Audeze put a lot of effort into collaborating with the finest musicians and audio professionals out there – this is a very proud moment for Audeze.
The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll has been announced, and we are very happy to announce that the top four artists for Best Album are all Audeze fans and collaborators. 148 voters took part in the poll – all highly respected critics in their field – and each selected their top 10 new releases in descending order. Here are the results:
1. Maria Schneider Orchestra – Data Lords
“Maria Schneider’s body of work, mostly on the ArtistShare label, is so strong that it is difficult to rank her albums. If Data Lords is not her best, it is her largest (a two-CD set), and a unique departure. Schneider’s previous music was sublime impressionism. Data Lords is an outcry against “the dark manifestations of the internet,” and vividly renders psychic dislocation and emotional disturbance. Schneider is a more complete artist than we knew.” –Thomas Conrad
2. Ambrose Akinmusire – On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment
“On his latest album, trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire explores Black life in America through post-bop ruminations and stripped-down blues. The Oakland native and his longtime quartet pay homage to visionaries Roy Hargrove and Roscoe Mitchell in poignant ballads, while defining their own radical voice through introspective blues and frenetic yet accessible improvisation. A stabilizing, meditative resource in the midst of 2020’s chaos and strife, this is a record that inspires connection and resilience.” –Ivana Ng
Read the interview between Audeze and Ambrose Akinmusire
3. Eric Revis – Slipknots Through a Looking Glass
“Respect for improv’s possibilities, dedication to textural diversity and shrewd deployment of rhythmic gambits — the veteran bassist aligns his elements with a master’s touch on this suite-like program. Two saxes, piano, bass and drums never walk the same path twice and find intrigue wherever they travel. Balancing such moves takes a deep grasp on storytelling, and as moments of hushed beauty give way to brawny exclamation, appreciating the music’s breadth is as easy as applauding its focus.” –Jim Macnie
Read the interview between Audeze and Eric Revis
4. Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl – Artlessly Falling
“When the compulsively creative guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson made Code Girl in 2018, it was greeted as a left-field foray into chamber art song. Turns out it was Proof of Concept. For her even bolder follow-up, Artlessly Falling, Halvorson expands the palette — adding a personal hero, art-rock titan Robert Wyatt, and a peer, tenor saxophonist María Grand. Their alchemical bond with the Code Girl formula nudges this music even further into a hallucinatory clarity.” –Nate Chinen
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