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As the host of Jazz Nightly, I receive more than 500 new jazz CDs each year. However, that’s just a small fraction of the number of new jazz albums that are released. Each month in DownBeat and JazzTimes magazines I see reviews and advertisements for dozens of new albums that never come across my desk. A search through various jazz websites shows many more. There's a wealth of new jazz created by artists throughout the U.S. and the world and it's impossible to keep up with it all.
Given that I only heard a small percentage of this year’s new albums, it would be presumptuous of me to make a "Best of 2021" list. Instead, I offer a “Favorite New Jazz Albums I Was Fortunate To Hear in 2021” list. The artists are listed alphabetically.
CLIFTON ANDERSON – Been Down This Road Before (ropeadope)
Clifton Anderson received his first trombone from his uncle, tenor sax legend Sonny Rollins, at seven years old and later played in Rollins’ band. For his is fourth album as a leader, Been Down This Road Before, the trombonist assembled an all-star cast for performances of excellent Anderson originals. While the title track addresses racial injustice, there are also plenty of catchy, memorable tunes that capture jazz and its most joyous.
THEO CROKER – BLK2LIFE/A FUTURE PAST(Sony Masterworks)
Trumpeter Theo Croker is the grandson of Doc Cheatham, a trumpet contemporary of Louis Armstrong. Over the course of several albums, Croker has drawn from contemporary R & B, funk, fusion reggae, dub, electronica to explore themes of universal Blackness, while still rooted in jazz. BLK2LIFE/A FUTURE PAST is an experimental, ambitious album and Croker’s finest moment yet.
KENNY GARRETT – Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue)
Alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett grew up in Detroit and he often fills his music with the Motown soul, gospel, blues and jazz sounds of his hometown. For his 20th album as a leader, Garrett combines the musical history of Detroit while exploring the ancestral and contemporary sounds from France, Cuba, Nigeria and Guadeloupe. This is an extraordinary album with Garrett forging infectious grooves with drummer Ronald Bruner and percussionist Rudy Bird.
JIHYE LEE ORCHESTRA – Daring Mind (Motema)
A native of South Korea, Jihye Lee had no background in jazz until she came to the U.S. a decade ago to study at Boston’s Berklee of Music. That explains why she has found her own original identity and voice while creating music within the richly American big band tradition. Lee’s imaginative compositions are filled with surprises as she shifts moods, textures and rhythms in unexpected ways. Daring Mind is the most exciting orchestral jazz album of 2021.
ARTURO O’FARRILL - …dreaming in lions… (Blue Note)
Pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill is the son of legendary Cuban composer and bandleader Chico O’Farrill. He took over the leadership of his father’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra after the elder O’Farrill’s death. For his Blue Note debut, Arturo O’Farrill pared down the group to 10 musicians for performances of two extended suites written in collaborations with Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company. O’Farrill’s music is dramatic and sweeping with plenty of fireworks and layered with polyrhythms, dynamic textures, and complex harmonics. This is adventurous, passionate, impeccably performed music.
PAXTON/SPANGLER SEPTET – Anthem for the New Nation (East Lawn Records)
South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim ranks among the great jazz composers of the late 20th century and his music deserves a place in the standard jazz repertoire. Detroit’s Paxton/Spangler Sextet expertly interpret seven classic Ibrahim compositions on Anthem for the New Nation. The group, led by trombonist T-Bone Paxton and percussionist RJ Spangler, have played South African music for many years and confidently capture the rhythm and spirit of Ibrahim’s music. This album serves as a wonderful introduction to Ibrahim’s music, from the joyous “African Marketplace” to the hauntingly beautiful “Perfumed Forest Wet with Rain.”
RITA PAYÉS/ELISABETH ROMA – Como La Piel (Self-released)
Rita Payés is a young Catalan trombonist and singer with a sweet, slightly husky voice and a tender tone on her horn. At the age of 16 she released her first album with a band featuring U.S. jazz musicians Scott Hamilton, Dick Oats and Scott Robinson. For her latest project, Como La Piel, Payés joins forces with her mother, classical guitarist Elisabeth Roma. The album is a rich collection of originals and covers offering a personal take on traditional Catalan music, bossa nova, boleros and jazz. This is exquisite, beautiful music.
DR. LONNIE SMITH – Breathe (Blue Note)
Organist Dr. Lonnie Smith died in September at the age of 79, but not before releasing one final album, Breathe. Recorded live at New York’s Jazz Standard, the album aptly captures what made Smith such a master of the Hammond B-3 organ. He takes organ jazz beyond the cliched gritty grooves and funky exclamations and demonstrates the full dynamic and expressive range of the instrument. Plus, the album is bookended by two surprising studio collaborations with punk icon Iggy Pop on Timmy Thomas’ “Why Can’t We Live Together” and Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman.” This is an organ record for those who don’t think they like jazz organ music.
SONS OF KEMET – Black to the Future (Impulse)
London has one of the world’s most exciting jazz scenes, even though the music isn’t necessarily tied to traditional conceptions of jazz. It’s all infused with Afrobeat, reggae, soca, ska, funk and other idioms transplanted from former British colonies. At the center of London’s thriving jazz scene is saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, who leads several innovative bands including Sons of Kemet. The group has an unusual instrumentation of sax, tuba and multiple drummers. Sons of Kemet’s latest album, Black to the Future, features intense, quirky music uniting different strands of the African diaspora. As Ted Gioa writes in his latest edition of The History of Jazz, “I can’t help imagining this was how jazz must have felt, both beguiling and disruptive, to those who first heard it in New Orleans more than a century before.”
VERONICA SWIFT – This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue)
Veronica Swift is the breakout jazz vocalist of the past couple years. She possesses an appealing, husky voice and an impeccable, infectious sense of swing. Her second Mack Avenue release, This Bitter Earth, finds Swift digging into the classic American songbook and beyond in an exploration of gender roles. Along the way she reveals breathtaking interpretations of oft-performed songs like “The Man I Love” and “Prisoner of Love.”