BEST RELEASES OF 2020

Nota bene: All of my choices are in alphabetical order by artist and are to be equally rated within each category. 

BEST 10 NEW RELEASES 

Susan Alcorn Quintet, Pedernal (Relative Pitch)

David Boswell, The Story Behind the Story (My Quiet Moon)

The Claire Daly Band, Rah! Rah! (Ride Symbol)

Chris Hopkins, Chris Hopkins Meets the Jazz Kangaroos, Vol. 1 (Echoes of Swing)

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wayne Shorter and Wynton Marsalis, The Music of Wayne Shorter (Blue Engine)

Okuden Quartet (Mat Walerian/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/Hamid Drake), Every Dog Has His Day But It Doesn't Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter (ESP-Disk)

Benny Rubin Jr. Quartet, Know Say or See (Benny Jr. Music)

Maria Schneider, Data Lords (Artists Share)

Gregory Tardy, If Time Could Stand Still (WJ3)

Charles Tolliver, Connect (Gearbox)

BEST 3  REISSUES/HISTORICAL  

Sonny Rollins, Rollins in Holland, 1967 (Resonance)

Lennie Tristano, The Duo Sessions, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1976,  (Dot Time)

Norma Winstone & John Taylor, In Concert, 1988 (Sunnyside)

BEST VOCAL

Kurt Elling, Secrets Are the Best Stories (Edition)

BEST DEBUT

New Orleans High Society, New Orleans High Society (2020) (1718 Records)

BEST LATIN

Carla Campopiano, Chicago/Buenos Aires Connections Vol. II (CarlaCampopiano.com)

Also see See my “A ROUNDUP OF 140 OR SO JAZZ, BLUES, BEYOND, AND OTHER BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE PAST YEAR OR SO,” at wroyalstokes.com. 

W. Royal Stokes

Amazon.com/W.-Royal-Stokes/e/B001HD17MY