Todd's Picks: 2024 Albums

Once again, I am looking back on a year's worth of very solid album releases and reflecting on the ones that stuck with me the most.

Much more than last year's list, this will be focused on "jazz" and "jazz-adjacent" albums. As collaborations and inspirations fire off between artists of increasingly varied musical and cultural backgrounds, and we find ourselves embedded in somewhat of a post-genre musical climate, I feel that being excessively discerning about what is and isn't "jazz" may not be the most productive direction to go in our artistic discourse. Especially considering that genre labels for modern North American music styles tend to be alike in doing little more than obscuring Black American cultural claim to them anyways.

That being said, the range of music I listen to is vast, and I feel I have a much more informed perspective on the stuff that falls closer to and within the styles I've spent my adult life studying and performing; I believe I can make a stronger specialized list than an all-encompassing one. Perhaps you'll see me share my favorite stuff outside of the wide "jazz" umbrella sometime in the next week in an informal social media post.

Harris's short and sweet release has a lot of great, lighthearted melodic content and typically outstanding technical prowess on display. Life Signs is really just a fun time, likely to hit the spot for a wide range of listeners.

A very tasteful collection of original music. To focus on one detail about this album, I loved getting another studio recording of Joel Ross and Marcus Gilmore together, whose chemistry on the great 2018 album In Common by Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens was one of its best defining aspects, and that holds strong here as well.

A strong groove-based release from Pelt. It's interesting to hear his usual refined, beautiful trumpet sound in this context, with minor electronic elements making their way into the sonic palette here. The band sounds spectacular all the way through this (Jalen Baker on vibraphone is particularly well-featured), and there are some great tunes.

A lively tribute to the jazz organ legend, Jack McDuff. For a few reasons, I found myself very much into late 60s soul-jazz and various other organ-centric musical periods in my listening this year, so I had a good time checking this out. The band really plays into the style of McDuff's music with respect and taste.

A fun, funky collection of tracks from local star-keyboardist and producer Jonny Tobin. His usual blend of 80's synth appreciation and glitchy, boom-bap informed beats goes over well with tons of nice melodies and really great soloing throughout. The layering in Tobin's production is well-balanced and demonstrates his strong instincts as an arranger.

Some truly head-spinning compositions for piano trio. This music strikes an alluring balance between complexity, brooding mood, and at times a Monk-esque sense of humor. Chris Tordini and Savannah Harris tackle the music with a lot of intention and precision. It's a pretty demanding listen, but a rewarding one.

A great piano trio record in the post-bop/contemporary lane. Kendrick Scott and Alex Claffy make for a very impressively rounded out trio. Highlights include the John Coltrane classic "Mr. Day" and Sørensen's original "Courage".

With gratitude, Cassie Kinoshi has put together a large ensemble record that fits well within the cross-genre aesthetics of the International Anthem label on which it's released. The integration of a turntablist into the ensemble goes over well, adding textural detail and ambience to the instrumentation. This would be a good listen for anyone who wants to explore orchestral contemporary jazz but who finds a lot of the writing for modern big bands a bit dense for their tastes. The writing here is evocative, direct and has a bit of film-score personality which makes it feel easily approachable to me.

I really don't know if I've heard music exactly in this style before. That being said, I admit I've missed much of Wilkes' discography since his great debut, Wilkes, and there are certainly hints of the direction of iiyo iiyo iiyo present in that. The main points of reference seem to be ECM-style jazz (but with electric instruments), bluesy country-rock, and ambient music, which seems like a bizarre combination, but if you just listen, it will make sense and I think most music fans will connect with it on some level. If you've got a porch or a balcony, this could be the perfect music to go and have a long sit-down to. That's about as articulately as I can put it.

This release from Dayes is smooth and accessible in a nice way. The combination of slow, soulful melodies played over wildly clean drum-and-bass grooves is standard fare for Dayes, but being a live record, it has some extra focus on the instrumental chops of the band, which makes things exciting. I particularly like the band's take on Jaco Pastorius' classic "Portrait of Tracy".

