I love catching up on jazz. I don’t tend to research and discover during the year, but I catch up once the year’s over, reading reviews and listening to a lot of new music. I’ve been playing this list all the time, and the more I listen the more I love the variety, expression, composition, and musicianship.

Like in popular music, jazz musicians have been paying attention to the world politically and well as musically. In fact, since Louis Armstrong’s “What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue?” in 1929, race and racism have been a staple in jazz, so this is nothing new.

This year, old dogs like Charles Lloyd and younger artists like Jaimeo Brown, Darcy James Argue, and J.D. Allen have explored Americana, work songs, and protest tunes and allowed whole new perspectives.

At the same time, the influences of classical, rock, blues, folk, and even bluegrass have entered the lexicon. Not like some of the forced-sounding fusions of the past, these are intelligent and relevant frontiers.

Take a listen – the playlist is on Spotify right here: https://open.spotify.com/user/1260266133/playlist/4fheH1KP8UYf37570ZbmNO

SONG                                                             ARTISTS                                                                ALBUM

• Masters of War       Charles Lloyd & the Marvels                                         I Long to See You
• Alabama                    Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matt                               In Movement
• Hips & Sticks           Jane Ira Bloom                                                                    Early Americans
• The Distance           Michael Formanek & Ensemble Kolossus                        The Distance
• Dialogue of the Black Saint           Greg Ward                          Touch My Beloved’s Thought
• Lester                        Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family                      Beginning of a Memory
• Another Man Done Gone            J.D. Allen           Americana – Musings on Jazz and Blues
• Caribbean Vortex    Aruan Ortiz Trio                                                                     Hidden Voices
• Black Focus               Yussef Kamaal                                                                             Black Focus
• Movement                 Tyshawn Sorey                                    The Inner Spectrum of Variables
• Ornithology               Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau                                               Nearness
• Scarlet Town             Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau                     Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau
• Unspeakable World    GoGo Penguin                                                               Man Made Object
• Away With You (No. 55)   Mary Halvorson Octet                                              Away With You
• Otis Was a Polar Bear        Allison Miller                                                 Otis Was a Polar Bear
• Executive Life            Jeff Parker                                                                              The New Breed
• Lazarus                        Jaimeo Brown Transcendence                                               Work Songs
• Cotton                          J.D. Allen                                Americana – Musings on Jazz and Blues
• All My Trials              Charles Lloyd and the Marvels                                    I Long to See You
• Rising Grace              Wolfgang Muthspiel, Ambrose Akinmusire, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Brian Blade                                                                                                  Rising Grace
• Eileen Jackson Southern      Wadada Leo Smith                           America’s National Parks
• Hidden Angel            Jaimeo Brown Transcendence                                               Work Songs
• Part Four                    Henry Threadgill                                      Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
• Singular Serenade   Greg Ward                                                   Touch My Beloved’s Thought
• Lydia                             Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matt Garrison            In Movement
• Song Patrol                 Jane Ira Bloom                                                                   Early Americans
• Mind Free                    Logan Richardson                                                                                  Shift
• Be So Glad                   Jaimeo Brown Transcendence                                              Work Songs
• Einbahnstrasse         Jeremy Pelt                                                                           #JIVECULTURE
• The Hidden Hand     Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society                                Real Enemies