The third Village Voice Jazz Poll, put together by critic Francis Davis (not to be confused with their Pazz & Jop Poll, which runs next month), is in the paper’s current issue; 79 jazz writers submitted ballots. I participated for the first time this year, and it was a little strange paring down my regular (and discombobulated) year-end list to include only “jazz” titles. Considering how capricious the process sometimes seems, though, I didn’t lose any sleep over it–and looking at my choices again, I have no regrets.
Overall the poll’s top honors went, unsurprisingly, to Sonny Rollins’s Road Shows Vol. 1 (Doxy/Emarcy), a vault dig of shows from the past few decades, but the rest of the results were less predictable.
Here’s my list:
NEW RELEASES
1. Atomic Retrograde (Jazzland)
2. Donny McCaslin Recommended Tools (Greenleaf)
3. Mike Reed Proliferation (482 Music)
4. Martial Solal Longitude (CamJazz)
5. Mary Halvorson Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12)
6. Vijay Iyer Tragicomic (Sunnyside)
7. John McNeil & Bill McHenry Rediscovery (Sunnyside)
8. Rudresh Mahanthappa Kinsmen (Pi)
9. Lafayette Gilchrist Soul Progressin’ (Hyena)
10. Andrew Hill & Chico Hamilton Dreams Come True (Joyous Shout)
REISSUES
1. Anthony Braxton The Complete Arista Recordings (Mosaic)
2. Chris McGregor Very Urgent (Fledgling)
3. Roscoe Mitchell Nonaah (Nessa)
VOCAL
Cassandra Wilson Loverly (Blue Note)
DEBUT
Ambrose Akinmusire Prelude (Fresh Sound New Talent)
LATIN
Bebo Valdés & Javier Colina Live at the Village Vanguard (Calle 54/Norté)
Today’s playlist:
Sun Ra, Some Blues but Not the Kind That’s Blue (Unheard Music Series)
AC/DC, Black Ice (Columbia)
Ideal Bread, The Ideal Bread (KMB Jazz)
Various Artists, Conquer the World: The Lost Soul of Philadelphia International Records (Philadelphia International/Legacy)
Curtis Fuller, The Opener (Blue Note)