We’ve revealed our favorite albums of the year, along with our favorite songs, plus the best in metal and reissues. And now we’re continuing our coverage of the best music of 2024 with deeper dives. Today we focus in on the best jazz albums of 2024. Among our favorites this year were young lions growing bolder, ambient jazz with a sense of physicality, veterans showcasing a new approach, acclaimed supergroups and more—all of them continuing to push a century-old form into the future.
Blurbs by Brad Cohan (BC), John-Paul Shiver (JPS), Jeff Terich (JT), Konstantin Rega (KR), and Tom Morgan (TM).
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
Patricia Brennan Septet – Breaking Stretch
Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan lent her talents to one of the early highlights of the year, guitarist Mary Halvorson’s Cloudward, but her latest expands on the minimalism of early releases like 2021’s Maquishti in favor of a larger and richer ensemble sound. Breaking Stretch makes the most of its six-piece band sound, Brennan’s eerie and atmospheric vibes juxtaposed with deeper grooves from bassist Kim Cass, as well as commanding and harmonic leads from trumpeter Adam O’Farrill and saxophonists Mark Shim and Jon Irabagon. Breaking Stretch retains the haunted mystery of Brennan’s starker compositions while building out from her sonic template into a lush and fully realized avant-garde jazz galaxy. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching
A true epic from London’s Ezra Collective, the nineteen track Dance, No One’s Watching transcends genre, encompassing funk, hip-hop and a whole range of sonic polarities. In the process, it becomes a grand statement on the power of collective joy. Ezra Collective are easily the UK’s biggest jazz band (last month they headlined the 12,500-capacity Wembley Arena) and their follow-up to 2022’s Mercury Prize-winning Where I’m Meant To Be is an even more vital statement on the power of music, dancing and solidarity. Full of interludes, recurring motifs and guest features, Dance, No One’s Watching is a grand, elegant and effortlessly fun statement from one of Britain’s greatest ever jazz bands. – TM
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Nubya Garcia – Odyssey
The titles of Nubya Garcia’s two studio albums thus far have spoken volumes in just a single word each. Source reflected her roots and inspirations; Odyssey is the distance she’s traveled since—and still moving forward. An even bolder and more dynamic recording than its predecessor, Odyssey features more richly layered arrangements and intricate rhythms in the London saxophonist’s pursuit of even greater heights of performance and composition. It’s a more challenging album as well, employing sounds that are even more intense. Which is in part what makes it all the more exciting; Garcia’s track record is impressive enough, but Odyssey suggests the path ahead will be a thrilling one. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Tord Gustavsen Trio – Seeing
Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen and his trio offer a diverse but carefully curated sound on their album Seeing. The release follows in the footsteps of the trio’s previous releases, focusing on meditative qualities that won’t put you to sleep. A wonderful mix of Scandinavian folk tunes, original jazz material, classical arrangements, and more, Seeing displays a lush creativity that is consciously considered by each of the musicians, on the individual level and as group players. “Christ lag in Todesbanden” and the title track show the flexible nature of the trio, offering both classically influenced and jazz-inspired compositions with equal appeal. – KR
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Amazon (vinyl)
Mary Halvorson – Cloudward
Veteran jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson has released nearly three dozen studio albums as bandleader or collaborator, but her exploratory spirit remains ever curious, ever wandering, on her 35th, Cloudward. Curiously melodic yet often alien in its mode of communication, the album sometimes feels like a new survey of the lunar landscapes of Sun Ra’s most prolific periods, or a somewhat less intense descendent of Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch!—to which Patricia Brennan’s vibraphone plays a significant role. Never as scorching as free jazz, but rarely familiar or comforting, Cloudward is a glorious ascent to a strange and fascinating realm. -JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey – Compassion
One of the most notable contemporary pianists working today, Vijay Iyer continues his music journey with style and fortitude. Iyer is joined again by bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and the trio makes great musical strides on Compassion. With tracks like “Panegyric,” with a beautiful ending that drifts delicately away to more chaotic pieces like “Tempest” and “Maelstrom,” the release is never still, always moving forward and flowing from piece to piece. Even considering the limitations of small-group trio, Iyer’s pieces always have a great depth of emotion. Compassion provides a fantastic glimpse of musicians in love with what they do. – KR
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Amazon (vinyl)
Kinkajous – Nothing Will Disappear
London’s nu jazz scene has produced some forward-thinking wonders over the last couple of years, of which Kinkajous’ Nothing Will Disappear is the latest off this fertile conveyor belt. The duo’s latest full-length is electronic-infused and ambitious, determined to chart its own adventurous and unpredictable course. The journey is spindly, full of sinewy rhythms, flitters of different instruments and fluid electronica textures. It sounds cerebral and complex, but Kinkajous’ genius is that these nine tracks never feel heavy-footed or lacking in internal logic. Nothing Will Disappear is a wholly engrossing voyage, one that travels to some emotionally resonant places. – TM
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Bill Laurance & The Untold Orchestra – Bloom
