StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Fly featuring Mark Turner,plus the Pat Metheny Trio

Today's videos preview a couple of concerts that are coming to St. Louis in the first part of 2007, and they also help trace the interconnections among a certain set of musicians. The first video features the band Fly playing "State of the Union" at the Sunside Jazz Club in Paris, exact date unknown but recent .Fly is a three-piece outfit made up of saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. They'll be doing a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro during the second week in January.

Grenadier and Ballard also serve as the current rhythm section for pianist Brad Mehldau, and all three are touring this spring with guitarist Pat Metheny in support of the recently issued CD Metheny/Mehldau. That show is coming to the Sheldon Concert Hall in April, but since the tour hasn't started yet, there's really no footage of them playing together - at least, not any I could find. However, I did run across a clip that shows Metheny playing in a trio situation with Bill Stewart on drums and Grenadier on bass, and that's today's second featured video. The composition is called "Lone Jack," and the video was made in 1999 at the Montreux Jazz Festival. For a bit more on the Metheny/Mehldau tour, see the next post.

Coming attractions for 2007 include Flecktones, Metheny & Mehldau

It's been a while since we've had a "coming attractions" post, and a couple of major concerts for the first part of 2007 have been announced in the interim.

* The Pageant has announced that the singular jazz-bluegrass-world music band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will be returning to St. Louis for a concert on Monday, February 5. Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. this Friday, December 8, via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

* Guitarist Pat Metheny (pictured) and pianist Brad Mehldau will do a three-week tour in the spring in support of their recent collaborative CD Metheny/Mehldau, and they're coming to St. Louis on Wednesday, April 4 to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The show isn't on the Sheldon's Web site yet, but it is listed on a number of others, including Metheny's site, various tour-tracking sites including Pollstar, and the site of jazz mega-manager/booking agent Ted Kurland and Associates, so I'd say it looks like a done deal.

* Finally, though I'd guess the information has been out there for a while, I've just noticed that the Arts and Issues series at SIU-Edwardsville has a couple of events coming up that are of interest to jazz listeners. The eclectic woodwind ensemble Imani Winds, part of the Josephine Baker tribute that played the Edison Theater here last Spring, will give a concert of their own music at SIU-E on Wednesday, January 24. The series has also scheduled an appearance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra on Saturday, April 28.

(Edited after posting to fix a link.)

Jazz this week: Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, Jan Shapiro, BAG II, Bosman Twins, Leon Thomas memorial concert, and more

This week's highlights post is a bit earlier than usual, due to a major jazz event in mid-week, and will also be a bit terse, as Blogger is being difficult today.

The major jazz event in question is Wednesday night's concert by Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau (pictured at left) at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Their collaboration already has produced two best-selling CDs in the last year, but this tour is the first time they've gone on the road together, and it's been getting plenty of publicity in both the jazz and mainstream press. StLJN has also had quite a bit of previous Metheny/Mehldau-related coverage, which you can see here.

On Thursday, singer and St. Louis native Jan Shapiro returns to St. Louis to do a free concert as part of the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. That same night, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by Jim Widner and featuring Mardra Thomas on vocals, will take the stage at Jazz at the Bistro for two sets.

On Friday, the Black Arts Guild aka BAG II kicks off what they're calling their spring season with another concert at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, this time featuring vocalist Thomasina Clarke along with bassist Zimbabwe Nkenya, drummer Glen "Papa" Wright and saxophonist Jerome Williams.

Friday is also the night for the second annual concert benefitting the Leon and Curtis Thomas Memorial Scholarship fund, featuring an all-star aggregation of local players performing at East St. Louis High School, and it's also the opening evening of a two-night stand for the Bosman Twins (pictured at right; Web site seems to be offline right now) at Jazz at the Bistro.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday night Webster University will present a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium called "South American Sketches," which will feature music by Luis Bonfa, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astor Piazzola performed by Erin Bode, Debby Lennon and Valerie Tichacek with the Webster Faculty Jazz Ensemble.

As always, you can find a more extensive list of this week's jazz events by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. No attachments, please.)

Metheny/Mehldau concert reviewed in Post

Our esteemed colleague Terry Perkins has a review in today's Post-Dispatch of Wednesday night's concert at the Sheldon by Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau. Read it online here.

