2006 could very well have been All About Jazz's best year yet in terms of new developments. MY AAJ and regional calendar of events were launched in July and we've been actively building "MY" memberships and spreading the word about the calendar ever since. We also topped one million monthly readers for the first time (in November), we're rapidly approaching one million MP3 downloads, and we added Chris May and Samuel Chell to our editorial staff.

That's the year in review and the year ahead in a nutshell; now onto the music...

I featured nearly 150 publisher's picks this year and highlighted the top 30 below—they represent the most memorable in my 2006 listening experience.

Rob Reddy A Hundred Jumping Devils (Reddy Music)	Brian Lynch / Eddie Palmieri Simpatico (ArtistShare)	Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet Husky (Hyena)
Mario Franco This Life (Tone of a Pitch)	Bennie Maupin Penumbra (Cryptogramophone)	Dave Douglas Meaning and Mystery (Greenleaf)
Rick Parker Finding Space (Self Produced)	Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Live In Seattle (Origin)	Donny McCaslin Soar (Sunnyside)
Branford Marsalis Braggtown (Marsalis Music)	Jim Black Dogs Of Great Indifference (Winter & Winter)	John McNeil East Coast Cool (OmniTone)
John Ettinger Kissinger In Space (Ettinger Music)	Ron Horton Everything In a Dream (Fresh Sound)	Chris Potter Underground (Sunnyside)
Nels Cline New Monastery (Cryptogramophone)	Metta Quintet Subway Songs (Jazz Reach)	Kenny Garrett Beyond the Wall (Nonesuch)

Label Spotlight: ECM Records

Tomasz Stanko Lontano

Trio Beyond Saudades

Nik Bartsch's Ronin Stoa

Style Spotlight: Piano Trio

John Taylor Angel of the Presence (CamJazz)

Enrico Pieranunzi Ballads (Cam Jazz)

Brad Mehldau House On Hill (Nonesuch Records)

Honorable Mention...

Sound In Action Trio's Gate (Atavistic), Chip White's Harlem Sunset (Postcards), Edward Simon's Unicity (Cam Jazz), David Bixler's Call It A Good Deal (Zoho), Diego Urcola's Viva (Cam Jazz) and Francisco Mela's Melao (Ayva Musica).