Harp and saxophone is a uncommon duet configuration for sure, and I'd say the only real reason is that it seems quite hard to pull off. Well, Altera Vita comes together really nicely, fully committing to its mood of soulful tranquility.

The merging of "jazz" and "rock" music is hardly novel in 2024, but I'll say that this collaborative album takes that strain of fusion in a pretty atypical direction, with the rhythm section sounding authentically derived from 80s-and-on underground rock and (mostly) punk subgenres. This is no-doubt heavily to do the fact that on a Messthetics record, you're literally listening the bass and drum team of iconic post-hardcore band Fugazi plus guitarist Anthony Pirog. Paying attention to his discography, it's been clear for a while that James Brandon Lewis was going to an album like this eventually, and the decision to team up with this group to make it happen is fitting.

A great duo record with some well-chosen songs and tasteful folk undertones. Renfroe and Sellick play with a great pocket and balance throughout. There's a casual vibe here that is super infectious.

Melissa Aldana came through with a very solid collection of new tunes for Echoes of the Inner Prophet. Opening with the title track, which was written in tribute to the late Wayne Shorter, a very airy and contemplative vibe is established and stuck with for the runtime of this album. I appreciate the blend that guitarist Lage Lund achieves with Aldana in her playing and how well his tone compliments the mood of her compositions. It's hard to imagine a version of this music without his presence. A distinctive band-sound is always something that I find appealing, and that's very much the case here.

I came across this record as a big fan of Manu Codjia, (loved his contribution to Emile Parisien's Louise) who plays guitar on this, and I was impressed. There's an Elvin-informed sensibility to Marguet's drumming (and writing too, in a way) style that I certainly can get on board with.

ØKSE is easily one of the most wild things to manifest from what I'll pin as the "Petter Eldh and co. universe," and that is really saying a lot. The two faces of this record are avant-garde, yet groove-heavy electroacoustic jazz and esoteric, experimental hip-hop tinged with a dark psychedelia. The latter cuts feature some of the NYC underground's most celebrated rappers. There is definitely a specific type of music fan who is currently dying to hear a record like this. If that's you, get to it. I've been hoping for Eldh and Savannah Harris to collaborate on a full-length album since their first meeting (that I know of) on a track from Project Drums Vol. 1, and for it to not only happen, but also be a project this unique was a nice surprise.

This was a big stand out this year for free improvised music. The highlight is certainly "How to Draw Buildings," with Harrington bringing some of the most incredible guitar playing I've heard in recent years, simply based on how he leads everything up to its climax. Jaffe demonstrates his great approach to rubato playing here, making him a favorite drummer of mine in this style.

Bewilderingly great drummer Dafnis Prieto leads his quartet through a very fun set of his original tunes. If you're into Afro-Cuban jazz in any capacity, any Prieto recording is worth your time, and this one is particularly strong, as is the explosive original recording of the Sí o Sí Quartet, Live at the Jazz Standard NYC. Admittedly, that debut contains an extra level of energy that exceeds that of this new release, as is often the case in improvisational music with studio compared to live recordings, but with a band like this, you really can't go wrong either way.

Frisell is in excellent form in this recording, blending incredibly well with these large ensembles with his usual great taste.

Another installment in Park's Little Big series, which owes mores to moody 2000s alternative rock and electronic music than the influences that typically come to mind when one hears the term "fusion." Love the melodies and grooves on this. It's no surprise that this is a strong release really, Parks is a very consistent composer, and we're fortunate to have new music from him.

There's a lot that can be said about living legend Charles Lloyd, and so much already has, so I'll simply say that it's great we've got a solid addition to his immense catalogue this year. On that note though, "immense" - this is a long album, but it holds a delicate atmosphere together throughout it's runtime, and works very well split up into a few listening chunks. It's a good one to sit with for some time.

The World Is On Fire is certainly an appealing type of album for the waking nightmare that is following current events, so I recommend you to have at it. It's a very John Coltrane/McCoy Tyner-inspired release of passion and urgency. I particularly think of early 70s McCoy due to the textural auxiliary percussion and the general grandiosity and flair of Collier's writing. I love that there is a band that sounds like this out today, with both the playing and writing heavily indebted to the "Modal" eraoriginal tunes. Kenny Garrett fans will surely dig this as well.

