Frank Housh's Favorite Jazz Albums Of 2025

2025 was a great year for jazz. Below are my reviews for the year, from established artists like Brad Mehldau, John Scofield, and Celine McLorin Salvant to rising talents like Christian Pabst and Jo-Yu Chen. The first two album reviews are of artists that did more than simply demonstrate superior artistry, they spoke powerfully about the world. I can think of no higher musical accomplishment.

Honey From A Winter Stone
Ambrose Akinmusire
Nonesuch Records

Honey From A Winter Stone is a dazzling kaleidoscope of jazz, hip-hop, and chamber music, as well as a commentary on the contemporary black experience."



Live in Berlin
Kinan Azmeh
Dreyer Gaido

The brutal Syrian civil war played an integral part of Kinan Azmeh's Live in Berlin (Dreyer Gaido, 2025). He said, "Most of this music was composed and performed during a difficult time of my life that began with the Syrian uprising in 2011, music that is inspired by anger, sadness, frustration, and above all the need to hold on to one's optimism, hope and creative tools in the face of atrocities."

The quartet's sound defies categorization. The songs are composed but include extensive improvisation; they are based on traditional Western harmonies, but feature the modes of the Arabic māqām and Middle Eastern rhythms. We can safely call it "jazz" and trouble ourselves no further. Live in Berlin is a moving elegy to the half million souls lost to a madman, but it pulses with life and hope.

Rhythm Riot
Christian Pabst
JazzSick Records

"Mount Raken" is the longest track, a reference to the site of the Rakan-ji Zen Temple (above), established in 1337. The surrounding cliffs are home to 3700 stone statues of raken, "worthy ones" who achieved enlightenment by following the teachings of the Buddha.


Rendezvous: Jazz Meets Beethoven, Tchaikovsky & More
Jo-Yu Chen
Sony Music

Jo-Yu Chen is a Juilliard-trained pianist who treats the great composers like most jazz musicians treat the Great American Songbook: a familiar musical foundation upon which to build a musical style.



Room On The Porch
Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo'
Concord Music Group

Room On The Porch sounds of gospel, Delta blues, R&B, and calypso, exalting the African Diaspora's transformation of Western music. Taj said, "if you take the African imprint out of Western music for the last 500 years, there's almost nothing left... we're just connecting with the music of our ancestors.


Tuff Times Never Last
Kokoroko
Brownswood Recordings

Kokoroko's sophomore album is cool. Cool as the other side of the pillow, cool like floating on top of the deep blue ocean, cool like the Fonz.



Ride into the Sun
Brad Mehldau
Nonesuch Records

Ride into the Sun's sixteen tracks are bursting with great music, love, and respect. The album—like Smith's music, like life itself—is beautiful and sad.



Oh Snap
Cecile McLorin Salvant
Nonesuch Records

Cécile McLorin Salvant is that absurdly smart, ridiculously talented friend who aces all the tests but never studies, drives you to the audition but gets the part, and sells her vacation photos to a gallery. It may seem like showing off to us mortals, but she is just being herself. Life's blessings are not distributed equally. That's just how it is.


Memories Of Home
John Scofield
ECM Records

Memories Of Home is a welcome addition to the guitar/bass canon. It finds two legendary jazz musicians at the height of their powers reflecting on the decades of music behind them. Past compositions are stripped down to their essence and reinterpreted by the passage of time. The result is at once starkly minimalist and musically rich.