The Lush Life Blog
The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2025
2025 proved to be an exceptional year for jazz, showcasing the genre's remarkable ability to evolve whilst honouring its roots. From London's vibrant scene to Chicago's experimental hub, from avant-garde exploration to deeply personal expression, this year's standout releases demonstrated that jazz remains one of contemporary music's most vital creative forces.
The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2025
2025 proved to be an exceptional year for jazz, showcasing the genre's remarkable ability to evolve whilst honouring its roots. From London's vibrant scene to Chicago's experimental hub, from avant-garde exploration to deeply personal expression, this year's standout releases demonstrated that jazz remains one of contemporary music's most vital creative forces.
Album of the Month: Makaya McCraven – Off The Record
Spontaneous composition meets studio precision on the Chicago beat scientist's most ambitious project yet. At the beginning of Off The Record, Makaya McCraven's voice cuts through the opening of "YoYoYo Intro" with a simple declaration: this is improvised music, spontaneous composition. It's a fitting introduction to what might initially appear daunting: a sprawling double album compiling four distinct EPs, recorded across a decade, spanning three continents, featuring rotating casts of some of contemporary jazz's finest players. But McCraven, who has...
Album of the Month: Makaya McCraven – Off The Record
Spontaneous composition meets studio precision on the Chicago beat scientist's most ambitious project yet. At the beginning of Off The Record, Makaya McCraven's voice cuts through the opening of "YoYoYo Intro" with a simple declaration: this is improvised music, spontaneous composition. It's a fitting introduction to what might initially appear daunting: a sprawling double album compiling four distinct EPs, recorded across a decade, spanning three continents, featuring rotating casts of some of contemporary jazz's finest players. But McCraven, who has...
The Best Australian Jazz Albums of the 21st Century (So Far)
Some of the most innovative jazz of the past 25 years has been coming from Australia. From The Necks' hypnotic minimalism to Hiatus Kaiyote's Grammy-nominated future soul, from Mildlife's cosmic funk to ARIA-winning vocal jazz, these world-class recordings deserve shelf space alongside your Blue Note classics.
The Best Australian Jazz Albums of the 21st Century (So Far)
Some of the most innovative jazz of the past 25 years has been coming from Australia. From The Necks' hypnotic minimalism to Hiatus Kaiyote's Grammy-nominated future soul, from Mildlife's cosmic funk to ARIA-winning vocal jazz, these world-class recordings deserve shelf space alongside your Blue Note classics.
Joni Mitchell was a jazz singer (and nobody wants to admit it)
From the mid-1970s onward, Joni Mitchell wasn't making folk music with jazz influences. She was making actual jazz records. With Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus as collaborators, she created some of the most adventurous music of the era.
Joni Mitchell was a jazz singer (and nobody wants to admit it)
From the mid-1970s onward, Joni Mitchell wasn't making folk music with jazz influences. She was making actual jazz records. With Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus as collaborators, she created some of the most adventurous music of the era.
When Hip Hop Found Jazz: How Ahmad Jamal Became a Producer's Best Friend
From Pete Rock to J Dilla, the greatest hip hop producers of the 1990s shared a secret weapon: jazz. No pianist proved more essential to the golden era of sampling than Ahmad Jamal, whose 1970 album The Awakening became a blueprint for classics by Nas, Gang Starr, Common and De La Soul. Discover how a Pittsburgh jazz legend's concept of space and groove helped shape hip hop history.
When Hip Hop Found Jazz: How Ahmad Jamal Became a Producer's Best Friend
From Pete Rock to J Dilla, the greatest hip hop producers of the 1990s shared a secret weapon: jazz. No pianist proved more essential to the golden era of sampling than Ahmad Jamal, whose 1970 album The Awakening became a blueprint for classics by Nas, Gang Starr, Common and De La Soul. Discover how a Pittsburgh jazz legend's concept of space and groove helped shape hip hop history.
Shabaka Hutchings: A Guide to His Best Albums
In 2024, Shabaka Hutchings did something almost unthinkable: he walked away from the saxophone—the instrument that made him famous—and released a meditative album of flutes and bells. For one of the most important musicians of his generation, this wasn't a retreat. It was another doorway.
Shabaka Hutchings: A Guide to His Best Albums
In 2024, Shabaka Hutchings did something almost unthinkable: he walked away from the saxophone—the instrument that made him famous—and released a meditative album of flutes and bells. For one of the most important musicians of his generation, this wasn't a retreat. It was another doorway.