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Best Jazz Albums of 2024: All-Star Break Edition

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As we hit the halfway mark of 2024, All About Jazz has adopted Major League Baseball's All-Star break approach but with albums instead of homers. Our team gathered to pick their top three albums of the year so far, and Charles Lloyd's The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow along with Vijay Iyer's Compassion, Tomeka Reid's 3+3 and Julian Lage's Speak to Me are the early frontrunners for album of the year. To learn more about staff preferences, click their corresponding link here. A special thank you goes out to our AAJ Italia staff for their full participation. Grazie, gents!

All About Jazz staff picks in order by first name...

Staff Writers

Alberto Bazzurro's Picks

Bird's Eye
David Leon
Pyroclastic Records





At Five Spot to Iron Man Revisited
Eric Dolphy
Ezz-thetics





4 Horns & What?—The Complete American Recordings
Phil Haynes
Corner Store Jazz





Angelo Leonardi's Picks

Cloudward
Mary Halvorson
Nonesuch Records





3+3
Tomeka Reid
Cuneiform Records





Nublues
Joel Ross
Blue Note Records





Chris May's Picks

My Prophet
Oded Tzur
ECM Records





3+3
Tomeka Reid
Cuneiform Records





The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





C. Andrew Hovan's Picks

Big George
One for All
Smoke Sessions Records





Deep in the Soil
Jordan VanHemert
Origin Records





A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr.
Cellar Records





Dan Bilawsky's Picks

Heartland Radio
Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows
SoundSpore Records





On the Trail With the Lonesome Pines
Hilary Gardner
Anzic Records





God Bless iKapa. God Bless Mzantsi.
Thembi Dunjana
Ropeadope





Dan McClenaghan's Picks

Anger, Commitment and Love
Antonio Flinta
Self Produced





String Planes
Collin Sherman
Ex-tol Recordings





Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
JMood Records





David A. Orthmann's Picks

Measured Response
Josh Lawrence
Posi-Tone Records





Stick Together
Behn Gillece
Posi-Tone Records





Boss Baritones
Gary Smulyan
SteepleChase Records





Doug Collette's Picks

Cloudward
Mary Halvorson
Nonesuch Records





Rhapsody In Blue
Bela Fleck
Self Produced/Thirty Tigers





Compassion
Vijay Iyer
ECM Records





Gareth Thompson's Picks

Lord, when you send the rain
Byron Asher
Sinking City Records





The 10000 Things: PRAISE SONGS for the iRiligious
Mazz Swift
New Amsterdam Records





Amen
Joy Guidry
Whited Sepulchre Records





Geno Thackara's Picks

Stream
Fergus McCreadie
Edition Records





As Time Passes
Daniel Sommer
Self Produced





Plays Ellington & Strayhorn
Brian Landrus
Palmetto Records





Glenn Astarita's Picks

Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
Pyroclastic Records





Slow Water
Stephan Crump
Papillon Sounds





Shiver Meets Matthew Bourne Volume 2
Matthew Bourne
Discus Music





Giuseppe Segala's Picks

Cloudward
Mary Halvorson
Nonesuch Records





The Mighty Warriors
Mal Waldron
Elemental Music





Off The End
Brandon Ross
Sunnyside Records





Ian Patterson's Picks

Northbound
Pernille Bevort
Gateway Music





Live Album
Nout
Gigantonium





All Black Everything
Amyna Gadiaga
Jazz Re:freshed





Jack Bowers' Picks

Nimble Digits
Geoff Stradling
Origin Records





Keep Swingin'
Garry Dial
Outside in Music





Life Songs
Marshall Gilkes
Alternate Side Records





Jerome Wilson's Picks

Life Is Funny That Way
Fay Victor
Tao Forms





Elegy for Thelonious
Frank Carlberg
Sunnyside Records





The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





John Chacona's Picks

Smash and Grab
Dave Rempis
Aerophonic Records





Speak to Me
Julian Lage
Blue Note Records





Enhlizweni -song stories from my heartland
Steve Dyer
Ropeadope





John Sharpe's Picks

Afro Blue
Sten Sandell
Trost





Caught In My Own Trap
Kirke Karja
BMC Records





Immense Blue
Olie Brice
West Hill Records







Joshua Weiner's Picks

LaFaro
Brian Bromberg
Be Squared Productions





Sahib Shihab and the Danish Radio Jazz Group
Sahib Shihab
OKTAV Music





Poppin In Paris: Live At L'Olympia 1972
Cannonball Adderley
Elemental MusicRecords





Jua Howard's Picks

Shadow
Lizz Wright
Blues & Greens





À Fleur de Peau
Cyrille Aimée
Whirlwind Recordings





Wonderful!
Mike LeDonne
Cellar Music Group





Karl Ackermann's Picks

Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens
Wadada Leo Smith
Red Hook Records





Gjenskinn
Nils Okland
Hubro





Ex Machina
Steve Lehman
Pi Recodings





Katchie Cartwright's Picks

What Times Are These
Jamie Baum
Sunnyside Records





Pra você, Ilza
Hermeto Pascoal
Rocinante Records





Exuberance
Christopher Zuar
Tonal Conversations





Ken Laster's Picks

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Edition Records





Recorda Me -Remembering Joe Henderson
Lori Bell
Self Produced





Moment Of Departure
Tim Garland
Ubuntu Music





Kyle Simpler's Picks

Speak to Me
Julian Lage
Blue Note Records





September Night
Tomasz Stańko
ECM Records





Boundaries
Jake Baldwin
Shifting Paradigm Records





Libero Farnè's Picks

Axes
Andrea Grossi Blend 3 + Jim Black
We Insist! Records





Musho
Alexander Hawkins, Sofia Jernberg
Intakt Records





Captivity
Caroline Davis
Ropeadope





Mark Corroto's Picks

Elegy for Thelonious
Frank Carlberg
Sunnyside Records





Circles
Friends & Neighbors
Clean Feed





Intercept Method
Ghost Trees
Self Produced





Mark Sullivan's Picks

Catharsis
Michiel Stekelenburg
Challenge Records





Between Hope and Despair
Avishai Darash
Self Produced





Momentarily
Jon Durant
Alchemy Records





Mario Calvitti's Picks

Words Unspoken
John Surman
ECM Records





Orchestras
Bill Frisell
Blue Note Records





Høvikodden 1971
Soft Machine
Cuneiform Records





Maurizio Zerbo's Picks

Giant Beauty
[Ahmed]
Fönstret





3
Abdullah Ibrahim
Gearbox Records





Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens
Wadada Leo Smith
Red Hook Records





