Top 10 Historical Albums of the Year

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(Photo: Courtesy Jazz Detective)

Ahmad Jamal’s Emerald City Nights took top honors in the Historical Album category, as it did in the 2023 Critics Poll, too!

Ahmad Jamal, Emerald City Nights: Live At The Penthouse (JAZZ DETECTIVE) … 2,376
Winner of the DownBeat Critics Poll also gets the nod from the Readers!

Bill Evans, Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings From Denmark (1965–1969) (ELEMENTAL)2,167
A collection of previously unissued performances demonstrate the genius of Bill Evans.

Miles Davis, What Happened 1982–1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (LEGACY)1,738
Unreleased material from Star People, Decoy and You’re Under Arrest.

Keith Jarrett, Bordeaux Concert (ECM) … 1,441
The final Jarrett live performance with elegance, angst, taste and storytelling.

Sonny Rollins, Go West! (CRAFT) … 1,397
Rollins’ classic West Coast adventure.

Oscar Peterson Trio, On A Clear Day: The Oscar Peterson Trio–Live In Zurich, 1971 (TWO LIONS/MACK AVENUE) … 1,232
Captures the stunning musicality of Peterson.

Charles Mingus, Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Recordings (RHINO) … 1,221
Captures Mingus at the end of his musical run between 1973 and his passing in 1979.

Charle Mingus, The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s (RESONANCE) … 1,045
Two Mingus historical records in one poll truly divided the votes, but this is a beauty, too. The project was shelved when the label literally dropped its entire jazz roster except for Miles Davis.

Chet Baker, Blue Room, The 1979 Vara Studio Sessions In Holland (JAZZ DETECTIVE/ELEMENTAL)968
Beautifully recorded, lovingly packaged, capturing the chill nuance of Baker’s art.

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Los Angeles Forum, April 26, 1969 (SONY LEGACY) … 858
Sony/Legacy has been releasing a host of great, live Jimi Hendrix recordings. DB



  • Benny_Golson_by_Michael_Jackson.jpg

    Benny Golson soaks in the music during a late-career performance at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase.

  • Claire_Daly_George_Garzone_at_Dizzys_2023_5x7_copy.jpg

    Claire Daly, right, ​performs with tenor saxophonist George Garzone at Dizzy’s in 2023.

  • photo1.jpg

    ​Harpist Brandee Younger is among the performers on the program for this year’s Hyde Park Jazz Fest in Chicago.

  • John-McNeil-credit-to-Eldon-Phillips.jpg

    McNeil’s virtuosity as a player was unimpeachable and his imagination as an improviser was vast.

  • DB24_Charles_Lloyd_by_Douglas_Mason_at_New_Orleans_Jazz_Fest_copy.jpg

    “I don’t focus on the harshness of the music business,” Lloyd says. “I focus on the profundity of what we’re doing because that’s the real stuff. You can change the world with that.”


On Sale Now
November 2024
Orrin Evans
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