This record from Luke Stewart's new Stilt Trio is a great testament to his musical well roundedness and artistic vision. Vancouver jazz people, if you're into the stuff Kevin Romain's Salience Network does, I think you'll really like Unknown Rivers. This is a bit less directly connected to post-bop than Romain's work, but there is a similar mood and a generally comparable trio sound happening here. The playing from everyone has intensity and a good sense of purpose all around.

Raagaverse is arguably the most unique act coming out of our local "jazz" scene. The way Shruti Ramani has written music that so perfectly suits her unique combination of influences is impressive and it's really satisfying to see this project fully realized. While the most obvious points of reference here are Hindustani music, and post-bop and ECM jazz, I've come out of listening to the album feeling that there is a subtle pop sensibility underlying Ramani's writing, which I think simply manifests in her skill at creating songs that have a vibrant personality to them.

The current iteration of The Bad Plus, as a four-piece group with Ben Monder (guitar) and Chris Speed (tenor sax) in the place Ethan Iverson (piano), is sounding fully worn-in and comfortable on Complex Emotions. The tunes have a nice dynamic range between them and and I like how the band's sound is sort of in a happy place between rock-centric fusion and that typical 90's contemporary post-post-bop jazz vibe (like early Joshua Redman, I mean).

This set from our city's resident multi-instrumentalist workhorse John Lee comes across as an impassioned, thoroughly-studied love letter to the art of the piano trio. With renditions of classic Ahmad Jamal and Barry Harris trio material sprinkled in between various standard reworkings, and Lee's originals (notable highlight being solemn closing track "Widow's Remorse"), the tracklist shows him wearing his influences on his sleeve in exactly the right way for the kind of album he set out to make. Citing the Washington not-brothers as his favorite rhythm section of all time, (an opinion verifiable by anyone who has spoken to the guy about music for any length of time) he definitely made the best of the opportunity he had to record with them, and also, with this album, paid tribute to his late mother with grace.

Three somewhat untouchable figures (Five really, considering Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart round out the band) in the contemporary straight-ahead world come together here for a really special album. I think the novelty of the collaboration, in which the three of them contribute their tunes, lit a spark in the studio session. This is my favorite body of work from these guys in the past few years; I admit that what I often enjoy hearing most is a back-to-basics record from Brad Mehldau. They also do Wayne Shorter, Hank Mobley, and Harold Land tunes).

The follow-up to Davis' incredible 2022 album Portals Volume 1: Mourning, I had high expectations for this. Happy to report that it's a very respectable continuation of the series, in my opinion, with some seriously truly stunning highlights. "Gate Of the Year" and "Olympian Air" are easily some of the most impressive and memorable contemporary jazz compositions of the past few years. Davis is surely one of the best two-horn-counterpoint writers for small groups anywhere. It's baffling how much ground she is able to cover with the limited options for orchestration she has in this band. The Nappy Nina feature, Only the Names Are Changed, pt. 2 (whose album with producer Swarvy was probably my favorite hip-hop release of 2024) feature is also a big highlight.

New Monuments reads more like a (mostly) acoustic art-punk piece than a jazz album. All of the anti-colonial, anti-capitalist sentiments shared by Kidambe in her lyrics are salient and deeply needed today, in my perspective. This was one of my most anticipated albums of the year and I was really pleased to hear how it turned out. The highlight for me is definitely the title track, which has so many great segments woven into it's 12-minute runtime, it's a truly epic thing to behold.

I almost forgot to listen to this until I remembered how incredible of a show this band put on at the Chan Center. The unusual, bare instrumentation of this group (no bass, no chordal instrument) forces everything to be so intentional, and it makes for some surprisingly accessible music. Add in El'Zabar's charming, killer soul singing and you've got a good time.

This is my favorite release by Alfa Mist. I'm really blown away by how well his composing is tailored to the string quartet augmentation he's added to his core trio set-up.