Online presale for Metheny/Mehldau concert tickets starts Friday, January 26

Once again, the Sheldon Concert Hall is giving online buyers first crack at tickets for a high-profile show, in this case the Pat Metheny/Brad Mehldau concert on Wednesday, April 4. Tickets for the concert will go on sale online at 10 a.m. this Friday, January 26, one day before the general public on sale date of January 27. To get to the online presale, go to metrotix.com/promotions and enter the password PATANDBRAD.

Saturday bonus video: An interview with Metheny and Mehldau

And speaking of Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau, we've also got some bonus YouTubeage for you today in the form of a two-part interview that the two famed musicians recorded to promote their recent collaborative CD. (From the subtitles, it seems this clip came from Japanese TV, but that's all I know.) Part one is above, part two below.

Pollstar predicts piano performances

If for some reason you're interested in, but can't attend, the upcoming shows by Brad Mehldau (at the Sheldon with Pat Metheny on Wednesday, April 4) and/or Ahmad Jamal (at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, April 25 through Saturday, April 28), it looks like you'll get another chance to hear both men play St. Louis in 2008.

That's because the oracular online entity known as Pollstar has recently revealed that Mehldau now is scheduled to play the Bistro from April 9 - 11, 2008, and Jamal is set to perform at the Sheldon on January 26, 2008. In semi-related news, blues pianist/vocalist Marcia Ball also will be making a return trip to St. Louis next year, to play at the Sheldon on January 11.

These bookings are, as best I can tell, the first public inklings of next year's season schedules at both venues, and thus should be taken with the appropriate measure of skepticism until officially announced.

Still, this kind of back-and-forth between the Bistro and the Sheldon is not at all unprecedented, as jazz performers including Jane Monheit, Freddie Cole, John Pizzarelli and Joey DeFrancesco have appeared at both venues in recent years. I suppose these sorts of recurring bookings are good news for the fans of those particular musicians, and both Mehldau and Jamal are artists who warrant continued attention.

However, artistic quality and/or audience demand notwithstanding, our local not-for-profit presenters' propensity to go back to the same wells is something of a disappointment for those of us who would like to see them embrace as much musical variety and risk-taking as possible. There are, as mentioned before in this space, many prominent jazz musicians who haven't played St. Louis in years, or in some cases, at all. Here's hoping that when the Sheldon and Jazz St. Louis announce their full 2007-2008 schedules, we'll hear at least some of those names, too.

UPDATE - 1:23 p.m., 3/22/07: While I was writing this post, another Pollstar alert came in, revealing that the Sheldon has scheduled a date for San Francisco-based traditional jazz/swing revivalists Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers on November 7, 2007. So, for those of you who are now keeping score, that's one act for the 2007-08 season that, while they may be playing an older style of music, will be something new for St. Louis concertgoers.

StLJN's 2006 year in review

On this final day of 2006, it seems appropriate to take a look back at what's happened in St. Louis jazz over the last year. So here's a review of some of the most noteworthy items published by StLJN over the past 12 months:

January 2006

• Jazz radio personality Leo Chears dies after a long illness.
• Marty Ehrlich talks about his new CD News on the Rail.
• Jazz at the Bistro becomes Jazz St. Louis.
• NEA Jazz Masters tour skips St. Louis.
• James Carter subs for David Murray at WSQ's St. Louis shows.
• Eric Person releases new CD, premieres "lost" John Coltrane arrangements.

February 2006

• Erin Bode releases new CD featuring original material.
• Washington University holds symposium examining the history and legacy of the Black Artist Group.
• Singer/producer Valerie Tichacek gives StLJN the scoop on Jazz @ Cookie's, a new cable TV program featuring St. Louis jazz musicians.
• David Sanborn joins Chris Botti's tour-in-progress, providing an unexpected bonus for fans who had tickets for Botti's appearance at the TouPAC.
• The US Bank St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival announces its new name and 2006 lineup.
• World Saxophone Quartet performs at Jazz at the Bistro, and Hamiet Bluiett reveals details of their upcoming CD Political Blues.
• Webster University presents music and film programs on Thelonious Monk and the 1960s avant garde.
• The Sheldon announces events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Josephine Baker.
• Filmmaker Christian Cudnik begins work on a documentary on the history of St. Louis jazz.
• Clark Terry announced as headliner for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival.

