Avant-Garde/Free-Jazz for the Adventurous Listener
Part 3 of my "Best of" 2023 Jazz albums. This one is for the more adventurous who don't mind a bit of a challenging listen. This is my Top 10 free-jazz/avant-garde/experimental Jazz albums of 2023
Ok, so we’re onto Part 3 of my “Best of” 2023 Jazz albums. Part 1 was “straight-ahead” jazz, part 2 was jazz albums that pushed the boundaries of the genre (often fusing jazz with soul, Neo-soul, funk, and more), but part 3; well, part 3 is my FAVORITE!! This is my Top 10 Free-Jazz albums of 2023. If you aren’t familiar with Free-Jazz; Free-Jazz is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation where there are no rules. Musicians do not adhere to a fixed harmonic structure (predetermined chord progressions) as they improvise; instead, they modulate (i.e., change keys) at will; with an absence of set chord patterns or time patterns. Which is why I say Free-Jazz is definitely for the more adventurous music fan who is open to having a more challenging listening experience. But the pay off is worth it. Since the approach is more experimental and the musicians do not adhere to a fixed harmonic structure or abide but any other “rules”; you have to just let go of any preconceived notions. Don’t try to figure it out. Just go along for the ride. I think these 10 albums are absolutely amazing!
Without further ado…
Side note: Click on the album title to be linked directly to the album on Spotify (Also at the end of this post I will also link a Spotify playlist with selections from these albums. But album > playlist. Let’s bring back album culture lol. Plus these albums really do deserve to be listened to as a complete body of work)
My Top 10 Experimental/Avant-Garde/Free-jazz albums of 2023:
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden
One of the most interesting and exciting albums of 2023! Hands down! Avant-folk/jazz/spoken word-blues experimentalist Matana Roberts does spoken word about themes such as anxiety and reproductive rights over a 11 piece band; co-produced by Tv On The Radio’s Kyp Malone. This album is an EXPERIENCE!
Read the full Quietus review HERE
Irreversible Entanglements - Protect Your Light
Moor Mother fronted free-poetry free-jazz. More approachable than their earlier albums. Also less confrontational. Similar to the Matana album above; but more-so rooted in love and joy. Again, one of the best albums from 2023 i’ve heard. Read the full Pitchfork review HERE
Very powerful expansive two hour journey into free-orchestral jazz. This a 43 member experimental Scandinavian ensemble. The music is as expansive as the ensemble is. Read the full Jazzwise review HERE
Darius Jones - fLuXkit Vancouver (its suite but sacred)
Such a wonderful and exciting record! Read the full FreeJazzBlog review HERE
Steve Lehman and the Orchestre National de Jazz - Ex Machina
Again, as far as free-jazz/avant-jazz in 2023 a lot of modern masterpieces were released. This is one of them. Read the full FreeJazzBlog review HERE
Akira Sakata & Entasis - Live in Europe 2022
Intense Japanese free-jazz saxophonist KILLING it in this live recording from 2022. I don’t see many record reviews to link to. But trust me!
Hamid Drake, Majid Bekkas, and Peter Brötzmann - Catching Ghosts
Recorded live at Jazzfest in Berlin 2022. The last recording from the German avant-jazz icon Peter Brözmann before his death. This album is the trio’s interpretation of Gnawa compositions. Great album. Read the full Jazzwise review HERE
Swedish/Norwegian musicians doing free-jazz with world music influences. Really enjoyable! Read full AllAboutJazz review HERE
William Hooker - Flesh and Bones
Hooker has been around since the 1970’s NYC loft jazz scene. He’s one of the best! The album is a reaction to how Black People are being treated in America. Also this features a violinist. Which you don’t always hear in free-jazz. I love it! Read the full Jazztrail review HERE
Really interesting album from a prominent figure in the New York Jazz scene. Read the full AllAboutJazz review HERE
Honorable mention: Zoh Amba, Chris Corsano, Bill Orcutt - The Flower School.
This one would have EASILY made my top 10. But it’s not on Spotify (I linked the bandcamp though, if you wanna check out the music). Unfortunately, I only listen to music either on vinyl or on Spotify. So this hasn’t gotten a lot of listens from me. But honestly, i’ll probably end up buying the record. I saw Zoe Amba twice last year, and both times she BLEW ME AWAY! And this album is no exception! So much energy! Read the full Stereogum review HERE
I really want to encourage listening to these albums as full albums from front to back (Let’s bring back album culture!). But I will also do a Spotify playlist with some tunes from these selections. But I feel like especially with these avant-jazz/free-jazz albums, they are meant to be heard as a whole body of work; rather than as loose songs on a playlist. But…. CHECK THE PLAYLIST HERE
Up next: I am not quite done with my Best of 2023 albums just yet. Next I will be doing my top Hip Hop albums of 2023. Honestly, so much good Hip Hop came out last year. I really think for a few years there, Hip Hop felt like it was in a slump; very much taken over by the “clout era” and was feeling more “pop” than Hip Hop; but real genuine Hip Hop is back! Excited to share this list with y’all