Former Snarky Puppy pianist Bill Laurance turns his jazzy musical stylings in a different direction with Bloom. Joined by the 18-piece string group The Untold Orchestra, Laurance adds a classical twist to his compositions. They are still light, fluid, and varying in emotional feel, but they also burst and brim with a secret joy you come to understand through listening. Though several tracks stand out, like “Before the Sun” and “Right Where We Are,” it is a release meant to be taken as a whole. It’s an accessible project, with its pop-friendly grooves and jazzy undertones. Laurance also doesn’t compromise his artistic sensibilities; instead, he dives deeper into his musical passions and offers his most intimate smiles. – KR
Listen: Spotify
The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis – The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis
It’s a wonder that Fugazi’s Brendan Canty and Joe Lally, the most in-the-pocket rhythm section in post-hardcore, never made a jazz record until now. Their group The Messthetics, with guitarist Anthony Pirog, leaned in that direction with their prog-punk self-titled debut, but the addition of saxophonist James Brandon Lewis brought the x-factor that elevated their grooves from slow-burn to inferno. Their first collaborative release is the absolute best of what jazz-punk or punk-jazz can be, guided by funk but grounded in grit. The quartet eases into nocturnal beauty with “Boatly” while flaring up into incendiary dynamism with “That Thang,” but it’s in the endless tension of closer “Fourth Wall” that they carve out a groove that could just keep on going like the needle was locked in. -JT
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Pat Metheny – MoonDial
Aptly titled, MoonDial reveals legendary guitarist Pat Metheny’s return to quiet, nocturnal pieces that are at once private and open for all to hear. The veteran jazz guitarist continues to create and blend various sounds, from big and upbeat to smaller and intimate, the sheer wonder of his imagination matched with his skillful improvisation enough to take the listener’s breath away. As with many of his compositions, the songs here are longer in length, telling a full tale’s unfolding and complexity without subsiding into monotony. Full of great pieces like “Shōga” and “My Love and I,” MoonDial proves why Metheny remains both so influential and appreciated by a younger generation of musicians. – KR
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Jamie Saft Trio – Plays Monk
Piano visionary Jamie Saft has collaborated with legendary heavyweights across the spectrum from Iggy Pop, Bad Brains, Nels Cline and Merzbow to cranking out his own albums where he’s fearlessly covered Bob Dylan, ZZ Top and John Cage, without a hint of irony or offering a stale carbon copy. Saft pays tribute to his heroes in a genuine and respectful disposition. The infamously ragged-bearded avant-garde artist continues on his path of dissecting the songbook of OG pioneers with this brain-bending stunner of a record: thoughtful and dazzling renderings of tunes by jazz giant Thelonious Monk. Few pianists are worthy of even touching the Monk canon but Saft both fits the bill and pulls it off with flying, meditative and melodious colors on his Trio’s Plays Monk. Alongside bassist Brad Jones and drummer Hamid Drake, Saft’s takes on classics like “Monk’s Mood” and “Ruby, My Dear” prove otherworldly. -BC
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Shabaka – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
Shabaka Hutchings retired his saxophone last year and committed himself fully to flute and shakuhachi, finding new avenues of exploration in these instruments. And his first post-sax full-length likewise takes a turn more toward the meditative, putting aside the cosmic fusion of The Comet Is Coming and the fiery groove of Sons of Kement in favor of a gentler, more ambient take on spiritual jazz. Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace features an impressive list of guest vocalists and musicians, which include new age pioneer Laraaji, emcee Elucid and fellow now-flautist André 3000, but what resonates most is a newfound freedom Shabaka arrives upon in a soothing kind of stillness. – JT
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Amazon (vinyl)
Matthew Shipp Trio – New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz
Pianist Matthew Shipp is an iconoclast and a revolutionary of his instrument with an unapologetically punk rock ethos. SInce the ’80s, the downtown New York City avant-garde mainstay has played by his own rules. In his sixth decade and over a mind-blowing discography, his tirelessly creative sensibilities continue to evolve and mutate, confounding the senses of the listener. That’s all fully illuminated on New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz, a fitting title as any because that’s where Shipp, bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker’s heads are at. This dynamic trio—led by the ever-forward-looking Shipp—are constantly inventing and reinventing their own sonic language with laser-like precision. “New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz,” indeed. -BC
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Nala Sinephro – Endlessness
Endlessness isn’t infinite, but it’s boundless—in sound, in space, in possibilities. The sophomore album by harpist, keyboardist and composer Nala Sinephro extends from the similarly expansive universe of her debut album Space 1.8, employing recurring motifs and a gentle bed of familiar arpeggios as a gravitating force while the compositions themselves escalate from a gentle drift to all boosters firing. Endlessness is beautiful but bold, soothing but never far from a groove, a stunning example that ambient jazz need not be background music, and that even meditative music can be deeply physical. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
SML – Small Medium Large
Anna Butterss – Mighty Vertebrate
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – The Way Out of Easy
In a recent plain-speaking, direct interview in GQ, Jeff Parker and Flea agree that they are not fans of academic jazz. They’d rather spend their time playing or listening to something that makes them feel: Arrangements consisting of humanity. Parker blew up my spot with his 2020 dedication to his mother, Suite For Max Brown. Droney, breezy, with elements of Sonic Youth and Madlib digital cut-ups, Parker tweaked pre-recorded improv jam sessions into the future, highlighting the past 50 years of progressive Black music. Over the past couple of years, he’s been releasing heat rocks of this repetitive, meditative, improvisatory jazz with a rotating circle of acolytes—he calls them peers.
