The spreadsheets get more and more nuanced and my attempts to pare down without missing stuff remain earnest yet quixotic (4-5 full albums and 5-6 partial ones per week on average, though really more than that with some gaps where my ears are consumed by things related to performing or teaching). I’m so awed by all the great music out there that I’ll continue my trend of identifying some favorites even as I lament all the great music that I’ve left out of this list and/or marginalized to the “honorable mention” category. The supply-and-demand does not favor the many artists pouring their life’s blood into their recordings, and I salute every one of those artists regardless of how I feel about (or whether I had the chance to hear) their music.

As for my annual quasi-objectivity disclaimer: I won’t/can’t cite my own Live at the Side Door trio album. Likewise I’ll abstain from including things I contributed to, whether prominently (I played organ and electric piano on Trance Macabre’s debut album and piano and organ on several singles by the Austin, TX group the Tonk Honkers) or not (I wrote the liner notes to the great saxophone quartet record by Radam Schwartz and was one of the dozens of musicians playing avant-garde smooth jazz on the last track of Jon Irabagon’s delightful Recharge the Blade record).

Here we go, in no particular order:

1 ) John Chin: Journey of Han

There were a number of jazz albums this year that compellingly yet subtly engaged with the notion of “message music,” including work by George Colligan’s Phyllis Wheatley Project (released just before the end of 2023 so I can cite it here), Annie Chen, Mike Holober, Jamie Baum. Pianist John Chin’s reflection on life as an Asian-American jazz musician would be compelling if only on that front, and if you’ve ever heard him play the piano (accompanied here by Jeong Lim Yang and Jongkuk Kim) it’s no surprise that the music itself is brilliant, and the combination is quite moving.

2 ) Jazz Passengers: Big Large: In Memory of Curtis Fowlkes

“Tribute” records can take many forms, from works by famous musicians (like Brian Landrus’s Strayhorn tribute and Conrad Herwig’s McCoy Tyner edition of his “Latin Side” series) to dedications to departed loved ones (Matt Dwonszyk & Friends’s Don DePalma tribute, for example, or Anthony Branker’s moving tribute to his mom). This Jazz Passengers tribute to their co-founder is both and the music is gorgeous and emotionally potent.

3 ) David Hamburger: Parisian Blues

Last year there were a couple all-time classic solo piano records, while in 2024 my favorite one-person records weren’t at the keys, from Sue Foley’s voice-and-guitar tour de force to Jon Irabagon’s soprillo saxophone album recorded munitions bunker in South Dakota. I kept going back to this one by the great fingerstyle bluesman David Hamburger, whose breadth of musical vocabulary and depth of expression are well on display.

4 ) Meg Okura & Kevin Hays: Lingering

Excellent duo records were in ample supply. Some of my faves were Youn Sun Nah’s duets with Jon Cowherd, Mali Obomsawin and Magdalena Abrego, Curtis Nowosad and Andrew Renfroe, Amina Claudine Myers and Wadada Leo Smith, Sean Mason and Catherine Russell, Lucian Ban and Mat Manieri, Chick Corea and Bela Fleck, Vanisha Gould with Chris McCarthy, Milton Suggs with Mike King. The soulful interplay of violinist Okura and pianist Hays kept me coming back.

5 ) Miki Yamanaka: Chance

Great trios, meanwhile, were also plentiful this year. These include less-traditional instrumentation like the trios of Daniel Prim, Dan Weiss, Darius Jones (saxophone, bass, and drums represent their own tradition, mind you) and the late Ron Miles, as well as “typical” piano trios (instrumentation-wise, anyway) led by Luther S Allison, Addison Frei, Lawrence Fields, and Tyshawn Sorey. Miki Yamanaka is a wonderful trio pianist, yet this session (recorded at the famed Van Gelder Studio, alongside Tyrone Allen and her husband, the brilliant Jimmy Macbride) is somehow her first in this format, and her playing and arranging of modern jazz classics are sublime.