Mike Jacobs' Picks

III
Nir Felder
La Reserve





Shorter Days
Eran Har Even
World Citizen Music Records





Karnevel!
Scott Henderson
Mango Prom Music





Mike Jurkovic's Picks

Compassion
Vijay Iyer
ECM Records





uNomkhubulwane
Nduduzo Makhathini
Blue Note Records





The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





Neil Duggan's Picks

Compassion
Vijay Iyer
ECM Records





Moment Of Departure
Tim Garland
Ubuntu Music





Stream
Fergus McCreadie
Edition Records





Neri Pollastri's Picks

One Foot in the Air
Elisabeth Harnik, Zlatko Kaućić
Not Two Records





Let Us Recount Our Dreams
Dino Betti van der Noot
Audissea





Half Black Half White Half Yellow. Suite For Charles Mingus
Matteo Mosolo, Flavio Zanuttini
Caligola Records





Nicholas F. Mondello's Picks

Horizons
Alex Sipiagin
Blue Room Music





To Whom I Love
Summer Camargo
Blue Engine Records





Through the Passages
Nancy Erickson Lamont
Self Produced





Paolo Peviani's Picks

Our Way
Samuel Blaser
Self Produced





Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
Pyroclastic Records





Wishing Flower
Jeremy Udden
Sunnyside Records





Paul Rauch's Picks

Plays
Nicole Glover
Savant Records





The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill
Randy Napoleon
OA2 Records





Good Trouble
Matt Wilson
Palmetto Records





Pierre Giroux's Picks

Live At Mezzrow
Roger Kellaway
Cellar Music Group





Panoply
Denny Zeitlin
Sunnyside Records





Timing Is Everything
Eric Alexander
Cellar Music Group





Richard J Salvucci's Picks

For Real!
Hampton Hawes
Craft Recordings





Shelly Manne and His Men at the Black Hawk 1
Shelly Manne
Craft Recordings





The Fox
Harold Land
Craft Recordings





Scott Lichtman's Picks

What Times Are These
Jamie Baum
Sunnyside Records





The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





Compassion
Vijay Iyer
ECM Records





Stefano Merighi's Picks

The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





Cloudward
Mary Halvorson
Nonesuch Records





3+3
Tomeka Reid
Cuneiform Records





Thomas Conrad's Picks

Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions
Ryan Truesdell
ArtistShare





September Night
Tomasz Stańko
ECM Records





Suite For Africa
Amina Figarova
Amfi Records





Vic Albani's Picks

The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





Legacy
Paolo Fresu
Tuk Music





Fearless Five
Enrico Rava
Parco Della Musica





Vincenzo Roggero's Picks

Compassion
Vijay Iyer
ECM RecordsRecords





The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
Charles Lloyd
Blue Note Records





Stars and Constellations
Quinsin Nachoff
Adhyâropa Records





Radio & Podcast Hosts and Photo Journalists

Bob Osborne's Picks

Candid
Sunny Five
Intakt Records





Telepathic Mysteries, Vol. 2
Daniel Carter
577 Records





Wondercult Club
Ayumi Ishito
577 Records





Cheryl K.'s Picks

uNomkhubulwane
Nduduzo Makhathini
Blue Note Records





Louis The First
Louis Stewart
Livia Records





Smash and Grab
Dave Rempis
Aerophonic Records





Hobart Taylor's Picks

Songs My Mom Liked
Anthony Branker
Origin Records





Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens
Wadada Leo Smith
Red Hook Records





Stay
Julieta Eugenio
Cristalyn Records





Lawrence Peryer's Picks

The Fate of the Tenor
Kevin Sun
Endectomorph Music





A Monster Is Just An Animal You Haven't Met Yet
Angelica Sanchez
Intakt Records





Sea of Hopeless Angels
Markus Reuter
Flatiron Recordings





Len Davis' Picks

III
Nir Felder
Ropeadope





Cross Currents
Mark Egan
Wavetone Records





Karnevel!
Scott Henderson
Mango Prom Music





Luciano Rossetti's Picks

Transfiguration
James Brandon Lewis
Intakt RecordsRecords





Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022
Anthony Braxton Saxophone Quartet
I Dischi Di Angelica





The Data
Matthew Shipp
Rogue Art





Ludovico Granvassu's Picks

Asterisms
Sean Ono Lennon
Tzadik





The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis
The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis
Impulse! Records





Rebirth of Innocence
Oan Kim
Artwork Records





Mary Foster Conklin's Picks

Being Human
Lynne Arriale
Challenge Records





On the Trail With the Lonesome Pines
Hilary Gardner
Anzic Records





Creole Orchestra Featuring René Marie
Etienne Charles
Culture Shock Music





Maurice Hogue's Picks

Transfiguration
James Brandon Lewis
Intakt Records





New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz
Matthew Shipp
ESP-Disk





Come Down Here
Luis Vicente
Clean Feed Records





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