It’s our end-of-the-year round-up of our favorite records that came out in 2022. This year had so many excellent albums that putting this list together was not easy – every time we thought an album should be placed near the top, another worthy candidate seemed just as good! So to accommodate the wealth of exciting music and reflect such a strong year in music, we’ve expanded this list to 40 places, the top 15 albums with comments, and then the next 25.
Enjoy! We’re going to take a few days to appreciate and listen to these outstanding records, and hope you will too.
1 Charles Lloyd – Trio of Trios
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to purchase from Blue Note
Lloyd’s music-making was with us all through much of 2022 – he released the singularly beautiful Chapel mid-year, followed by Ocean and Sacred Thread, and then in November combined the three albums into the 3-hour plus Trio of Trios. This massive album smartly puts the trio with Hussain and Lage first, but don’t miss the highlights from the other trios, such as Clayton’s great blues piano solo on “Jaramillo Blues” and the deep lyricism and close listening throughout the Frisell/Morgan trio. A classic for the ages.
2 Mary Halvorson – Amaryllis
2022 was another banner year for Halvorson, one of today’s definitive musicians. In addition to this excellent album, Halvorson was on Thumbscrew’s Multicolor Midnight (#35 on our list) and was an essential voice in the mix on Myra Melford’s For The Love of Fire and Water (#24) and Nate Wooley’s Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes (#36). We could not contain our excitement as soon as we heard that Halvorson would be releasing this album with Patricia Brennan (whose More Touch is #7 on our list). This album did not disappoint-every track is a gem. Halvorson’s compositions are as much a star as her guitar, and her band is exceptional – Jacob Garchik’s trombone stands out in particular, whose Assembly (#5 on our list) was also one of the year’s best.
3-Alabaster DePlume – Gold
It’s rare to hear an album that sounds like nothing else, but DePlume’s Gold has an indescribable mixture of atmospheric playing and unique musical settings. The album was recorded in the summer of 2020 in sessions where DePlume invited a different set of musicians each day and would record the same tunes at the same speed so that DePlume would then cut them together later, assembling the most otherworldly final product. Enjoy this fantastic album!
4-Wild Up and Christopher Rountree – Julius Eastman, vol. 2: Joy Boy
The Julius Eastman revival continues! Joy Boy is Wild Up’s second of seven anticipated volumes of Eastman’s music, following up on last year’s excellent Feminine. The results are pretty varied, opening with the frenetic vocal exhortations of “Joy Boy,” moving to the heavy guitar stylings in the middle of the album, and ending with the joyous “Stay On It.”
5-Jacob Garchik – Assembly
We listened to this album several times in wonder, trying to figure out how Garchik and his players (Sam Newsome – soprano saxophone, Jacob Sacks – piano, Thomas Morgan – bass, Dan Weiss – drums) achieved such speed, cohesion, and unity on wildly tricky pieces. “Fanfare” closed with one of the fastest tempos we’ve ever heard. Then it clicked – Assembly refers to Garchik’s post-production process – the disparate parts were recorded in multiple sessions and then “assembled” to create a luminous whole. Bonus points for a remarkable channeling of Ellington (“Fanfare” features soloing based on “In a Sentimental Mood”). More bonus points for the best album cover of the year!
6-Pat Thomas – Pat Thomas Plays The Duke
More Ellington, and for those who have heard about the great Pat Thomas’ live sets of Ellington repertoire, this is a welcome release. Thomas plays inside, outside, and everywhere in between in an exhilarating set. For an extended dose of the “outside” Pat Thomas, check out his spellbinding tribute to Cecil Taylor, “Akisakila” / Attitudes of Preparation (Mountains, Oceans, Trees) (#18 on our list).
7-Patricia Brennan – More Touch
A record that creates musical questions and draws you back again, searching for the answers. Like on last year’s brilliant Maquishti, Brennen’s intelligence and lyricism are evident throughout. And her supporting cast, especially Marcus Gilmore (drums), is perfect.
8-Michael Leonhart Orchestra – The Normyn Suites
Normyn was Leonhard’s beloved dachshund, whose life inspired the two engaging suites presented here. The range of orchestral and thematic ideas is exciting throughout the suites, and the extra tracks with guest vocals by Elvis Costello.
9-Loraine James – Building Something Beautiful for Me
Yet more Julius Eastman, but here filtered through the sensibility of James’ electronic soundscape. The results are utterly different from Wild Up’s Joy Boy (No. 4 on our list) but just as compelling. A excellent late-night record.
10-Trish Clowes – A View With a Room
Probably the most “inside” album on our top 15, but so irrepressibly fun! Clowes’ playing is warm and lyrical, and her band matches the spirit of her playing and compositions. Just simple, pure fun – nothing wrong with that.
11-Editrix – Editrix II – Editrix Goes To Hell
Wendy Eisenberg’s guitar playing works so well in avant-garde jazz contexts (check out last year’s Bloodletting) and here in a “rock” context. However, not like any rock record you’ve heard!
12-Hedvig Mollestad and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Maternity Beat
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
Link to purchase from Rune Grammaphone
Mollestad’s guitar playing is just the tip of the iceberg. She joins forces with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, creating an album that paints with a vast palette – you’ll hear a vocal chorus, spoken word interludes, electric violin, saxophone solos, and asymmetrical drumming all sharing space with Mollestad’s searing guitar interludes. Full of “noisy joy.”
13-Jon Irabagon – Rising Sun
An exuberant outing from Irabagon, with terrific support from Matt Mitchell, Chris Lightcap, and Dan Weiss. To see what this album is all about, go to the second track, “Alliance.” The statement of the elaborate, knotty theme takes a full five minutes, but that’s only a prelude to what follows: the band switches into ecstatic, grooving playing that notches higher and higher in intensity, culminating with screaming exhortations from Irabagon, over the band at full tilt. The album was inspired by travels in the west during the pandemic, and Irabagon says, “I hope that this music can uplift and galvanize you as much as it has for me.” It does!
14-Palm – Nicks and Grazes
Palm returns after their excellent 2018 album Rock Island. This one is a little less angular but has even deeper layers of dissonance buried in the mix, which unravel with each listen. We’re told they are mesmerizing live, too!
15-Rosalía – Motomami
Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
If this blog were about pop music rather than the intersection of the folkloric and the avant-garde, this album might be #1 on the list. The most innovative pop record of 2022.
The next 25 (all music no comments):
16-Marta Sanchez – SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)

