Best Jazz Albums of 2023 - How many do you know?

[ARGewirtz]

The New York Times this morning published an article offering their take on the best jazz albums of 2023. The selections on any annual “ten best list” will always be contentious and I’m sure many of you who read this article (which I’ve attached) will take issue with the choices; however, my reason for posting this goes beyond whether or not you agree with the selections.

Of the ten artists and their albums that are listed, the number of which I’m familiar is a big fat goose egg. As a relative newbie to studying jazz guitar my focus has been on the classics, which begs the question: Am I limiting my learning experience by not paying attention to the growth of the genre beyond its roots?

Best Jazz Albums of 2023 - The New York Times.pdf

[mr. beaumont]

Only 4 out of 10! I gotta get out more.

"Bark Out Thunder" is absolutely HAUNTING. Is it jazz? Who even cares? It's one of the best things I've heard in a few years.

The ones I knew were all from artists I already follow (Adjuah, Ambra, Akinmusire, and Suazo)

Gotta do more following

Now, as for studying the classics...still always a good idea. Most if not all of these players did. Personally, I think it's pretty hard to understand what's going on today until you understand what was going on yesterday. So basically, if I had somebody tell me they liked Charles Altura and Matt Stevens and Mary Halvorsen and wanted to know where to start, I'd STILL tell them Charlie Christian

[nyc chaz]

This is the 10 best? A more appropriate title for the times article would have been the the 10 most obscure albums.

[Litterick]

2, 5 and 7.

It is nice to see Bill Orcutt and Ava Mendoza acknowledged, although I would not think of either as a jazz guitarist.

[JazzPadd]

Zero here, too, but I don’t listen to much contemporary music of any genre. What jazz I listen to is while driving, and it puts me in a kind of a time warp, mostly to learn some of the standards that started it all and to jam on them with others. One upside of pointed listening is that now the Mrs. actually digs Grant Green!

[ES125er]

I do not own them all, but I’ve heard them all when they came out, except for Jonathan Suazo… so I’m listening to it right now.
Oh, and also the Akinmusire album (feat. Bill Frisell), because it’s not actually out yet, so I only have it on preorder.

In my library:
- Adjuah (fantastic album indeed)
- Ava Mendoza
- Zoh Amba
- Matana Roberts
- Ambrose Akinmusire (preordered)

I’ll probably add the Jonathan Suazo too: I like what I’m hearing so far.


(edited for brain fart)

[Flat]

Check out the OP's linked PDF for details, but just for convenience, here is the list:

1. Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning
2. Jaimie Branch, Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((World War))
3. Kassa Overall, Animals
4. Ambrose Akinmusire, Owl Song
5. Zoh Amba, Chris Corsano, Bill Orcutt, The Flower School
6. Jonathan Suazo, Ricano
7. Mendoza Hoff Revels, Echolocation
8. Micah Thomas, Reveal
9. Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden
10. Enji, Ulaan

[Otterfan]

I've heard seven of the ten records—all but Owl Song, Echolocation, and The Flower School.

I saw the Owl Song trio (Ambrose Akinmusire, Frisell, & the excellent Herlin Riley) play in October, but the record hasn't come out yet.

[Flat]

I have to admit that I haven't heard any of these. I don't even recognize any of the names. Are any of these by guitarists?

[Litterick]

I have to admit that I haven't heard any of these. I don't even recognize any of the names. Are any of these by guitarists?

4. Bill Frisell
5. Bill Orcutt
7. Ava Mendoza

Mendoza also plays in Orcutt's quartet, with Wendy Eisenberg and Shane Parish.

[SoftwareGuy]

......As a relative newbie to studying jazz guitar my focus has been on the classics, which begs the question: Am I limiting my learning experience by not paying attention to the growth of the genre beyond its roots?

Best Jazz Albums of 2023 - The New York Times.pdf

From the current replies you can see a difference among the people; some know the music on the list and some people don't.

Some peole here focus on past artists and their style. Others have a wider scope of musical interests.

The answer to your question depends on what you want to focus on. If you want to be a modern player or a historian?

[Bop Head]

4. Bill Frisell
5. Bill Orcutt
7. Ava Mendoza

Mendoza also plays in Orcutt's quartet, with Wendy Eisenberg and Shane Parish.

If this video wasn't posted in this context I would never had the idea to call this music jazz but punk-informed post-rock or neo-krautrock. The blues roots are cut off and there is not really much movement happening harmonically.

[Alter]

If the article was titled Experimental Jazz Albums or something similar it would be more to the point. I like a lot of experimental music styles, but strangely enough never really enjoyed the Jazz version.

[Litterick]

If this video wasn't posted in this context I would never had the idea to call this music jazz but punk-informed post-rock or neo-krautrock. The blues roots are cut off and there is not really much movement happening harmonically.

Nobody claims this is jazz, so far as I know. I posted this Tiny Desk because Bill Orcutt and Ava Mendoza are playing together (also, Shane Parish and Wendy Eisenberg — who took up guitar at the age of twelve when a cousin bequeathed her a Jazzmaster). Today's guitarists often play in several genres, and contemporary jazz is one that accepts musicians from other traditions — so it is not surprising that Orcutt and Mendoza appear in the New York Times jazz albums list.

On another forum, incidentally, a current thread discusses whether Bill Frisell is considered a jazz musician. Without props such as, 'He was taught by Johnny Smith and he plays with Thomas Morgan', it is a difficult question to answer.

Ava Mendoza also played, from a distance, at the 2020 Ljubljana Jazz Festival.

:

[Flat]

For the people who were already familiar with these musicians and recordings: how did you come to know of them?

I know I'm not going to stumble across them in the Spotify Top 50 or whatever.

