Yeah. I know. I’ve been away from the blog since, well, since my last year-end review.
It’s been quite a year folks. A lot of time on the road and a lot of “spare” time devoted to getting CurtJazz Radio back up, running and viable. But you didn’t come here to hear my problems. In the midst of it all, I did manage to hear a good amount of music. Some not so good and some that was very good, to excellent. Those in the latter category are included in the list below.
They are in alphabetical order, by album title. I’ve divided the projects into Instrumental and Vocal. I also wanted to recognize a couple of outstanding EPs, so I did. Each title includes a link that will take you to a place where you can purchase the music, if you feel so moved.
At the bottom of the post are three CD length Spotify playlists, which will give you a chance to sample a track from most of the albums/EPs on our list.
Tracks from all of these albums and EPs will be featured on CurtJazz Radio, from now, through the end of January 2019. CurtJazz Radio, on Live365.com, is always on and always FREE. Click HERE to listen.
I will try to not be such a ghost in 2019.
| Album Title | Artist | Label |
| All in My Mind | Dr. Lonnie Smith | Blue Note |
| Armor of Pride | Black Art Jazz Collective | HighNote |
| Both Directions at Once | John Coltrane | Impulse |
| Christian McBride’s New Jawn | Christian McBride | Mack Avenue |
| Concentric Circles | Kenny Barron Quintet | Blue Note |
| Diamond Cut | Tia Fuller | Mack Avenue |
| Exiled | Thandi Ntuli | Ndlela Music Co. |
| Future is Female | Roxy Coss | Posi-Tone |
| Get It How You Live | Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra | Ropeadope |
| Heaven and Earth | Kamasi Washington | Young Turks |
| In Common | Walter Smith III; Matthew Stevens | Whirlwind |
| In Real Time | John Bailey | Summit |
| In the Moment | Pat Bianchi | Savant |
| Interstellar Adventures | Theo Hill | Posi-Tone |
| Introspection | Roni Ben-Hur and Harvie S | Jazzheads |
| Jazzland | Tim Warfield | Criss Cross |
| Live from San Pedro | Jeff Hamilton Trio | Capri |
| Love Stone | JD Allen | Savant |
| Master’s Legacy Series; Vol. 2 | Emmet Cohen | Cellar Live |
| Modern Flows; Vol. 2 | Marquis Hill | PR |
| Movement | Kobie Watkins Grouptet | Origin |
| Origami Harvest | Ambrose Akinmusire | Blue Note |
| Pardes (Orchard) | Amos Hoffman & Noam Lemish | CD Baby |
| Remember Love | Houston Person and Ron Carter | HighNote |
| Straight Forward | New Faces | Posi-Tone |
| Telepathy | Christopher Hollyday | CD Baby |
| Warriors for Peace | E.J. Strickland Quintet | JamminColorS |
Vocal
| Album Title | Artist | Label |
| Art Market | Sasha Masakowski | Ropeadope |
| Genius of Eddie Jefferson | Allan Harris | Resilience |
| Looking at the Moon | Allegra Levy | Steeplechase |
| Math Camp | Lorraine Feather | CD Baby |
| My Mood is You | Freddy Cole | HighNote |
| Some of That Sunshine | Karrin Allyson | CD Baby |
| Sung with Words | Helen Sung | CD Baby |
| Unbroken | Tiffany Austin | Con Alma |
| Waiting for the Sunrise | Camille Thurman | Chesky |
| The Window | Cecile McLorin Salvant | Mack Avenue |
EPs
| Title | Artist | Label |
| Alfred Sergel IVtet | Alfred Sergel | Self-Release |
| G8S | Giacomo Gates | 9th Note |
Best of the Carolinas
| Title | Artist | Label |
| Cola Jazz II | Cola Jazz | Jangly |
| The Seeker | Thomas Taylor | Self Release |
| Shanghai Decade | Sean Higgins Trio | Self Release |
Let’s start with a confession: I got to hear fewer jazz albums this year than in any year in the past two decades. Which is a shame, because there was a TON of worthwhile music released during the year. My crazy schedule in 2016 often limited me to snippets or tracks from discs that I vowed to get back to, but never did. So, here’s my list of the best albums that I actually got to hear during the year. Also, there’s a track from an extremely promising young artist, who needs to put more on the market, ASAP; a couple of outstanding 2015 releases that didn’t catch my ear until 2016; and finally, a few of the many fine 2016 releases that I plan to catch up with in January:
Curt's Jazz Cafe 