I try to listen to new music every day, and have made this a part of my daily routine for many years. I'm not sure how many new CDs I heard during the course of 2011, but on some days I listen to four or more albums in their entirety, and a typical week will find me checking out 15-20 new releases. As the list below makes clear, I tend to range widely over various styles and genres.
I am impressed by how much outstanding music is recorded nowadays, but I am equally struck by how well hidden it is. More than at any time in my life, the best music is hard to find. You will almost never hear it on the radio, and increasingly it is not even on the radar screens of the major labels. The record stores, where fans once learned about important new releases, have mostly gone out of business. Even as music becomes more omnipresent and accessible, new barriers prevent listeners from hearing the most talented
and creative artists.
For this reason, I am sharing a more complete listing of my favorite albums this year. In a world in which the best music is hidden from view, personal recommendation and word-of-mouth become the main gateways for discovering exciting new sounds. I present this large list as a guide to those who are looking for inspiring, intelligent and mind-expanding music, and want some guidance from someone who sifts through the many new releases looking for the cream of the crop.
Below are my selections for the 100 best CDs of 2011. I encourage you to check out some artists that you haven't heard before. And if you hear something you like, spread the word.
The 100 Best Albums of 2011
1 William Elliott Whitmore: Field Songs / Americana / Roots Music
2 Tinariwen: Tassili / World music
3 Fred Hersch: Alone at the Vanguard / Jazz
4 Bon Iver: Bon Iver Folk / pop
5 Joshua Redman: James Farm / Jazz
6 Nico Muhly: Seeing is Believing / Contemporary classical
7 Ambrose Akinmusire: When the Heart Emerges Glistening / Jazz
8 Now Ensemble: Awake / Contemporary classical
9 Keith Jarrett: Rio / Jazz
10 Gary Clark Jr.: The Bright Lights EP / Blues
11 L Konitz, B Mehldau, C Haden & P Motian: Live at Birdland / Jazz
12 Gustavo Dudamel: Bruckner / Sibelius / Nielsen Classical
13 Adam Cruz: Milestone / Jazz
14 Todd Reynolds: Outerborough / Contemporary classical
15 Pat Metheny: What's It All About / Jazz
16 Lara Downes: 13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg / Contemporary classical
17 Fleet Foxes: Helplessness / Blues Folk rock
18 James P. Johnson: Jazz Nocturne / Classical concert jazz
19 Andy Statman: Old Brooklyn Americana / Roots Music
20 Liza Ferschtman Julius Röntgen: The Violin Concertos / Classical
21 Glenn Kaiser: Cardboard Box / Blues
22 Charles Lloyd & Maria Farantouri: Athens Concert Jazz / World Music
23 The Decemberists: The King is Dead / Indie folk rock
24 Vasily Petrenko: Shostakovich: Symphonies 6 & 12 / Classical
25 Amina Alaoui: Arco Iris / World music
26 Phantasm William Byrd: Complete Consort Music / Classical
27 Chick Corea & Stefano Bollani: Orvieto / Jazz
28 James Whitbourn: Living Voices / Contemporary classical
29 Bombino: Agadez / World music
30 Laura Marling: A Creature I Don't Know / Folk pop
31 Sonny Rollins: Road Shows, Vol. 2 / Jazz
32 Phillip Schroeder: Passage Through a Dream / Contemporary classical
33 Miguel Zenón: Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook / Latin jazz
34 Kronos Quartet: Uniko / Contemporary classical
35 Kenny Brown: Can't Stay Too Long / Blues
36 Marcin Wasilewski: Faithful / Jazz
37 Robert Aldridge: Elmer Gantry / Contemporary opera
38 Anthony Wilson: Seasons / Jazz
39 Eilen Jewell: Queen of the Minor Key / Americana / Roots Music
40 Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Brass Live / Classical
41 John Wesley Harding: The Sound of His Own Voice / Singer-songwriter
42 Spaces: Nothing Exists but Atoms and the Void / Celestial rock
43 Tony Bennett: Duets II Great / American Songbook
44 The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band: Peyton on Patton / Blues
45 Craig Taborn: Avenging Angel / Jazz
46 Guy Clark: Songs and Stories / Country
47 Hilary Hahn & Valentina Lisitsa: Charles Ives: Four Sonatas / Classical
48 Rudresh Mahanthappa: Samdhi / Jazz
49 Glenn Jones: The Wanting / Folk
50 Mieczysław Weinberg: Piano Works / Classical
51 Eddie Vedder: Ukulele Songs / Singer-songwriter
52 B. Mehldau, K. Hays & P.Zimmerli: Modern Music / Contemporary classical
53 Michael Giacchino: Soundtrack to Super 8 / Soundtrack
54 Kevin Devine: Between the Concrete and Clouds / Indie rock
55 Jefferson Friedman: Quartets / Contemporary classical
56 Denny Zeitlin: Labyrinth / Jazz
57 Wilco: The Whole Love / Folk rock
58 The Head and the Heart: The Head and the Heart / Indie folk-pop
59 Various artists: The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams/ Country
60 Collin Vallon: Rruga / Jazz
61 The Unthanks: Last English / folk
62 Brad Mehldau: Live in Marciac / Jazz
63 Fabrice Ravel-Chapuis: En Danger / Contemporary classical
64 Radiohead: The King of Limbs / Rock
65 The Civil Wars: Barton Hollow / Indie folk
66 James Carter: Caribbean Rhapsody / Jazz
67 Wye Oak: Civilian / Indie folk rock
68 Enrico Rava: Tribe / Jazz
69 Chris Dingman: Waking Dreams / Jazz
70 Simone Dinnerstein: Bach: A Strange Beauty / Classical
71 Becca Stevens Weightless: Jazz-inflected / folk music
72 Anonymous 4: Secret Voices Early music
73 Gretchen Parlato: The Lost and Found / Jazz
74 Moreland & Arbuckle: Just a Dream / Electric blues
75 Bobby Long: A Winter Tale / Singer-songwriter
76 Joe Lovano: Bird Songs / Jazz
77 Thomas Dybdahl: Songs Norwegian / Singer-songwriter
78 Dave Alvin: Eleven Eleven / Blues Rock
79 Gerald Wilson: Legacy / Jazz
80 Dario Marianelli: Soundtrack to Jane Eyre / Soundtrack
81 JD Allen: Victory / Jazz
82 Vince Gill: Guitar Slinger / Country
83 Bobby Sanabria Tito Puente: Masterworks Live! / Latin jazz
84 Julian Lage: Gladwell / Jazz
85 George Strait: Here for a Good Time / Country
86 Joss Stone: LP1 / R&B/Soul
87 Memory Tapes: Player Piano / Ambient
88 Jeremy Pelt: The Talented Mr. Pelt / Jazz
89 Mary Flower: Misery Loves Company /Blues
90 Striggio: Mass in 40 Parts / Classical
91 Adele: 21 / Singer-songwriter
92 Blue Highway: Sounds of Home / Bluegrass
93 Ben Allison: Action-Refraction / Jazz
94 St. Vincent: Strange Mercy / Indie rock
95 Thomas Dolby: A Map of the Floating City / Singer-songwriter
96 Lady Antebellum: Own the Night Country / Pop
97 Mathias Eick: Skala / Jazz
98 Volosi and Lasoni: Wołosi i Lasoniowie / World Music
99 Steve Mackey & So Percussion: It Is Time / Contemporary classical
100 Gary Burton: Common Ground / Jazz
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