Still, bassist Anna Butterss and saxophonist Josh Johnson would refer to him as their mentor. It’s an evolution, and revolution that saw three releases, all on the impressive, highly influential International Anthem label out of Chicago, dominate the experimental jazz world for the last six months of 2024.
An off-shoot band of Parker thinkers called SML—which included bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann—twisted up Afrobeat on the impressive Small Medium Large in this repetitive form and made Fela-esque terrain ready for Theo Parrish all-encompassing DJ sets. It’s one of my fave records of the year.
Secondly, bassist Anna Butterss released a solo record, Mighty Vertebrate, this past fall, where they flexed in and out of the subdued side of this wing of jazz. With Johnson (co-producer) and Parker making a cameo, we hear Butterss filing in that ambient Afrobeat section of the Romare Bearden-type jazz collage.
Leading us to the third act of 2024 with Parker’s mega-jammy dedication to patience and elevated listening among his selected crew, The Way Out of Easy, with his long-running ETA IVtet featuring saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Jay Bellerose. It’s a hat trick of completion flowing through this wing of meditative arrangements that involves collective sharing with some of the most in-demand jazz warriors gigging on the planet. I dare you to pop on “Freakadelic” and not witness the funk go through several stages of metamorphosis or even ride out to “Late Autumn” and identify the full emotional journey of being alive and witnessing the triumphs and tragedies that make us all breathe and bleed. It’s a feeling—ambient color that Parker and his merry band of disciples have presented to the world over the past five years or so, and we can only hope it inspires so much more. To quote Flea directly: It’s fucking funky as fuck, dude. – JPS
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (SML) | (Butterss) | (Parker)
Svaneborg Kardyb – Superkilen
Although its creators’ Danish name sounds intriguingly enigmatic, it turns out it’s just the surnames of both members. The duo, signed to Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records are a quintessentially Scandi jazz duo that craft gorgeous, delicate and intelligent jazz that feels simultaneously like hiking a snowy hilltop and sitting by a cosy fire. Superkilen is a truly calming record; nine delicate tracks using a pared-down palette of soft keys and delicate drums. “Tide” is the highlight: a six-minute wonder that feels like falling into a deep, soul-cleansing meditation. A must-listen for fans of jazz at its most soothing and sometimes surprisingly simple. – TM
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Amanda Whiting – The Liminality of Her
For those unaware; the harp is seen as the national instrument of Wales. However, despite jazz and the harp making for long-time companions, it’s taken until now for the country to have produced its first bonafide star of the jazz harp: Amanda Whiting. Her latest full-length The Liminality of Her is Whiting’s finest hour: a tight ten tracks of gorgeous spiritual jazz that will set your soul soaring. Strong guest vocals from PEACH makes “Intertwined” and “Rite of Passage” particularly accessible standouts, but the instrumental tracks are all equally wondrous. Having seen Whiting’s harp playing live, this writer can attest to her mesmerizing talents, of which The Liminality of Her provides endless examples. Also check out her recently released Christmas album for even more gentle harp delights. – TM
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Alice Zawadzki – Za Górami
London-based vocalist and violinist Alice Zawadzki collaborates with pianist and drummer Fred Thomas and double bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado on this folk-tinged jazz album. Sophisticated but never snobbish, Za Górami incorporates improvisational jazz styles, folk songs, and chamber music, melding these together to create a mesmerizing sound. The trio works hard and succeeds in the balancing act of offering a tune while still providing less strict-sounding passages that exhibit each member’s strengths. Tracks like “Dezile A Mi Amor” and “Gentle Lady” are clear highlights with a captivating mix of soft-spoken and a vaguely haunted sound. Zawadski knows what she’s about, presenting music with confidence and grace. – KR
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Amazon (vinyl)
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