BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 BEST OF 2015 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR UNEARTHED GEMS REISSUES CONCERTS OF THE YEAR REZ ABBASI ACOUSTIC QUARTET— MILES DAVIS—Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: KENNY BARRON—At the Piano (Xanadu-Elemental) RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA BIRD CALLS VIJAY IYER/LIBERTY ELLMAN/ TROKER Intents and Purposes (Enja) The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4 (Columbia-Legacy) JOHN COLTRANE—A Love Supreme: Adam O’Farrill, Matt Mitchell, Chris Tordini, Rudy Royston REGGIE WORKMAN/TYSHAWN SOREY “El Tiburón” Santillanes, Samo González, Gil Cervantes, STEVE COLEMAN AND THE COUNCIL OF BALANCE— BENGT NORDSTRÖM, SVEN-ÅKE JOHANSSON, The Complete Masters (Impulse!-Verve) Winter Jazz Fest, Minetta Lane Theater, January 10th The Stone, January 22nd Frankie Mares, Christian Jimenez, DJ Zero Synovial Joints (Pi) ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH— FREE JAZZ GROUP WIESBADEN— VIJAY IYER TRIO CHARLES LLOYD NEW QUARTET Winter Jazz Fest, Bowery Electric, January 10th Stockholm Connection (Umlaut) VIJAY IYER TRIO—Break Stuff (ECM) Frictions/Frictions Now (LST-NoBusiness) Stephan Crump, Marcus Gilmore Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland CHARLES LLOYD NEW QUARTET MIKE OSBORNE—Dawn (Cuneiform) Jazz Standard, April 26th Village Vanguard, March 15th Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland JULIAN LAGE—World’s Fair (Modern Lore) ERROLL GARNER—The Complete Concert By The Sea HOWARD RILEY/JAKI BYARD—R&B (SLAM) (Columbia-Legacy) Village Vanguard, March 15th CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE TRIO— RYAN TRUESDELL’S GIL EVANS PROJECT CHARLES LLOYD Live at the Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue) LUCKY THOMPSON & BARNEY WILEN— LAST EXIT—Iron Path (Virgin-ESP-Disk’) Jazz Standard, May 16th Jason Moran, Joe Sanders, Eric Harland, JULIAN LAGE TRIO Four Brothers (Sonorama) Sokratis Sinopoulos, Miklós Lukács Scott Colley, Eric Harland RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA—Bird Calls (ACT) GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA Jalopy Theater, May 22nd Metropolitan Museum of Art Temple of Dendur, April 18th Jazz Standard, April 15th MYRA MELFORD—Snowy Egret (Enja) BOXED SETS MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS/ROSCOE MITCHELL/ LARRY OCHS/NELS CLINE/GERALD CLEAVER MATT MITCHELL—Vista Accumulation (Pi) LARGE ENSEMBLE RELEASES JOE CASTRO—Lush Life (Clover-Sunnyside) Birdland, June 3rd GEORGE LEWIS JACK, May 26th MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA— STEVE COLEMAN AND THE COUNCIL OF BALANCE— AACM50: Bohemian National Hall, April 29th OSCAR PETERSON—Exclusively For My Friends (MPS) LIBERTY ELLMAN SEXTET JACOB GARCHIK’S YE OLDE The Thompson Fields (ArtistShare) Synovial Joints (Pi) MATTHEW SHIPP/MICHAEL BISIO Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, VARIOUS ARTISTS—3 Nights at Café Oto (Matchless) Steve Lehman, Jonathan Finlayson, RYAN TRUESDELL’S GIL EVANS PROJECT— JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA— Stephan Crump, Damion Reid Zürcher Gallery, May 27th Jonathan Goldberger, Vinnie Sperrazza Lines of Color: Live at Jazz Standard (Blue Note/ArtistShare) Live in Cuba (Blue Engine) VARIOUS ARTISTS— Joe’s Pub, July 20th The Complete Dial Modern Jazz