6 ) Brenda Earle Stokes: Motherhood

There were a number of jazz vocal (or at least vocal-heavy) albums that I loved this year, including some already mentioned and some gorgeous work by Kelly Green, Allegra Levy, Andrea Wolper, Lisa Rich, Michael Mayo, and Jazzmeia Horn. Brenda Earle Stokes is an authoritative pianist, an expressive and fluid singer, a deep and clever thinker, and a person unafraid to be honest and vulnerable. All of this is abundantly clear on her newest record.

7 ) Mike McGinnis: Outing – Road Trip II

I enjoyed a bunch of big band records (such as those by Dan Pugach and Remy Le Boeuf) and albums by mid-sized groups (particularly those led by Ian Carey and Miguel Zenon) this year, to say nothing of intricately constructed quartet records by Wayne Escoffery and Matt Steckler. If you can listen to the writing on Mike McGinnis’s newest all-star record without smiling, I salute you, and also will ask to read your pulse.

8 ) Zaccai Curtis: Cubop Lives!

The term “Latin Jazz” can be pretty vague and doesn’t always fit cleanly, but some of the records I particularly enjoyed in (more or less) that vein included Afro-Cuban albums by Dave Schumacher and Jonathan Powell and Brazilian work by Amaro Freitas and Renee Rosnes. Zaccai Curtis has amassed an extraordinary track record in this realm (and others) and it is a real treat to hear his piano so prominently featured as he offers a clinic in the traditions and possibilities of Afro-Cuban jazz.

9 ) Jonathan Barber: In Motion

It was a good year for the more electric, funky side of jazz (I won’t call it “fusion” in this context). Ryan Keberle’s Catharsis, Rachel Z, Aaron Parks, Mike Stern, and Brent Birckhead all did compelling work. Jonathan Barber, meanwhile, continues to amass an admirable track record with his Vision Ahead group, here featuring Matt Knoegel, Taber Gable, Matt Dwonszyk, and Andrew Renfroe. As in-demand as he is as a drummer, his voice as a bandleader keeps coming into sharper and sharper focus.

10 ) Monty Alexander: D-Day

There were a good many jazz and jazz-adjacent records this year with intergenerational collaborations between 70-plus musicians and younger collaborators. Kenny Barron, Milton Nascimento (with Esperanza Spalding) and Sun Ra Arkestra (dig 100 year old Marshall Allen blowing his brains out on the opening track in particular) released particularly noteworthy records and I also quite enjoyed those of Abdullah Ibrahim, Charles McPherson, Louis Hayes, and Charles Lloyd. Monty Alexander’s trio record is the icing on the cake (though hopefully far from the last) of the 80-year-old pianist’s extraordinary and diverse career, and it may be his deepest conceptual work yet.

11 ) Joan Armatrading: How Did This Happen and What Does it Now Mean

Speaking of musicians in the over-70 department (non-jazz subcategory), Alejandro Escovedo, Walter Trout, Willie Nelson, and Elizabeth King put out fine work this year. I was anticipating Joan Armatrading’s latest with both eagerness and a little trepidation – would this be the point where the quality of her work would start to move in the wrong direction? Quite the contrary, this is her finest work in years, and the two guitar-shred tracks are a fun bonus.

12 ) Swamp Dogg: Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St

This was my favorite record of the year, period. Enough about age already, but as much justifiable hype as Beyonce got for going country on her wonderful record, Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams, Jr.) was just shy of 82 when he dropped this extraordinarily potent bluegrass album, at times devastating and at times hilarious, and musically flawless throughout. 

13 ) Eric Bibb: In the Real World

I’m going to call this a blues album (folk, singer-songwriter, and other monikers would apply too) and as such it edges out wonderful music by Mdou Moctar, Antar Goodwin, Little Feat, Warren Haynes, Little Freddie King, Cedric Burnside, and Chris Bergson. I’m a longtime Eric Bibb fan and this album is full of message music, both thought provoking and comforting, and his soulful musicianship shines throughout.

