Here is a list of Top 20 Jazz albums of 2020 from Jazzwise
Top 20 Jazz Albums of 2020 | Jazzwise
What Jazz have you been listening to lately? How did you discover it?
Post other lists you find, or post your own list …
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Thanks for posting this @RobOK. I don’t really consider myself a big Jazz fan so I was surprised to see I had 4 of these in my collection! That Nubya Garcia album is fantastic.
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Here’s NPR’s list.
Maria Schneider’s Data Lords is #1 on both, and otherwise a fair amount of correspondence between the two lists.
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Very nice list. Thanks!
My 2020 top 20 (reverse release date):
Faune, Raphaël Pannier Quartet
Pedernal, Susan Alcorn Quintet
Atlântico, Mario Laginha/Julian Argüelles/Helge Norbakken
Sentinel, Erik Friedlander
Rainbow Sign, Ron Miles
The Unidentifiable, Matthew Shipp Trio
Omega, Immanuel Wilkins
History Gets Ahead of the Story, Jeff Cosgrove/John Medeski/Jeff Lederer
Blue Has a Range, Steve Cardenas
Tide, Micah Thomas
Hero Trio, Rudresh Mahanthappa
Imaginary Archipelago, Karuna Trio
Tight Like This, Kirk Knuffke
Freya, Tineke Postma
We Are Sent Here By History, Shabaka & The Ancestors
Big Vicious, Avishai Cohen
Angular Blues, Wolfgang Muthspiel/Scott Colley/Brian Blade
8: Kindred Spirits, Charles Lloyd
Fantastic Mrs. 10, Tim Berne Snakeoil
Nocturnal Animals, Yelena Eckemoff
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The albums reviewed at jazztrail.net tend avant-garde, but not exclusively. Some of my favorites overlap with theirs.
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Awesome list!! any further pointers… a Top 5 to start with, or grouping them in some way? (you mentioned avant-garde in your note…
Tough to select 5 out of the 20, but here are 5 chosen for novelty (Omega and Freya are first releases for their leaders) and general unpredictability. None pure avant-garde, all exploratory.
Pedernal, Susan Alcorn Quintet
Imaginary Archipelago, Karuna Trio
Freya, Tineke Postma
Fantastic Mrs. 10, Tim Berne Snakeoil
Omega, Immanuel Wilkins
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Thanks for the recommendations I will give them a listen. By the way, “Freya” is not Tineke Postma’s first release. She has been releasing recordings since 2003/2004 and now has about 7 releases under her own name plus another 10 or so appearances. Check her out on Tidal or Qobuz.
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I would like to recommend fluxfm jazzradio schwarzenstein to you. It is a adfree radio station, music only, strictly jazz.
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I hope I’m not stepping on any toes here but I couldn’t see a Jazz-specific category in the Music section so thought I’d start one. I’ve been listening to the genre for ten years now but there’s so much I still don’t know and I’m always curious to discover something new, or new to me. What Jazz have you been listening to lately? How did you discover it?
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I’ll kick things off with my current listen: Salute to the Sun – Live at Hallé St. Peter’s
by Matthew Halsall. I know it’s not for everyone but I love the Spiritual Jazz revival that’s happened here in the UK and this is a prime example. Really nicely recorded, and excellent performances all round. I used to find jazz flute a bit cringe (possibly that scene in Anchorman did not help!) but now it’s one of my favourite instruments, and fits really well with the trumpet and harp here.
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Jean-Luc Ponty is probably my favorite violinist who plays jazz, he can make the violin sing, it’s quite delightful! Stuff Smith is excellent too 
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It’s always good to have another Jazz themed thread going in the Music section so no toes stepped on.
I did a search for “jazz” in the Music section and got these results - there are several very worthwhile threads among those listed.
Here’s a new release I was just listening to. I usually “discover” new music via new releases in on Tidal and Qobuz or via a post on one of the many music blogs I follow or via hearing on the radio or SiriusXM’s “Real Jazz” channel (although Sirius tends not to play anything too adventurous).
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Does anyone else feel that the DJ on KCSM might be a bit too fond of the Hammond B3 organ?
There’s nothing wrong with the B3 
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Hammond B3 is a great instrument. My brother had several of them during his lifetime. We lugged that thing all over up and down the east coast USA along with my drums.