Making a Scene Presents Jim Hynes Top Jazz Releases for 2021

2021 marked by far the most jazz reviews we have ever done in this space which has proven to be a haven for some lesser-known names, artists making debuts, and a surprising number of forward-thinking, explorative performers. In hindsight, the list, which includes only those we have reviewed, is well balanced and does have familiar names too. Six have received Grammy nominations for the album, solo performance, or both. It was a great year for duos and trios and the selections were difficult to make, which is why we’ve added an Honorable Mention list this year. So, the links are here for both the reviews and the music. Explore and make some new acquaintances.

In No Particular Order

Daniel Blake Da Fe		Chick Corea Akoustic Band LIVE
Sylvie Courvosie  and Mary Halvorson Searching for the Disappeared Hour		Marilyn Crispell and Yuma Uesaka Streams
Michael Dease Give It All You Got		Kurt Elling Super Blue
Andy Farber Orchestra Early Blue Evening		Aaron Germain Bell Projections
Dino Govoni Hiding in Plain Sight		Bruce Harris Soundview
Carlos Henriguez The South Bronx Story		Paul Jost While We Were Gone
Mary LaRose Out Here		Miguel Zenon and Luis Perdomo El Arte Del Bolero
Keith Loftis Original State		Pat Metheny Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)
Greg Murphy Cool Waters		Ted Nash and Glenn Close Transformations
Arturo O’Farrill, and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra Virtual Birdland		William Parker Painters Winter
Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ron Carter Jack DeJohnette Skyline		David Sanford Big Band A Prayer for Lester Bowie
Alex Sipiagin Upstream		Ches Smith and We All Break Path of Seven Colors
Dara Tucker Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World		Roseanna Vitro Sing a Song of Bird
Spike Wilner Trio Aliens and Wizards		Eric Wyatt A Song of Hope
Honorable Mention
Dave Zinno Unisphere		Cory Weeds with Strings
Rick Margitza Scared Hearts		Diego Rivera Indigenous
Mike Clark and Michael Zilber Mike Drop		Alex Brown Dark Fire Sessions
Shubh Saran inglish		Chet Doxas You Can’t Take It With You
Akash Mittal Nocturne		Jacqui Naylor The Long Game

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