NOTES ON JAZZ : BEST OF JAZZ 2025

                

As the Holidays and the year end once again, it is a tradition to look back and take account of what has happened in the passing year. The year two-thousand and twenty-five was a prolific year for music. The year found  an amazing amount of new albums released from established artists as well as  some promising up and coming artists. Music, and particularly jazz, is an artform that is a very expressive. It has an open door policy, inviting new ideas and approaches that welcome creativity, diversity and intra-cultural cross-pollination. Contrary to what we are currently being fed by the political forum, music continues to validate positivity and inclusiveness. You can be any color, race, or orientation so long as you can play. Art has always thrived best with cultural diversity, open-mindedness and collaborative cooperation. With the world geographical distances being shrunk by convenient and efficient air travel, musicians can study almost anywhere. They can now imbed in a culture to absorb folk and cultural aspects of a music that they could only hear previously on imported recordings. They can play music in far away locations that were previously not  easily reachable. This makes the music more of an amalgamation of influences. This cross-pollination of musical styles from around the world only create a delicious jambalaya of music that breathes and lives continuing to delight and surprise. The beauty of this cooperative and creativity-filled process is all done with little and from a Here's a crazy idea. If making music on the international level could be used as a template for political cooperation, we would all be probably have a less contagious. less threatening and more joyous world condition. Just a thought for all of us to ponder. 

Keeping that theme of  inclusion and diversity in mind, it is no wonder that so many of my picks for the best of jazz in 2025, is itself a testimony to the variety and global nature of jazz this year. We find a Polish piano trio playing with a titan of an American saxophonist. There is a New York City born banjo master playing with a harpist from Columbia and a drummer from Mexico. A French pianist playing with an American band anchored by a noted New Orleans drummer. There is a vocalist and her pianist from Denmark, who are including Japanese influences in their work. A creative Austrian guitarist that teams up with a master American rhythm section.  There is a Russian trumpeter whose European melodicism and technical proficiency make this once sought after session sideman into a formidable bandleader in his own right. There is music from Venezuelan, Argentinian and Cuban pianists whose influence have contributed to this year's music. Not to mention a superb alto saxophonist from Puerto Rico and two exquisite guitarists, one from Pakistan and one from Italy. Let's not forget the many fine American and Canadian artists that make the music for people in this country and the world so vibrant and alive. It is like a United Nations of musicians whose work together does more for the beauty, the peaceful continuation and unity of the world then all the ambassadors that sit on the General Assembly of the real U.N. in NYC!

So without further ado, here are my picks for some of this years best of what we like to call "jazz" which all comes from its roots, which is Black Improvisational Music. This is by no means a complete list, only some of what I have had a chance to listen to and which from my point of view is worth your uninterrupted attention. I hope you will all find this list as compelling and enjoyable as I do.  

Here in no particular order is my top picks for 2025:

Branford Marsalis Quartet: Belonging-Blue Note

A reimagining of Keith Jarrett's ECM album of the same name from 1975

Sullivan Fortner: Southern Nights-Artwork

An expressive pianist makes beautiful and evocative music.

Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda, Antonio Sanchez-BEATrio-Flecktone

The master banjoist finds musical simpatico with an inventive harpist and a talented percussionist.

Joe Lovano and The Marcin Wasilewski Trio-Homage-ECM

The titan saxophonist finds common ground with the Polish piano trio that used to back trumpeter Tomasz Stanko.

Sinne Eeg and Jacob Cristoffersen -Shikiori-Stunt

A gorgeous voice and a sympathetic piano say it all on this one.

Wolfgang Muthspiel w Scott Colley and Brian Blade-Tokyo-ECM

This guitarist has a style all his own and it blooms with these two rhythm makers supporting his ideas brilliantly. 

John Ellis-Heroes-Blue Room Music

This dynamic saxophonist creates a set that probes and swings all the same time to great delight.

John Patitucci-Spirit Fall-Edition

This first call bassist is always exploring ways to make his instrument sing.

Alex Sipiagin-Reverberations-Chriss Cross

This top notch trumpeter has assembled some bandmates that function like a symbiotic organism.

Linda May Han Oh-Strange Heavens-Biophilia Records

Matched on this outing with two of the most creative artists of this era, Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey, Oh creates a wonderful drum less album that pleases.

