My Top 10 Jazz CDs of 2009

These lists are always a bit ridiculous to compile, given the near impossibility of rating art and the sheer number of CDs released each year. That said, I compiled the list below for the 2009 Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll.

TOP 10
Artist – Album (Label)

1. Fay Victor – The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue)
2. Vijay Iyer – Historicity (ACT)
3. Darius Jones – Man’ish Boy (AUM Fidelity)
4. The Fully Celebrated – Drunk On The Blood Of The Holy Ones (AUM Fidelity)
5. The Respect Sextet – Sirius Respect (Mode)
6. Ted Sirota’s Rebel Souls – Seize The Time (Naim)
7. Digital Primitives – Hum Crackle & Pop (Hopscotch)
8. Terence Blanchard – Choices (Concord)
9. Steve Lehman – Travail, Transformation & Flow (Pi Recordings)
10. Kat Edmonson – Take To The Sky (Convivium)

TOP 3 REISSUES

1. Art Pepper – The Art History Project (Widow’s Taste)
2. Tony Bennett & Bill Evans – The Complete Tony Bennett & Bill Evans Recordings on Fantasy (Concord)
3. — not voting for a 3rd —

BEST VOCAL ALBUM

Fay Victor – The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue)

BEST DEBUT CD

Darius Jones – Man’ish Boy (AUM Fidelity)

BEST LATIN JAZZ CD

— not voting —