Jazz Critics Poll – Living To Listen

My mother, Mary Jane Overeem, passed away from dementia in her assisted living facility early in the morning of Wednesday, June 18, 2025. I am sure it was a coincidence, but she left in the midst of 15-minute wind, lightning, thunder, and pouring rain storm that seemed to harness the furiousness of the battle between her physical determination to keep living and her spiritual will to be released–after months of begging to be. It was exceedingly difficult to witness. I had hoped to be there at her side when she finally passed, but I had to sleep. She might have been waiting for me to pass all the way out so she could slip away alone.

Once during her final four torturous days, the topic of music arose. One of her best friends in the community was an English octogenarian named Rita who happened to come by and check on her. My mom had mentioned to Rita that I kinda-sorta liked music, so she casually offered to tell me the story of her having seen the 1965 edition of The Rolling Stones in Coventry when she was 20. I have a very soft spot for the Jones-era Stones, so I was all ears—especially when she groused, “I was on the front row, and I tried to grab Mick’s balls but a cop grabbed me before I could get ‘em. I almost had his balls—I would have been on the cover of The Daily Mirror, you know?” I was doubled over, crying with laughter. She went on to mention that she’d only seen Gene Vincent three times (!!!) and Eddie Cochran once (!!!!). I will always treasure that pop-by, and when Rita rolled up to express her condolences after the funeral this past Sunday, I wanted to tell her, “I wish I could grab death by the balls,” but I settled for giving her a big hug, wetting her shoulder with tears, and whispering, “Sweet Gene Vincent.”

All of that is to say that I was not able to attend to a June new music inventory, though I will also say that passionate new records by the Irish folk legend Christy Moore, the fiery and spirited saxophone sprite Zoh Amba, and a heap of very inspired rock and rollers and zydeco masters paying tribute to Clifton Chenier will be crowned with four or five stars when I catch up, maybe this week or next.

What I can do is share the ballot I submitted to the Francis Davis Memorial Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, topped, naturally, by an album that came out in November of 2024 (that’s within the rules, since it barely had time to be distributed; also, see the video above). It’s a great year for jazz, and especially for piano records, four of which made my Top 10.

Enjoy yourself, and keep livin’….

NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (ranked)

Organic Pulse Ensemble: Ad Hoc (Ultraaani Records)

Cosmic Ear: TRACES (We Jazz)

Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (Cantaloupe Music)

William Hooker: Jubilation (Org Music)

Steve Lehman: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings)

Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind (Red Hook Records)

Zoh Amba: Sun (Smalltown Supersound)

Blacks’ Myths Meets Pat Thomas: The Mythstory School (self-released)

Trio Glossia: Trio Glossia (Sonic Transmissions)

Rocio Gimenez Lopez: La Forma Del Sueno (Blue Art)