My pick for best Debut album:

Tyreek McDole-Open Up Your Senses- Artwork

A wonderful debut from a promising baritone that have a silky voice that recalls Johnny Hartman and should be watched.

Two pick for best Latin Jazz Albums:

Miguel Zenon Quartet-Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at The Village Vanguard-Miel Music.

The first live recording of this excellent alto saxophonist at the legendary jazz club.

Conrad Herwig with Eddie Palmieri and Luques Curtis- Reflections-Facing South-Savant Records

Uniting of  the recently late Latin pianist Eddie Palmieri, in what may be his last recording, with the trombone artist who made interpreting the Latin side of things an art form.

More of the best of jazz for 2025:

Carl Allen with Chris Potter and Christian McBride-Tippin'-Cellar Music

Hard to imagine a better trio to get the most of modern jazz with more energy and aplomb. Potter is especially unleashed in a Sonny Rollins mode and Mc Bride and Allen cook together. 

Amaury Faye and his NOLA Quartet-RUST- Hypnote

A French pianist finds inspiration in the Crescent City with a brilliant quartet including Amina Scott, Julian Lee and the drummer ace Herlin Riley. 

Rez Abassi Acoustic Quintet- Sound Remains-Whirlwind records

This quintet adds the ethereal sound of Bill Ware's vibraphone to Abassi's unique approach to the steel stringed acoustic guitar and some empathetic bass and percussion work to make this one a dreamlike experience.

Denny Zeitlin-Worth A Song In My Heart-Sunnyside records

The octogenarian pianist is still making magical music. This time he deconstructs and reassembles some of  Richard Rodgers music on his solo piano, in a way that makes it all his own. 

Jeff Parker ETA IV Ntet- The Way Out Easy-International Anthem

These four musicians create a swelling ambience that captures your attention.

Larry Goldings-I Will-Sam First Records

A keyboard artist mostly know for his cutting edge organ trio work finds Goldings showing just how good a piano player he can be with two young bandmates recorded live in LA.

Pasquale Grasso- Fervency- Sony Masterworks

Grasso is a superb Italian born guitarist that has the kind of mastery that recalls Joe Pass. He is an accomplished accompaniest and here he is recorded in a trio setting with Ari Rolland on bass and Keith Balla on drums.

The Perceptions Trio- The Wicked Trio-Sense-Music Release Club

This international trio is based in Switzerland and include Charley Rose on saxophone, Silvan Joray on guitar and Paulo Almeida on drums. The create their own contemporary atmospheric music.

Tessa Souter-Shadows and Silence- The Erik Satie Project- NonAra

British/Trinidadian chanteuse Tessa Souter uses the music of the French composer Erik Satie to create a suite of  vocal interpretations in his minimalist  style.

Michael Dease- Flow- Posi-Tone Records

Its hard to not tap your feet to this master trombonist when he brings it to the table as a leader. Here he is teamed up with Sharel Cassity on saxophone, as Geoff Keezer drives the music on his joyful piano. A Greek drummer and one of Dease's Michigan State student proteges fill out the rhythm section.

Michael Mayo- Fly- Mack Avenue

Mayo's excellent album came out in late Oct of last year, but it was so entertaining that I couldn't resist including it in this years best of list. He has a smooth, flexible voice that reminds me a bit of Al Jarreau. Need I say more?

Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson, Julian Thayer -aRT-ScienSonic Records

Experimental music of the highest order that allows three accomplished musicians to create in the moment.

Guilio Gentile-Dream's Madness- Auand Records

The Magic of Richard Rodgers in the Hands of Denny Zeitlin on "With A Song in My Heart"

Denny Zeitlin- Exploring the Music of Richard Rodgers- With a Song in My Heart- Sunnyside

It's hard for me to get my head around how long it has been since I first heard  pianist Denny Zeitlin play live. It was November of 2001 when I had the privilege of catching him and his trio at the wonderful, but sadly now defunct, Kitano jazz club in the Kitano hotel off of Park Avenue in NYC. His playing was simply sublime, and his bandmates - the stalwart bassist Buster Williams and the effervescent drummer Matt Wilson- rose to the occasion with empathetic energy and joy.  Zeitlin's sensitivity and inventiveness made a lasting impression on me, and I continued to follow, look forward, and at times write about his subsequent releases.

