Лучшие джазовые альбомы 2020 по версии AllMusic / Favorite Jazz Albums of 2020
There was no shortage of high-quality jazz in 2020: the Webber/Morris Big Band and Gregg August both tackled how big band music can sound in 2020, while Mary Halvorson, Joel Harrison, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen continued to push the boundaries of jazz guitar, and hip-hop influences weighed heavily on standout albums from Kassa Overall, Takuya Kuroda, and Archie Shepp.
Ambrose Akinmusire - On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment
The trumpeter and his quartet reinforce the sometimes gauzy but always inseparable union of jazz and blues in the Black experience.
Artemis - Artemis
The all women jazz collective's debut showcases their improvisational virtuosity and deeply textured sound.
Avishai Cohen / Big Vicious - Big Vicious
Four albums into a deal with ECM, the trumpeter melts genre boundaries with the band he formed on returning to Israel in 2013.
Brian Blade / Christian McBride / Brad Mehldau / Joshua Redman - RoundAgain
Ebullient interplay and a relaxed intensity mark the reunion of Redman's original '90s acoustic quartet.
Brian Blade / Scott Colley / Wolfgang Muthspiel - Angular Blues
The guitarist resumes his trio explorations for ECM with a diverse, beautifully played program of originals and standards on acoustic and electric guitars.
Butcher Brown - #KingButch
The seasoned Richmond, Virginia jazz-funk quintet consolidate their known powers and reveal new ones on their major-label debut.
Cat Toren - Scintillating Beauty
Hypnotic second album from the Brooklyn-based pianist's group showcasing their spiritual jazz-influenced sound.
Christian McBride - The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons
The bassist movingly frames the words of four iconic Civil Rights leaders with harmonically sophisticated jazz and choral arrangements.
Christian Sands - Be Water
The jazz pianist draws inspiration from the philosophy and skill of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.
Christopher Hollyday / Telepathy - Dialogue
The altoist's second album with his Telepathy ensemble continues his resurgence after a 26-year absence.
Damu the Fudgemunk / Raw Poetic / Archie Shepp - Ocean Bridges
The saxophonist, his nephew Raw Poetic, Damu the Fudgemunk, and a band deliver a seamless, creative, and completely improvised jazz/hip-hop fusion.
Derrick Hodge - Color of Noize
The veteran bassist and producer assembles a new band to record unheard material in the studio, blurring genre boundaries to explore the uncharted.
Diego Urcola Quartet / Diego Urcola - El Duelo
A vibrantly cross-pollinated quartet session spotlighting the longtime creative partnership between Urcola and D'Rivera.
Endless Field - Alive in the Wilderness
The duo's transcendent, ASMR-inducing second album, recorded outdoors at various remote locations in Southern Utah.
Gary Bartz / Maisha - Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions
A deep, joyous set between the legendary American alto saxophonist and London's premier jazz-funk ensemble cut live to disc.
Gilfema - Three
The Lionel Loueke-led trio coalesce their global jazz, Afro-beat, and fusion influences on their inventive third album.
Gregg August - Dialogues On Race, Vol. 1
A sprawling, poignant, and cannily timed modern big band meditation on America's racial tensions that includes vocalists and strings.
Gregory Porter - All Rise
The Grammy-winning singer returns to his original, crossover soul and jazz sound on his romantic, richly produced sixth album.
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen - Ekhidna
Commissioned by the Vossajazz Festival and re-created in the studio, this sextet outing is the fiery guitarist's first outside her longstanding trio.
Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You?
Poet supreme Camae Ayewa and her supporting quartet kick out a second stunning set of furious and grooving free jazz.
Jason Miles / Kind of New - Black Magic
On this groove-drenched set of contemporary jazz and funky fusion the band pulls out all the stops.
Jimmy Greene - While Looking Up
The saxophonist offers a buoyant, harmonically nuanced album as an antidote to our divisive and troubled times.
Jimmy Heath - Love Letter
A romantic, gorgeously understated final album from the esteemed jazz saxophonist.
Joel Harrison - America at War
On his second large-ensemble recording, the New York guitarist and composer offers a meditation on America's obsession with armed conflict.
Joel Ross - Who Are You?