What's there to say? It's Bill Charlap Trio, live at the Village Vangaurd. Their previous record date there, released almost 20 years ago now, became a classic, definitive statement for the vitality of traditional approaches to straight-ahead piano trio in the 21st century. This follow-up, and continuation of the very consistent work the trio has put in through the years, doesn't disappoint, and further cements this group as arguably the absolute finest of its kind, anywhere.

This is a very solid trio record from Iyer, similar in tone to his many previous trio releases, but this one finds this group in exceptional form. Probably the best that the new iteration of Iyer's trio, with Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey, has sounded on record so far. Moody, impressionistic compositions over heady, deep grooves are what you're in for, and the writing really goes into a variety of interesting places. Compared to the records I love from the Crump/Gilmore era of his trio, I'm picking up a more lyrical approach to the compositions, rather than the focus on wild odd-time signature grooves and the general atmosphere. All of those elements are still here, but the album, to me, feels like it balances out the Iyer discography very well.

Something about the mixture of playfulness, intrigue, and extremely tense fragility in Patricia Brennan's music really resonates with me. Maybe that statement tells you more about me than it does this record, but I stand by it regardless. Brennan's tunes, which fuse contemporary Latin jazz, post-bop, borderline avant-garde, and what I'm hearing as nods to progressive rock, are performed with stunning precision and energy by her band, in which there are several outstanding soloists who bring their strongest efforts to this music. And that's Marcus Gilmore on drums; who else could make make these grooves sound so natural?

As far as your relatively standard-fare funk-fusion goes, this live recording of Kiefer's trio was the highlight of 2024 for me. The group plays with an incredible clarity and energy, that makes this album simply easy to listen to, many times over.

Jeff Parker came through with one of his most loosely structured works to date this year, and it certainly fills a niche that I'm enjoying his experimentation within. This band, which evolved from humble roots as a standards quartet, held down a regular gig at ETA in Los Angeles for around 7 years, right until its unfortunate closing in 2023. Eventually the quartet developed a style completely detached from standard repertoire, and this is a document of where they arrived. Their intentions in performance are still fairly simple: establish a vibe, and sink DEEP (talking 17-24minutes-per-track-deep) into it to extract everything that it can offer. Improvisationally, this group is sympathetic to the focal point of each moment, they are great at feeling out the best time to individually do more and less (take the fluidity with which the bandmoves into and out of Anna Butterss' (bass) solo in "Easy Way Out," for instance. Wonderful, uniquely chill album from four masters of their distinct style.

Otis Sandsjö, a member of visionary bassist Petter Eldh's group, Koma Saxo, brought us another unique, colorful, genre-evading work with Y-OTIS TRE, the third in his series of Y-OTIS works. This music is at times about as frenetic and seemingly unstructured as can be, yet so precise and delivered with such clear intention. I will say, this is not a particularly improvisational body of work. More of a collection of incredibly imaginative sketches. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys the idea of putting tons of saxophone over somehow-catchy, fairly experimental electronics and rhythmically innovative rhythm section feels.

There's not a ton of explanation necessary for this one. Do you love Art Blakey, Horace Silver? Probably, but chances are you don't know that music inside and out the way these guys do. Playing a set mostly focused on LeDonne's original music, the Heavy Hitters tap into their usual pure hard bop style more closely than anyone else I heard in 2024, and it's a total blast to listen to.

Immanuel Wilkins' third album is bringing a lot of fresh elements to the table; fresh both in comparison to his past work, and the contemporary jazz scene in general. Surely the production oversight of legendary multidisciplinary artist Meshell Ndegeocello over this album plays a key role in this. With the inclusion of various guest features, plenty of production effects which border on psychedelia at times, and a lot of original song lyrics, primarily written by folk singer-songwriter June McDoom who is present throughout much of the tracklist, the album certainly takes cues from surprising and exiting new sources for Wilkins, and it goes over very well. This record also contains some of the absolute best moments in his career yet as a composer and performer, such as the utterly hypnotic second half of Afterlife Residence Time.

