2020 … I mean where do we want to even try to begin. In a year that we will never forget (regardless if we want to), in which we experienced a devastating global pandemic, social unrest due to continued systematic racism, and a toxic political landscape, all resulting in a rollercoaster of emotions and unanswered questions. That being said, even through all the tragedy, heartbreak, and uncertainty, I cannot remember another year where so many groundbreaking and timely recordings where released.

Putting together this year’s BeatCaffeine “best of”, or what I like to call “favorites” lists (because it’s all subjective really), was arguably the most difficult from any past year. For how many monumental albums that are listed below, there are so many worthy recordings that are more than deserving to be included. From all of the albums released by Spiritmuse that didn’t make the list (see Cosmic Vibrations, Kahil El’Zabar & David Murray), to the latest Mark de Clive-Lowe trio and Sun Ra Arkestra albums, and just about every International Anthem release of this past year, it was beyond challenging trying to narrow the list down to my top 30. So if a record is not listed below, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your attention or that it wasn’t one of the many highlights from this past year. Instead it just speaks to the amount of amazing music that came out over the past twelve months.

In the next couple weeks, I will continue to dive into my favorite reissues, compilations, tracks, and more. Prior to doing so, I want to first give a shoutout to all the musicians, producers, songwriters, record labels, shops, and everyone behind-the-scenes that contributed great music and/or helped distribute these releases in 2020. Without the ability to tour or play shows, artists have lost a huge majority of their income. Even through these challenging times, musicians and labels have stepped up and provided the world some incredible music to grab onto, even distract us from all the terrible things that were happening in the world. To that end, I couldn’t be more thankful. I really don’t think I could have made it to this point without some of the incredible and timeless music that was released this year. So again, thank you!

With all of that being said, here are BeatCaffeine’s “Favorite Albums of 2020”.

 
 

30. Surprise Chef — ‘Daylight Savings’
(Mr Bongo)

Following up on their incredible 2019 debut full-length All News Is Good News, Melbourne’s Surprise Chef return with another incredible album. Building on the foundation of their last recording, this record fuses together analog-based jazz-funk and soulful grooves with cosmic tones and epic cinematic library music-style arrangements. It’s like if you mixed the essential sounds of David Axelrod, Janko Nilovic, and the funkier side of 70s era KPM recordings (ie Alan Hawkshaw, Keith Mansfield)

 
 

29. Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger — ‘Force Majeure’
(International Anthem)

New York bassist Dezron Douglas and harpist Brandee Younger have released a brilliant and uplifting duo album featuring recordings from their weekly live-stream sessions “Force Majeure: Brunch in the Crib with Brandee & Dezron”.  Recorded in their Harlem apartment using a single microphone, the album includes new renditions of music by John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, The Jackson 5, The Stylistics, Kate Bush, and more.

 
 

28. Wilma Archer — ‘A Western Circular’
(Domino Recording Co.)

UK-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Wilma Archer released one of the most eclectic full-length albums of 2020 in A Western Circular. This multi-layered genre-bending album blends together cinematic string melodies, atmospheric grooves, and jazz-influenced instrumentation (yet reminded on the back cover that this is not a jazz album!). The recording also features some great guest vocalists, including MF DOOM, Samuel T. Herring (Future Islands), Sudan Archives, and Laura Groves. This is definitely one of those records that continues to get even better with each listen to the point you might actually find it on constant repeat.

 
 

27. Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes — ‘Heritage of the Invisible II’
(International Anthem)

Irreversible Entanglements members trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and drummer Tcheser Holmes released a brilliant duo album that fuses together explosive free-jazz solos and improvisation blended together with their Latin and Afro-Caribbean musical roots. Jazz at it’s most creative, this is a superb forward-thinking recording that has deep layers to it that you cannot fully digest with just one listen.

 
 

26. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids — ‘Shaman!’
(Strut Records)

Idris Ackamoor and his legendary Afro-jazz collective The Pyramids returned in 2020 with a brilliant new Strut Records album, titled Shaman!. Capturing the spirit of the group’s groundbreaking seventies releases, this new nine-track recording blends together spiritual jazz grooves, funky African-inspired rhythms, and hypnotic melodies.