14 ) Katherine Paterson: Wake

In the singer-songwriter realm, some of my favorites this year included Cloudbelly, Chris Smither, Maggie Rogers, and Sofia Campoamor. Katherine Paterson’s subtle, literate, and emotionally yearning songs sunk in so deep that it feels like this album has been out for years, but indeed, it’s only been since January.

15 ) Willow: Empathogen

I’m semi-arbitrarily separating out R&B-based singer-songwriter records, whatever that means. What I do know is that Joy Oladokun, Judith Hill, Andromeda Turre, Lizz Wright, and Leyla McCalla are among those who knocked me out this year, but none more than Willow. I’ll sheepishly admit at this point that my skepticism about “nepo babies” made me sleep on her work until such a mass of folks I respect led me to check out this album (and subsequently her Tiny Desk concert) and I was and remain stunned by how soulful, creative, and downright burning this music is.

16 ) Tierra Whack: World Wide Whack

Where is the line between hip-hop-era R&B singer songwriter music and rap? I am absolutely the wrong person to ask, but I’m putting this album (edging out faves from Killer Mike and Doechii) tentatively in the latter category. Whatever it is, it is so fun and creative and deceptively (?) deep. And that’s the conclusion I drew before seeing any of the videos – wow!

17 ) Ethel (with Allison Loggins-Hull): Persist

I have a soft spot for well-written jazz-with-strings, and Bill Frisell, David Friesen, Avery Sharpe, and Ben Kono are among those who did not disappoint with their 2024 albums. In the end, I was particularly enamored of a record outside the jazz world, the latest work by the powerhouse string quartet Ethel with flutist Loggins-Hull and an equally powerful array of composers.

18 ) Bilal (featuring ?uestlove, Common, Robert Glasper, and Burniss Travis): Live at Glasshaus

My own (and my lack of objectivity about it) notwithstanding, some great live records came out this year, including some personal favorites by Natalie Hamilton, Robby Ameen, and Steve Davis. As much as I enjoy Bilal’s studio work, the spontaneity, soul, and rapport on this recording are particularly striking.  

19 ) Alden Hellmuth: Good Intentions

This was a particularly strong year for debut (from a bandleader standpoint) recordings, with Sarah Hanahan, Andrew Wilcox, Gili Lopes, Digonek, Allison Burik, and Neta Ranaan among my personal favorites. Like these artists, Alden Hellmuth isn’t exactly new to the music scene, but the maturity of her voice as a saxophonist and composer is announced particularly strikingly on this record, and the unity of her band on this challenging material is inspiring. 

20 ) Alice Coltrane: Carnegie Hall Concert

There was some really lovely unreleased/historical material that came to light this year. The Joe Henderson/McCoy Tyner live quartet session was justifiably hyped, and I found both pleasure and illumination in the new/old work that was unearthed by Emily Remler, Wayne Shorter, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Joni Mitchell, Pete Townshend, and Neil Young. This album, from a live concert in 1971 featuring Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee, and Ed Blackwell, stands proudly alongside Alice Coltrane’s finest work.

Bonus: 10 additional songs I loved (either singles or tracks from not-otherwise-cited records)

Henry Hall: “Like a Knife” (from Stop Doing Funny Stuff)

New Mosaic: “Don’t Do It” (single)

Freelance: “All I See Is You” (single)

Lalah Hathaway: “I AM” (from Vantablack)

Richard Thompson: “Maybe” (from Ship to Shore)

Norah Jones and BADBADNOTGOOD: “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)” (from Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, Various Artists)

D.D. Jackson featuring Yoon Sun Choi: “So Say I” (from Poetry Project)

George Strait: “You Wreck Me” (from Petty Country, Various Artists)

Matt Wilson: “Feet Music” (from Good Trouble)

Steve Dyer: “Inyembezi” (from Enhlizweni – song stories from my heartland)