I miss hip deejays on late night FM radio sometimes.

[ES125er]

Ava Mendoza also played, from a distance, at the 2020 Ljubljana Jazz Festival.

:

She also played on William Parker’s Mayan Space Station (2021). William Parker is Jazz, right?

[ES125er]

For the people who were already familiar with these musicians and recordings: how did you come to know of them?
.

I’ve always been actively looking for new releases, new musicians. In the age of the internet it’s never been so easy: online magazines, discussion forums, Bandcamp, browsing new releases in Apple Music, following my favourite record labels, checking out artists that are unknown to me but appear to be associated with artists I already like, etc.
Suazo was the only artist on the list that I had never heard. I listened to him as soon as I read his name.

Being actively curious is the key. The rest is easy peazy.

[Christian Miller]

I’ll forward that Bill Orcutt thing to my dad he’ll love it.

very much the Glenn Branca/Steve Reich/Bang on a Can downtown systems music thing.

I really like it and actually the playing is first class. Really precise.

Is it jazz? Nah.

It is the sort of thing that it can help to be a jazz guitarist to play, though…

[Christian Miller]

Again similar feelings about the enjoyable Mendoza solo thing. It comes out a tradition related to jazz which is the whole 80s downtown thing. It’s improvised music. I really like what she’s doing. She really plays the electric guitar.

(Also the stripey jaguar or whatever it it is very cool.)

I tend to regard the notion that improvisation is synonymous with jazz is completely absurd, and I think both Barry Harris and Derek Bailey would have agreed.

Things can also overlap or intersect with jazz without really being jazz. Radiohead would be a good example, or the new band the Smile which features Tom skinner, a jazz drummer.

Otoh the use of the ‘contemporary jazz’ label it can be quite lazy. For example, we think of Ben Monder as a jazz guitarist. He can obviously play jazz, but I think this description is really kind of simplistic. He’s not simply a jazz guitarist. It’s also limiting in terms of audience. A lot of people with no interest in Charlie Parker might enjoy his music and be put off by the baggage in the jazz label.

Unless you’re sticking to a historical style, the urge to label one’s music tends to arise out of a need to market it to listeners and bookers. probably one of the main spaces for original instrumental music to get heard is jazz festivals and clubs. Increasingly that’s what jazz becomes - instrumental non classical.

Anyway i don’t really care what it’s called, I like it, and glad to be introduced to some new music.

[ES125er]

A few more random thoughts:

- I also really like the solo guitar album that Bill Orcutt released this year: Jump On It

- do not underestimate the mainstream media when it comes to learning about artists like these. After all, the NYT or NPR aren’t exactly obscure student webzines

- About being actively curious… upon reading this top 10 and realising they’ve never heard of (some of) the artists listed, how many here wondered who these artists are and looked for their music in order to find out? How many just thought “WTF, who are these people? How out of touch is the NYT?”

[AllanAllen]

A few more random thoughts:

- I also really like the solo guitar album that Bill Orcutt released this year: Jump On It

- do not underestimate the mainstream media when it comes to learning about artists like these. After all, the NYT or NPR aren’t exactly obscure student webzines

- About being actively curious… upon reading this top 10 and realising they’ve never heard of (some of) the artists listed, how many here wondered who these artists are and looked for their music in order to find out? How many just thought “WTF, who are these people? How out of touch is the NYT?”

@Flat check out the Spotify State of Jazz and Fresh Finds playlists. There’s also a Blue Note New releases.

[Litterick]

For the people who were already familiar with these musicians and recordings: how did you come to know of them?

I know I'm not going to stumble across them in the Spotify Top 50 or whatever.

I miss hip deejays on late night FM radio sometimes.

Guitar Moderne has introduced me to many interesting guitarists. I too miss the late-night programmes, which taught me a lot about music at an impressionable age. But still, we have a jazz programme and a world music programme on Radio New Zealand.

[pauln]

Listening (for a few seconds) to the three videos posted served only to recall "The Emperor's New Clothes"; I perceived neither musicians nor music therein. Full disclosure: I ceased acquiring music over four decades ago, about the time I felt they quit making it. That doesn't mean I'm missing hearing new music; my album collection still contains many old new records I have yet to spin for the first time, and I'm pretty confident they won't sound like anything resembling serious problems with the HVAC or the plumbing.

[Flat]

Guitar Moderne has introduced me to many interesting guitarists. I too miss the late-night programmes, which taught me a lot about music at an impressionable age. But still, we have a jazz programme and a world music programme on Radio New Zealand.

Thanks. I'll check out Guitar Moderne.

I grew up in Manhattan, and could hear new stuff easily. And I worked in used record stores for years in LA and Berkeley in the 70s and early 80s. It's how I put myself through school. That's where I tended to find things new to me--some of which were old, some current for the day. Coltrane and Wes and ECM and Windham Hill were new sounds to me. And when I followed Howard Roberts down to GIT in Hollywood in 1983, I got to know Frank Gambale and Scott Henderson, and learned from Joe Diorio and Ron Eschete. New to me but older than me. And Jimmy Herring was in my class.

But them days are gone. I don't spend much time in the States anymore. As little as possible, to be honest.

I'm always eager and glad to hear new things (ragas, Turkish pop, Irish folk ballads, and enka lately--old stuff, not always diatonic, but new to my ears). But there wasn't anything I've heard in this thread so far that I would want to hear again. Sincerely no offense to any of the players or their fans. I'm glad some people like them and that young artists are doing their thing and pushing boundaries. Any art form needs new blood if it's going to survive.

[rpjazzguitar]

All new to me.

Here is my favorite track I heard this year -- and it is from 2023.