Various websites and magazines put out their ‘best of’ lists for 2021. I chose the first six that came up on Google, and also looked at the summary of the albums most played by jazz radio stations (mostly American) for the year. I listened to a bit of everything, then chose a few that interested me. And I’m presenting tracks from those albums in this 4-part series.

This week you’ll hear the Chick Corea Akoustic Band, Allan Harris, George Cables, The Baylor Project, James Brandon Lewis, Julian Lage, Gerry Gibbs, Nala Sinephro (playing a pedal harp), Artemis, Bell Orchestre (from Montreal), and Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes.