We have curated 10 standout albums from some of the most impressive releases of the year: the best jazz albums of 2000. These selections represent a mix of innovative compositions and masterful performances that defined jazz in 2000. You can listen to all the tracks directly on Spotify or via the player below.

The tracks are listed in no particular order, allowing you to explore the diverse sounds that shaped the jazz scene that year.

---

The Best Jazz Releases of 2000

“Tunisian oud virtuoso Anouar Brahem counts as one of ECM’s most important ‘discoveries’ of the last decade. After his highly successful trans-cultural recording ‘Thimar’, he returns to a more purely Middle Eastern music on ‘Astrakan Café’, with the trio that has been his first priority for several years. The improvisational exchanges between Brahem, clarinetist Barbaros Erköse, and percussionist Lassad Hosni are exceptionally fluid, and the atmospheres that they create by turns mysterious, hypnotic, dramatic…”
— ECM

Anouar Brahem: Oud; Barbaros Erköse: Clarinet; Lassad Hosni: Bendir, Darbouka
Released September 18, 2000

---

As of 2018, Tourist has sold over four million copies worldwide!

Part of the selection: The Best Acid Jazz Albums

Ludovic Navarre: producer; Pascal Ohsé: trumpet; Claudio De Queiroz: baritone saxophone; Edouard Labor: saxophones, flute; Alexandre Destrez: keyboards; Ernest Ranglin: guitar; Idrissa Diop: talking drum; Edmundo Carneiro: percussion
Released May 2000

---

“With Dusk, Andrew Hill makes it plain that his uncompromising musical vision is intact, undiluted, and perhaps more advanced than ever”
— David R. Adler

Andrew Hill: piano; Marty Ehrlich: bass clarinet, alto saxophone; Greg Tardy: bass clarinet, tenor saxophone; Ron Horton: trumpet; Scott Colley: bass; Billy Drummond: drums
Released May 2000

---

“All in all, Surrendered might truly represent one of Ware’s finest recordings to date as no two songs sound alike which makes for a divergent and noteworthy mix while Steven Joerg’s sharp and insightful production only enhances the overall scenario”
— Glenn Astarita

David S. Ware: tenor sax; Matthew Shipp: piano; William Parker: bass; Guillermo E. Brown: drums
Released May 2000

---

“One of Shipp’s more accessible albums, making it a great place to start for those interested in checking out this important modern jazz pianist”
— Joslyn Layne

Matthew Shipp: piano; Roy Campbell: trumpet, pocket trumpet, flugelhorn; William Parker: bass; Gerald Cleaver: drums
Released 2000

---

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected Serenity as part of its suggested Core Collection.

Bobo Stenson: piano; Anders Jormin: bass; Jon Christensen: drums
Released June 2000

---

“But I think we’re finally playing good contemporary music. We’ve gone through what we needed to, as people and as musicians, to be at the top of our game. We’re not students anymore; we’ve gone through ‘university.’ Now we can just play good tunes.”
— Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis: Saxophones; Eric Revis: bass; Jeff “Tain” Watts: drums; Joey Calderazzo: piano
Released August 2000

---

“It’s impossible not to view him as one of the most striking originals to emerge in jazz in years. With rare technical assurance and a bold sense of vision, Moran has made a record for the ages.”
— JazzTimes

Jason Moran: piano, Hammond B3 organ, Fender Rhodes piano; Tarus Mateen: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums
Released June 2000

---

Live At The Village Vanguard won Chucho Valdés the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Chucho Valdés: Piano; Francisco Rubio Pampin: Acoustic Bass; Roberto Vizcaíno Guillot: Congas, Drums; Raul Pineda Roque: Drums
Released April 2000

---

“After the highly successful Voice In The Night album, the most widely praised of all his ECM recordings, the great saxophonist from Memphis, Tennessee, follows up with an imaginatively programmed album that takes his music to the next level.”
— ECM

Charles Lloyd: Tenor Saxophone; Brad Mehldau: Piano; John Abercrombie: Guitar; Larry Grenadier: Double-Bass; Billy Higgins: Drums; Derek Oles: Double-Bass
Released August 2000

---

Best Jazz 2000 Albums’ List

1. Anouar Brahem Trio – Astrakan Café (ECM)
2. St Germain – Tourist (Blue Note)
3. Andrew Hill – Dusk (Palmetto Records)
4. David S. Ware – Surrendered (Columbia)
5. Matthew Shipp Quartet – Pastoral Composure (Thirsty Ear)
6. Bobo Stenson Trio – Serenity (ECM)
7. Branford Marsalis Quartet – Contemporary Jazz (Columbia)
8. Jason Moran – Facing Left (Blue Note)
9. Chucho Valdés – Live At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
10. Charles Lloyd – The Water Is Wide (ECM)

You want more? Listen to a selection of 40 tracks from 40 different albums all from 2000, on this Spotify playlist.

---

2000’s

Discover all the other 2000’s jazz selections: 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2004 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009

---

That wraps up our selection of the best jazz tracks and albums from 2000. Keep exploring, and let these sounds continue to inspire and resonate with you.