A quick pre-amble: jazz is so diverse that it’s near-impossible to compare and rank the "best" albums of the year (Editor's note: which is why Nextbop refers to these lists as our "favorites" as opposed to "the best", because words are important). How does one rank Julian Lage, Darcy James Argue, Takuya Kuroda, and Brad Mehldau against each other? The answer of course is that … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016
I had love and specific passion this year. I felt more detached, as many of my dispatches have noted over the last year but particularly in this week of assessment. I felt a listlessness about even completing this list, yet the need to communicate was still there. The need for completeness (in a task that can never be completed) still gnaws at me. I still had to express my … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Non-Jazz Albums of 2016
I couldn't come up with ten. I blame myself, living out in the woods with tenuous internet and not seeking out as I should have new sounds this year, at least not with the usual amount of diligence. I know there were things I missed, which this year's staff lists revealed to me. I was aware that I should be hip to Solange's new one. I wasn't even thinking about Thao & the Get … [Read more...]
Nextbop’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016
There's no universal theme or overall consensus in jazz this year. No overblown hype machine, no clamoring for a seemingly agreed upon savior, no important trendsetting bucking of past conventions to take on new ones. Artists made art this year, as they do every year, and in the realm of jazz, they made art together. Collaborators collaborated, improvisors improvised. We, … [Read more...]
Nextbop’s Favorite Non-Jazz Albums of 2016
It was difficult to find engagement in this year's music. This was a year of loss, of disappointment, of scattershot feelings and even moreso scattershot expression. This isn't to say there want immense work of quality, which makes discovering it even more intriguing. There wasn't a lot of overlap in our staff lists this year, which made for a group of rather exciting … [Read more...]