 
 

25. Triorität — ‘ALG0’
(Ouvo)

Every year, it always feels like there are a handful of artists and records that are not on anyone’s radar, that end up breaking through to wider audiences and result in some of year’s best releases, and German-based cosmic jazz group Triorität and their debut album certainly fall into that category. This incredible full-length blends together spacey and hypnotic synths, with jazz-funk and fusion grooves, intergalactic atmospheric tones, and funky “head-nodding” percussion rhythms.

 
 

24. Matthew Halsall — ‘Salute to the Sun’
(Gondwana Records)

For over a decade, composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall has consistently been at the forefront of UK’s thriving jazz scene. He returns with his first full-length recording as a leader since 2015, titled Salute To The Sun, featuring a great new band that includes some of the finest young musicians currently residing in Manchester. Inspired by ambient rainforest, jungle field recordings and the sounds of nature, this recording beautifully blends Halsall’s trumpet playing with deep spiritual jazz grooves, hypnotic harp melodies, and atmospheric percussion rhythms featuring kalimba, marimba, shakers, and more.

 
 

23. JK Group — ‘The Young Ones’
(La Sape Records)

Led by by Melbourne saxophonist Josh Kelly, who also is a member of the future soul-jazz collective 30/70, this fourteen-track debut album from his JK Group features a fusion of improvisational instrumentation and fiery solos, with spacey electronics, cosmic atmospheric tones, and funky percussion grooves. The music is rooted in jazz traditions while also leaning forward and taking a more futuristic or what some call a “nu-jazz” approach.

 
 

22. Sarathy Korwar & UPAJ Collective — ‘Night Dreamer Direct​-​to​-​Disc Sessions’
(Night Dreamer)

London-based drummer Sarathy Korwar & the UPAJ Collective featuring a superb cast of musicians featuring saxophonist Tamar Osborn, violinist Achuthan Sripathamanathan, guitarist Giuliano Modarelli, and keyboardist Alistair MacSween record a fully improvised direct-to-disc session for Night Dreamer Records. The recording features four brilliant tracks that fuse together hypnotic spiritual jazz grooves with authentic Indian classical music. The record also includes a great dance floor friendly remix of the the album’s opener “So said Said” by Osunlade.

 
 

21. Andrew Wasylyk — ‘Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation’
(Athens of the North)

In the third in a trio of records inspired by the landscape of Eastern Scotland, Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation takes the listener on a sonic journey featuring moody atmospheric tones, strings, sparse drum grooves, piano/keys and plucked acoustic guitar lines. Falling somewhere between spiritual jazz, neo-classical, and minimalistic library music, this incredible recording is arguably multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wasylyk’s best recording to date.

 
 

20. Cleo Sol — ‘Rose In The Dark’
(Forever Living Originals)

Not only did West London vocalist Cleo Sol contribute to two of the greatest albums of quite possibly our lifetime, in SAULT’s UNTITLED (Black Is) and UNTITLED (Rise), in 2020 she also released her brilliant and highly anticipated full-length album, Rose In The Dark. Drenched in soothing soul, this eleven-track album fuses together 90s neo-soul with 70s-influenced jazz and cinematic grooves. The recording was produced by Inflo, also of the SAULT collective, and at times has a similar vibe of those classic 70s-era Charles Stepney produced releases (Rotary Connection, Terry Callier, The Dells).

 
 

19. Azymuth, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad — ‘JID 004’
(Jazz Is Dead)

Legendary Brazilian jazz-funk/fusion band Azymuth teamed up with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad to release the fourth album in the already groundbreaking Jazz Is Dead series. Strongly recapturing the vibe of their seventies-era sound, the group nicely blends jazz-funk grooves, with psychedelic and cosmic tones, wah-wah guitar and warm analog keys melodies, backed by Brazilian-influence rhythms and percussion. Through this incredible collaboration and creative platform that series has established, Azymuth is able to elevate their sound once again, and further show us why they are considered by many as the greatest Brazilian fusion band of our time.

