We have curated 10 standout albums from some of the most impressive releases of the year: the best jazz albums of 2007. These selections represent a mix of innovative compositions and masterful performances that defined jazz in 2007. The tracks are listed in no particular order, allowing you to explore the diverse sounds that shaped the jazz scene that year.

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The Best Jazz Releases of 2007

The Chicago Project is an album by American saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts, produced by Vijay Iyer and engineered by John McEntire. It features Chicago-based collaborators Jeff Parker (guitar), Josh Abrams (bass), and Frank Rosaly (drums), with tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson appearing on three tracks. Reviewers have highlighted Roberts’s blend of free-jazz energy with clear thematic writing and interactive quartet interplay, often noting the project’s roots in Chicago’s improvising tradition. We can highlight how great it is!

Matana Roberts: saxophone; Fred Anderson: saxophone on “Birdhouse” 1, 2, and 3; Jeff Parker: guitar; Josh Abrams: double bass; Frank Rosaly: drums

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Drawn from themes Terence Blanchard wrote for Spike Lee’s documentary, the music folds grief and resolve into one sweeping statement: trumpet lines lifting over strings, woodwinds whispering like distant sirens, the rhythm section holding a steady, human pulse. It’s a testament to life and courage, with New Orleans breathing between the notes.

Terence Blanchard: trumpet; Brice Winston: soprano sax, tenor sax; Derrick Hodge: double bass, bass guitar; Aaron Parks: piano; Kendrick Scott: drums, percussion; Zach Harmon: tabla

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Cosmic Chicago in wide angle: horns flare, percussion swells, electronics flicker; themes surface, drift, return. We Are All From Somewhere Else is free music with gravity, restless, luminous, and welcoming.

Rob Mazurek: computers, cornet, electronics; Corey Wilkes: flugelhorn; Jason Adasiewicz: vibraphone; Jason Ajemian: bass; Jeb Bishop: trombone; Jeff Parker: guitar; Jim Baker: ARP synthesizer, piano; John Herndon: drums; John McEntire: marimba, tubular bells; Josh Berman: cornet; Matt Bauder: bass clarinet, tenor sax; Matthew Lux: bass; Mike Reed: drums; Nicole Mitchell: flute, vocals

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That / Not treats time like an instrument, reducing the palette and widening the frame so silence does real work. It is a slow burn with an almost seismic focus: materials pared to a few cells, stretched until overtones (and the room itself) enter the picture, then reset with sudden weight. Austere but tactile, patient, exact, and quietly gripping.

Tyshawn Sorey: drums, piano; Ben Gerstein: trombone; Cory Smythe: piano, Wurlitzer; Thomas Morgan: bass

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Spare, conversational, quietly radiant. On Wisdom In Time, Smith’s trumpet draws bright lines while Sommer replies with dry snare, chimes, and low thunder. Ideas arrive, circle, and settle with nothing to hide.

“Sommer’s orchestral and super delicate approach completes the serene spiritualism of Smith, and both demonstrate assured playing and compassionate and imaginative interplay. It is quite a departure from the dense and urgent textures they played with Kowald, but at the same time this is a heartfelt homage to the irreplaceable bassist.”
–Eyal Hareuveni

Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet, flugelhorn, electronics; Günter Baby Sommer: drums, percussion

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“[ElSaffar’s] Two Rivers Suite, which has been described by BBC World as “harrowing to absorb; full of as much beauty as pain,” is an emotionally charged work that invokes ancient Iraqi musical traditions and frames them in a modern Jazz setting. The compositions are based on Iraqi Maqam melodies, each of which is believed to have a unique spiritual essence and to contain an aspect of Iraq’s history and society. These rich melodies, which often contain non-western tunings, are set to heavy grooves, free jazz-like ensemble playing, and multi-layered sound textures.”
—Amirelsaffar.com

Amir ElSaffar: trumpet, santoor, vocals; Rudresh Mahanthappa: alto saxophone; Nasheet Waits: drums; Carlo DeRosa: bass; Tareq Abboushi: buzuq, percussion; Zaafer Tawil: oud, violin, dumbek

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Critics highlighted how the trio balances firm frameworks with open improvisation. “brainFire and bugLight” opens as an assertive anthem built from a three-note figure, the title track stretches to roughly thirteen minutes, and “Modern Pine” keeps transforming while staying catchy. Reviews also noted the group’s democratic interplay and evolving momentum.

The set gains in depth on every listen and captures Melford in especially fine form.

Mark Dresser: bass; Matt Wilson: drums; Myra Melford: piano

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“In true egalitarian fashion, both players introduced motifs and spun lines that were absorbed and echoed by each other, action and reaction happening with such grace and ease as to become almost inextricable. The pair improvised five pieces and one encore, the aggregate music totalling exactly one hour. Due to this brevity, all the presented ideas were fully formed with no flat linking points and even the brief solo segments acted as vital connective tissue… so many improvised performances are too long and too ugly, a brief and beautiful one, full of intent listening, was one to savor.”
—Andrey Henkin

Ned Rothenberg: alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Evan Parker: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

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The record lifts like its title promises: Binney’s bright alto banks and circles, Frisell ghosts the harmony, Taborn refracts it, while Opsvik and Wollesen keep the motion buoyant. Themes feel weightless at takeoff, find crosswinds in odd meters and open space, then land with a clear afterglow.

David Binney: saxophone alto; Bill Frisell: guitar; Eivind Opsvik: bass; Adam Rogers: guitar; Craig Taborn: organ, piano, synthesizer; Kenny Wollesen: drums

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Up from Under is an album released by Atavistic as Out Trios Vol. 5. It features Ochs on tenor and sopranino saxophones with Scott Amendola and Donald Robinson on drums, and was recorded during the group’s 2004 European tour. Critics noted the trio’s high-energy free-jazz approach balanced by space, interplay, and dynamic contrast:

“Those seeking powerful out blowing have plenty to grab onto here, but the musicality of what’s here is also plentiful as space, harmonic interplay, dynamics, and tension are part and parcel of every cut on the set — This is one of the finer volumes in the series, and gives a snapshot of free jazz as something that has plenty of life left in it. It’s passionate, breathy, dramatic, taut, and warm.”
—Thom Jurek

Larry Ochs: tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone; Donald Robinson, Scott Amendola: drums

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Best Jazz 2007 Albums’ List

• Matana Roberts – The Chicago Project (Central Control International)
• Terence Blanchard – A Tale Of God’s Will (A Requiem For Katrina) (Blue Note)
• Exploding Star Orchestra – We Are All From Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey)
• Tyshawn Sorey – That / Not (Firehouse 12 Records)
• Wadada Leo Smith, Günter Baby Sommer – Wisdom In Time (Intakt Records)
• Amir ElSaffar – Two Rivers (Pi Recordings)
• Trio M – Big Picture (Cryptogramophone)
• Evan Parker, Ned Rothenberg – Live At Roulette (Animul Records)
• David Binney, Bill Frisell, Craig Taborn, Eivind Opsvik, Kenny Wollesen – Out Of Airplanes (Mythology Records)
• Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core – Up From Under (Atavistic)

You want more? Listen to a selection of 40 tracks from 40 different albums all from 2007, on this Spotify playlist.

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2000’s

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

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That wraps up our selection of the best jazz tracks and albums from 2007. Keep exploring, and let these sounds continue to inspire and resonate with you.