Jazz albums of the year: the 2023 review

It was quite an announcement that Joshua Redman, in a year in which borderlessness was the only common denominator in jazz, packed one of the best albums of the year with really old camels. “Manhattan”, “Stars Fell On Alabama”, “That’s New England” or rock classics like Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” or Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” are pieces from which everything has been extracted. Actually.

But then it didn’t just turn into an enchanting album and a tour of breathtaking concerts. Redman provided a description of the state of contemporary America. It’s hard to be more ambitious than making a jazz record a “Great American Novel.” But because he succeeded, “Where Are We” (Blue Note) showed once again that jazz is the American classic.