The AllMusic 2022
Year In Review
The coexistence of traditional sounds and innovative directions are the hallmarks of the genre, and are exemplified in our favorite jazz albums of the year. Recordings from legends like Mal Waldron and Wadada Leo Smith sit alongside pioneers The Comet is Coming (pictured) and Ebi Soda to represent some of the best of this year.
Alina Bzhezhinska & the HipHarpCollective / Alina Bzhezhinska / Hip Harp Collective
Reflections
Following Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her ensemble deliver a tour de force of jazz past, present, and future.
Angelica Sanchez
Sparkle Beings
A maverick exploration of the pianist's influences, featuring two rhythm section icons.
Anteloper
Pink Dolphins
The duo of trumpeter jaimie branch and drummer Jason Nazary bring in producer Jeff Parker to sculpt an album of synth-adorned subaquatic free jazz.
Barney McAll
Precious Energy
After three decades as a bandleader, sideman, soloist, and composer, the Australian pianist delivers his sun-drenched, spiritual magnum opus.
Binker & Moses
Feeding the Machine
The English duo expands to a trio with electronicist Max Luthert, weaving an intoxicating, fully improvised meld of sounds, textures, and grooves.
Binker Golding
Dream like a Dogwood Wild Boy
The U.K.-based saxophonist crisscrosses jazz, blues, Americana, soul, and gospel, leading a quintet anchored by pianist Sarah Tandy.
Brandon Coleman
Interstellar Black Space
Vocoder-equipped keyboardist returns with his highly energetic, feel-good third LP as a leader, joined by a large cast including Kamasi Washington.
Brian Blade / Christian McBride / Brad Mehldau / Joshua Redman
LongGone
Organic, jovial interplay marks the second album from the saxophonist's reunited '90s quartet.
Charles Lloyd
Trios: Sacred Thread
The final offering in the saxophonist's Trio of Trios project features him in the company of percussionist Zakir Hussain and guitarist Julian Lage.
Charlie Gabriel
Eighty Nine
At 89 years of age, the Preservation Hall saxophonist makes his ebullient solo debut.
Ches Smith
Interpret It Well
The drummer/composer and co. explore eventual, non-linear musical narratives on this sophisticated set.
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Ghost Song
The Grammy-winning vocalist showcases her broad influences and poignant lyricism on her first album for the Nonesuch label.
Ebi Soda
Honk If You're Sad
The second studio album from the boundlessly creative British jazz quintet, whose influences include dub, ambient, post-punk, and U.K. drill.
Emile Parisien
Louise
The French saxophonist showcases his globally minded sextet with bold and hypnotic compositions.
Fred Hersch / Enrico Rava
The Song is You
An intimate and unpredictable duo album featuring the Italian trumpet icon and the acclaimed pianist.
Gerald Clayton
Bells on Sand
A deeply dreamlike and poetic album of duo and trio performances informed by the pianist's classical influences.
Harish Raghavan
In Tense
The New York bassist delivers an imaginative and reflexive therapeutic second outing as bandleader.
Immanuel Wilkins
The 7th Hand
On his sophomore offering, the alto saxophonist and composer asks and entertains an audacious question: What if God joined the band?
Jakob Bro / Joe Lovano
Once Around the Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian
An homage to the boundaryless work of the late drummer Paul Motian, with whom Lovano and Bro worked.
Jameszoo
Blind
A challenging yet fascinating fusion of avant-jazz and experimental electronics, with guests including Evan Parker and Dorian Concept.
Janel Leppin
Ensemble Volcanic Ash
The cellist debuts her ensemble's deeply textural blend of avant-garde jazz, classical, and noise rock.
Jeff Parker
Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy
Recorded over three years during a club residency with a smoking ensemble, this is the guitarist's most mysterious and groove-laden offering.
Joel Ross
The Parable of the Poet
The vibraphonist leads his octet on this evocative, spiritually minded album-length suite.
Joey Alexander
Origin
The pianist comes into his own on this soulful and enveloping album of all-original post-bop.
John Beasley / Cedric Hanriot / Maria Mendes / Metropole Orkest / Jasper Somsen
Saudade, Colour of Love
A lush Brazilian jazz collaboration between the Portuguese vocalist, Walter Beasley, and the Dutch Metropole Orkest.
John Escreet
Seismic Shift
The first-ever trio album from the U.K.-born, L.A.-based pianist is bold and unpredictable.
Julia Hülsmann / Julia Hülsmann Quartet
The Next Door
This 12-track set offers evidence of the abundant musical and aesthetic growth of this quartet, without forsaking their sound signature.
Julian Lage
View With a Room
On his sophomore Blue Note leader date, the guitarist expands his longtime trio with guitarist Bill Frisell in a program of bracing originals.
Julius Rodriguez
Let Sound Tell All
Hypnotic jazz mixed with a post-modern, hip-hop, and electronic-influenced production distinguish the genre-bending pianist's Verve debut.
