Here are thirty top albums featured on my radio shows, Jazz in the New Millennium (syndicated by the African American Public Radio Consortium) and The Motif (KBOO-FM Portland, Oregon). Together, I think these albums help define a 21st Century mainstream, centered in straight-ahead while incorporating elements of the avant-garde, funk and fusion, and a healthy injection of Afro-Latin jazz. What these albums definitely have in common is an awareness of the vital importance of rhythm. And in that spirit, I have decided to give the drummers some this year by listing the drummers and percussionists on each album. 

Joe Chambers, Dance Kobina, Blue Note: (Joe Chambers, drums; Emilio Valdes, percussion)

Tyshawn Sorey, Continuing, Pi: (Tyshawn Sorey, drums)

Cecile Mcloren Salvant, Melusine, Nonesuch: (Kyle Poole, Obed Calviere, drums; Weedie Bramah, percussion)

Joshua Redman featuring Gabrielle Cavassa, where are we, Blue Note: (Brian Blade, drums)

Billy Childs, The Winds of Change, Mack Avenue: (Brian Blade, drums)

Mike Clark, Kosen Rufu, Wide Hive: (Mike Clark, drums; Bill Summers, percussion)

Johnathan Blake, Passage, Blue Note: (Johnathan Blake, drums)

Sammy Figueroa, Searching for a Memory, Ashe: (Sammy Figueroa, percussion; Ludwig Afonso, drums)

Terrell Stafford, Between Two Worlds, Le Coq: (Johnathan Blake, drums; Alex Acuna, percussion)

Walter Smith III, Return to Casual, Blue Note: (Kendrick Scott, drums)

Kendrick Scott, Corridors, Blue Note: (Kendrick Scott, drums)

Artemis, In Real Time, Blue Note: (Allison Miller, drums)

Orrin Evans, The Red Door, Smoke Sessions: (Marvin "Smitty" Smith, drums)

Eddie Henderson, Witness to History, Smoke Sessions (Lenny White, drums)

Hilario Duran and his Latin Jazz Big Band, Cry Me a River, Alma: (Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, drums; Jorge Luis Torres, Magdelys Savigne, percussion)

Isiah J. Thompson, The Power of the Spirit, Blue Engine: (TJ Reddick, Domo Branch, drums) 

The Dave Stryker Trio, Prime, Strike Zone: (McClenty Hunter, drums)

SuperBlue: Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter, The Iridescent Spree, Edition: (Corey Fonville, drums)

John Scofield, Uncle John's Band, ECM: (Bill Stewart, drums)

Michael Feinberg, Blues Variant, Criss Cross:(Nasheet Waits, drums)

Cecilia Smith, The Mary Lou Williams Resurgence Project Volume One, Innova: (Ron Savage, drums)

Ben Wolfe, Unjust, Resident Arts: (Aaron Kimmel, drums)

Louis Hayes, Exactly Right, Savant: (Louis Hayes, drums)

Joe Farnsworth, In What Direction Are You Headed, Smoke Sessions): (Joe Farnsworth, drums)

Edmar Casteneda World Ensemble, Viento Sur, self-released: (Marcelo Woloski, Rodrigo Villalon, percission)

Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Playing with Fire, Linus: (Yissy Garcia, drums; Mary Paz, percussson)

Harold Lopez-Nussa, Timba a la Americana, Blue Note: (Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa, drums; Barbaro Crespo, percussion)

Noah Haidu, Standards, Sunnyside: (Lewis Nash, drums)

Lauren Henderson, Conjuring, Brontosaurus: (Joe Dyson, drums)

Leon Lee Dorsey, Cantalooupe Island, Jazz Avenue: (Mike Clark, drums)