17-Cecile McLorin Salvant – Ghost Song

18-Pat Thomas & XT – “Akisakila” / Attitudes of Preparation (Mountains, Oceans, Trees)

19-David Murray, Dan Jones & Hamid Drake – Seriana Promethea

20-Emily Wells – Regards to the End
Link to Bandcamp

21-Oort Smog – Every Motherfucker Is Your Brother
22-Janel Leppin – Ensemble Volcanic Ash

23-Myra Melford Fire and Water Quintet – For The Love of Fire and Water

24-Lucrecia Dalt – Ay!

25-Qasim Naqvi, Wadada Leo Smith & Andrew Cyrille – Two Centuries
26-Miguel Zenón – Música De Las Américas

27-Miles Okazaki – Thisness

28-Elsa Nilsson – Atlas of Sound – 41°32’09.8″N 124°04’35.5″W

29-Beth Orton – Weather Alive
30-Alvvays-Blue Rev

31-Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone – Xaybu: The Unseen

32-Fred Pallem & Le Sacre du Tympan – X

33-Kirk Knuffke Trio – Gravity Without Airs
34-Thumbscrew – Multicolored Midnight

35-Avram Fefer – Juba Lee

36-Nate Wooley – Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes
37-Mathis Picard – Live at the Museum
Link to Apple
Link to Spotify
38-Roxy Coss – Disparate Parts

39-Horse Lords – Comradely Objects
40-Leyla McCalla – Breaking the Thermometer