Ludovico Granvassu's Garden of Jazzy Delights 2023

If it is true that, like The Police once put it, "when the world is going down you make the best of what's still around," then throughout 2023 jazz fans were better off than most other social groups. In a year in which everyday news brought ever more inconceivable disappointments, jazz musicians, labels, festivals and venues were the only ones not letting us down. They kept delivering us the goods. In increasing amounts and without compromising on quality.

The list below is just the shiny tip of the iceberg of music I had the privilege of listening to in the past twelve mounts, deriving from it endless delight, and encouragement that, maybe, possibly, with a bit of luck, everything will be fine after all. Hopefully!

With so much great music going on, coming up with a list of just 10, or even 20, albums feels artificial. Even more so to declare some of them "the best of the year." All I know is that those listed below, according to various criteria, are albums I will get back to over and over again.

If you have not listened to the albums listed here yet... give them a spin, or listen to my radio show focusing on some of the best songs of 2023 contained in some of these albums, in eight installments: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8. My guess is that you'll like them too!

Must Haves

Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids
Afro Futuristic Dreams
Strut Records


Ralph Alessi
It's Always Now
ECM Records


Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Dynamic Maximum Tension
Nonesuch Records


Steve Arguelles, Francesco Bigoni, Benoit Delbecq, Francesco Diodati
Weave 4
Parco della Musica


Kenny Barron
The Source
Artwork Records


Will Bernard, Beth Custer
Sky
Dreck to Disk Records


Michael Blake
Dance of the Mystic Bliss
P&M Records


Bright Magus
Jungle Corner
Irma Records


Lucia Cadotsch
Aki
Heartcore Records


Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Damien Varaillon, Stephane Adsuar
No(w) Beauty
Menace


Mário Costa
Chromosome
Clean Feed Records


Sylvie Courvoisier
Chimaera
Intakt Records


Laurent Cugny Tentet
Zeitgeist
Frémeaux & Associés


Kris Davis
Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard
Pyroclastic


Aaron Diehl & The Knights
Zodiac Suite
Mack Avenue Records


Sam Eastmond
John Zorn's Bagatelles: Vol. 16
Tzadik Records


Rachel Eckroth
Humanoid
Sam First Records


Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter
SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree
Edition Records


Andy Emler
No Rush!
La Bouissonne


Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard
As Good As It Gets
Rune Grammofon


Fire! Orchestra
Echoes
Rune Grammofon


Sullivan Fortner
Solo Game
Artwork Records


Larry Goldings, Kaveh Rastegar, Abe Rounds
Better
Ropeadope


Miho Hazama
m_unit: Beyond Orbits
Edition Records


Magos Herrera
Aire
Sunnyside Records


Nitai Hershkovits
Call on the Old Wise
ECM Records


Alex Hitchcock
Dream Band Live in London
Whirlwind


Ron Horton
A Prayer for Andrew
Newvelle Records


Per Texas Johansson
Den sämsta lösningen av alla
Moserobie


Darren Johnston
Wild Awake
Diskonife


Koma Saxo
Post Koma
WeJazz


Laura Karpman
American Fiction—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Sony Masterworks


Kula Jula, Gangbé Brass Band
Asro
Buda musique


The Peggy Lee Band
A Giving Way
Songlines Recordings


Steve Lehman, Orchestre National de Jazz
Ex Machina
PI Recordings


James Brandon Lewis with the Red Lily Quintet and Lutoslawki Quartet
For Mahalia, With Love
Tao Forms


London Brew
London Brew
Concord Records


Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry
Our Daily Bread
ECM Records


Jean-Marie Machado & Danzas
Cantos brujos
La Bouissonne


Magic Malik Fanfare
XP Vol. 3
Onze Heures Onze


Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Jungle
Blue Engine


Cecile McLorin Salvant
Mélusine
Nonesuch Records


Brad Mehldau
Your Mother Should Know
Nonesuch Records


Federica Michisanti
Afternoons
Parco della Musica


Allison Miller
Rivers in Our Veins
Royal Potato Family


Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns
Weejuns
Rune Grammofon


Jason Moran
From the Dancehall to the Battlefield
Yes Records


Roy Nathanson
82
Enja Records


The Necks
Travel
Northern Spy Records


Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra
Family
WeJazz


Emile Parisien, Roberto Negro
Les Métanuits
ACT Music


Pierrick Pedron, Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Pédron Rubalcaba
Gazebo


