"Top Ten" lists often seem rather arbitrary, so here are my favorites out of about a thousand CDs which came my way last year.

Favorite Jazz | Reissues | Northwest | Earlier Picks




artist - album title - label

Small groups

Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts - Scenic Route -Palmetto
Kenny Werner - Lawn Chair Society - Blue Note
Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau - Quartet - Nonesuch
Joe Lovano & Hank Jones - Kids - Live at Dizzy’s Club - Blue Note
Frank Morgan - A Night In the Life - HighNote
Michael Brecker - Pilgrimage - Heads Up
Nordic Connect (Ingrid Jensen) - Flurry - ArtistShare
Jerry Bergonzi - Tenorist - Savant
Various artists - Benny Carter Centennial Project - Evening Star
Joshua Redman - Back East - Nonesuch
John Abercrombie - The Third Quartet - ECM
Niño Josele - Paz - Norte
Eric Rassmussen - School of Tristano - SteepleChase
Dayna Stephens feat. John Scofield - The Timeless Now - CTA
Tom Harrell - Light On - HighNote
Richard Galliano Qrt feat.Gary Burton - If You Love Me - CAM
Oregon - 1000 Kilometers - CAM
Wallace Roney - Jazz - HighNote
Tineke Postma - A Journey That Matters - Foreign Media Jazz
John McLean - Better Angels - Origin
John Scofield - This Meets That - ScoBiz
Ryan Cohan - One Sky - Motema
Manu Katche - Playground - ECM
PJ Perry/ Campbell Ryga - Joined at The Hip - Cellar Live
Deep Blue Organ Trio - Folk Music - Origin
3 Cohens - Braid - Anzic
Jim Snidero - Tippin’ - Savant
Gary Versace - Reminiscence - SteepleChase
Joe Locke Quartet - Sticks and Strings - Jazz Eyes
Brad Goode - Nature Boy - Delmark

Pianists and Friends

Fred Hersch Trio - Night & The Music - Palmetto
Bill Charlap Trio - Live at The Village Vanguard - Blue Note
e.s.t.- Tuesday Wonderland - EmArcy
Enrico Pieranunzi - Live in Japan- CamJazz
Franck Amsallem - A Week In Paris - Nocturne
Steve Kuhn - Pastorale - Sunnyside
Jacky Terrasson - Mirror - Blue Note
Mulgrew Miller Live at The Kennedy Center, Vol. 2 - MaxJazz
Michael Wolff Trio - Jazz, Jazz, Jazz- Wrong
Jean-Michel Pilc- New Dreams - Dreyfus Jazz
McCoy Tyner - Quartet- Half Note/ McCoy Tyner
David Hazeltine - The Inspiration Suite - Sharp Nine
Tardo Hammer - Look Stop & Listen - Sharp Nine

Vocalists

Roberta Gambarini - You Are There - Groovin High
Kurt Elling - Nightmoves - Concord
Tierney Sutton Band - On the Other Side - Telarc
Mark Murphy - Love Is What Stays - Verve
Abbey Lincoln - Sings Abbey - Verve
Jackie Ryan - You and the Night and the Music- OpenArt
Kelly Eisenhour - Seek and Find - BlueJazz
Diane Hubka - Goes To The Movies - 18th & Vine
New York Voices - A Day Like This - MCG
Dee Dee Bridgewater - Red Earth-A Malian Journey - DDB
Freddy Cole - Music Maestro Please - HighNote
Stacey Kent - Breakfast on the Morning Tram - Blue Note
Andy Bey - Ain’t Necessarily So - 12th Street
Dena DeRose - Live at Jazz Standard, Vol. 1- MaxJazz

Big Bands, Large Ensembles

Maria Schneider Orchestra - SkyBlue - ArtistShare
Joe Zawinul / WDR Big Band - Brown Street - Heads Up
Bob Florence Limited Edition - Eternal Licks & Grooves - MAMA
Terence Blanchard- A Tale of God’s Will - Blue Note
Gerald Wilson Orchestra - Montrey Moods - Mac Avenue
Bill Holman Band - Hommage - Jazzed Media
Bennie Wallace - Disorder at The Border - Enja / Justin Time
Pete McGuinness Jazz Orch - First Flight - Summit
Carl Saunders Exploration - The Lost Bill Holman Charts - MAMA

Afro-Cuban & Latin Jazz

Spanish Harlem Orchestra - United We Swing - Six Degrees
Paquito D’Rivera - Funk Tango - Paquito/ Sunnyside
Sammy Figueroa- The Magician - el Mago- Savant
Bobby Sanabria - Big Band Urban Folktales - Jazzheads
José Rizo’s Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars - Tambolero - Saungú
Harvey Wainapel - Amigos Brasileiros - JazzMission

Dexter Gordon - Clubhouse - Blue Note
Frank Foster- Manhattan Fever- Blue Note
Charles Mingus Sextet - Cornell 1964 - Blue Note*
Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods - RCA / Legacy
Nina Simone - Just Like A Woman - RCA / Legacy
Maynard Ferguson - The Essential - Columbia/Legacy (2 CD)
Maynard Ferguson - Message from Birdland - Roulette Jazz
Count Basie - Basie at Birdland - Roulette Jazz
Billy Taylor & Gerry Mulligan - Live at MCG - MCG*
Michel Petrucciani - Piano Solo Complete Concert- Dreyfus Jazz
Roy Haynes - A Life In Time - Dreyfus Jazz (4 discs)
Louis Armstrong - Live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival - MJF *
Thelonious Monk - Live at the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival - MJF *
Dizzy Gillespie -Live at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival - MJF *
Sarah Vaughan - Live at the 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival- MJF *
Charlie Haden - The Best of Quartet West - Verve
Kenny Dorham- Afro Cuban - Blue Note
Herbie Hancock - Takin’ Off - Blue Note
Lee Morgan - Delightfulee- Blue Note
Jimmy Smith - Midnight Special - Blue Note
Sarah Vaughan - The Divine One - Roulette

*historical recording first issued this year

For Northwest jazz fans in particular, here are some of the exceptional releases from artists living in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Victoria.

Thomas Marriott- Both Sides of The Fence - Origin
Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra - Meeting of the Waters - OA 2
Stan Bock Ensemble - Your Check’s In the Mail - OA2
Various HS Bands - School of Jazz - KPLU
Ian McDougall Big Band - No Passport Required - Barbarian
Greg Williamson Pony Boy Large Ensemble - Jazz Traditions - Pony Boy
Vern Sielert Dektet - From There to Here - Pony Boy
Dee Daniels - Jazzinit - Origin
Greta Matassa - The Smiling Hour- Oriigin
Gail Pettis - May I Come In?- OA 2
PJ Perry/Campbell Ryga - Joined at The Hip - Cellar Live
Brent Jensen - One More Mile - Origin
Thomas Marriott - The Cool Season - Origin
Jon Hamar - Hereafter
Tony Grasso - saxophone? Quartet!

Earlier picks: 2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998  1997


Buy any CD on this list and you're guaranteed some great music! Each of these CDs has received frequent airplay on Jazz After Hours and/or Jazz Northwest.

—Jim