March 2006

• With the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton still closed, Jeremy Davenport re-ups on his gig at Busch's Grove.
• StLJN hosts a roundtable discussion about jazz festivals, featuring thoughts and ideas from local music journalists and DJs including Dennis Owsley, Steve Pick, Terry Perkins and Rene Spencer Saller. Introduction Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7.
• Whitaker Music Festival announces its 2006 lineup.
• Miles Davis inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Patricia Barber performs at Jazz at the Bistro, reviewed by guest contributor Terry Perkins.
• St. Louis premiere set for PBS series Legends of Jazz.

April 2006

• Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum signs with Dave Koz' Rendezvous Music label.
• Review of Eric Person's Reflections.
• Brandt's Cafe and Red Carpet Lounge for sale.
• Sheldon Concert Hall announces its 2006-07 concert season, prompting a commentary on race and commercialism.
• StLJN runs its first embedded YouTube clip.
• StLJN celebrates one year of publishing.
• Concert held to benefit Leon Thomas scholarship fund.

May 2006

• Kurt Elling, reconsidered and reviewed.
• Jazz concert wish list.
• Noted jazz pianist and former St. Louisan John Hicks dies.
• Jazz St. Louis announces 2006-07 schedule for Jazz at the Bistro.
• Peter Martin and friends schedule a performance of their Big River concert in Chicago.
• My personal favorite StLJN headline of 2006: Live on the Levee lineup looks lackluster.
• Osby to perform with WSQ at Bistro in the fall.
• Miles Davis' birthday celebrated.

June 2006

• Main Street Jazz and Blues club sold.
• St. Louis Public Library named pilot site for jazz documentary film and discussion series.
• Performance space Radio Cherokee announces it will close.
• The TouPAC announces its 2006-07 season.
• Jazz at the Bistro gets a fancy new neon sign.
• US Bank St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, previewed and reviewed in two parts.
• Old Webster Jazz Festival announces its 2006 lineup.

July 2006

• St. Louis debut set for legendary saxophonist John Handy.
• A coda to StLJN's coverage of the US Bank St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival.
• Jazz St. Louis adds more acts to the 2006-07 Jazz at the Bistro season.
• A major summer storm knocks out power to St. Louis, including StLJN HQ.

August 2006

• Publication date announced for City of Gabriels, Dennis Owsley's history of jazz in St. Louis.
• Jazz St. Louis moves outside the confines of the Bistro by presenting "Jazz on Broadway".
• Trumpet legend Maynard Ferguson, a frequent visitor to St. Louis, dies.
• New poster from St. Louis artist Kevin Belford shows local jazz legends.
• Maynard Ferguson tribute concert to be held in St. Louis.

September 2006

• Delmark Records issues newly discovered recordings from St. Louis trumpeter Dewey Jackson.
• Jazz@Cookie's finally makes its debut - on YouTube.
• The Sheldon announces a major exhbit on St. Louis jazz history.
• Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series announces its fall 2006 schedule.
• New Music Circle announces its 2006-07 season schedule, just days before the first concert.

October 2006

• Christian Cudnick's documentary about St. Louis jazz history makes its debut.
• Dave Douglas will join SF Jazz Collective for 2007 tour.
• KC Star writer praises St. Louis jazz history, pans our current jazz scene.

November 2006

• "Peanuts" Whalum featured in Jazz Times magazine.
• Jazz historian and critic Dan Morgenstern speaks in St. Louis.
• StLJN updates now available by email.

December 2006

• StLJN opens its Emporium for your shopping and buying pleasure.
• Metheny/Mehldau tour coming to St. Louis in 2007.
• Singer Nancy King's latest CD for MAXJAZZ is nominated for a Grammy award.
• Al Jarreau will headline Jazz St. Louis benefit gala.
• The "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour's St. Louis concert is reviewed.
• STLJN's sister site Heliocentric Worlds goes live with music videos of jazz, blues, soul, funk and more.

Thanks to all the readers, commenters, e-mail correspondents, tipsters, musicians, presenters, publicists, critics, DJs and all the rest who have been part of this site in various ways over the past year. See you in 2007.

(Edited after posting to fix some formatting problems.)

Metheny interview now online

Pat Metheny (pictured) will be in St. Louis next Wednesday, April 4, to play the Sheldon Concert Hall with pianist Brad Mehldau, and Post-Dispatch freelancer Dan Durchholz has an interview with the guitarist in today's paper. Read it online here.

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2007-08 season

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced its 2007-08 season, and the hall's jazz series for next year includes a number of familiar names.

