My Top 5 Jazz Albums of 2016
Following my Top 5 Classical albums of 2016, here’s my take on Jazz this year.
2016 was tricky with regards to Jazz albums. Actually, usually I build these top 5 lists simply from my 5 star reviews. The thing is, in 2016 I only had one single 5 star Jazz album, GoGoPenguin’s latest release. All others are “only” 4 stars, but still I can wholeheartedly recommend all of them!
Brad Mehldau Trio: Blues And Ballads
I mentioned it before, I’m not always a fan of Brad Mehldau.
I have The Art Of The Trio vol. 3 in my 25 essential Jazz albums and find it to be a true gem of piano jazz, but run away from many of his more recent releases (YMMV).
This one again is really to my taste, he goes back to his roots, and does it well!
GoGoPenguin – ManMade Object
As mentioned above, the only 5 star album in this list. As you can see in my initial review, this is probably the true successor to Esbjörn Svenssons trio, bringing the Jazz trio into the age of Electronica.
Keith Jarrett – A Multitude of Angels
A new Keith Jarrett solo album is always an event, even if in this case we’re talking about previously unreleased material from 20 years ago. As you can see in my recent review, I really like it.
Paolo Fresu Richard Galliano Jan Lundgren: Mare Nostrum II
Check out my review here. Essentially, if you like the accordion, get this. If you don’t like the accordion, at least check it out. It is worth it.
Thierry Maillard – Il Canto Delle Montagne
See my review here, beautiful trio jazz from France.
Your turn now.
As you can see, I was struggling a bit to find truly oustanding Jazz albums this year. I’m sure there’s stuff I must have missed. Please do point me to albums that I may not have seen or heard that you’d recommend in 2016!
You can find the albums here:
Brad Mehldau: here (Qobuz) and here (Nonesuch’s own online store)
Keith Jarrett: here (Qobuz) or here (Amazon)
Paolo Fresu et al:here (Qobuz)
Thierry Maillard: here (Qobuz)
musicophilesblog - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms 