2023: Strange times to be sure, but a flood of excellent music

It was another strange year, both in the world at large and at home too.

Music, as always, helped to navigate all the stresses. Here are my favorites from 2023.

First, New Releases (in alphabetical order):

Ambrose Akinmusire - Beauty Is Enough (Origami Harvest)

Billy Childs - The Winds Of Change (Mack Avenue)

Satoko Fujii - Torrent (Libra)

Tomas Fujiwara - Pith (Out Of Your Head)

Rich Halley - Fire Within (Pine Eagle)

Louis Hayes - Exactly Right! (Savant)

Arthur Kell’s Speculation Quartet - Live at LunÁtico (Origin)

James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quartet - For Mahalia, With Love (TAO Forms)

Ivo Perelman & Elliott Sharp - Artificial Intelligence (Mahakala Music)

Rudy Royston Flatbed Buggy - Day (Greenleaf Music)

Matthew Shipp - The Intrinsic Nature Of Shipp (Mahakala Music)

Denny Zeitlin - Crazy Rhythm: Exploring George Gershwin (Sunnyside)

And then, Archival Discoveries:

John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy - Evenings at the Village Gate (Impulse)

Wes Montgomery with the Wynton Kelly Trio  - Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings (Resonance)

Art Pepper - The Complete Maiden Voyage Recordings (Omnivore)

Nina Simone - You've Got To Learn (Verve)

Cal Tjader - Catch The Groove: Live At The Penthouse 1963-1967 (Jazz Detective)

Endless thanks to the publicists and record labels who keep me busy. 

And above all, eternal thanks to all the musicians!!