Sessions (Dial-Mosaic) Cornelia Street Café, September 17th NASHEET WAITS EQUALITY ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO-LATIN Darius Jones, Aruán Ortiz, Mark Helias LETIERES LEITE AND ORKESTRA RUMPILEZZ WITH -David R. Adler VARIOUS ARTISTS—Turtle Records: Pioneering British TOM HARRELL’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS JAZZ ORCHESTRA— Wayne Escoffery, Charles Pillow, Meg Okura, Rubin Kodheli, Cornelia Street Café, June 13th GUESTS ARTURO O’FARRILL, STEVEN BERNSTEIN Cuba: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) Jazz 1970-1971 (Turtle - Cherry/RMP) Damrosch Park, July 30th HOWARD ALDEN—Guitar Solo (K2B2) Rale Micic, Ugonna Okegwo, Johnathan Blake DARIUS JONES QUARTET ADAM RUDOLPH/GO: ORGANIC Village Vanguard, October 11th Sean Conly, Pascal Niggenkemper, Gerald Cleaver PHILM DAVID CHESKY JAZZ IN THE NEW HARMONIC— GUITAR ORCHESTRA—Turning Towards The Light Primal Scream (Chesky) JULIAN LAGE TRIO Rendall Memorial Presbyterian Church, October 13th Dave Lombardo, Gerry Nestler, Pancho Tomaselli (Cuneiform) VOCAL RELEASES The Stone, August 3rd JACK DEJOHNETTE—Made in Chicago (ECM) DUCHESS—Eponymous (Anzic) Scott Colley, Kenny Wollesen WADADA LEO SMITH SEXTET KAMASI WASHINGTON—The Epic (Brainfeeder) Zankel Hall, October 17th Bobby Naughton, Yuko Fujiyama, Brad Jones, THE THING SCOTT DUBOIS—Winter Light (ACT) CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT— Reggie Nicholson, Thurman Barker Mats Gustafsson, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love For One to Love (Mack Avenue) DARCY JAMES ARGUE’S SECRET SOCIETY— MARY HALVORSON—Meltframe (Firehouse 12) REAL ENEMIES AACM50: Community Church of New York, October 16th Roulette, September 29th LE POT—Hera (Everest) LATIN RELEASES JEN SHYU & JADE TONGUE— BAM Harvey Theater, November 18th GEORGE LEWIS IMPROMPTUS STEVE WILSON/LEWIS NASH GABRIEL ALÉGRIA AFRO-PERUVIAN SEXTET— Sounds and Cries of the World (Pi) CHARLES LLOYD—Wild Man Dance (Blue Note) TYSHAWN SOREY TRIO Thurman Barker, Eli Fountain, Tyshawn Sorey Jazz at Kitano, October 10th 10 (ZOHO) MARY STALLINGS—Feelin’ Good (HighNote) AACM50: Community Church of New York, October 23rd LARRY OCHS—The Fictive Five (Tzadik) Corey Smythe, Chris Tordini NONOKO YOSHIDA SOLO CARLOS HENRIQUEZ—The Bronx Pyramid (Blue Engine) CASSANDRA WILSON—Coming Forth By Day (Legacy) MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO— Village Vanguard, November 22nd THE TURBINE! The Stone, November 11th The Conduct of Jazz (Thirsty Ear) ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO-LATIN Harrison Bankhead, Benjamin Duboc, JAZZ ORCHESTRA— —David R. Adler Ramón López, Hamid Drake and guest Steve Swell —Andrey Henkin KAMASI WASHINGTON—The Epic (Brainfeeder) Cuba: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) DEBUTS Zürcher Gallery, November 17th -Laurence Donohue-Greene CHUCHO VALDÉS—Tribute to Irakere (Live in Marciac) BANDA DE LOS MUERTOS—Eponymous (Barbès) —Laurence Donohue-Greene (Jazz Village) JACKSON HARDAKER—Watering Can (s/r) STANLEY COWELL— PAPO VAZQUEZ MIGHTY PIRATES TROUBADOURS— METTE HENRIETTE—Eponymous (ECM) Juneteenth (Piano Solo) (Vision Fugitive) Spirit Warrior (Picaro) BOBBY KAPP—Themes 4 Transmutation (s/r) JACK DEJOHNETTE—Made in Chicago (ECM) MUSICIANS OF THE YEAR LABELS OF THE YEAR VENUES OF THE YEAR KAMASI WASHINGTON—The Epic (Brainfeeder) ANDREW DRURY—Content Provider (Soup and Sound) MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS (piano) CLEAN FEED (cleanfeed-records.com) JACK (Fort Greene) FREE NELSON MANDOOMJAZZ— ORIGINAL ALBUM ARTWORK MARY HALVORSON (guitar) HIGHNOTE (jazzdepot.com) THE JAZZ GALLERY (NoMad) Awakening of a Capital (RareNoise) TOM BLANCARTE/PETER EVANS/ LOUISE DAM ECKARDT JENSEN/DAN PECK— TRIBUTES CHARLES LLOYD (tenor saxophone/flute) INTAKT (intaktrec.com) ROULETTE (Boerum Hill) JACOB GARCHIK—ye Olde (s/r) The Gauntlet of Mehen (Destiny Records) STEFAN PASBORG—The Firebirds (ILK Music) MATTHEW SHIPP (piano) MOTÉMA (motema.com) THE STONE (Alphabet City) MARY HALVORSON—Meltframe (Firehouse 12) JOHN ELLIS & DOUBLE-WIDE—Charm (Parade Light) MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO—To Duke (Rogue Art) KAMASI WASHINGTON (saxophone) SONORAMA (sonorama.de) VILLAGE VANGUARD (West Village) KONSTRUKT—Live at Tarcento Jazz (Holidays) BÉLA SZAKCSI LAKATOS/TIM RIES/ROBERT HURST/ CHARENÉE WADE—Offering: The Music of PULVERIZE THE SOUND—Eponymous (Relative Pitch) RUDY ROYSTON—Climate Change (BMC) Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson (Motéma) MIKE REED’S PEOPLE PLACES & THINGS— SCOTT ROBINSON SPACETETTE— CASSANDRA WILSON—Coming Forth By Day (Legacy) A New Kind of Dance (482 Music) Mission in Space (Sciensonic Laboratories) NATE WOOLEY QUINTET—(Dance To) The Early Music JOHN ZORN— SLOBBER PUP—Pole Axe (RareNoise) (Clean Feed) The True Discoveries of Witches and Demons (Tzadik) -Andrey Henkin HONORABLE MENTIONS—NEW RELEASES Admiral Awesome—Makeout Music for Modern Lovers (Gateway Music) • All Included—Satan in Plain Clothes (Clean Feed) • Barry Altschul’s 3Dom Factor—Tales of the Unforeseen (TUM) • AMM—Place sub. v. (Matchless) • AMM—Spanish Fighters (Matchless) Fred Anderson—Quintessential Birthday Trio, Vol. II (Asian Improv) • Richard Andersson—Splitting up in Boston (Hobby Horse) • Atomic—Lucidity (Jazzland) • The Bad Plus/Joshua Redman—Eponymous (Nonesuch) • Michael Bates—Northern Spy (Stereoscopic) Tim Berne’s Snakeoil—You’ve Been Watching Me (ECM) • Andrew Bishop—De Profundis (Envoi) • Raoul Björkenheim eCsTaSy—Out of The Blue (Cuneiform) • Ran Blake—Cocktails at Dusk (A Noir Tribute to Chris Connor) (Impulse!) • Samuel Blaser Quartet—Spring Rain (Whirlwind) James Brandon Lewis—Days of FreeMan (OKeh) • Rodriguez Brothers—Impromptu (Criss Cross) • Jean-Luc Cappozzo/Douglas R. Ewart/Joëlle Leandre/Bernard Santacruz/Michael Zerang—Sonic Communion (The Bridge Sessions) • Chicago Reed Quartet—Western Automatic (Aerophonic) Larry Coryell—Heavy Feel (Wide Hive) • Marilyn Crispell/Gerry Hemingway—Table of Changes (Intakt) • Steve Cromity—All My Tomorrows (Cromcake) • Actis Dato Quartet—Earth is the Place (Leo) • De Beren Gieren—One Mirrors Many (Clean Feed) Patrick Defossez/Anne-Gabriel Debaecker—Quatre = Onze ==(7) (Neos) • Benoît Delbecq 3—Ink (Clean Feed) • Aaron Diehl—Space Time Continuum (Mack Avenue) • Mike DiRubbo—Threshold (Ksanti) • Dave Douglas—Brazen Heart (Greenleaf) Kaja Draksler/Susana Santos Silva—This Love (Clean Feed) • Paul Dunmall/Tony Bianco—Homage to John Coltrane (SLAM) • Harris Eisenstadt—Canada Day IV (Songlines) • Liberty Ellman—Radiate (Pi) • Ellery Eskelin—Solo Live at Snugs (hatOLOGY) Oran Etkin—What’s New: Reimagining Benny Goodman (Motéma) • Charles Evans—On Beauty (More is More) • Orrin Evans—The Evolution of