The vibraphonist's sophomore album of expansive, harmonically and tonally colorful jazz.
John Scofield / Bill Stewart / Steve Swallow - Swallow Tales
An intimate and textured trio date from the guitarist, spotlighting bassist Steve Swallow's compositions.
Jyoti - Mama, You Can Bet!
Georgia Anne Muldrow's third jazz-rooted album (under the name given to her by Alice Coltrane) is just as distinctive as the first two.
Kandace Springs - The Women Who Raised Me
Pivotal vocalists spanning genres and generations are honored in fine style on the Blue Note singer and pianist's third album.
Kassa Overall - I Think I'm Good
The New York-based drummer and backpack producer takes on the subject of mental illness while further dissolving boundaries between jazz and hip-hop.
Keith Jarrett - Budapest Concert
An improvised concert from perhaps his final European tour finds the pianist keenly exploring the musical spirits that have informed his career.
Kurt Elling - Secrets Are the Best Stories
Teaming with pianist Danilo Pérez and others, the singer examines poignant topics on a beautiful but uncharacteristically melancholy set.
Kurt Rosenwinkel - Angels Around
The guitarist's second album on his own Heartcore Records is an intimate, endlessly inventive trio session.
Lara Driscoll - Woven Dreams
A delicately layered, sophisticated debut from the Chicago jazz pianist and her trio.
Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings E&F Sides
A set of 14 unreleased pieces for the soundtrack to the 2018 Universal Beings tour documentary add up to much, much more than a set of extras.
Marcin Wasilewski / Joe Lovano / Marcin Wasilewski Trio - Arctic Riff
Evocative and harmonically nuanced meeting between the sax heavyweight and the Polish pianist.
Maria Schneider Orchestra / Maria Schneider - Data Lords
The composer and her 18-piece orchestra offer a double-length meditation on humans as the battlefield between natural and digital worlds.
Mary Halvorson / Mary Halvorson's Code Girl - Artlessly Falling
The second provocative offering from the guitarist's vocal group features new members and three cameos from Robert Wyatt.
Moses Boyd - Dark Matter
A debut that represents everything great about jazz eclecticism. Cool, relevant, and vital in combining the strands of disparate musical communities.
Nubya Garcia - Source
After two acclaimed EPs, the London-based saxophonist's debut album weds striking modern jazz to Afro-Caribbean musical traditions.
Oded Tzur - Here Be Dragons
On his ECM debut, the composer and saxophonist leads his quartet through a series of intimate, resonant, and elegant musical conversations.
Pat Metheny - From This Place
The jazz composer and guitarist assembles a new quartet and orchestra on his first recording of new studio material in six years.
Romain Collin / Bill Frisell / Grégoire Maret - Americana
A love letter to the culture and music of the U.S. from two top-notch European-born jazz talents and an iconic American guitarist.
Ron Miles - Rainbow Sign
Composed as his father was dying, the trumpeter and his all-star quintet provide an intimate dialogue of emotional and spiritual resonance.
Sam Gendel - Satin Doll
A futuristic jazz standards album from the saxophonist and electronic musician that pushes the songs into ever-more-cosmic galaxies.
Shabaka & the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here by History
On their Impulse! debut, Shabaka Hutchings' South African band delve deeply into spiritual and Township music to prepare humanity for extinction.
Sunny Jain - Wild Wild East
The drummer explodes the American cowboy and immigrant archetypes with his kaleidoscopic mix of Bollywood and Spaghetti Western-inspired themes, surf rock, Indian classical, and jazz.
Takuya Kuroda - Fly Moon Die Soon
The Brooklyn trumpeter continues to expand his hybridized blend of jazz, hip-hop, and acidic, '70s-style funk.
Tani Tabbal / Tani Tabbal Trio - Now Then
The longtime Roscoe Mitchell drummer leads his trio in a vibrant, creative session.
Webber/Morris Big Band / Webber / Anna Webber - Both Are True
The 18-piece New York band makes its debut with an offering that questions and helps to redefine what a big band is.
Yelena Eckemoff - Nocturnal Animals
The Russian-born pianist and composer and her top-flight rhythm section explore the lives of night creatures in a bracing, evocative set.