We’ve polled our writers and editorial staff and have gathered 50 of our most recommended albums of the year. We didn’t include reissues and only included releases reviewed in 2015. Some titles released in December will be considered in the 2016 “best-of” list.
We understand the difficulties in ranking and decided this year to only rank the Top 10. We hope that the readers use this list merely as a guide to the best music that Louisiana has to offer: There’s a lot of great music out there!
1. Jon Cleary:
Go Go Juice (Thirty Tigers)
“Boneyard” is the happiest song you’ll ever hear about dying (or specifically, about not dying just yet); and the groove underlines the song’s message: “Before I make it to the boneyard, I’m gonna have some fun.”
—reviewed September 2015 by Brett Milano
2. Terence Blanchard:
Breathless (Blue Note)
Breathless with its funk and groove vibe as heard on the trumpeter’s self-penned, “See Me As I Am,” and elsewhere, clearly reveals Blanchard’s New Orleans musical roots.
—reviewed July 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
3. Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott:
City of Timbres (Independent)
McDermott’s musical imagination is matched here by a player of such virtuosity in Nealand that even his most outside-the-box thinking is instantly realized.
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by John Swenson
4. Galactic:
Into the Deep (Provogue)
Eight different singers appear over these 11 tracks, and it’s the first Galactic album that’s all about the songwriting, rather than the grooves or the jams.
—reviewed July 2015 by Brett Milano
5. The Write Brothers:
First Flight (Independent)
Right off the bat the record is great fun to listen to, a damn good excuse to raise a glass to the deep fried whimsy of “Cup Full of Soul,” the happy go lucky love-is-gone ballad “Losin’ You” and the merry lost ambition anthem “Ballad of Lito Benito.”
—reviewed February 2015 by John Swenson
6. Christian Scott:
Stretch Music (Ropeadope)
The brilliant trumpeter challenges the mainstream and hard-boppers with electronics, a large ensemble rather than a combo and music that is often somewhat ethereal. That by no means diminishes the passion and inspiration heard in his horn.
—reviewed November 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
7. Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys:
Voyageurs (Independent)
It’s a deep listen with highlights too numerous to mention. … Riley’s vocals soar over a swelling chorus and leave the listener with frissons (goose bumps), the ultimate Cajun music high.
—reviewed June 2015 by Dan Willging
8. Nicholas Payton:
Letters (Paytone Records)
Nicholas Payton serves up an alphabet soup with fully developed flavors and tasty surprises. It’s exemplary of the great musician that he is.
—reviewed September 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
9. Jamison Ross:
Jamison (Concord)
As a vocalist, Ross doesn’t simply sing a song; he feels its depth and musical possibilities and shares the joy of discovery.
—reviewed July 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
10. The Deslondes:
The Deslondes (New West Records)
The album is awash in sin and loneliness set to mournful piano and horns, and achieves the uncontrived purity and raw emotion that New Orleans, and now the outside world, loves about this band.
—reviewed September 2015 by Frank Etheridge
…The Next 40
(in alphabetical order)
79rs Gang: Fiyo on the Bayou (Sinking City Records)
—reviewed February 2015 by David Kunian
Brint Anderson: Covered in Earl (Independent)
—reviewed December 2015 by John Swenson
Germaine Bazzle: It’s Magic (Musik Bloc)
—reviewed March 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Spencer Bohren: Seven Birds (Valve Records)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by John Swenson
Boyfriend: Love Your Boyfriend: Pts, 1 & 2 (Independent)
—reviewed January 2015 by Robert Fontenot
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Irvin Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra: Dee Dee’s Feathers (Okeh)
—reviewed August 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band: Zydeco Stuff (Swampadelic Records)
—reviewed December 2015 by Dan Willging
Dash Rip Rock: Wrongheaded (Drag Snake)
—reviewed November 2015 by Brett Milano
Kristin Diable: Create Your Own Mythology (Speakeasy Records/Thirty Tigers)
—reviewed March 2015 by Stephen Maloney
Big Chief Alfred Doucette: Originals (Independent)
—reviewed January 2015 by David Kunian
Feufollet: Two Universes (Feufollet Records)
—reviewed March 2015 by Nick Pittman
Nigel Hall: Ladies & Gentlemen… Nigel Hall (Feel Music/Round Hill Records)
—reviewed December 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Hot 8 Brass Band: Vicennial (Tru Thoughts)
—reviewed November 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Billy Iuso: Overstanding (Nawlins Music)
—reviewed June 2015 by Brett Milano
The Junior League: Also Rans (Kool Kat Musik)
—reviewed December 2015 by Rory Callais
Doug Kershaw & Steve Riley: Face to Face (Valcour Records)
—reviewed February 2015 by Dan Willging
Dayna Kurtz: Rise and Fall (Kismet/M.C. Records)
—reviewed May 2015 by John Swenson
Sonny Landreth: Bound by the Blues (Provogue)
—reviewed July 2015 by Robert Fontenot
Colin Lake: One Thing That’s For Sure (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
—reviewed October 2015 by Brett Milano
Lonely Lonely Knights: Lonely Lonely Knights (Independent)
—reviewed August 2015 by John Swenson
Louie Ludwig with the Moss Pickers: Elevation 13 (Independent)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by Robert Fontenot
Papa Mali: Music Is Love (429 Records)
—reviewed April 2015 by Brett Milano
Naughty Professor: Out on a Limb (Ropeadope)
—reviewed April 2015 by Frank Etheridge
Sarah Quintana: Miss River (Independent)
—reviewed September 2015 by John Swenson
The Revelers: Get Ready (Independent)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by Dan Willging
Jimmy Robinson: Three (Independent)
—reviewed August 2015 by Brett Milano
Kyle Roussel: Rookie of the Year (Independent)
—reviewed January 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Royal Southern Brotherhood: Don’t Look Back: The Muscle Shoals Sessions (Ruf Records)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by Dan Willging
Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers: #imsoneworleans (Basin Street Records)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Irene Sage: Love Is Good (Independent)
—reviewed June 2015 by John Swenson
Paul Sanchez: The World Is Round Everything That Ends Begins Again (Independent)
—reviewed January 2015 by John Swenson
Johnny Sansone: Lady on the Levee (Shortstack Records)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by John Swenson
Greg Schatz: Everything That You Wanted (Hot Spazz Records)
—reviewed August 2015 by David Kunian
James Singleton: Shiner (Independent)
—reviewed April 2015 by John Swenson
Marc Stone: Poison & Medicine (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
—reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2015 by Frank Etheridge
Sweet Cecilia: Sweet Cecilia (Old Man Records)
—reviewed April 2015 by Dan Willging
T-Monde: Yesterday’s Gone (Valcour Records)
—reviewed by Dan Willging
Seva Venet: Revisiting New Orleans String Bands: 1880-1949 (Threadhead Records)
—reviewed January 2015 by Tom McDermott
Woodenhead: Live at Tipitina’s (Independent)
—reviewed June 2015 by Brett Milano
Yojimbo (now ROAR!): Ghost Birthday (Independent)
—reviewed February 2015 by David Kunian
