Episode 258: Best of 2023 According to The Experts —Part 1

Discovering Jazz

It was a busy December! I searched for all the ‘best jazz of 2023’ articles online and tried to listen to at least part of many of the albums. And there were lots! In fact, so far, I’ve found 85 different lists. And a total of 573 albums. And that doesn’t even include the historical albums and re-releases.

I picked and chose which ones to listen to….and of those, picked a few that resonated with me. This series of 8 episodes will feature them….including one that ranks them in order of the number of critics and reviewers who chose them. And another will feature some of those re-issues and historical recordings.

This episode: I’ll play you a track from Ricky Lee Jones, Lakecia Benjamin, The Monika Roscher Big Band, and a vocal by Sy Smith. That’s just the women! The rest include Billy Childs; Colin Stetson; Orrin Evans; Yusef Dayes; Greg Foat & Gigi Masin; Sissoko,Segal,Pereani & Parisien; and the Canadian Jazz Collective.

Some truly wonderful recordings! If you are one of those many fans who believe that only the jazz masters of old are worth listening to, I can guarantee that listening to this series of podcasts will change your mind!