Awards,
Jazz Recordings of the Year - Finalists 2024
The final five winners in the Jazz Recording of the Year, as well as Best Archive/Reissue, Label of the Year and Newcomer in Jazz categories will be revealed on our website on Thursday, 5th December, shortly after the Awards Ceremony at our Leamington Spa store. Don’t miss the announcement!
Little Big III - Aaron Parks
“An album that feels both spontaneous and carefully crafted — a delicate balance between structure and improvisation [showcasing] the ensemble’s maturity and musical rapport.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Za Górami - Alice Zawadzki, Fred Thomas & Misha Mullov-Abbado
“The trio’s collective approach reflects their deep understanding and rumination over the compositions; understated interactions, tenderness and respect for the music is a constant throughout.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Altera Vita - Alina Bzhezhinska & Tony Kofi
“Engrossing ambiance, beautiful pieces and spirited performances... A record I can gladly lose myself in again and again.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
As Time Passes - Arild Andersen, Daniel Sommer, Rob Luft
“Rhythm, of course, is the key aspect of this album's success. It underlies Andersen's gently assured pizzicato lines as well as Luft's cascades of rainbow-arcing mystique, [and] trembles out of Sommer's elusive drumming…”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Night Reign - Arooj Aftab
“A perfect distillation of Aftab's ecclectic taste and influences, a refined concentration of her musical prowess that loses none of its detail in the process...”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Below Dawn - Bryony Jarman-Pinto
“Jarman-Pinto’s soulful recording [reveals] the singer-songwriter to have emerged from the confusion of the pandemic years with a self-composed head on her shoulders.”
Available Formats: Vinyl Record, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
The Room - Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel
“The sheer presence of these performers, whose musicality remains untempered by electronics or software gadgetry, leaves plenty for their respective partner to engage with and respond.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Testament - FIRE!
“In slimming their regular assemblage down to just three core players, the group's primal magnitude has increased tenfold. Their sound is caustic, loud and uncompromising.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Silent, Listening - Fred Hersch
“A subtle reclamation of the gifted pianist's intricate sensitivity and skill.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Women’s Words, Sisters’ Stories - Ineza with Alex Webb & The Copasetics
“This is an album that doesn’t aim to dazzle in conventional ways; instead, it trusts the listener to engage deeply, to listen closely, and to appreciate jazz as a vehicle for human connection and understanding.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Blues Blood - Immanuel Wilkins
“Through an unbeatable blend of melody and improvisation [...] the saxophonist captures the strength and resilience of Black communities, standing resolutely against adversity.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Rising - Jasmine Myra
“The reliable riffs are still there, helping to balance her music’s unflustered feel with a memorable punchiness that cuts to the soul, but the writing on the whole feels more flexible, more courageous — more Jasmine.”
Read our interview with Jasmine Myra
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
nublues - Joel Ross
“Navigating with his glassy chimes in tow, Ross incorporates bluesy and balladic elements, supplemented further by the stirring soul-cries of fellow Blue Note all-star, Immanuel Wilkins.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Evergreen - Julius Rodriguez
“The album features a mixture of compositions [displaying] Rodriguez's ability to percolate across the differing intersections of contemporary music as if by osmosis.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Cloudward - Mary Halvorson
“The record’s inception lies in the post-pandemic lifting of travel restrictions, and it’s with this regained sense of voyaging that Halvorson and crew reach for the skies.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin - Meshell Ndegeocello
“Known for her genre-defying music, [Ndegeocello has] created an album that transcends traditional musical categories, merging jazz, soul, spoken word and electronic elements to reflect the spirit and themes of Baldwin's work.”
Read our review of No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Available Format: 2 Vinyl Records
Outpost of Dreams - Norma Winstone & Kit Downes
“Such is the calibre of Winstone's ability [...] that she can still offer unique reappraisals of this chamber format into her eighth decade, with each new release stamping its own noticeable seal of contrasting light and shade.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Odyssey - Nubya Garcia
“The writing for this release may be a leap into the unknown for Garcia; however, it displays a wide scope of imagery and the confidence to push the boundaries.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
MoonDial - Pat Metheny
“Internally shifting, intelligently rebuilding [...] yet, when Pat's unique jazz-country-blues voice comes together, the chords simply fall in between.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Old Main Chapel - Ron Miles
“All the genre's alluring classiness, encompassed within a perfect silhouette — which, after everything is said and done, is what this immortal recording leaves us with.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Portrait - Samara Joy
“Joy’s is a voice that hearkens back to a forgotten time — one tinged with warm, vintage tones of honey-coated glamour.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Sean Khan Presents The Modern Folk & Jazz Ensemble - Sean Khan and The Modern Jazz & Folk Ensemble
“By remodelling the wyrd and melancholic sounds he was first drawn to as a youngster into an intelligent setlist of rousing numbers, the Londoner leaps through time to concoct a winning formula: sublime lyricism and dedicated musicianship.”
Read our review of Sean Khan Presents The Modern Folk & Jazz Ensemble
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace - Shabaka
“It makes sense that this creative left-turn had been a while coming. Shabaka has always played the long game, and will no doubt continue striving towards the artistic integrity he knows himself to be capable of achieving.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Seeing - Tord Gustavsen Trio
“Their playing is lyrically imaginative, melodically grounded and emotionally full: all the components needed for a ‘synthetic synesthesia’.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Journey To Where - Trish Clowes & Ross Stanley
“The sense of palpable motion with which they set off allows the pair to recalibrate their journey [...] free from predetermined clichés as they go.”
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Matt Groom - Head of Jazz