Denny Zeitlin, Buster Williams and Matt Wilson at The Kitano November  2001

Earlier in the year of this performance, Zeitlin had released his spectacular solo album Labyrinth on Sunnyside Records, in the month of June. Solo piano albums have a special meaning to Zeitlin. He once said “Solo piano performance takes me back to my earliest roots, and allows for perhaps the most intensely personal musical statement.” While this was certainly his sentiment then, these days, at the age of eighty-seven, it is probably even more intensely true  today. His playing and creativity has certainly continued to wow, inspire and entertain over the passing years. This musical artist has always maintained a dual vocation as both a musician and as a clinical professor of psychiatry at University of California at San Francisco and in his private practice. This never kept him from still performing and recording. It started with his first release Cathexis, when he was first signed to Columbia Records by producing legend John Hammond in 1963. 

Zeitlin was born in Chicago, Illinois and relocated to the west coast in 1964 where he has resided in the San Francisco and the Marin county area ever since. Maintaining these two successful professions concurrently for close to sixty years reveal an enormous amount of the vitality, creativity and dedication that this man has maintained throughout his life. Some might call him a Renaissance Man of sorts, and just looking at his prolific recording history that might not be far from the truth.

Zeitlin's latest solo album Exploring The Music of Richard Rodgers-With a Song In My Heart , was released on June 6th of this year. It is his thirty-eighth recording and his sixteenth with Sunnyside Records. 

Listening to a Zeitlin album, especially his solo offerings, is always a challenge to write about. Words alone do not do  justice to the experience of being submerged while listening to the musical cornucopia that comes out of this artist's fertile mind. Perhaps the closest  metaphor I can come up with is to compare Zeitlin to a gourmet chef. He prepares each performance like a feast. He sets the table of the listener carefully, exploring musical themes-in this case the music of Richard Rodgers-one of the most important and successful composers of the twentieth century. He deconstructs familiar or sometimes not so familiar compositions. He extracts the essence and finds meaningful motifs that he can emphasis and embellish. He layers ideas, modulates the tonal possibilities, and exploits rhythmic changes to great effect. Like a skilled chef with his battery of seasonings, Zeitlin reinvents the mundane, magically reharmonizing the familiar into something that emerges as new and fresh.

Denny Zeitlin (photo credit unknown)

Zeitlin has travelled this path many times before. Previously he has done deep dives into the music of Wayne Shorter on his Early Wayne from 2014. In 2015, Zeitlin did a video of his Piedmont Piano concert Exploring Thelonious Monk. He followed that with his exploration of the music of Miles Davis on his Remembering Miles from 2016, not to mention his studies of the music of Gershwin and Strayhorn.

In each case, Zeitlin explore the composer's canon of music and rethinks it in his own mystical way. His artistry comes from his thorough familiarity with the material he presents and finding ways to see them and preform them in his own unique way. Zeitlin, was first exposed as a youth to Richard Rodgers music from hearing the music from the 1943 Broadway show Oklahoma!  

On The Music of Richard Rodgers-With a Song In My Heart, Zeitlin has mined twelve compositions from the Rodgers treasure chest, many unfamiliar. Half of this music was recorded in front an audience at the Piedmont Piano concert on December 13, 2019, with the remainder of the selections being recorded in a studio in November and December of the same year. 

The earliest composition on this album is the title track "With a Song in My Heart" that was first heard in the musical Spring Is Here 1929. Zeitlin takes this song, with it's noted feel of a love at first sight romance, and once delivered by Ella Fitzgerald in 1956, and plays it with conviction and sensitivity. 

The opener, "Falling in Love With You," another show song from The Boys from Syracuse from 1938, has been covered by artists as disparate as Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews and The Supremes! Zeitlin explores the lost love theme by opening the music with his own exploratory intro. His touch can be light or majestic and his subtle change of tone and attack explores all the emotions from chagrin to soaring hope. He explores multiple rhythmic changes that raise the temperature and accelerate the heart beat. Just a wonderful capture of this man in the "flow" and the audience responds accordingly.

