charged large-ensemble jazz influenced by the likes of Gil Evans and Charles Mingus.
On its sixth studio album, this Norwegian trio comes across with more disciplined writing, a bigger sonic palette, and wider horizons.
This volume was taken from the same sessions that resulted in the duo's lovely 2010 offering Jasmine.
An inimitable spin on the sax-bass-drums trio form, covering Ornette, Coltrane, and even "All of Me" along with the reedman's spirited originals.
A buoyant celebration inspired by the organ jazz of Jimmy Smith and the joyous New Orleans second-line tradition.
Pérez explores the folkloric traditions of his homeland with a mix of jazz, classical, and Latin American sounds.
Cosmic Lieder: The Darkseid Recital
Three years after their auspicious debut, the pair deliver a brilliant live offering compiled from two years of performances.
David Sanborn / Joey DeFrancesco / Bobby Hutcherson
A swinging hard bop and soul-jazz-inflected date that harks back to classic '60 and '70s Blue Note albums.
The ECM debut by this up-and-coming pianist offers a bold jazzman's take on Afro-Cuban ritual music that is at once striking and deeply moving.
Edward Simon / Edward Simon & Ensemble Venezuela
Pianist/composer/arranger Edward Simon and his Ensemble Venezuela create a vibrant meld of jazz and Venezuelan folk forms.
On her return to original material, the Canadian pianist and songwriter delivers a striking new direction. Lionel Loueke guests.
Adventurous, organic music performed in front of a warmly receptive audience by a band that never fails to swing
The adept jazz pianist delivers her first quintet album, featuring trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and others.
On her third album with this trio, the pianist delivers genuine surprise with advanced compositions and colorful grooves.
Returning to the world of Italian opera, Bo van de Graff and company celebrate Verdi's 200th birthday in freewheeling Dutch jazz style.
Beating the Teens: Songs of Steve Lacy
Edgy, experimental group once again pays homage to the late forward-thinking jazz saxophonist.
The quartet's sophomore offering builds on the strengths of its debut with tunes that meld near pop accessibility with modern jazz sophistication.
All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller
A marvelous tribute that still retains its own shape and coherency.
Pelt pushes the boundaries of jazz with deep fusion and electronica influences.
A jazz saxophonist's loving tribute to his daughter who was killed in the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012.
John Medeski / Matt Wilson Quartet
A joyous mix of the jazz tradition, both avant-garde and swinging, that makes the most of Wilson and Medeski's influences.
To Future Memories is a marvelous offering -- Its roots may lie in outside jazz, but its discipline and songlike qualities are numerous and profound.
Subtle, beautifully performed collaboration between the influential jazz pianist and bassist.
Klaus Gesing / Glauco Venier / Norma Winstone
The trio's third offering poignantly juxtaposes provocatively reimagined covers against their trademark originals.
This Norse sax-guitar-drums power trio delivers an exciting debut that walks the line between electric jazz, prog rock, and metal.
Now featuring Dave Liebman, the freewheeling trio still sounds like a larger band thanks to mastery of live electronics and looping.
Mark Turner Quartet / Mark Turner
Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin's dystopian novel, Turner delivers this deeply thoughtful pianoless quartet recording.
On this captivating solo outing, the pianist revisits and re-envisions some of his musical travels and juxtaposes them with bracing new tunes.
Michael Formanek / Tomas Fujiwara / Mary Halvorson / Thumbscrew
Three top avant jazzers with decades of experience among them create a distinctive band identity on Thumbscrew's 2014 debut.
Michael Mantler / Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra: Update
Forty-five years after the original, the composer profoundly re-envisions his tunes for a new generation, adding period material never before recorded.
An excellent conversational meeting between two very different jazz guitarists that juxtaposes energy and ideas in ten colorful presentations.
The Nels Cline Singers fifth album shows that they're still making some of the most interesting, adventurous, genre-smashing music of the early 21st century.
The Italian bandleader and composer creates a classic-sounding, seamless integration of jazz, Latin, Brazilian, and soul.
Swinging, expressive, harmonically advanced chamber jazz from Wogram's longstanding quartet and three empathetic string players.
On his Blue Note debut, the noted drummer assembles a killer core band and three special vocal guests to deliver an ambitious, affirmative set.
Pat Metheny / Pat Metheny Unity Group
The group's stellar sophomore effort showcases a quintet as informed by lyric feel, and emotional expression as sophistication.
On her fine Sony debut, the violinist explores the folk traditions of the American South.
On his debut for Resonance Records, the iconic accordionist and his quintet deliver a gorgeous program of international jazz standards and originals.
Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project
Using Catlett's art as inspiration, Reid composed these songs that touch upon swinging post-bop and gospel, spirituals, and classical music.
A simply irresistible high-energy avant jazz-rock quartet album from Belgium, suitable for retaining on hard drives everywhere.
Slawomir Kurkiewicz / Michal Miskiewicz / Trygve Seim / Marcin Wasilewski / Jacob Young
On his third ECM date, the Norwegian guitarist showcases a fine new quintet with Trygve Seim and pianist Marcin Wasilewski's trio.
On her OKeh debut, the American vocalist and songwriter delves deeply into her direct experience with Nigerian music and culture.
Using his decade-long trio and special guests Mark Turner and Bill Frisell, the Italian pianist delivers an excellent collection of colorful new material.
Steven Bernstein / Henry Butler / The Hot 9
The NOLA pianist and New York trumpeter/arranger initiate the rebirth of Impulse! with a swinging party of visionary reads of early jazz and blues.
The jazz trumpeter's funky, soul- and hip-hop infused Blue Note debut produced by vocalist Jose James.
Six months after their rigorous reading of The Rite of Spring, the Minnesota trio returns to its own musical universe with a bracing set of originals.
The transatlantic sextet of avant electric jazz heavyweights careens between chaos and calm on its freewheeling second live album.
The Portland creative jazz quintet -- plus strings and bandoneon -- defy expectations with an appealing, wide-ranging stylistic blend.
Here the Canadian sextet and friends deliver their most sophisticated recording to date, yet never sacrifice groove for ambition.
The trumpeter's vibrant, '70s jazz fusion-infused third album, with production and vocals from Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Tord Gustavsen / Tord Gustavsen Quartet
The pianist's quartet expands its physicality and harmonic palette on this compelling set without sacrificing its lyric core.
A fully realized, beautifully played, inspiring modern jazz that uses the music's post-1960 history to craft a statement as timeless as its spiritual subject.
These dynamite suites are fantastically performed by the composer, Henry Threadgill, Jack DeJohnette, and John Lindberg.
Field Notes extends the B-3 trio tradition by using the rudiments of greasy tuneology in tandem with a wider jazzman's palette of colors and textures.
The second album from the jazz producer, songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist is richer, more imaginative than her MOBO-nominated debut.