Rounding up the "Best Jazz of 2011" lists

As 2011 comes to a close, jazz journalists, DJs, critics and bloggers have been publishing their annual "Best Of" lists, and once again this year, St. Louis Jazz Notes is offering a meta-list with links to all of the "Best Jazz of 2011" lists we can locate.

As in years past, it's alphabetized by writers' names. In those cases when a list was collaborative or presented as a staff-written project, the name of the publication or media outlet is used instead. Here's what's come out so far:

* S. Victor Aaron, Something Else! - Top Albums for 2011: Fusion Jazz, Mainstream and Modern Jazz, Whack Jazz
* ABC Jazz - Best of 2011
* AlbanyJazz.com - Staff's Top 5 Jazz Albums Of 2011
* Don Albert, Artslink.co.za - My Top 10 Jazz CDs of 2011
* Scott Albin, JazzTimes - Top 50 Jazz CDs of 2011
* Clifford Allen, Ni Kantu - Things We Like #2 - The Best of 2011
* AllMusic’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2011
* Amazing Smooth and Jazz Radio - The Best Jazz Albums Of 2011
* Amazon.com - The Best Jazz Albums of 2011
* Oliver Amnuayphol, Aperion Audio's The Sound Room - The Top Ten Classical and Jazz Albums of 2011
* Marc Antunes, Nextbop - Best Albums of 2011
* Bridget Arnwine, Examiner.com - Best Recordings of 2011
* Hrayr Attarian, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011: From Around the World
* Avant Music News - Best of 2011
* Peter Bacon, Birmingham Post - Jazz Diary: Peter's Bacon's top ten big gigs of 2011
* C. Michael Bailey, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Leonardo Barroso, WorldJazz - Best Jazz 2011
* Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times - 2011 year in review: Best in jazz
* Angelika Beener, Alternate Takes - If I Had To Choose: My Top Jazz Albums of 2011
* Nick Bewsey, Jazz in Space - Top Jazz Releases of 2011
* Brett Bickel, 94.7 The Wave - Top 10 Best Selling Jazz Albums of 2011; Top Ten Most Popular Jazz Songs Of 2011
* Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Chip Boaz, Latin Jazz Corner - Latin Jazz Corner Best Of 2011 Awards
* Philip Booth, Between the Grooves - The First Not-Yet-Annual PhiBos: 2011 in Review
* Shaun Brady, Philadephia City Paper - Top Jazz Albums of 2011
* Alexander Brown, Nextbop - Best Albums of 2011
* Bill Brownlee, Plastic Sax - Top Ten Albums and Concerts of 2011
* Robert Bush, San Diego Reader - Top 15 SD Jazz Concerts for 2011; The International Top Ten Jazz Releases 2011
* Andrea Canter, JazzPolice.com - Jazz in 2011: Alive and Well in the Twin Cities; Favorite CDs of 2011
* CapitalBop.com - D.C.’s Best Records of 2011: The Top 5; Honorable Mention
* Nate Cavalieri, Rhapsody.com- The Top 25 Jazz Records of 2011
* John Chacona, Erie Times-News/GoErie.com - 2011 Memory: The best jazz CDs of the year
* Adrian Chapman, white noise of everyday life - Albums of the year 2011: Jazz
* Nate Chinen, New York Times - Sounds That Come From in the Head and on the Street
* Doug Collette, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Mark Corroto, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Cosmic Jazz - Best jazz of the year
* David Dacks, Exclaim.ca - Improv & Avant-Garde 2011: Unstandards - Reinventing Jazz
* Curtis Davenport, Curt's Jazz Cafe - Best Jazz of 2011 – The Final List
* Francis Davis, Rhapsody.com - Sonnymoon for All: Rhapsody's 2011 Jazz Critics' Poll
* Anthony Dean-Harris, Nextbop - Best Albums of 2011
* R.J. DeLuke, RJ on Jazz/AllAboutJazz.com - Best Albums of 2011
* Nick DeRiso, Something Else! - Top Albums for 2011: Mainstream and Modern Jazz Edition; Jazz Rock and Fusion Jazz Edition
* Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Jazz Station - The Best Jazz of 2011
* Digital Jazz News - Critics Picks Vocal Best of 2011!
* eJazzNews - Best Canadian Jazz 2011
* Exclaim.ca - Improv & Avant-Garde 2011: 10 Favourites
* Pamela Espelund, Bebopified/MinnPost.com - Top 10 Local Jazz CDs of 2011; 11 memorable Twin Cities concerts in 2011
* Matt Fleeger, KMHD - Top 10 New Releases of 2011
* Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes - The best of 2011 - my take; AllAboutJazz.com - 2011: The Year In Jazz
* Free Jazz - Albums Of The Year 2011
* Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal - The City's Best Jazz Moments of 2011
* Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix - 10 Boston jazz acts that blew through the roof in 2011
* Ted Gioia, TedGioia.com - The 100 Best CDs of 2011
* Andrew Gilbert, KQED - 10 Jazz Favorites in 2011, and Then Some
* Stephen Graham, Jazzwise - Gregory Porter Wins Jazzwise Album Of The Year; New generation comes of age on UK jazz scene in 2011
* Steve Greenlee, Boston Globe - Jazz’s top albums of 2011
* George Grella, The Big City - 2011 Year’s Best Jazz
* Kevin Kniestedt, Groove Notes - 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2011
* James Hale, Jazz Chronicles - The Best of 2011
* Eyal Hareuveni, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Alexandra Heeny, The Stanford Daily - Best jazz albums of 2011
* Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph - 2011: The best moments in classical and jazz music
* David Hill, Hot House - 2011
* Steve Holtje, CultureCatch.com - Best New Jazz/Improvised Music Albums of 2011
* Eugene Holley Jr, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Tom Hull, Hullworks.com/Rhapsody.com - Extended Year-End Jazz List
* Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen - Went on a bender, wrote a year-ender (My best-of-2011 jazz lists); Canada's Top 5 jazz discs for 2011
* J. Hunter, Nippertown - Best of 2011: J Hunter’s Top 10 Jazz Albums
* Issue Project Room - Our favorite live recordings of 2011
* Willy J, V101.9 - The Top 25 Jazz Songs Of 2011
* Patrick Jarenwattenon, NPR's A Blog Supreme - The Best Jazz of 2011
* Jazz and Bossa Review - A Year in Review: The Best of 2011
* The Jazz Breakfast - Festive Fifty
* Jazzcorner.com's Speakeasy - Top 10 of 2011
* Jazz Journalists Association member lists
* Jazz-Sax.com - Top 10 Albums Of 2011
* JazzTimes - The Top 50 Releases of 2011; Highs & Lows 2011; Critics' Lists 2011
* Rob Johnson, Examiner.com - Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2011
* Fred Kaplan, Slate/Stereophile - The Best Jazz Albums of 2011
* John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011; Best Live Shows of 2011
* LA Weekly - The Best Los Angeles Jazz Concerts of 2011
* Ken Laster, WHUS - In The Groove's Top 15 Jazz Releases for 2011; More Best of 2011
* LatinJazzNet.com - Noteworthy Recordings of 2011; More Noteworthy Recordings of 2011
* Devin Leonard, Capital New York - The "J-Word": In a year of controversy the best jazz albums tested the parameters of the term
* Doug Levine, Voice of America - 2011 a Milestone Year for Jazz
* Bruce Lindsay, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011; The JazzLife UK Gilded Butterfly Awards 2011
* Lucid Culture - The 25 Best Jazz Albums of 2011
* Jim Macnie, Lament for a Straight Line - Best of 2011: Jazz & Pop
* Howard Mandel, Jazz Beyond Jazz - Favorite recordings, 2011 — many more than 10
* Chris May, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Owen McNally, Hartford Courant - The Year In Jazz in Connecticut 2011
* Gabe Meline, City Sound Inertia - Top 25 Jazz Discoveries of 2011
* Bill Meyer, Magnet - Best Of 2011: Jazz
* Ralph A. Miriello, Huffington Post/Notes on Jazz - My Picks for the Best of Jazz 2011
* Roger Mitchell, Ausjazz - Top 10 Albums for 2011
* New York Times - Onstage Memories (Most memorable performances of 2011)
* New York Times (Nate Chinen & Ben Ratliff) - Popcast: The Best Jazz of 2011
* Nextbop's Best Jazz Albums of 2011
* Tim Niland, Music and More - It's the End of the Year as We Know It (and I feel anxious...); Best of 2011, Part II: Historical Releases; Best of 2011, Part III: Top ten new releases for 2011
* North Coast Journal - Redwood Jazz Alliance 5+5 Top Jazz Albums 2011
* Rob Nowlin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Best Jazz Concert: Fourplay
* NPR, 50 Favorite Albums of 2011; Five Awesome Jazz Vocal Performances
* Sean J. O'Connell, LA Weekly - Top Five Los Angeles Jazz Albums of 2011
* Offbeat - The 40 Best Louisiana Albums of 2011
* Open Sky Jazz - The Ain’t But a Few of Us Best of 2011
* Organissimo Jazz Discussion Forum - "Best of Jazz" 2011
* Tony Ozuna, Prague Post - Year in culture: Jazz
* David A. Orthmann, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Chris Parker, LondonJazz - 2011 CD Round-up
* Ian Patterson, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Live Shows of 2011
* Matt Phillips, Jazz FM - Albums of the Year
* Rhys Phillips & Mike Syms, Radio Cardiff's Jazz Special - Jazz Review of 2011
* Denis Poole, Smooth Jazz Therapy - Top Twenty Tracks Of 2011; Top Ten Tunes Of 2011 - An Alternative Choice
* PopMatters.com (John Garratt & Will Layman) - The Best Jazz of 2011
* PopMatters.com - Top 10 Jazz Tunes for People Who Don't Like Jazz
* Peter Quinn, The Arts Desk - 2011: Parlato, Porter and the Power of the Human Voice
* Steve Quirk, JazzFM - Steve's Best of 2011
* Red Moon Cafe - Best of Jazz for 2011
* Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune - Zenon, Adasiewicz, Lage top best jazz list; The best jazz shows of 2011
* Rhapsody.com - The 2011 Jazz Critics' Poll: The Results
* Bret Saunders, Denver Post - A look back at the year's top 10 satisfying CDs, Plus, some reissues you'll want to revisit
* Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News - Best jazz CDs of 2011
* Sebastian Scotney, LondonJazz - 2011 remembered
* The Selected Ballads - Best Live Music Seen in 2011
* John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Alan Shipton, BBC3 - Jazz Library: The Best New Releases of 2011
* Areif Sless-Kitain, TimeOut Chicago - Top 10 jazz albums of the year
* Hank Shteamer, Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches/TimeOut New York - Best of 2011, part I: Jazz; The best (and worst) music of 2011: Hank Shteamer's picks
* Keith Spera, New Orleans Times-Picayune - Favorite local CDs of 2011
* Mike Stratton, MLive.com - Top 20 jazz releases in 2011 include some with Michigan State University connections
* Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press - Mark Stryker's Top 10 Jazz Recordings of 2011
* Dave Sumner, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases/Downloads of 2011; Bird is the Worm - Tiny Reviews – Recapping the Best of 2011, Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4
* Perry Tannenbaum, Creative Loafing - Best jazz CDs of 2011
* Derek Taylor, Dusted - Best of 2011
* Jacob Teichroew, About.com - 2011: A Year in Reviews
* Neil Tesser, Examiner.com - By Friday, the 13: Counting down a baker's dozen of the year's best jazz on CD; Four and more: Continuing to count the year's best jazz CDs; BAM! Topping off the top jazz albums for 2011
* Jez Thomas, BBC3's Jazz on 3 - Best UK Jazz of 2011
* George Thomas, Vermont Public Radio - Favorite Jazz CDs of 2011
* Mark F. Turner, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2011
* Seth Colter Walls, The Awl - The “Difficult Listening Hour” 50 Favorite Albums of 2011
* Josh Weinstein, KDHX's All Soul No Borders - Top 10 Albums of 2011
* Michael J. West, Washington City Paper - The Jazzies: D.C.’s Best Jazz in 2011
* J.J. Wheeler, The Jazz Breakfast - Pick of 2011
* The Whole Music Experience - WME Top Ten World and Jazz Albums of 2011
* Jim Wilke, Jazz After Hours – Favorite Jazz CD’s of 2011
* Aaron Williams, RVA News - 2011 in (RVA) Jazz
* Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Matthew Shipp, Golden Striker Trio among jazz highlights
* Geoffrey Winston, LondonJazz - Geoffrey Winston's selection
* Ypsilon - Os melhores discos de jazz em 2011

