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Dan Bilawsky's Best Releases of 2012

By Dan Bilawsky
December 23, 2012
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Transcendent recordings don't come with a label identifying their magnificence, but they're easy to pick out. I had the honor and privilege of receiving, and listening to, more than 375 CDs for review consideration in 2012. I reviewed approximately 165 of them and these were the 15 that rose above the rest. Some are bold and others practice the art of quiet seduction, but every one of them won me over from the get go and remain close to my ears and heart (Note: these albums are not ranked in order of preference):

Avishai Cohen - Trumpet Triveni II (Anzic Records)	Sara Gazarek Blossom & Bee (Palmetto Records)	Ryan Truesdell Centennial—Newly Discovered Works Of Gil Evans (ArtistShare)
Kate McGarry Girl Talk (Palmetto Records)	Branford Marsalis Four MFs Playin' Tunes (Marsalis Music)	Ehud Asherie with Harry Allen Upper West Side (Posi-Tone Records)
Gregory Porter Be Good (Motéma Music)	Anat Cohen Claroscuro (Anzic Records)	Wes Montgomery Echoes Of Indiana Avenue (Resonance Records)
Halie Loren Heart First (Justin Time Records)	Ablaye Cissoko/Volker Goetze Amanke Dionti (Motéma Music)	Andy Hunter Think Like A Mountain (Self Produced)
Jazz Soul Seven Impressions Of Curtis Mayfield (BFM Jazz)	Ferenc Nemeth Triumph (Dreamers Collective)	Greg Lewis/Organ Monk Uwo In The Black (Self Produced)

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