Here are the top 30 tracks from 2018 releases featured on my radio programs Jazz In the New Millennium (syndicated nationally through the African American Public Radio Consortium) and The Motif/Jazz In the Afternoon (KBOO.FM, Portland, Oregon). They are not in ranked order, but I have divided them into two discs, "Geezer Jazz" and "Not-So-Geezer Jazz." I would add that while evaluating jazz through the prism of how it is going to be received on the radio can dilute one's taste, it can also hone it. I don't have to prove how hip I am; I just want to do right by the music and for people to keep listening. Peace.
Geezer Jazz
"One Up, One Down (Take 1)," John Coltrane
"Fly With the Wind," Benito Gonzalez/Gerry Gibbs/Essiet Okun Essiet
"Blues for Langston and Larue," Charles Lloyd and the Marvels
"Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy," Paul Simon
"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," Dr. Lonnie Smith
"Que Sera Sera," Marcus Miller
"El Guije," Chucho Valdes
"Adventures Aboard the Golden Mean," Wayne Shorter
"DPW," Kenny Barron Quintet
"Dang Swing," John Scofield
"Nobody Said Love Was Easy," Karrin Allyson
"Close Enough for Jazz," Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco
"I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town," Wynton Marsalis Septet w/ Ray Charles
"Submarine," Bob James
"Merry Christmas Baby," Les McCann
Not-So-Geezer Jazz
"It Don't Mean a Thing," Grace Kelly
"Respond," R+R=Now
"Save Your Love for Me," Tia Fuller
"General Thunder," Julian Lage
"Hialeah," Harold Lopez Nussa
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow," Kamasi Washington
"Just the Two of Us," Jose James
"Timing," Marcus Strickland's Twi-Life
"14th Street Bounce," Corcoran Holt
"Fight for Freedom," Christian Sands
"Walkin' Funny," Christian McBride
"The Gentleman Is a Dope," Cecile McLorin Salvant
"The Very Thought of You," Joey Alexander feat. Joshua Redman
"Boffadem," The Bad Plus
"Atomic Dog 2017," Me'Shell Ndegeocello
Top Ten Albums of the Year (Across Category, based on Lester Bangs' honest criterion of what got the most play at home, in the car and on the radio)
1. Charles Lloyd and the Marvels + Lucinda Williams, Vanished Gardens (Blue Note)
2. Ry Cooder, The Prodigal Son (Fantasy)
3. Dr. Lonnie Smith, All In My Mind (Blue Note)
4. Buddy Guy, The Blues Is Alive and Well (Silvertone/RCA)
5. Chucho Valdes, Jazz Bata 2 (Mack Avenue)
6. Bettye Lavette, Things Have Changed (Verve)
7. Boz Scaggs, Out of the Blues (Concord)
8. Harold Lopez Nussa, Un Dia Cualquiera (Mack Avenue)
9. Julian Lage, Modern Lore (Mack Avenue)
10. Jose James, Lean On Me (Blue Note)