No matter how horrifying the daily headlines become, it's so important to keep yourself grounded with assorted comforting truths... well, is it? Let's say that it is. For example, something I like to remember when it feels like nothing makes sense anymore is that at any given moment in time, Ben Wendel is definitely off somewhere performing or working on maddeningly impressive music; it will surely have some great hooks and insane grooves, with space for him to let loose with his always-tasteful soloing. This live set is no exception, in fact it's one of the strongest records he's put out, aided greatly by the infectious, eager chemistry of the supporting band: Gerald Clayton, Linda May Han Oh, and Obed Calvaire. If you want some shredding contemporary jazz by a band that's clearly having a great time, this is a good place to go.

Anna Butterss has proven themself an indispensable asset to the most highly grooving and improvisational sectors of modern jazz, returning again and again to the bass chair for the likes of Jeff Parker, Makaya McCraven and Daniel Villarreal. As a bassist, they seem practically incapable of making a questionable artistic choice in their approach to pocket and blend. Hearing more original music from them now, I'd say that it's kind of a similar story with their composing. This music is not particularly hard to get, but it is pretty hard to get tired of. Derived from the influence of classic jazz fusion, progressive and psychedelic rock, afrobeat, and just a bit of electronic music; what you get here is vibrant, infectious and energizing.

Samara Joy continues, and in my opinion, elevates, her standard of astounding attention to detail in her craft with Portrait. Her most complex release so far, the arrangements by various members of her outstanding band are a reliable source of excitement throughout, (nothing against her earlier albums). The expanded size of the ensemble is also a great fit for Joy. Until now she had yet to have a backdrop quite this flattering to deliver her performances over. If your listening inclinations often take you towards the Great American Songbook, this is an album you need to be listening to. Everyone involved went all out, and it's just so spectacular to take in.

Joel Ross' 4th album really caught my attention in a way that hasn't happened for me since his still-incredible debut, KingMaker, and the quality of this has me thinking I better go back and spend some more time with his full catalogue. To focus one one particularly special attribute of this album - nublues is a masterclass in album sequencing, capturing the seamless of his live sets perfectly. It's so easy to get lost in the experience of this record because of the flow between tracks and the finesse with which Ross paces his repertoire. His writing is also at arguably its most consistent yet, and his selection of Coltrane and Monk tunes supplements the new stuff very tastefully.

I appreciate the care that Freitas put into giving this album a dynamic structure to it's progression from beginning to end. The A-side features heavy textural exploration with a really exciting variation of instrumentation, as well as through-composed impressionistic pieces, such as the highlight "Sonho Ancestral," a piano and mbira (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) duet with an amazing sense of openness to it. Frietas states that the A-side relates to his inspiration from the Amazon Forest and rivers of Northern Brazil, all of the the natural beauty that predates colonization; while "Side B serves as proof of connections between the global Black avant-jazz community," featuring numerous celebrated artists who bring about distinctive sound palettes for each composition. The entire album builds to a wonderful finish with "Encantados," which, being the only track on the album with full rhythm section accompaniment (and a particularly killer groove), stands out immediately, and serves as an extremely satisfying note to end the album on.

Darius Jones is on quite an unbelievable roll. Picking up from last year, when he released the absolutely stunning fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) (my favorite album of 2023), he has moved on to a very a different statement with Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye). I would say that it's a bit more approachable due to the trio instrumentation which provides more room to breathe, but this is still some deeply vulnerable and at times almost overwhelming music. The breathing room offered by the trio instrumentation gives Jones ample room to really make a point of putting his playing, and the core melodies of his compositions, first. It feels like he has taken this album as an opportunity to express of the lyrical side of his playing, with so many moments throughout of him taking pause from the more abstract, textural and mostly aggressive content of his solos to patiently develop some of the most interesting, emotionally communicative, and perfectly phrased melodies I've heard in recent times. Jones is unique in that at a certain point in his soloing he can tap into something that is so striking that I can't help but drop anything I may be doing or thinking about just to fully take in every detail of what's happening. Few other artists ever have this effect on me. Exceptional stuff.

