The Best of 2023, from a committed avant-gardist

By Rob Michaels (Jazz Spectrum Listener)

I’m a longtime jazz (and other music) fanatic, a vinyl addict, and a friend of Fritz’s.  I’m honored to present my top ten new and newly discovered or reissued jazz recordings of the year:

New New
 
Natural Information Society – Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
jaimie branch – Fly or Die or Fly or Die or Fly or Die ((World War)) (International Anthem)
James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quintet – For Mahalia, With Love (Tao Forms)
Mike Reed – The Separatist Party (We Jazz/Astral Spirits)
Tyshawn Sorey – Continuing (Pi Recordings)
Anna Webber – Shimmer Wince (Intakt)
Ken Vandermark/Hamid Drake – Eternal River (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Matthew Halsall – An Ever Changing View (Gondwana)
Wadada Leo Smith & Orange Wave Electric – Fire Illuminations (Kabell)
Jason Moran – From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes)
 
New Old (excluding Blue Note, Prestige & Contemporary reissues – subject of another list, maybe)
 
Pharoah Sanders – Pharoah (Luaka Bop)
Mal Waldron & Terumasa Hino – Reminiscent Suite (BBE J-Jazz Series)
Harold Land Quintet – The Peace-Maker (Cadet)
Harry Beckett – Flare Up (Decca – British Jazz Explosion Series)
Pharoah Sanders Quartet – Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1980 (Fabrik NDR Kultur)
John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy – Evenings at the Village Gate  (Impulse)
Abdul Wadud – By Myself (Bisharra/Gotta Groove)
Melvin Jackson – Funky Skull (Limelight/Verve by Request)
Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet – Introducting (BBE J-Jazz Series)
Sun Ra & His Arkestra- Jazz in Silhouette Expanded Edition (Cosmic Myth)