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| 1 | Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette | Somewhere | "Somewhere leaves no doubt that the special spark...remains intact. If anything, Somewhere creates hope that another four years won't have to pass before this inimitable trio is heard from again. " allaboutjazz | ||
| 2 | Steve Coleman & Five Elements | Functional Arrhythmias | "This is the most exciting and substantial Coleman release of the last few years, rigorously challenging, pumped with insinuating melodies, sleek with propulsive energies and pulsating with a uniquely globular funkiness." BBC Music | ||
| 3 | Wayne Shorter | Without A Net | "To fully appreciate the album, it needs close attention. The magic comes when the members of the quartet start bumping each other up to the next musical level, and it helps to discover the steps they take to do that." Blurt Magazine "Without a Net is free to bursting point, but it's a triumph." The Guardian | ||
| 4 | Craig Taborn Trio | Chants | "This is consistently powerful, dense music, packed with dynamic and textural contrasts, performed by three mutually sensitive individuals who all subscribe to Taborn’s succinctly expressed philosophy: ‘If there’s a question, it’s because you intended there to be a question, and the improvisation is the answer.’" London Jazz News | ||
| 5 | Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran | Hagar's Song | "Hagar's Song is a deeply intimate, intuitive offering from saxophonist Charles Lloyd and pianist Jason Moran, ... . [It] finds them at their most naturally curious and deeply attentive best, offering a conversation so intimate the listener may occasionally feel she is eavesdropping." All Music | ||
| 6 | Cecile McLorin Salvant | WomanChild | "[She] sounds as if she was reincarnated from a different era. ... A touch of nostalgia yet totally fresh, this is an excellent release from a unique and impressive new voice. " allaboutjazz | ||
| 7 | Tim Berne's Snakeoil | Shadow Man | "This band’s eponymous ECM debut last year was one of the most acclaimed jazz recordings of 2012. Shadow Man is stronger. It is wilder and deeper, an oceanic extravagance of strange sonic shapes and colors. Yet it coheres according to proprietary logic." JazzTimes | ||
| 8 | Dave Douglas Quintet | Time Travel | "The current incarnation of Douglas' Quintet reflects the independent spirit of a pioneering artist whose intrepid enthusiasm manifests itself in his choice of gifted young collaborators. ... Time Travel displays the boundless creativity of a group that derives equal inspiration from both past and future." allaboutjazz | ||
| 9 | Rudresh Mahanthappa | Gamak | "The album's vivid balance of postbop fluency, incandescent ensemble intensity and fierce guitar improv is most successfully struck. It's an accomplished, imaginative and confident contemporary world-jazz set." The Guardian | ||
| 10 | Terence Blanchard | Magnetic | "He is everywhere here, doing wonderful things in different forms. His tunes are daring, his playing is rife with invention, and he experiments with sounds and arrangements that go outside the “jazz quintet” norm. Yet he does all of this while still maintaining a band in the old Art Blakey style—developing and encouraging young talent in a way that furthers the art form." PopMatters | ||
| 11 | Darcy James Argue's Secret Society | Brooklyn Babylon | |||
| 12 | Mary Halvorson Septet | Illusionary Sea | |||
| 13 | Chris Potter | Sirens | |||
| 14 | Fred Hersch & Julian Lage | Free Flying | |||
| 15 | Joe Lovano | Cross Culture | |||
| 16 | William Parker | Wood Flute Songs | |||
| 17 | Matthew Shipp | Piano Sutras | |||
| 18 | Wadado Leo Smith & TUMO | Occupy The World | |||
| 19 | Barry Altschul | The 3dom Factor | |||
| 20 | Gregory Porter | Liquid Spirit | |||
| 21 | Dave Holland | Prism | |||
| 22 | Matana Roberts | COIN COIN Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile | |||
| 23 | Frank Wess | Magic 101 | |||
| 24 | Ahmad Jamal | Saturday Morning | |||
| 25 | Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd | Holding It Down: The Veteran's Dream Project | |||
| 26 | Michele Rosewoman | New Yor-Uba | |||
| 27 | Nicole Mitchell's Ice Crystals | Aquarius | |||
| 28 | Alan Broadbent | Heart To Heart: Solo Piano | |||
| 29 | Jaimeo Brown | Transcendence | |||
| 30 | Michael Formanek | Small Places | |||
| 31 | Mark Dresser Quintet | Nourishments | |||
| 32 | John Hollenbeck | Songs I Like A Lot | |||
| 33 | Killer Mike | R.A.P. Music | |||
| 34 | Oddisee | People Hear What They See | |||
| 35 | Myra Melford | Life Carries Me This Way | |||
| 36 | John Zorn | The Conceiled | |||
| 37 | Evan Parker/Matthew Shipp | Rex, Wrecks & XXX | |||
| 38 | Pat Metheny | Tap: John Zorn's Book Of Angels | |||
| 39 | Preservation Hall Jazz Band | That's It | |||
| 40 | Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton | Live At Maya Recordings Festival | |||
| 41 | The New Gary Burton Quartet | Guided Tour | |||
| 42 | Chick Corea | The Vigil | |||
| 43 | David Ake | Bridges | |||
| 44 | Black Host | Life In The Sugarcandle Mines | |||
| 45 | Alaturka | Yalniz | |||
| 46 | Stefano Bollani/Hamilton DeHolanda | O Que Sera | |||
| 47 | Amir ElSaffar Alchemy | Chemistry | |||
| 48 | Book Of Three | Continuum | |||
| 49 | Avishai Cohen | Triveni II | |||
| 50 | Terri Lyne Carrington | Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue | |||
| 51 | Peter Brötzmann | Long Story Short | |||
| 52 | Bill Frisell | Big Sur | |||
| 53 | Ian Carey | Roads & Codes | |||
| 54 | Jamie Baum | In This Life | |||
| 55 | Tommy Emmanuel/Martin Taylor | The Colonel & The Governor | |||
| 56 | Ensemble Fisfuz | Papillons | |||
| 57 | Dawn Of Midi | Dysnomia | |||
| 58 | Flying Lotus | Until The Quiet Comes | |||
| 59 | Gato Libre | Forever | |||
| 60 | Ben Goldberg | Unfold Ordinary Mind | |||
| 61 | Jacob Garchik | The Heavens:The Atheist Gospel Trombone Album | |||
| 62 | Joel Harrison 19 | Infinite Possibility | |||
| 63 | Marc Cary | For The Love Of Abbey | |||
| 64 | Jimmy Herring | Subject To Change Without Note | |||
| 65 | Jason Kao Hwang | Burning Bridge | |||
| 66 | Roswell Tudd | Trombone For Lovers | |||
| 67 | Dave King | I've Been Ringing You | |||
| 68 | Steve Kuhn | The Vanguard Date | |||
| 69 | Fredrik Ljungkvist | Ten | |||
| 70 | Naked Truth | Ouroboros | |||
| 71 | Andy Bey | The World According To Andy Bey | |||
| 72 | Ben Monder | Hydra | |||
| 73 | Eric Revis | City Of Asylum | |||
| 74 | 3 Cohens | Tightrope | |||
| 75 | Mostly Other People Do The Killing | Slippery Rock | |||
| 76 | David Murray | Be My Monster Love | |||
| 77 | Kenny Garrett | Pushing The World Away | |||
| 78 | Etienne Charles | Creole Soul | |||
| 79 | Joshua Redman | Walking Shadows |