Also, once again this year the New York Times' Nate Chinen hosted a fairly interesting discussion about the year in jazz over at his blog The Gig, conversing with fellow critics Angelika Beener, Aaron Cohen, Joe Tangari and K. Leander Williams in eight parts:

Part 1: Year of the Cannibal
Part 2: A Windy City Reply
Part 3: Straight Toward the End Zone
Part 4: Still Room for More
Part 5: Occupy Jazz?
Part 6: Ignoring The Boundaries
Part 7: Connectedness to the Culture
Part 8: One More Once: Last Thoughts

Regarding StLJN's 2011 meta-list, any other year-end best-of lists that show up in the near future will be added as they appear. If you've seen any other 2011 year-end jazz lists that aren't mentioned here, please use the comments (or send me an email) to share the information. And if you like, you also can use the comments to discuss your own favorite jazz releases, shows and moments of 2011.

Last but not least, if you'd like to re-visit StLJN's past "best of" list round-ups, here are the meta-lists for 2007 (parts 1 and 2), 2008 (parts 1 and 2), 2009 and 2010.

Edited 12/29/11 to add nine more lists. Edited 12/30/11 to add seven more lists. Edited 12/31/11 to add 11 more lists. Edited 1/1/12 to add six more lists and fix a typo. Edited 1/2/12 to add three more lists. Edited 1/3/12 to add two more lists. Edited 1/4/12 to add three more lists. Edited 1/5/12 to add three more lists. Edited 1/6/12 to add four more lists. Edited 1/7/12 to add two more lists. Edited 1/8/12 to add one more list. Edited 1/9/12 to add two more lists. Edited 1/10/12 to add two more lists. Edited 1/11/12 to add four more lists. Edited 1/12/12 to add three more lists. Edited 1/24/12 to add two more lists.