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Music
Night Train

Night Train's Best Music of 2024

By Chris Heim
Published January 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM CST

Chris Heim, host of Night Train, shares her picks for the best jazz releases of 2024.

  1. Etienne Charles Creole Orchestra - Etienne Charles Creole Orchestra (Culture Shock Music)
  2. Queen Esther - Things Are Looking Up (EL Recordings)
  3. John Ellis Quartet - Bizet: Carmen in Jazz (Blue Room Music)
  4. Warren Wolf - History of the Vibraphone (Cellar Music Group)
  5. Wayne Escoffery - Alone (Smoke Sessions)
  6. Snorre Kirk - Top Dog (Stunt)
  7. Pat Metheny - MoonDial (BMG)
  8. Christian McBride/Edgar Meyer - But Who's Gonna Play the Melody? (Mack Avenue)
  9. Nick Finzer - Legacy: A Centennial Celebration Of J.J. Johnson (Outside In Music)
  10. Alvin Queen - Feeling Good (Stunt)
  11. Catherine Russell/Sean Mason - My Ideal (Dot Time)
  12. Samara Joy - Portrait (Verve)
  13. Conrad Herwig - The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner (Savant)
  14. Zaccai Curtis - Cubop Lives! (TR Collective)
  15. Blue Moods - Swing & Soul (Posi-Tone)
  16. Brian Landrus – Plays Ellington & Strayhorn (Palmetto)
  17. Thom Rotella – Side Hustle (High Note)
  18. Nat King Cole - Live at the Blue Note Chicago (Iconic Artists Group)
  19. Art Tatum - Jewels In The Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance Records)
  20. Emily Remler - Cookin' at The Queens: Live In Las Vegas 1984 & 1988 (Resonance Records)

Tags
Night Train musicBest Music of 2024
Chris Heim
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.
See stories by Chris Heim