Mick Rossi, Peter Hess, Matt Moran
You Break You Pay
Diskonife


Todd Sickafoose
Bear Proof
Secret Hatch Records


Ballaké Sissoko, Vincent Ségal, Vincent Peirani, Emile Parisien
Les Égarés
ACT Music


Vinnie Sperrazza, Ethan Iverson, Michael Formanek
Saturday
Fresh Sound/New Talent


Loren Stillman
Time and Again
Sunnyside Records


Samuele Strufaldi
Davorio
Musica Macondo


Xavi Torres
Quarantena Songs
Dox Records


Micah Thomas
Reveal
Artwork Records


Billy Valentine
Billy Valentine and the Universal Truth
Flying Dutchman


Marike van Dijk
Stranded
Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records


Elio Villafranca
Standing at the Crossroads
ArtistShare


Daniel Villarreal
Lados B
International Anthem


David Virelles
Carta
Intakt Records


Greg Ward's Rogue Parade
Dion's Quest
Sugar Hoof Records


Dhafer Youssef
Streets of Minarets
Black Beat Edition


Zenophilia
Come on Down
Hora


John Zorn
New Masada Quartet -Vol. 2
Tzadik Records

Debut albums

• Vicente Archer: Short Stories (Cellar Live)
• Jeremy Dutton: Anyone Is Better Than Here (Self Produced)
• Christina Galisatus: Without Night (Slow & Steady)
• Anthony Hervey: Words from My Horn (Outside In Music)
• Simon Lucaciu Trio: STRG + X (ezz-thetics)
• Mama Terra: The Summoned (Acid Jazz)
• Astghik Martirosyan: Distance (Self Produced)
• Sean Mason: Southern Suite (Blue Engine)
• Dora Morelenbaum: Vento de Beirada (Mr. Bongo)
• Roman Norfleet: Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group (Mississippi Records)
• Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen: Tigers Are Better Looking (WeJazz)
• Fergus Quill: Ferg's Imaginary Big Band (Tight Lines)
• Selma Savolainen: Horror Vacui (Whirlwind)
• Jonathan Suazo: Ricano (Ropeadope)
• ThoughtCast: Nimbus in Motion (Shifting Paradigm Records)
• Ella Zirina: Intertwined (BimHuis)
• Tima Volozh: Jubilee (Shifting Paradigm Records)

Revelations

• Richard Baratta: Off the Charts (Savant Records)
• Ana Frango Elétrico: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua (Mr. Bongo)
• Enji: Ulaan (Squama)
• Amaury Faye Ensemble: Arise (Hypnote Records)
• l a d y y b i r d d: Tomorrow's Yesterday (Innova Recordings)
• Gabriela Martina: Homage to Grämlis (Self Produced)
• Alessia Obino: A Sound's a Million Shapes (Domanda)
• RDLplus: Bay Area Bridges Compilation (Self Produced)
• Malika Zarra: Rwa (The Essence) (D. Zel)
• Ze in the Clouds: Oportet 475 (Tuk Music)

Previously unreleased (including reissues with extra material)

• Jason Adasiewicz: Roy's World (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
• Geri Allen, Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Lovesome Thing (Motéma Music)
• Chet Baker: Blue Room (Jazz Detective)
• John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy: Evenings at the Village Gate (Impulse! Records)
• Matt Munisteri and Brock Mumford: It's Been Swell: The Hillside Recordings (Self produced)
• Joni Mitchell: Archives Volume 3 -The Asylum Years 1972-1975 (Rhino)
• Shirley Scott: Queen Talk: Live at the Left Bank (Reel to Real)
• Louis Stewart: Out on His Own (Livia Records)
• Bernie Worrell, Cindy Blackman Santana, John King: Spherical (Infrequent Seams)
• Frank Zappa: Funky Nothingness (Zappa Records)
• Frank Zappa: Over-Nite Sensation—50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Zappa Records)

Reissues

• Ben Allison: Action Refraction (Sonic Camera)
• Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (New Land Records)
• Michael Blake: Hellbent (P&M Records)
• Betty Davis: Crashin' from Passion (Light in the Attic)
• Vusi Mahlasela, Norman Zulu, Jive Connection: Face to Face (Strut Records)
• Charles Mingus: Changes -The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio Recording (Atlantic Records)
• Marden Hill: Blown Away (Acid Jazz)
• Abdul Wadud: By Myself (Gotta Groove Records)
• John Zorn: Masada—30th Anniversary Edition (Tzadik Records)

