The Sylvie Courvoisier Trio Balance All the Elements
The Sylvie Courvoisier Trio are disciplined, but they also know how to groove and make their playfulness a delight that relates to the more romping side of jazz history.
mary halvorson
Cellist Tomeka Reid Creates Dancing String Band Jazz
Tomeka Reid’s music is full of the elements that have always made it fun to hear: a groove, memorable melodies, collective spirit, and conversation.
Music/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2025
The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2025
The future of the genre lies in places where it’s less insular and more artistically adventurous. The 20 best jazz albums are outstanding examples of that impulse.
Mary Halvorson Is Always Thrilling and Amazing
The latest from guitarist Mary Halvorson is another master class in jazz performance and composition. If she is the future of jazz, we are in tremendously gifted hands.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2024
The 18 Best Jazz Albums of 2024
This was another year of riches in the best jazz and creative music, with barriers between the tradition and the avant-garde melting away.
JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of Winter 2024
PopMatters presents the best new jazz recordings from the winter of 2024 and reflects on the relationship of the Grammys to jazz.
Mary Halvorson’s ‘Cloudward’ Is a Sophisticated Ensemble Composition
Mary Halvorson’s Cloudward is a shimmering, deeply satisfying example of a jazz sextet firing on all cylinders. Prepare to be astonished.
The 20 Best Jazz Albums for Beginners
If you’ve always wanted to get interested in jazz, jump in. Don’t approach it with fear or a sense that you don’t know enough about it. It’s just a smorgasbord of stuff to enjoy.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2022
The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2022
Jazz, born of the creative brilliance of Black American culture and now wonderfully global, is passionately alive in 2022. These are the year’s best jazz albums.
JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of Autumn 2022
PopMatters jazz critic Will Layman rounds up the best new jazz albums of recent vintage, including some thoughts about the US festival season and the undersung virtuoso Warren Wolf.
JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of June 2022
PopMatters jazz critic Will Layman rounds up the best new jazz albums of recent vintage, including some thoughts on Paul McCartney and Ron Carter.
The 13 Best Jazz Albums of 2021
Creative, improvised music in the Black American tradition remains in a state of wonder and genre-crossing excitement in the best jazz albums of 2021.