Night Train

Night Train's Best Music of 2021

Chris Heim, host of Night Train, shares her picks for the best jazz releases of 2021.

  1. Dr. Lonnie Smith — Breath (Blue Note)
  2. Jenny Klukken — Color in Motion (Jenny Klukken)
  3. Simon Moullier Trio — Countdown (Fresh Sound New Talent)
  4. Joe Fiedler — Fuzzy and Blue (‎Multiphonics Music)
  5. Bill Charlap — Street of Dreams (Blue Note)
  6. The Tiptons — Wabi Sabi (Sowie Sound)
  7. Pat Coil — How Deep is the Ocean (Burton Avenue)
  8. Diego Rivera — Indigenous (Posi-Tone)
  9. Sons of Kemet — Black to the Future
  10. Ben Allison — Moments Inside (Sonic Camera)
  11. Lauren Henderson — Musa (Brontosaurus)
  12. John Chin — Anything Mose! ( John Chin)
  13. Harvie S Trio — Going For It (Savant)
  14. Lilly — The Song Is You Double Moon (Challenge)
  15. Shawnn Monteiro — You Art There (Whaling City Sound)
  16. Roseanna Vitro — Sing a Song of Bird (Skyline)
  17. Roni Ben-Hur — Stories (Dot Time)
  18. Lunar Octet — Convergence (Summit)
  19. Alexa Tarantino — Firefly (Posi-Tone)
  20. Bill Evans — Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans (Craft)
  21. Eliane Elias — Mirror Mirror (Candid)
  22. Kendall Carter— Introducing Kendall Carter (lladnek Muisic)
  23. Samara Joy — Samara Joy (Whirlwind)
  24. Greg Skaff — Polaris (SMK)
  25. Bola Sete — Samba in Seattle (Tompkins Square)
Chris Heim produces and hosts Global Village, a nationally and internationally distributed world music show; the nightly jazz show Night Train, and Crossroads, KMUW’s twice-weekly blues and R&B show. Chris is also a critic and freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Utne, Global Rhythm, Dirty Linen, and Option, among others.