Best of 2025: Jazz (on record)

The annual top 10 list, plus a bunch more I dug

‘Journey to the New,’ a sizzling live release by Marcus Gilmore, is my pick for jazz album of the year.

Welcome to part 1 of the annual DFSBP year-end roundup! Stay here for part 2, in which I list my 10 favorite albums of 2025, all styles in play; here for part 3, featuring reissues and historical releases; and here for part 4, where I run down my favorite live shows of the year.

P.S. This marks the 18th (!) year that I’ve been compiling an annual jazz top 10 — you can view all previously published year-end year-end jazz lists here, at the old DFSBP blog, dating back to 2008.

Here, via The New York Times, are my annotated picks for the 10 best jazz albums of 2025. The titles in question — with links to relevant prior coverage at DFSBP or elsewhere (on the artist names) and to hear/purchase Bandcamp (on the album names) — are as follows:

1. Marcus Gilmore, Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard (Drummerslams)

2. Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind (Red Hook)

3. Jacob Garchik, Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time (Yestereve)

4. Craig Taborn, Nels Cline, Marcus Gilmore, Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic)

5. Kassa Overall, Cream (Warp)

6. Billy Hart Quartet, Just (ECM)

   Note: This band also recently released a great live album on Smoke Sessions.

7. Brandee Younger, Gadabout Season (Impulse!)

8. Chicago Underground Duo, Hyperglyph (International Anthem)

9. Joe Farnsworth, The Big Room (Smoke Sessions)

10. Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, Live in Philadelphia (Otherly Love/Ars Nova Workshop)

I filed this same top 10 as my entry in the 2025 Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll, now overseen by Tom Hull, the results of which should be live in January. I also voted for some choice archival titles, which I’ll run down in a later post.

In naming the 10 best jazz albums of the year, am I also in fact naming my 10 favorites? Pretty much, though I will add that I do try to keep in mind that a list like this will reach a broad readership, i.e., listeners who perhaps have not checked out a single new jazz record in 2025, along with those who may have heard dozens (if not played on one or two!). Ideally, I’d want a curious, relatively open-minded reader to be able to dive in and not find themselves too, too daunted by what they’re coming across.

But again, the chief metric for me here is pretty simple: “Did the record in question truly wow me across multiple listens?” In the case of the Gilmore record that topped the list, I found myself in awe every single time I spun it. There was really no serious competition for No. 1 spot. (Interestingly, like the album that topped my 2024 jazz list, Tarbaby’s You Think This America, at press time, Journey to the New is available only on Bandcamp, though the former title is in fact now streaming, a year and a half after release.)

Narrowing down the list to the 10 titles above was, as it always is, both fun and considerably difficult. In the interest of celebrating the year’s bounty of fine new releases, here are 25 more that made a strong impression, many of which I seriously considered for the top 10. For the below, same as the above, I’ll link back and out where applicable; I’ll also quote prior writeups, either here or elsewhere, or add a brief new annotation if I haven’t yet covered them during the course of the year.

11. Peter Evans’s Being & Becoming, Ars Ludicra (More Is More)

    Framed by Evans’s skillful sound processing, the results feel like a truly cutting-edge sort of fusion, reminding me at various moments of electric Miles, John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet and Autechre.

12. Al Foster, Live at Smoke (Smoke Sessions)

    The legendary drummer’s last-ever gigs produced an epic live album that would have been an exemplary late-career document even without the heaviness of the occasion.

13. Chad Taylor Quintet, Smoke Shifter (Otherly Love)

    Smoke Shifter’s sophisticated, composition-forward approach reminds me a bit of classic mid-to-late-’60s Blue Note…

14. Nicole Glover, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Savant)

    Saxophonist Nicole Glover’s trio with bassist Tyrone Allen and drummer Kayvon Gordon is one of the most promising working bands on the scene, and this is a terrific document of their multifaceted sound, which fits into no simplistic jazz subcategory.

15. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Belonging (Blue Note)

    Marsalis has tackled imposing jazz masterworks before, covering the entirety of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in the studio and onstage in the early 2000s, but at its best, his [take on Keith Jarrett’s] Belonging goes deeper.

16. Onilu, Onilu (Eremite)

    It was a year of major losses in the drum world (along with Al Foster, R.I.P. to Jack DeJohnette and Louis Moholo-Moholo) but also one of inspired statements from living percussion masters, including the artists of various ages cited above (Gilmore, Overall, Hart, Farnsworth, Taylor) and the great Joe Chambers, who teamed up with Taylor and Sonic Liberation Front leader Kevin Diehl on this fascinating revival of Max Roach’s M’Boom concept.

17. Ches Smith, Clone Row (Otherly Love)

    Featuring Mary Halvorson and Liberty Ellman on guitars and Nick Dunston on bass, Clone Row is all and none of these things, simultaneously or sequentially: progressive rock, avant-garde jazz, art punk, chamber music, electronic music, free improvisation.

18. James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt)

    James Brandon Lewis is so prolific that even a project as substantial as his excellent working quartet (with pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones and, yet again, Chad Taylor on drums) can sometimes fly under the radar, but their latest is a beautiful showcase for his magisterial tenor sound and multifaceted writing.

19. Dan Weiss Quartet, Unclassified Affections (Pi)

    …a potent mix of urgent and spacious modes, with plenty of room for the eccentric tendencies of each player (Weiss, trumpeter Peter Evans, guitarist Miles Okazaki and vibraphonist Patricia Brennan) to shine.

20. Nels Cline, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note)

    In addition to the Trio of Bloom triumph listed above, Nels Cline also issued this debut from his current working band — with saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Tom Rainey — that’s as satisfying a distillation of his particular brand of avant-jazz as I’ve heard.

21. Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch)

    Scored for sextet (with occasional guests), this is an ear-bending compositional marvel, with an overall soundworld as distinctive as Halvorson’s signature guitar voice.

22. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia)

    Oh’s band with Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet and Tyshawn Sorey on drums blew me away live at the Vanguard back in June, and the trio’s first appearance on record captures much of the drive and intrigue of their onstage sound.

23. Tim Berne, Yikes Too (Out of Your Head)

    Berne’s main vehicle these days is Capatosta, a trio with Gregg Belisle-Chi on guitar and Tom Rainey on drums — often heard at the saxophonist’s ongoing Lowlands residency — and this half-studio, half-live effort documents their telepathic chemistry, clearly descended from earlier Berne bands like Big Satan (Berne and Rainey plus guitarist Marc Ducret) but with its own diverse palette.

24. Steve Lehman Trio and Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi)

    Two new Lehman originals stirred into the program reflect his own signature style, tricky yet powerfully kinetic, and show how Braxton’s painstaking approach has empowered members of a younger generation to hone their own unconventional aesthetics.

    (Note: The Fieldwork record I spotlighted here, the first in 17 years from the trio of Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey, is also very much worth your time.)

25. Chris Williams, Odu: Vibration II (AKP)

    Ever found yourself wishing that the ambient sections of In a Silent Way would extend into infinity, or that you could hear Bill Dixon improvise against lush open-air field recordings? Then do not miss this blissful and evocative marvel.

26. Artemis, Arboresque (Blue Note)

    It’s always exciting to see a supergroup grow into an enduring staple of the scene, and judging by this LP — the third and best yet from the collective anchored by pianist Renee Rosnes, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Allison Miller, with saxophonist Nicole Glover making her second recorded appearance — that seems to be the path that Artemis is on.

27. John Scofield and Dave Holland, Memories of Home (ECM)

    An ECM specialty is the relaxed, swinging duet session between two veteran masters (see also, say, Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden’s Jasmine from 2010), and this entry is as satisfying as you’d hope, reflective and slyly funky in turn.

28. Thomas Morgan, Around You Is a Forest (Loveland)

    A terrifically weird head-spinner, this one (technically Morgan’s debut as a leader!) involves a virtual instrument called WOODS and a cast of some of the world’s most adventurous improvisers.

29. Jon Irabagon, Server Farm (Irabbagast)

    Server Farm is the latest inspired example of a trademark Jon Irabagon move: Assemble a cast of edgy virtuosos, write some challenging pieces while leaving plenty of room for exploration, and let it rip.

30. Paul Cornish, You’re Exaggerating! (Blue Note)

    My pick for the year’s best debut album (after some deliberation, I left Marcus Gilmore and Thomas Morgan out of that particular running, since both are essentially veterans at this point), this piano-trio effort showcases the leader’s marvelous technique and impressive writing, and the highly evolved chemistry he shares with bassist Joshua Crumbly and drummer Jonathan Pinson.

31. Dave Douglas, Alloy (Greenleaf)

    An unusual lineup (three trumpets plus vibes, bass and drums), and a typically varied and engaging set of Douglas compositions make this a must-hear.

32. David Murray Quartet, Birdly Serenade (Impulse!)

    This band’s debut, Francesca, was one of my favorites of last year, and the follow-up is every bit as good: funky, free and swinging, inhabiting each zone fully.

33. Charles Lloyd, Figure in Blue (Blue Note)

    Despite his near-constant output, the 87-year-old Lloyd doesn’t seem to be capable of releasing an uninspired record. The unusual trio format of Lloyd on sax and flute, plus Jason Moran on piano and Marvin Sewell on guitar yields spellbinding results, ranging from floating ballads to feisty blues jams.

34. Vernon Reid, Hoodoo Telemetry (The Players Club / Artone)

35. Melvin Gibbs, Amasia: Anamibia Sessions 2 (Hausu Mountain)

    These last two aren’t technically related, but the respective latest efforts from Vernon Reid and Melvin Gibbs feel to me like a complementary pair: inspired sonic fusions from two old friends who have each pursued their own boundless paths.

Note: Before I move on to the next section, I want to state that I loved Henry Threadgill’s Listen Ship. Calling it a jazz record, or really any kind of record other than a Henry Threadgill record, seems reductive, though, so I decided it didn’t make sense to seriously consider it as part of the 2025 jazz crop. So consider this my endorsement — as with many recent Threadgill releases, thumbnail description and categorization fall short; you simply need to hear it.

And an honorable mention to the three albums I voted for in the Vocal category of the aforementioned critics poll.

1. Gary Bartz & NTU, The Eternal Tenure of Sound: Damage Control (OYO)

Is this a Gary Bartz smooth-jazz album? Maybe! Regardless of how you classify it, it’s a bold and surprising statement, and I love it.

2. Christian McBride Big Band, Without Further Ado, Vol. 1 (Mack Avenue)

The eminent bassist’s big band and an all-star cast of vocalists — including Sting, Jeffrey Osborne, Samara Joy, Cécile McLorin Salvant and Dianne Reeves — present a set of consummately classy party music.

3. Tyreek McDole, Open Up Your Senses (Artworks)

This 25-year-old singer has a captivating baritone and serious presence. It’s honestly hard to believe this is his debut LP.

Several fellow critics have already gone live with their year-end lists on Substack, so I invite you to peruse fine rundowns from…

Nate Chinen:

The Best Jazz Albums of 2025

And note that Nate will be hosting an online Best of 2025 roundtable tonight, Tuesday, Dec. 9th, with Ayana Contreras, Martin Johnson and Peter Margasak. More info at the link above.

Will Layman:

The Best Jazz of 2025

George Grella:

Best Recorded Jazz of 2025

Evan Goldfine (plenty of jazz here among a lot else):

My top 47 Albums of 2025