Three of the announced shows confirm information previously revealed by Pollstar (and StLJN): guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli (Saturday, October 6), Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers (Saturday, November 10) and pianist Ahmad Jamal (Friday, January 26, 2008).

In addition, the Sheldon also will present pianist Michael Wolff (pictured), best known as the former bandleader for talk show host Arsenio Hall, on Friday, February 23, 2008, and singer Carla Cook, who's recorded for the local MAXJAZZ label, on Friday, April 26, 2008. Subscriptions for the 2007-08 jazz series are $175-$195.

The Sheldon's Coffee Concerts, Saturday Matinee and Special Concerts series will also feature some musicians of interest to jazz listeners. The Coffee Concerts will include appearances from Anita Rosamond (October 9 & 10), the St. Louis Stompers (November 12 & 13), Sherry Drake and Carolbeth True (December 4 & 5), and the St. Louis Ragtimers (March 4 and 5, 2008). In addition, Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen will do a special concert on Sunday, September 23 and trombonist Brett Stamps will do a Saturday matinee on April 12, 2008.

To yr. humble editor, this lineup of touring performers, while comparatively safe from a box-office standpoint, seems rather uninspired. Pizzarelli, Cook and Jamal are all well-known to local audiences, with each having several recent St. Louis gigs to their credit; their appearances here once again serve as yet another example of recycling by a local presenter, a practice I've criticized on numerous prior occasions. Meanwhile, Smith and Wolff, while no doubt competent and entertaining, are musicians of minor importance at best. And while the lineup of local bands and musicians consists of proven performers, it appears to offer no particular surprises, either.

Although there's always the possibility that an interesting show or two may be added to the schedule somewhere down the line, as happened this year with the Pat Metheny/Brad Mehldau concert, overall it feels like the Sheldon is just treading water here. Given the vast universe of exciting artistic possibilities available for a jazz series at a high-quality concert venue, it's hard not to see this mostly recycled lineup of musical moderates as something of a disappointment, a case of pandering to audience tastes rather than expanding or challenging them.

You can find out more about the rest of the Sheldon's 2007-08 series in this article, written by Post-Dispatch pop critic Kevin Johnson and published in today's paper.

Victor Goines, Juilliard Jazz Ensemble returning to the Sheldon in February

The Juilliard Jazz Small Ensemble, directed by and featuring saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines (pictured), will return to The Sheldon Concert Hall for a public performance and two days of workshops with St. Louis area music students on Thursday, February 8 and Friday, February 9. The Ensemble features the top young jazz musicians from the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, and during the workshops they and Goines will work with jazz students from St. Louis. The is the third consective year the workshops have been held, and this year's event culminates in a public concert at 8 p.m., Friday, February 9 featuring performances by each participating school and the Juilliard Ensemble. Tickets for the concert go on sale January 6.

The Sheldon has also officially released information about the Pat Metheny/Brad Mehldau concert mentioned here earlier. The concert is scheduled for Wednesday, April 4, and tickets go on sale January 26.

Rounding up the "Best Jazz of 2018" lists

It's that time of year again, as jazz journalists, DJs, critics, and bloggers are publishing their annual "Best Of" lists. And once again, for the 12th consecutive year, St. Louis Jazz Notes eschews the compilation of such a list, instead offering a meta-list with links to all of the other "Best Jazz of 2018" lists we can locate.

As usual, the meta-list is alphabetized by writers' names. When a list was collaborative or presented as a staff-written project, the name of the publication or media outlet is used instead, with the writers' names noted if available. This post will be updated multiple times over the next several weeks as more lists become available.

Here's what's out there so far:

