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Mark Sullivan's Best Releases of 2016

By Mark Sullivan
December 9, 2016
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So many reviews this year, in so many genres, that I've split them into two categories—"Jazz" and "Latin, World & Experimental"—in response to the feeling that I was trying to compare apples to oranges. They're presented in more or less chronological order, and the guiding principle was whether I had a clear memory of the recording even before I went back to listen to it again. A few of these were drawn from Multiple Review articles, and I cheated a bit with one where I reviewed a live album release concert rather than the album. If I had to choose just one? In a very strong year of ECM releases, Wolfgang Muthspiel's Rising Grace is a highlight in his discography, in contemporary jazz guitar music, and in the recent ECM catalog.

Jazz

Konstantin Ionenko Noema (Fancy Music)	Michael Formanek The Distance (ECM Records)	Tord Gustavsen What was said (ECM Records)
Andreas Loven District Six (Losen Records)	Cuong Vu Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny (Nonesuch Records)	Daniela Schachter Vanheusenism: A Tribute to Jimmy Van Heusen (Self Produced)
Vinnie Zummo The Coyote (Vaz Music)	Nels Cline Lovers (Blue Note Records)	Jakob Bro Streams (ECM Records)
Wadada Leo Smith America's National Parks (Cuneiform Records)	Alyssa Allgood Out Of The Blue (Jerujazz Records)	Wolfgang Muthspiel Rising Grace (ECM Records)
Frank Kimbrough Solstice (Pirouet Records)

Latin, World & Experimental

Nils Okland Kjølvatn (ECM Records)	Carol Saboya Carolina (AAM Music)	Mike Freeman Blue Tjade (VOF Recordings)
Rhythm Future Quartet Travels (Self Produced)	Dominican Jazz Project The Dominican Jazz Project (Summit Records)	Ravi Shankar In Hollywood, 1971 (Northern Spy Records)
Sao Paulo Underground Cantos Invisíveis (Cuneiform Records)

About Michael Formanek

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