The music keeps moving forward, evolving to higher levels. My search for the best jazz recordings of 2016 led me to these marvelous CDs.

Wadada Leo Smith
America's National Parks Cuneiform Records
Trumpeter
Wadada Leo Smith has attempted in, the new millennium, to create his magnum opus. He may have succeeded with
America's National Parks, a sprawling, dark-hued masterpiece celebrating the Mississippi River, New Orleans, Yellowstone, Yosemite and more.

Adam Pieronczyk
Monte AlbanSelf Produced
A haunting ode to Polish saxophonist
Adam Pieronczyk's early morning visit to the ruins of Monte Alban, outside of Oaxaca City in Mexico. Sax, bass and drums with electronics melding together to create an eerie, future-esque music.

Michael Formanek Ensemble Kollossus
The Distance ECM Records
Bassist
Michael Formanek is best known for his small group recordings on ECM Records. This one takes him into a different universea boisterous, intricately arranged big band bursting with surprises.

Tom Collier
Impulsive IlluminationsOrigin Records
Vibraphonist
Tom Collier shapes up a group of trio sounds with pianist Richard Karpen and five different, forward leaning compatriots, for a uniquely innovative set of sounds.

Daniel Schlaeppi/Marc Copland
More Essentials Catwalk Records
Perhaps the most purely gorgeous set of the year, with bassist
Daniel Schlaeppi and veteran pianist
Marc Copland engaging in fluid duets of standards and improvisations.

Masabumi Kikuchi
Black Orpheus ECM Records
Spare and spacious to the point of starkness, Japanese pianist
Masabumi Kikuchi, in his last recording released during his lifetime, pared his artistry down to its bare, beautiful essentials.

Eugenia Choe
Magic Light Steeplechase Records
Pianist
Eugenia Choe crafted the debut set of the yeara luminous sound that can stand with the best of them. This is the art of the piano trio at its finest.

Craig Taborn
Book Of Angels, Volume 27 Tzadik Records
Pianist
Craig Taborn fronts an all-star trio on this rambunctious, assertive take on John Zorn's "Masada Book Two" music.

Richard Sussman
The Evolution Suite Zoho Records
Pianist/Composer
Richard Sussman stirs up the jazz quintet with a string quartet and adds electronics to in a very successful effort to push the music forward.

Danny Green Trio
Altered NarrativesOA2 Records
Danny Green, one of the most exciting new pianists on the scene, fronts a forward looking trio, and invites a string quartet in for a few tunes, on a set where his artistic vision sharpens to a fine focus.

Clay Giberson
PasturesOrigin Records
Pianist
Clay Giberson, a veteran Origin Records artist, hasn't enjoyed the profile his level of artistry deserves.
Pastures, his finest work to date, should help in that regard. It's a all-star jazz quartet outing, with strings adeptly attached on three tunes, featuring Giberson's best composing alongside some well-chosen originals.

Frank Kimbrough
SolsticePirouet Records
Pianist
Frank Kimbrough, a long term member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra, has come up with an enchanting piano trio set. It's mostly covers, drawn from mostly left-of-center artists. The trio interplay is intricate and exquisite.

Andrew Downing
OttervilleSelf Produced
Cellist
Andrew Downing's
Otterville spun in from out of the bluefrom Canada, actually. It is an understated, folksy exploration of the charms and pleasures of small town life that mixes Bill Frisell-style (North) Americana, the elegance of the Modern Jazz Quartet, and the dreamy atmospheres of Daniel Lanois.

Karavika
Of Earth and Sky Self Produced
This probably isn't jazz, if that matters. Karavikaviolinist
Trina Basu; cellist
Amali Premawardhana and bassist
Perry Wortmanmake some of the most inspiring music out there- -a mix of Indian Raga, American roots and spirituals and classical chamber sounds. Mesmerizing, lovely music like nobody else out there is making.