Remarkable

• Joshua Abrams: Natural Information Society: Since Time Is Gravity (Eremite)
• Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah: Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
• Aka Moon: Quality of Joy (Outhere)
• Ambrose Akinmusire: Beauty Is Enough (Origami Harvest)
• Ambrose Akinmusire: Owl Song (Nonesuch)
• Costanza Alegiani: Folkways Lucio dove sei? (Parco della Musica)
• Sophie Alour: Le temps virtuose (Music from Source)
• Art Ensemble Of Chicago: The Sixth Decade (RogueArt)
• Artemis: In Real Time (Blue Note Records)
• Jeff Babko, David Piltch: The Libretto Show (Self Produced)
• Lucian Ban, Mat Maneri: Oedipus Redux (Sunnyside Records)
• Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
• Camille Bertault: Bonjour mon amour (Vita)
• Johnathan Blake: Passage (Blue Note Records)
• Samuel Blaser: Routes (Enja Records)
• Celine Bonacina: Jump (Cristal Records)
• Jaimie Branch: Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die (World War) (International Anthem)
• Jamie Breiwick: Awake: Volume 2 -The Music of Don Cherry (Shifting Paradigm Records)
• Vilhelm Bromander: In This Forever Unfolding Moment (Thanatosis)
• Peter Brötzmann, Majid Bekkas, Hamid Drake: Catching Ghosts (ACT Music)
• Francesco Chiapperini: Transmigration (Splasc(H) Records)
• Billy Childs: The Winds of Change (Mack Avenue Records)
• Rob Clearfield: Ashes and Diamonds (ears&eyes Records)
• Isaiah Collier: Parallel Universe (Night Dreamer)
• Franco D'Andrea: Sketches of the 20th Century (Parco della Musica)
• Caroline Davis's Alula: Captivity (Ropeadope)
• Deadeye: Live (Dox Records)
• Maria Pia De Vito: This Woman's Work (Parco della Musica)
• Cettina Donato, Zoe Pia: Mito (Alfa Music)
• Enemy: The Betrayal (WeJazz)
• Peter Epstein: Two Legs Bad (Shifting Paradigm Records)
• Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer -A Tribute to Don Cherry (Spiritmuse)
• Alan Ferber Nonet: Up High, Down Low (Sunnyside Records)
• Sammy Figueroa: Searching for a Memory (Ashé Records)
• Michael Formanek: Elusion Quartet As Things Do (Intakt Records)
• Erik Friedlander: She Sees (Skitpstone)
• Anat Fort Trio: The Berlin Sessions (Sunnyside Records)
• Asher Gamedze: Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem)
• Miha Gantar: Amsterdam (Clean Feed Records)
• Leo Genovese, Demian Cabaud, Marcos Cavaleiro: Estrellero (Sunnyside Records)
• Luigi Grasso: Dantesca (LP3 45)
• John Hadfield: Drum of Stories (In a Circle Records)
• Roy Hargrove: The Love Suite: In Mahogany (Blue Engine)
• Benjamin Herman: Nostalgia Blitz (Dox Records)
• Alexander Hawkins Trio: Carnival Celestial (Intakt Records)
• Mette Henriette Drifting (ECM Records)
• Hiromi: Sonicwonderland (Telarc)
• Ikiru: Plays Satie (Collectif surnatural)
• Illegal Crowns: Unclosing (Out of your Head Records)
• Naïssam Jalal Healing Rituals (Les couleurs du son)
• Kenneth Jimenez Sonnet to Silence (WeJazz)
• Jim & The Schrimps Ain't No Saint (Intakt Records)
• Kaisa's Machine: Taking Shape (Greenleaf Music)
• Logan Kane: Floor Plans (Ghost Note Records)
• Guillermo Klein: Quinteto Telmo's Tune (Sunnyside Records)
• Andrew Krasilnikov: Bloody Belly Comb Jelly (Rainy Days Records)
• Marie Kruttli: Transparence (Intakt Records)
• Bill Laurance, Michael League: Where You Wish You Were (ACT Music)
• Rickie Lee Jones: Pieces of Treasure (Modern Recordings)
• Legraux Tobrogoï: Barbarismes (Freddy Morezon)
• James Brandon Lewis Trio: Eye of I (Anti-)
• Antti Lotjonen Quintet East: Circus/Citadel WeJazz
• Hannah Marks: Outside Outlier (Out of your Head Records)
