2022 was the year that the jazz world seemed to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Musicians went back on tour, festivals reemerged and some artists released multiple albums that were the results of all the involuntary isolation they went through during quarantine. Veteran masters such as Nate Wooley and Charles Lloyd kept up their standards of excellence while a stunning new voice debuted on record, Zoh Amba. A young saxophonist from rural Tennessee, she plays an intensely spiritual style within the realm of Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders. She came to New York and put out three albums this year in the company of heavyweights such as John Zorn, Tyshawn Sorey, and William Parker. Here are my favorite albums of the year from Wooley, Lloyd, Amba, and others.
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