A lot of stuff went onto my playlist late in 2023 that I didn’t have time to digest until recently; many of these could have made my best of the year list.

• Sylvie Courvoisier – Chimaera. Gorgeous, dreamy work from a band of top-flight improvisers. The music is a tribute to the unclassifiable French artist Odilon Redon; by pure coincidence I also encountered Redon’s work for the first time last year, just before hearing this album, in a visit to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. In fact the soundworld here feels quite close to the floating clouds of color in the selection of Redon’s late works that were on display then. Here’s a nice appreciation by Richard Williams.
• Kirk Knuffke – Gravity Without Airs. Moody, mysterious and exploratory chamber music from an unusual trio. Knuffke’s cornet is alternately breathy and keening, and the great Matthew Shipp on piano and Michael Bisio on bass are constantly inventive.
• Dave Easley – Ballads. More interpretations of the jazz songbook from the Louisiana-based genius of the pedal-steel guitar. The faithful cover of a Sonny Sharrock tune fits comfortably amid the tributes to Ellington and Ornette; it all sounds great.
• Duke Ellington – The Complete Ellington Indigos. These atmospheric mood pieces were Duke’s particular genius. Aside from the obligatory take on Mood Indigo, most of this 1957 album collection is, unusually for Duke, reinterpretations of jazz standards.
• Miles Davis – In Concert At The Olympia, Paris 1957. A new release of a historic concert with a local group featuring the great French tenor player Barney Wilen. The show was just days before Miles went on to record his legendary soundtrack album, Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud. 1957 was a good year!
• Ted Nash – Rauschenberg In Jazz: Nine Details. An undeservedly obscure recording of a 2016 concert in Beijing. The American saxophonist worked with a group of China-based musicians to pull together a suite inspired by the concurrent exhibit of the work of Robert Rauschenberg; it’s exciting and unusual ensemble music.