Kirk Knuffke
Gravity Without Airs
An artfully textural double album from the cornetist's trio with pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio.
Kris Davis / Marcus Gilmore / Dave Holland / Harish Raghavan / Joel Ross / Walter Smith III / Matthew Stevens
In Common III
The collaboration between saxophonist Smith and guitarist Stevens takes on mutable atmospheres with bassist Dave Holland.
Makaya McCraven
In These Times
Seven years in the making, this cumulative effort enlists a dozen collaborators who recorded in five studios and four gigs.
Mal Waldron
Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert
A lost solo concert recording from France reveals the pianist at the very height of his improvising powers.
Mark Turner
Return from the Stars
The followup to the saxophonist's 2014 quartet album Lathe of Heaven also draws inspiration from a classic sci-fi novel.
Marta Sánchez
SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)
The Madrid-born, New York-based pianist explores the duality of identity with her boundary-pushing quintet.
Martin Bejerano
#CubanAmerican
The Miami pianist brings his kaleidoscopic world view into sharp focus, blending post-bop jazz, Cuban rhythms, and synthy fusion.
Mary Halvorson
Amaryllis
One of two simultaneously issued albums by the guitarist, this offers compelling new compositions for sextet alone and with a chamber ensemble.
Melissa Aldana
12 Stars
The Chilean-born saxophonist joins Norwegian guitarist Lage Lund for this enveloping, sonically textured quintet album.
Miguel Zenón
Música de las Américas
The alto saxophonist and veteran quartet investigate the cultural history of pre-and post-colonial peoples and places on this ambitious outing.
Myra Melford / Myra Melford's Fire and Water Quintet
For the Love of Fire and Water
The recorded debut of the pianist's all-woman supergroup combines formal composition, scripted dialogue, and free improvisation.
Nduduzo Makhathini
In the Spirit of Ntu
On his tenth album, the South African pianist and composer sums up his musical philosophy thus far with a star-studded, homegrown cast and guests.
Noah Garabedian
Consider the Stars Beneath Us
The bassist's enveloping quartet album produced by electro-acoustic composer Samuel Adams.
Oded Tzur
Isabela
The second ECM album from the Israeli-born saxophonist and his quartet is brief, emotionally resonant, and revelatory.
Oren Ambarchi
Shebang
A constantly evolving piece divided into several movements, threading together post-minimalism, chamber jazz, ambient country, and more.
RedKoral Quartet / Wadada Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith: String Quartets Nos. 1-12
In celebration of the composer's 80th birthday, Finland's TUM issues this seven-disc box marking the inaugural recording of his work for strings.
Song Yi Jeon ~ Vinicius Gomes / Vinicius Gomes / Song-Yi Jeon
Home
The vocal and guitar duo weave together Brazilian traditions, classical, and ECM-style chamber jazz on their nuanced debut.
Steve Lehman / Sélébéyone
Xaybu: The Unseen
After six years, the provocative international outfit returns to deliver a more abstract, rhythmically intense, and confrontational second album.
Svaneborg Kardyb
Over Tage
Elliptical folk-jazz melodies and ambient soundscapes grounded in steady, IDM-inflected grooves.
The Comet Is Coming
Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam
The fourth album by this futurist electro-jazz trio was improvised over four days, then deconstructed and reassembled into apocalyptic party music.
Theo Croker
Love Quantum
The trumpeter continues to embrace a funky, spiritually minded blend of Afrofuturist jazz and hip-hop on his seventh album.
Timothy Norton
Visions of Phaedrus
The debut sextet album of smoky, enveloping post-bop from the New York bassist.
Tom Skinner
Voices of Bishara
The first album where this storied London drummer assumes a directorial role is subtle and otherworldly, using editing to bend strong jazz performances into unexpected shapes.
Trish Clowes
A View With a Room
The Greenleaf Music debut of the veteran English saxophonist and composer and her killer quartet, My Iris.
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews
Lifted
More than any of his previous albums, this set most closely resembles the unbridled energy of a Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue gig.
Tumi Mogorosi
Group Theory: Black Music
The South African drummer leads a jazz quintet, sextet, and a choir in juxtaposing post-bop, spiritual jazz, and vanguard gospel on this bracing date.
Tyler Mitchell
Dancing Shadows
A truly spirited session led by Sun Ra Arkestra bassist Tyler Mitchell and 97-year-old Marshall Allen, sounding energetic as ever.
Vadim Neselovskyi
Odesa
A loving, gorgeously evocative tribute to the Ukrainian jazz pianist's hometown.
Wadada Leo Smith
The Emerald Duets
TUM Records' final box set commemorating Wadada Leo Smith's 80th birthday includes duos with four spectacular drummers.
William Parker
Universal Tonality
2002 loft recording by the bassist with 16 musicians of varying cultures, ages, and musical comport "breathe together" as improvisers.