* S. Victor Aaron, SomethingElseReviews.com - John Coltrane, Jason Stein, Andrew Cyrille: Best of 2018 (Modern and Mainstream Jazz); Wendy Eisenberg, Brandon Seabrook, David Dominique: Best of 2018 (Avant Garde + Experimental); Chick Corea/Steve Gadd, The Necks, Makaya McCraven: Best of 2018 (Fusion Jazz)
* AcidJazz.co.uk - Merry Christmas, Happy New Year And Here’s To 2019…
* ACloserListen.com ~ Top Ten Rock, Post-Rock, Folk & Jazz
* Afropop.org - All The Music from Our Stocking Stuffers Show
* AlbumOfTheYear.com - The Best Jazz Albums of 2018
* AllMusic.com - Favorite jazz albums of 2018
* Amazon.com - Best Jazz Songs of 2018
* Aquarium Drunkard - 2018 Year In Review
* Avant Scena - Best Avant Garde Jazz Top 10 of 2018
* ArtsFuse.org (Steve Provizer & Michael Ullman) - Best Jazz Recordings (and Live Concerts), 2018
* Jung Bae, HelloKPop.com - 2018 In Review: Day 10 – Jazz and Blues
* C. Michael Bailey, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2018
* Brad Barker, Jazz.FM91 - Our Music Director’s Best Albums of 2018
* Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times - Best of 2018: In jazz, powerful voices demand being heard
* Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2018
* Mike Borella, Avant Music News - Best of 2018: Part I – Honorable Mentions; Part II – Albums of the Year
* Guillaume Bourgault-Côté, Le Devoir - Palmarès 2018: l’an jazz en 5 temps
* Cisco Bradley, JazzRightNow.com - Best Records of 2018; Best Live Concerts of 2018
* Shaun Brady, Philadelphia Inquirer - The best part about jazz in 2018? It was impossible to characterize
* Richard Brody, The New Yorker - The Best Archival Jazz Releases of 2018
* Bill Brownlee, Plastic Sax - Plastic Sax’s Favorite Albums and Performances of 2018
* Christopher Burnett, Musings in Cb - Best of Jazz 2018
* Capital Bop - The Best D.C. Jazz Albums of 2018
* Paul Cash, Hi-Fi Trends - The Best (Or Basically My Favorite) Jazz Albums of 2018
* Cazkolik.com - Best of 2018
* Nate Chinen, WBGO - Favorite Albums Of 2018
* Doug Collette, AllAboutJazz.com/Glide - Best Releases of 2018; Best of Jazz 2018: Cline, Mehldau, Lage, Scofield & More
* Amanda Cook, I Care If You Listen - 2018 Contemporary Classical Music Albums: Editor’s Picks
* James Cooper, Red Moon Cafe - My Music Selections for 2018
* Simon Cummings, 5against4.com - Best Albums of 2018 Part 1; Part 2
* Curt Davenport, Curt's Jazz Cafe - My Best Jazz Albums of 2018 – The Complete List
* Clive Davis, The Times - Best jazz albums of 2018
* Francis Davis, NPR - The 2018 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll; Wayne Shorter Travels The Spaceways
* Anthony Dean-Harris, Nextbop.com - Nextbop’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2018; Favorite Everything Else Albums of 2018
* Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun - Ten 2018 albums you don't want to miss
* Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Jazz Station - The 40th Annual Jazz Station Awards / The Best Jazz of 2018
* DJpeterDE, "Avenue C" (WVUD) - Jazz in 2018
* DownBeat - 2018: The Year’s Top-Rated Albums ; 2018: Trane, Bootsy, Nubya & Other Top Stories of the Year
* Tony Dudley-Evans - 2018: A Good Year
* Jordannah Elizabeth, Feminist Jazz Review: Five Best Records of 2018
* José Carlos Fernandes, TimeOut.pt - Os melhores discos de jazz de 2018
* John Fordham, The Guardian - The best jazz of 2018: new heights scaled and legends revisited
* Ken Franckling, Jazz Notes/AllAboutJazz.com - 2018's best jazz recordings
* Preston Frazier, SomethingElseReviews.com -  Mark Wade, Chris Carver, Peter Erskine + Others: Best of 2018 (Jazz)
* Free Jazz Blog - 2018 Top 10 Lists; Happy New Ears - 2018 Poll Winners
* Phil Freeman, Stereogum.com - The 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2018
* Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail - The Best 30 Jazz Albums of 2018
* Sasha Frere-Jones, SashaFrereJones.com - Music I Enjoyed in Two Thousand Eighteen
* Jon Garelick, Boston Globe - Best jazz albums of 2018
* Andrew Gilbert, San Jose Mercury-News - Here are the best albums jazz artists released in 2018
* Ted Gioia, TedGioia.com - The 100 Best Albums of 2018
