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Dan Bilawsky's Best Releases of 2016

By Dan Bilawsky
December 8, 2016
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Another year is almost in the books. And while there were many things to fret about in 2016, a lack of good music wasn't one of them. A quick look back at the year reminds us that jazz legends remain strong, rising stars continue to rapidly ascend, newcomers are making their presence felt, and the dearly departed are gracing us from the great beyond. I had the pleasure of listening to hundreds of new jazz albums for review consideration this year, I covered well over a hundred of them at All About Jazz, and these are the twenty-five that stand tallest in that mix (Note: This list is NOT ranked in order of preference):

Aziza Aziza (Dare2 Records)	Peter Eldridge Disappearing Day (Sunnyside Records)	Frank Kimbrough Solstice (Pirouet Records)
Will Vinson Perfectly Out Of Place (5Passion)	Ryan Keberle Azul Infinito (Greenleaf Music)	Scott DuBois Winter Light (ACT Music)
Daniel Freedman Imagine That (Anzic Records)	Ken Peplowski Enrapture (Capri Records)	Camila Meza Traces (Sunnyside Records)
Jimmy Scott I Go Back Home... (Eden River Records)	Christopher Zuar Musings (Sunnyside Records)	Sonny Rollins Road Shows, Vol. 4 (Doxy Records)
Henry Threadgill Old Locks And... (Pi Recordings)	Leslie Pintchik True North (Pintch Hard Records)	Louis Heriveaux Triadic Episode (Hot Shoe Records)
Gregory Porter Take Me To The Alley (Blue Note Records)	Billy Hart / WDR Big Band The Broader Picture (Enja-Yellowbird Records)	Bill Frisell When You Wish Upon... (Okeh Records)
Bobby Avey Inhuman Wilderness (Innervoice Jazz)	Joe Lovano Classic! Live At Newport (Blue Note Records)	Ark Ovrutski Intersection (Origin Records)
Bokani Dyer World Music (Self Produced)	Jonathan Finlayson Moving Still (Pi Recordings)	Charles Lloyd I Long To See (Blue Note Records)
	Kurt Elling The Beautiful Day (Okeh Records)

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