Josh Johnson is certainly one of the MVP horn players of the current contemporary jazz fusion scene, not just in L.A. but abroad (not to mention 1st-call session work across a plethora of other genres). Just this year alone he was a major reason why Jeff Parker's ETA IVtet, Anna Butterss' Mighty Vertebrete and the SML project were so delightful. His solo material turns out pretty much exactly the way a fan of his playing would hope. The writing is catchy, the production is varied and colorful, while being generally focused on his saxophone as the focal point. Kind of similar to the Y-OTIS TRE album, (also released on Northern Spy records), this is a virtuoso producer-saxophonist's exploration of what can be done with the instrument.

This album is a riot. Guitarist, Mary Halvorson has a great sly wit to her writing which in an unusual way reminds me of Thelonious Monk's music, not in a way where I am under the impression she's in any way going for "a Monk vibe." I think that she's just like that, and that is special. One thing that I love so much about Cloudward in particular is the way that this instrumentation blends playing together. Trumpet, trombone, guitar (with effects), vibraphone (with effects), bass and drums is such an interesting, logical sextet layout, yet I don't think I've ever heard it elsewhere. Patricia Brennan's presence here goes a long way, as her own music has a similar kind of off-kilter, subtly humorous charm to it, and her treatment of her instrument is similarly textural and percussive. It just sounds like all musicians went into this recording very much on the same page about how they wanted this music to feel, and it's executed brilliantly.

Like the album that you'll see in my #1 place, this debut release from Lawrence Fields was something that had a firmly held place in my rotation all through the year. Fields is hardly a new name in the discussion of the world's outstanding pianists, having been featured in the studio and on tour with well-known greats for some time. Personal favorite recordings of mine would be Chief Adjuah's (formerly Christian Scott) Axiom and Jaleel Shaw's The Soundtrack of Things to Come. For me, To the Surface was an amazing first impression, although pretty much exactly what I was expecting (and looking-forward to) - a clean set of original tunes channeling a remarkably seamless blend of Mulgrew Miller and early Chick Corea-esque post-bop charecteristics, and the influence of hip-hop informed contemporary jazz such as Robert Glasper (His early stuff most of all). The presence of Corey Fonville on drums, is substantial in making these various points of reference make sense, as he has an incredible gift with playing in-between swing and backbeat idioms. I love this record for helping to make the case against the acceptance of that rigid, binary mentality.

As far as things are going with the exciting current wave of music marrying electronics (particularly modular synthesizers) and live instrumental jamming, (with pedalboards working at full capacity), Small Medium Large is it. The fluidity of this album is striking to me with every listen, it truly flows like water for 43 straight minutes. Greatness was pretty much inevitable given the makeup of this newly established outfit, with Josh Johnson, Anna Buttress, and Jeremiah Chiu in particular being pretty much the apex of taste in this lane, in my perspective (I'm new to Booker Stardrum and Gregory Uhlmann but their efforts on this record are as perfect as the rest of the group and I'm a new fan). You just can just tell that these artists are absolutely thriving off each others' ideas, and it permeates every moment of the record, making it a uniquely fun, uplifting listen, especially for something in the "experimental" lane, where the vibes can often seem less inviting than this.

In determining what would be the choice for my #1 album of the year, I took a simple approach: What do I have the clearest memory of becoming obsessed with? Certainly, that album was The Room. I had this album playing as much as possible back when I found it in the Summer, and now any time I play even one track from it, I instantly remember why. It's the epitome of taste; from the duo's cohesive yet varied selection of "folkloric pieces from various regions around South America," to the barebones instrumentation (7-string acoustic guitar and soprano saxophone) and recording configuration, to the snappy and flawlessly-executed arrangements, this is 100% no-nonsense, no-pretense music. Not to imply that Nascimento and Gendel don't make their virtuosity known, it simply comes through from the sheer quality of sound they produce without fail in every note, and the level of relaxation they maintain while playing these songs that are at times pretty technically demanding, especially with the level of intricacy the duo brings to their dynamic and rhythmic treatment of them. I recommend this music to anyone who, let's say... wants to live a good life. I don't think you can go wrong here.

Happy listening.