* Giorna Della Musica (Enrico Bettinello & Luca Canini)- I 20 migliori dischi JAZZ del 2018
* TJ Gorton, BeatCaffeine.com - Favorite Albums of 2018; Favorite Reissues of 2018
* The Guardian - Life, death and cosmic jazz: 2018's best contemporary albums
* Guitar Moderne - Top 10 Records of 2018
* Ron Hart, Billboard - The 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2018: Critic's Picks
* Jamison “DJ Prestige” Harvey, Flea Market Funk - Best of 2018: The Jazz 45s And More
* HeavyBlogIsHeavy.com - The Jazz Club – 2018 In Review
* Chris Heim, Night Train (KMUW) - Best of 2018
* Ivan Hewitt, The Telegraph - A return to the glory days of jazz with Jean Toussaint, plus the best jazz and folk gigs of 2018
* Steve Holtje, CultureCatch.com - Favorite Jazz of 2018
* Tom Hull, TomHull.com - The Best Jazz Albums of 2018
* Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen - A long list of 2018's best Canadian* jazz; 2018's jazz list bliss
* J Hunter, Nippertown.com - Top Women in Jazz Albums
* IciMusique.ca - Palmarès 2018: les 50 meilleurs albums de l’année
* El Intruso - Undécima Encuesta Anual a Periodistas Internacionales (Eleventh Annual International Critics Poll)
* Jędrzej Janicki, Polish Jazz - Top Ten 2018
* Jazz90.1 - Top 100 CD’s of 2018
* JazzBluesNews.Space - In our opinion: Top 31 Jazz albums of 2018: Videos, CD covers
* Jazz Journalists Association - 2018 'Best of Jazz' Selected by JJA Members
* Jazz.pt - Melhores de 2018
* Jazz Times - The Year in Review: Top 50 Albums of 2018
* JazzWeek.com - Year End Jazz Chart: 2018
* Jazzwise - Top 20 Jazz Albums of 2018
* David Brent Johnson, Night Lights (WFIU) - Best Historical Jazz Releases 2018
* Mike Jurkovic, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2018
* Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest - These are a Lot of My Favorite Recordings of 2018
* Fred Kaplan, Slate - The best jazz albums of 2018, plus the best reissues
* John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2018
* Bill King, The Bill King Show (CIUT) - Canada Jazz 2018 - short takes on the best of the year!
* Brian Kiwanuka, Nextbop.com - Favorite Jazz Albums of 2018
* KMHD - Top 10 Jazz Albums Of 2018
* Maciej Krawiec, Polish Jazz - Top Ten 2018
* Joel Krutt, Pushing the Envelope (WHUS) - PTE Picks of 2018, Part 1; Part 2
* KSDS (Jazz88.3) - Sounds of the Season and Top Ten Discs!
* Cody Lee, KDNK - Spins Best of 2018 Jazz
* Sam Liddicott, MusicMusingsAndSuch.com - Horns, Improvisations and Wonderful Glitches: The Best Jazz and Experimental Albums of 2018
* London Jazz News - Musician/Band of the Year 2018; Live Memory of the Year 2018; Recorded Memory of the Year 2018; That Was 2018: Favourite and most-read articles as we approach our 10th anniversary
* Kevin Lynch, No Depression - The Best Jazz Albums of 2018
* Tim Mah, Jazz Today (CJSW) - Top Canadian Jazz Albums of 2018
* Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street - My favorite jazz albums of 2018
* Chris May, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2018
* Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2018
* Colin McEnroe, The Colin McEnroe Show (WNPR) - Celebrate The Best Jazz Of 2018!
* Bill Meyer, Magnet - Best Of 2018: Jazz/Improv
* Bill Milkowski, Paste - The 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2018
* Jay N. Miller, Quincy Patriot-Ledger - Year in review: The best jazz albums of 2018
* MusicIsMySanctuary.com - Jazz – The Best Tracks of 2018
* MusicManiaRecords.be - The Best Of 2018 - Jazz & Beyond
* New Music Box - 2018 Staff Picks
* NPR Music - Staff Picks: The Best Of 2018
* Offbeat - The Best Music of the Year: The 50 best albums of 2018
* Pitchfork.com - The Best Experimental Albums of 2018
* PointCulture.be (Bertrand Backeland & Jérôme Henry) - Best of jazz 2018
* Denis Poole, Smooth Jazz Therapy - Top Twenty Tracks Of 2018; Top 10 Covers Of 2018
* PopMatters.com (Justin Cober-Lake & Will Layman) - The Best Jazz of 2018
* ProperMusic.com - Best Jazz Of 2018
* Qwest.tv - Top albums 2018; Readers’ Poll – Top 5 Albums 2018
* Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune - Best jazz recordings of 2018: Virelles, Harris and Owens make charismatic sounds; The 10 best jazz concerts of 2018