"I Don't Know What Time It Was"  from the musical Too Many Girls of 1938 vintage has been covered by Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Betty Carter and Cassandra Wilson, not to mention instrumentally by Charlie Parker and Brad Mehldau. Because the composition doesn't have a tonal center, but modulates between keys, it makes the song feel more mysterious. Zeitlin raises the bar by playing in a 7/4 time signature that adds yet another element to his interpretation of this classic. He alternates the pace and adds interest in his interesting harmonizing with his left hand. You can't help but marvel at the man's unpredictable ideas that he often comes up with on he fly. If you thought you knew this song, then you will find yourself surprised at how far out he can expand the paths that can be traveled within a composition.

"He Was Too Good To Me" is a Rodgers composition that was written  for a Broadway show in 1930, Simple Simon, and was somehow never used in the show. No worries, the moving ballad attracted it's own astute followers that took it as their own. Vocalists Natalie Cole and Chris Connor, as well as jazz artists from Chet Baker, Thad Jones and Shirley Horn all found this composition fertile ground. Zeitlin gets his turn exploring the themes of loss, grief and sorrow in his own inimitable way. His notes sometimes feel like they suspend themselves in the air on command. His tender touch is moving and draws you into the pathos of a lover's loss with empathy and warmth.

The album continues with the obscure "Johnny One Note"  from Babes in Arms, a 1937 show that depicts tale of an opera singer who could only sing one note. Despite his limitation, he would sing with such overpowering fervor that he was always upstaging his fellow cast members. Zeitlin plays a somewhat boisterous samba here. He simulates the opera singers audacious gusto. His left hand maintains the frantic buzz as his right hand explores the keyboard to its limits.

Zeitlin includes two compositions "Wait Till You See Her" and "Ev' rything I've Got" from the 1942 show By Jupiter, that featured Ray Bolger, who later became famous as the Scarecrow in movie The Wizard of Oz. 

"Wait Till You See Her" finds Zeitlin in his delicate ballad mode and in "Ev'rything I've Got," Zeitlin's rhythmic acuity and creativity is on display. He lights up the room with ascending and descending flights that pulls all the possibilities out of this song. He also delves into the piano body including string plucking and manipulating that adds a whole new dimension. 

In the studio portion of the album, Zeitlin draws on two compositions from South Pacific, the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein 1949 Broadway show and later the equally famous 1958 film that brought this music to another generation. The musical was based on the Tales of the South Pacific, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by James Michener. The emotionally filled ballad "This Nearly Was Mine" was once made famous by Frank Sinatra. Zeitlin choses to use a 5/4 time signature on this version and his deft touch and gorgeous harmonic choices make this lament of love and loss pure magic. 

The comedy show I'd Rather Be Right from 1937 gave us the jazz standard "Have You Met Miss Jones." This gem has been a vehicle of expression since it's origin and been interpreted by such impressive artists as Art Tatum, Stan Getz, and Ahmad Jamal, as well as vocalists Anita O' Day, Tony Bennett and Mel Tormé. The chord modulations are said to have been precursors to what is known as Coltrane changes as used in his Giant Steps. With this imprimatur from a legion of jazz greats, its is no wonder why Zeitlin has chosen to take his turn at reimagining this classic. He doesn't disappoint. The pianist uses motifs that he expands upon and his facility across the keyboard continues to demonstrate a command that is only limited by his seemingly bottomless well of imagination.

Exploring the Music of Richard Rodgers- With a Song in My Heart- is a pure delight. Zeitlin continues to prove that the American songbook can still be a plentiful treasure trove of beauty and inspiration, and he defies the claim that it has become a worn out resource. When the canon is examined and played by a true piano master like Zeitlin, one who has never shied away from challenge, the sky can be the limit.

Denny Zeitlin with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson at The Kitano: November 19, 2011

 

Denny Zeitlin’s Trio with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson 

 the Kitano, NYC November19, 2011

Perched on the mezzanine level just above the lobby of the posh Kitano hotel on Park at 38th Street is a music room of extraordinary intimacy. Affectionately known as Gino’s living room, promoter Gino Moratti has been bringing top-notch jazz to the Kitano since 2006. On Friday November 18th the venue featured two sets of solo piano by the superlative pianist Denny Zeiltin, featuring songs from his recent cd "Labyrinth"
 

 and on Saturday November 19, 2011, the Kitano featured Mr. Zeitlin in a trio format with the iconic
Buster Williams on bass and the effervescent
Matt Wilson on drums. I was fortunate enough to be able to catch most of the first set and all of the second set Saturday. It is rare to get to see Mr.Zeitlin in New York as he resides in California where this Renaissance man practices psychiatry and teaches at the University of California in San Franciso. The superlative rhythm section of Williams and Wilson is no stranger to Zeitlin. The three have been playing on and off for ten years and Zeitlin’s 2009 Sunnyside release “Trio in Concert” is a testament to their obvious chemistry. If the way a working trio functions is in some respects analogous to the way we function in life,then Zeitlin is the cerebral mind, Wilson is the joyful spirit and Williams is the pulsing heartbeat and soul of this entity. Each is a virtuoso in his own right and they all have characteristics that blur such simplistic boundaries.

