Jazz 2023

It's been a rich year for jazz, and for OndaRock's take on jazz. Known mainly for our coverage of pop and rock, in 2023 our outlet has further strengthened its jazz offering. The growing interest in the genre among a rising number of our writers has helped widen the range of styles and artists we cover in depth, and has helped shape an increasingly distinctive angle. OndaRock's perspective now places names at the centre of attention for “jazz purists” alongside artists of a more hybrid nature, often also tied to fields like electronic music, rock, hip-hop, traditional music and the avant-garde.

Aware that we can't cover all the most high-profile releases as promptly as the specialist magazines, we're happy with our bet on a broader horizon, one capable of looking beyond the “usual suspects” for those who follow the genre closely, while also drawing listeners from other genres into jazz sounds.

The playlist attached here is meant as a non-definitive summary of OndaRock's jazz year. A synthesis of the best we managed to do (and to find!), which we hope to expand soon with a further piece dedicated to the many compelling titles we weren't able to cover before the New Year's celebrations.

The selection features some of the names and labels currently most in the spotlight in the field (Irreversible Entanglements, now signed to Impulse!, Steve Lehman for Pi Recordings, Fire! Orchestra on Rune Grammofon, Alabaster DePlume and the posthumous album by jaimie branch on International Anthem), now-classic figures (Matthew Shipp and William Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Matana Roberts, Rob Mazurek, James Brandon Lewis, the Necks, Colin Stetson, Joshua Abrams's Natural Information Society), but also musicians who don't come strictly from a jazz background yet have drawn closer to the genre over the years — some very recently — (André 3000 of Outkast, Meshell Ndegeocello, Desire Marea).

There are plenty of picks in the nu jazz field too, which OndaRock has long followed with enthusiasm: Yussef Dayes, Joe Armon-Jones, the supergroup London Brew, the Polish/Pakistani meeting of EABS and Jaubi, the return of Hidden Orchestra, the progressive-minded approach of Belgian outfit John Ghost.

Also not to be missed is the volcanic big band led by Monika Roscher, which landed sixth place in OndaRock's overall ranking of the staff's most beloved albums of the year — a twofold sign: of just how far-reaching our writers' interest in jazz's outer frontiers has become, and of the vibrant activity that has come to define such border territories in recent years, territories sometimes sadly overlooked by more orthodox fans, in both pop and jazz circles alike.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

29/01/2026