* Dave Rogers, Professor Bebop (WTJU) - Top Jazz Releases of 2018
* Rokas, The Stingray Blog - Jazz Albums of 2018 | Top 10
* Brandon Roos, KQED - 2018 Proved Jazz Is Still Relevant—Here's Why
* Roots Music Report - Top Jazz Album Chart for the Year of 2018
* Giovanni Russonello, New York Times - The Best Jazz of 2018
* João Santos, Expresso - Melhores do Ano [Best Classical, Jazz and World Music releases of 2018]
* Bret Saunders, Denver Post - Top 10 jazz releases of 2018
* Tom Schnabel, Rhythm Planet (KCRW) - Best of 2018
* SFJAZZ.org - 2018 Staff Picks
* John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2018
* Hank Shteamer, Rolling Stone/Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches - 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2018; Best of 2018: Jazz
* Steve Smith, National Sawdust LOG - Best of 2018: Noteworthy Recordings
* SonicBoomRecords.com - 2018 Best-Sellers: Jazz
* Soundohm.com - Best of 2018
* Sputnik Music - Best Jazz Albums of 2018
* W. Royal Stokes, WRoyalStokes.com - Notable Releases of 2018; Best Releases of 2018; A Roundup of 125 Or So Jazz, Blues, Beyond and Other Books Published In The Last Year Or So
* Gary Suarez, VinylMePlease.com - The 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2018
* Mark Sullivan, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2018
* Dave Sumner, Bandcamp.com/Bird Is The Worm - The Best Jazz Albums of 2018; Recap: Best of 2018
* SupremeStandards.com - Top 10 Jazz and Jazz-ish albums of 2018; Podcast Ep5: Best Jazz albums of 2018
* Jeff Terich, TrebleZine.com - The 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2018
* Geno Thackaras, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2018
* Larry Reni Thomas, JazzCorner.com - Top Ten Jazz 2018
* Tracce di jazz - Il Best(i)one di TDJ 2018
* Dæv Tremblay, CanThisEvenbeCalledMusic.com - Best Jazz of 2018
* UK Vibe - Best jazz albums of 2018
* George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune - Best San Diego jazz concerts of 2018: From Luciana Souza and Chano Dominguez to Pat Metheny and Dee Dee Bridgewater; Best jazz albums of 2018, from Wayne Shorter and Henry Threadgill to Myra Melford and Miguel Zenón
* TheVinylFactory.com - A guide to UK jazz in 2018
* WBGO - Reflecting on the Year in Jazz with Our Own Nate Chinen, the Author of 'Playing Changes'; WBGO's Daytime Hosts Share Their Favorite Jazz Albums of 2018; Playing Favorites: WBGO Evening Hosts Discuss Their Top Albums of 2018
* Christopher R. Weingarten, Rolling Stone - 10 Best Avant Albums of 2018
* Mark Werlin, AllAboutJazz.com - Notable Hi-Res Releases in 2018
* Jim Wilke, Jazz Northwest (KNKX) - My favorite jazz records from 2018
* Richard Williams, The Blue Moment - 2018: the best bits
* Jerome Wilson, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2018
* Brian Zimmerman, Jazziz - Year in Review: The Best Jazz Albums of 2018

Active scouting for more lists will continue for at least a couple more weeks, but your input is welcome, too. If you've seen any other 2018 year-end jazz lists available online that aren't mentioned here, please use the comments (or send StLJN an email) to share the information. And if you like, please feel free also to use the comments to discuss your own favorite jazz releases, shows and moments of 2018.

Finally, 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, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Updated 12/28/18 with four more lists. Updated 12/29/18 with eight more lists. Updated 12/30/18 with five more lists. Updated 12/31/18 with nine more lists. Updated 1/1/19 with five more lists. Updated 1/2/19 with six more lists. Updated 1/3/19 with six more lists. Updated 1/4/19 with 10 more lists. Updated 1/5/19 with six more lists. Updated 1/6/19 with five more lists. Updated 1/7/19 with four more lists. Updated 1/8/19 with four more lists. Updated 1/9/19 with seven more lists. Updated 1/10/19 with one more list. Updated 1/11/19 with one more list. Updated 1/15/19 with three more lists. Updated 1/16/19 with four more lists. Updated 1/17/19 with two more lists. Updated 1/18/19 with one more list. Updated 1/21/19 with two more lists.