The first set included a tender ballad “Wishing on the Moon”, a Zeitlin composition, that featured the pianist’s deeply probing technique. Zeitlin can take you from sensitive passages that he renders with a gossamer touch to daring explorations that bring you to the brink of precipice, without ever letting you fall over the edge.  A rousing rendition of John Coltrane’s homage to bassist Paul Chambers “Mr.P.C.” had Zeitlin’s playing arpeggios at dazzling speed. The song featured the bass of Buster Williams who produced a simply gorgeous tone that resonated through the entire room tantamount to the peaceful solemnity of a Tibetian gong. Mr.Williams is a master of his instrument who can add great poignancy by simply bending or sliding down to his notes and sustaining them as they decay to silence. Drummer Wilson is astutely attune to the needs of the music as he seamlessly changes from brushes to sticks, from clashing hi hat, to shimmering cymbal.

Another Zeitlin composition “The We of Us” was written for the pianist’s wife. Here Zeitlin demonstrates an extraordinary ability to play on the highest register with crystal clarity of sound and precise intonation. The trio does an amazingly dynamic version of Julie Styne’s “As Long as There is Music”. The intuitive interplay is a marvel to behold as the group collectively create a swell of intensity that has the crowd mesmerized, eventually yielding to a fading coda that is accentuated by Buster’s lingering bass line.

As if being a world class jazz pianist and working psychiatrist and educator weren't enough, Zeitlin is also an avid mountain biker. He spoke of Moab, Utah as the inspiration of his next composition titled “Slick Rock”. This composition is by far the most unorthodox of the repertoire. Here the pianist and his cohorts create an array of atmospheric sounds as Zeitlin reaches into the cavity of the piano using mallets to play the strings. Mr. Williams rubs the side of his thumb against his bass strings adding tension to the eerie sound as Mr. Wilson adds further agitation by using apiece of chain to rub against his cymbal. The audience is lulled into the peaceful solitude of the surroundings when suddenly Zeitlin hurls them into a spiraling musical journey filled with frantic twists and turns. You can feel the imaginary bike careening down jagged hills, precariously avoiding boulders and divots in a pianistic free fall. The pace subsides as Zeitlin becomes more ruminative; Wilson employs a weirdly eerie wooden flute that he somehow uses against his the face of his drumhead and Williams bows in decidedly ominous way. Watching Wilson here I am reminded of an excitable young boy with a chest full of  wonderful toys. The drummer has an effervescent joyfulness that is palpable and he finds percussive magic in a variety of unorthodox devices which he skillfully weaves into patterns of dynamic tension and surprise. I was watching Zeitlin and Williams looking at Wilson at various times during his solo on this piece and I was reminded of a You Tube that I saw of a beaming Charlie Parker watching an equally playful young Buddy Rich, as the drummer displayed his rhythmic prowess (click here for that video). Wilson is that good!

The second set started off with the “The Night Has 1000/10000 Eyes”. Bassist Williams creates a funky vamp that has the whole audience bobbing their heads.Buster can create a mood that few bassists can summon so successfully. Zeitlin inspired by the heartbeat-like rhythm lets loose with some of his most free flowing playing of the night.

The trio played a charming version of what sounded like the “Child's Play”, a double time version of Sonny Rollins "Oleo"  based loosely on the changes of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”, Cole Porter’s “I Love You” and Jimmy Van Heusen's “I Could Have Told You”. The set ended with bassist Dave Freisen’s composition “Signs and Wonders” and after a rousing ovation the encore was Zeitlin's own “Just Passing By”.

For lovers of piano jazz trios it was one of those very special evenings. Zeitlin is an innovator par excel lance with few peers. His trio with the great Buster Williams and the exciting Matt Wilson is one of the finest trios working in jazz today.