• Branford Marsalis: Rustin—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Netflix)
• Terrace Martin: Fine Tune (Sounds of Crenshaw)
• Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra: Lightning Dreamers (International Anthem)
• Christian McBride's New Jawn: Prime (Mack Avenue Records)
• Tobias Meinhart Berlin People: Dark Horse (Sunnyside Records)
• Vince Mendoza, Metropole Orkest: Olympians (Modern Recordings)
• Billy Mohler: Ultraviolet (Contagious Music)
• MoonMot: 350 Million Herring (Enja Records)
• Wolfgang Muthspiel, Scott Colley, Brian Blade: Dance of the Elders (ECM Records)
• MeShell NdegeOcello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note Records)
• Clovis Nicolas: The Contrapuntist (Sunnyside Records)
• Thomas Naim: The Far Side (Rootless Blues)
• Aruán Ortiz Trio: Serranías: Sketchbook for Piano Trio (Intakt Records)
• Papanosh: A Very Big Lunch (Enja Records)
• Gretchen Parlato, Lionel Loueke: Lean In (Edition Records)
• Tineke Postma: Aria (Edition Records)
• Chris Potter: Got The Keys To The Kingdom -Live at the Village Vanguard (Edition Records)
• Simona Premazzi: Wave in Gravity (Self Produced)
• Zoe Rahman: Wave in Gravity (Manushi Records)
• Andre Roligheten: Marbles (Odin Records)
• Emma Rawicz: Chroma (ACT Music)
• Roots Magic Sextet: Long Old Road (Clean Feed Records)
• Charley Rose Trio: Dada Pulp (Menace)
• Ben Rosenblum: Nebula Project A Thousand Pebbles (One Trick Dog Records)
• Rudy Royston: Flatbed Buggy Day (Greenleaf Music)
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Borrowed Roses (Topo Stop)
• Felipe Salles: Interconnections Ensemble Home Is Here (Tapestry)
• The Angelica Sanchez Nonet: Nighttime Creatures (Pyroclastic Records)
• John Scofield: Uncle John's Band (ECM Records)
• Sketchbook Quartet: Kekova (Waschsalon Records)
• Walter Smith III: Return to Casual (Blue Note Records)
• Ken Stubbs: Southern Soul (Cherry K Records)
• Mark Solborg: Babel (Ilk Music)
• Helen Svoboda: The Odd River (Earshift Music)
• Yuhan Su: Liberated Gesture (Sunnyside Records)
• Dan Tepfer, Miguel Zenon: Internal Melodies (Main Door Music)
• Henry Texier: An Indian's Life (Label Bleu)
• A Tonic for the Troops: Realm of Opportunities (Odin Records)
• Tiziano Tononi: Water Counts (Felmay)
• Ralph Towner: At First Light (ECM Records)
• Trickster: Live in Brooklyn (Self Produced)
• Trio Grande: Urban Myth (Whirlwind)
• Gianluigi Trovesi, Stefano Montanari: Stravaganze consonanti (ECM Records)
• Stephen Ulrich: Music from This American Life (Barbes Records)
• The Vampires: Nightjar (Earshift Music)
• Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake: Eternal River (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
• Ben Wendel: All One (Edition Records)
• Gaia Wilmer: Folia (Sunnyside Records)
• Anthony Wilson: Collodion (Colorfield)
• Ben Wolfe: Unjust (Resident Arts)
• Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (Impulse! Records)
• Miguel Zenon, Luis Perdomo: El arte del Bolero -Vol. 2 (Miel)

Ubridled Fun

• Deadjazz: Plays the Music of the Grateful Dead (B-Flat)
• Kait Dunton: Keyboards Real and Imagined Music)
• Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter: SuperBlue: Guilty Pleasures (Edition Records)
• Nicole Johänntgen: Labyrinth (Selmabird)
• Greg Joseph: Drop the Rock (Sunnyside Records)
• Magic Carpet: Broken Compass (FPE)
• Endea Owens: Feel Good Music (Self Produced)
• Nicholas Payton: Drip! (Paytone)
• Leo Sidran: What's Trending (Bonsai Music/(Nardis)
• Erik Truffaz: Clap (Blue Note Records)
• Erik Truffaz: Rollin' (Blue Note Records)
• Various Artists: The Mexico City Experiment (Ropeadope)

Comments