It’s a tradition: Jazz journalists hang their favorite recordings out for all to see as kids hang up Christmas stockings. Kids, if they’ve been good, get good stuff. Jazz journalists, hoping for the best, search for musical nuggets to light up their ears–and yours. The JJA 10- best lists now being posted by professional members of the Jazz Journalists Association, a 350-member international organization, allow these particular jazz journalists to chime in on what they’ve heard that sticks.
You can view the lists below.
Considering that a professional jazz journalist in New York City can typically receive an average of 30 unsolicited or otherwise recordings for review each week, the task of selecting two handfuls — perhaps 15 hours? — of music from some 1500 possibilities a year might seem daunting. Beyond that, virtually limitless music is available online and live performance, too, might affect one’s accounting: the true weight of a jazz journalist’s annual responsibilities becomes clear. The 10-best lists up so far at JJA News reflect a few jazz albums gaining general appreciation amid a much larger spread of pleasures. Compare each JJA member’s lists — post your own, if you’re a JJA member who hasn’t done so already — and see if the choices predict nominees of the 2011 JJA Jazz Awards. Click on the list author’s name to learn more about his or her work and musical preferences. And, yes, tell us whether you agree with the choices by commenting on either a particular list (at the bottom of the list) or on all the lists (at the bottom of this page).
BE FOREWARNED: The feed of 10-best lists on this page will change as more lists are posted; lists are in order of posting with the newest at the top (be sure to click through to the second page to see the earliest posts) And return soon, or subscribe to the RSS feed, to see who else comes aboard to cheer just what music of the 12 months past. (You can always see all the lists at the JJA Member Site.)
