Back in the groove: Quarterly picks, 25 favorite recordings January through March, 2025

Music to navigate us through dark times

The Listening Booth was never intended to be a place to write about personal stuff, but I feel the three month long hiatus here requires a form of explanation. In short, my family and I moved back to Oslo in early January. If for the time being on a temporary basis / a trial period, meaning we only packed and brought some of our belongings with us this time, the move took a good deal of time and energy. Add to that, a daughter who required time to adjust to a new school and develop new friendships, myself catching up with old friends, and one of two cats getting lost. In short, I’ve been busy, and have only found time to do paid writing (side note: this Substack will remain free for the foreseeable future), and trying to find a side-gig: writing about (mainly) jazz does not pay enough alone to pay the bills.

While we are currently well into 2025, for better or worse, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the results of the two main 2024 music polls I participated in, the The 19th Annual Jazz Critics Poll, now renamed Francis Davis Jazz Poll (edit: just heard the sad news that Francis Davis died two days ago. RIP), and the El Intruso International Critics Poll. My personal ballots (at the bottom of this page for The Jazz Critics Poll, and do a page search for El Intruso) won’t have any surprises if you’ve previously seen my 50 Favorite Albums of 2024 list.

If the full final results are worth considering in their own right, I find the individual ballots are often the most interesting parts of these polls. In the ballots of fellow writers whose ears you trust and criticism you respect, you may find music you for whatever reason have missed or feel compelled to reconsider. A couple such instances occurred this time around, too. Although I stand by that 50 albums list, such a list is of course just a snapshot of the particular moment it was compiled, and on any other day parts of it would’ve likely have been slightly different. For one of the first issues of Musikkmagasinet of 2025, I was asked by my editor to write about anything from 2024 that I hadn’t already covered for the paper. I chose to dig deeper into the two [Ahmed] 2024 releases, one of which made the top of my 50 favorites at the time, the other, Wood Blues, appeared on other ballots. Upon revisiting the latter for the piece, I found it to be an equally powerful document.

But let’s get on to 2025, and start this season of the Listening Booth with some of my favorite new music released up until the end of March this year (notable early April releases like those of Christer Bothén 3, reviewed by your truly in Musikkmagasinet this past Friday, The Ex and Mekons will have to wait). As some of you may know, I have a special affinity for the reeds, bass and drums trios, and you’ll find several such below. Most notably the The Ancients, by Isaiah Collier, William Parker and William Hooker. A recording that got me so excited I reviewed it twice, for Musikkmagasinet and Jazznytt respectively. I haven’t really been moved by Collier’s own music up until this (never seen him live, though), but here, I hear Parker and Hooker providing Collier with deep roots as well as supportive challenges to head into exciting heights. It’s a wonderful example of how we can take heart from the way improvisers skillfully navigate and tackle anything that comes their way.

But below you’ll also find thrilling reinterpretations of an old master’s music juxtaposed with new (Lehman Trio + Turner), a large ensemble work that spans both genres and eras (Mathilde Grooss Viddal), dark and riveting sextet music (Christopher Damman), moving and evocative solo double bass (Mats Eilertsen), tuneful and punchy “indie” rock (The Tubs), laid back rap finding beauty in life (Larry June), and much more. As usual, these are not ranked in any strict manner, but that said, the further toward the top, the more strongly I feel about the music. (Links to Bandcamp if available. An asterisk means I’ve covered the recording in writing. Musicians, labels and publicists interested in those reviews can get in touch, and I’ll see if I can a pdf copy of the relevant review).

• Isaiah Collier, William Parker, William Hooker: The Ancients (Eremite, also available on LP and CD in Europe via Aguirre).*

• Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi)*

• The Tubs: Cotton Crown (Trouble In Mind Records)

• Silke Eberhard Trio: Being-a-Ning (Intakt Records)*

• Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note)

• Dean Wareham: That's the Price of Loving Me (Carpark Records)

• Christopher Dammann Sextet: Christopher Dammann Sextet (Out of Your Head Records)

• Rob Brown, Brandon Lopez, Juan P. Carletti: Walkabout (Mahakala Music)*

• Mathilde Grooss Viddal / Friensemblet: Tri vendur blés ho i den høgaste sky (Losen Records)

• The Young Mothers: Better If You Let It (Sonic Transmissions)*

• Christian Winther: Sculptures From Under the City Ice (Earthly Habit)*

• Trio Glossalia: Trio Glossalia (Sonic Transmissions Records)

• Mats Eilertsen: 1 (Hemli)

• Larry June, 2 Chainz, The Alchemist: Life Is Beautiful (Empire)

• Adam O'Farrill: For These Streets (Out Of Your Head Records)

• James Brandon Lewis: Apple Cores (Anti-Records)*

• Paal Nilssen Love Circus + The Ex Guitars: Turn Thy Loose (PNL Records)

• Will Mason Quartet: Hemlocks, Peacocks (New Focus Recordings)

• Sylvie Courvoisier / Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic Records)*

• Trygve Fiske Sextet: The Flowers. The Dance. The Rumble and the Stumble. (Slaraffensongs)

• Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk)

• more eaze & claire rousay: No Floor (Thrill Jockey)

• Bob Mould: Here We Go Crazy (Granary Music)

• Private Property: Private Property (Kraakeslottet Platekompagni)*

• Tim Berne: Yikes Too (Screwgun/Out Of Your Head Records)*