C. Michael Bailey Best Recordings of 2022

This best-releases-of-the-year article does not reflect all of the music that I have listened to in the past year, rather I restrict myself to only the music that I have reviewed, with one exception: the Waiting For Columbus Super Deluxe Edition for which I have pined away for 40 years. I leave you in the gentle hands of Mike Jacobs for that. Happy Holidays, Pilgrims. You are in the right place.

Paul Jost
While We Were Gone
PJ Music

The COVID pandemic has been a creative catalyst in jazz. Consider vocalist Paul Jost's thematically assembled While We Were Gone, recorded live at the Soapbox Gallery performance space, supported only by a traditional piano trio... ( continue )



Kristina Koller
Get Out Of Town
Self Produced

Youthful, vibrant, and musically precocious, vocalist / composer Kristina Koller answers her two previous recordings: the gracefully insurgent Perception ( Self Produced, 2018 ) and frankly anarchic Stronger ( Self Produced, 2019 ) with the intensely focused Get Out Of Town... ( continue )

Kellye Gray
Purple Gray
Lucy Anderson

Not a universal name, Kellye Gray? The Houston vocalist, who abruptly passed away in 2019, was universally admired, no, loved, by her contemporary vocalists... ( continue )



Vicki Burns
Lotus Blossom Days
ViBu Jazz

What jazz is all about is swing. For our purposes here, swing is what we've got. Vicki Burns introduction to "If You Never Fell In Love With Me" is robust... [continue )



Naama Gheber
If I Knew Then
Sassy's Back In Town

New York City-based vocalist Naama Gheber released her debut recording, Dearly Beloved ( Cellar Music ) in 2020, just before the global COVID-19 pandemic. [continue]



Tawanda
Smile
Resonance Records

Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim, known professionally as Tawanda, tied for first place in the 9th annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition held in June 2021... ( continue )



Joe Coughlin
Dedicated To You
Cellar Music Group

In completely non-scientific observations, based on promotional materials received, it appears that there are fewer male jazz singers than females... ( continue )



Jeremy Wong
Hey There
Cellar Music Group

Where Joe Coughlin represents the Canadian old guard, Vancouver vocalist, composer, and lyricist Jeremy Wong symbolizes the next step in genre evolution. Kudos to the Cellar Group for sponsoring both artists... ( continue )



Lyn Stanley
Novel Noël: A Jingle Jazz Celebration
A. T. Music

Vocalist Lyn Stanley ironically calls her ensemble the Big Band Jazz Maverick when she is the maverick, the evidence being how seamlessly she expands the holiday canon on Novel Noël: A Jingle Jazz Celebration. ( continue )



Little Feat
Waiting For Columbus Super Deluxe Edition
Rhino

Aside from the Grateful Dead ( and possibly Rush ), there's perhaps no band that can boast a more die-hard fan base than Little Feat's. ( continue )

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