 
 

18. Greg Foat — ‘Symphonie Pacifique’
(Strut)

London-based pianist Greg Foat has dived into a wide range of sounds over the last few years on some incredible releases for both Jazzman and Athens of The North, experimenting with soul-jazz, cinematic library music, techno, pastoral acid folk, and ambient electronic tones. For his debut release on Strut Records, titled Symphonie Pacifique, Foat brilliantly brings together all of these different elements to produce his most musically expansive and forward-thinking album to date. From cinematic tones and lush soundscapes to groove-driven jazz, this record truly captures Foat’s wide musical palette all in a single album.

 
 

17. Kahil El’Zabar — ‘Kahil El’Zabar’s America the Beautiful’
(Spiritmuse Records)

Released a week prior to the U.S. Presidential election, legendary percussionist Kahil El’Zabar’s second album of 2020 addresses the state of America today, while being hopeful for the future. This album, also released on Spiritmuse Records, includes incredible spiritual jazz renditions of Charles Wright’s “Express Yourself”, Al Green’s “How to Mend a Broken Heart”, “America The Beautiful” and more. A truly inspirational  masterpiece that speaks with love, hope and the urgency of now. 

Also check out Kahil El’Zabar’s Spirit Groove full-length with special guest saxophonist David Murray. Very worthy of also being included on this “best of” list.

 
 

16. Thaba — ‘Eyes Rest Their Feet’
(Soundway)

A project that began a few years ago out of their mutual enthusiasm for kwaito, 90’s R&B, and classic downtempo, Thaba is a collaborative effort between the late South African singer/songwriter Khusi Seremane and American producer/musician Gabriel Cyr. Their debut recording fuses together left-field electronic beats, jazz instrumentation, and Afro-soul with South African Bubblegum pop influences. Released on Soundway, Eyes Rest Their Feet is absolutely one of the most forward-thinking albums of the year. 

 
 

15. Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad — ‘JID 002’
(Jazz Is Dead)

The second release and first album from the groundbreaking ‘Jazz Is Dead’ series featured Soul-jazz legend Roy Ayers. Recorded back in February 2018 at Adrian Younge’s Linear Labs studio, while the rightfully declared “Godfather of Neo-Soul” performed four sold out shows in Los Angeles as part of the Jazz Is Dead Black History Month series, this incredible album features eight new original tracks written collaboratively by Ayers, Younge, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The music truly captures the spirit of Ayers’ classic material from the seventies while still sounding fresh, fusing together jazz-funk grooves with warm sunny soulful melodies and feel-good vibes.

 
 

14. Soft Power — ‘Brink of Extinction’
(RR GEMS)

In a time where the topic of mass extinction feels unfortunately very real, the Helsinki-based sextet Soft Power released an incredibly powerful album that sonically speaks to the importance and beauty of biodiversity on this planet. The seven-track recording fuses together spiritual and hypnotic melodies, with jazz-funk and library style grooves. The session definitely takes the listener on a journey, featuring everything from earthy cosmic tones, fiery solos, head-nodding rhythms, and just a little of everything in-between. For those that continue to express love and compassion for this world, even in these uncertain times, this is the kind of music that provides the feeling of hope, and that better days are ahead.

 
 

13. Moses Boyd — ‘Dark Matter’
(Exodus Records)

Over the past half-decade, drummer, producer, and composer Moses Boyd has been one of the most creative minds to have come out of London. He gained international praise for his 2016 jazz dance gem “Rye Shuffle Lane,” and has been featured on some of the best jazz releases to have come out of the UK region, collaborating with Binker Golding, Nubya Garcia, Theon Cross, Zara McFarlane, and others. After releasing a number of great recordings under Moses Boyd Exodus alias, Boyd returned with an incredible new album under his own name. This ten-track album incorporates a wide-range of influences including jazz, electronic music, hip-hop and Afrobeat, fusing together Boyd’s on-point drumming with programmed electronics, spacey synths, psyched-out guitar lines, hypnotic atmospheric tones, and layered horn melodies. 

 
 

12. Web Web — ‘Worshippers’
(Compost Records)

Following the release of two stellar recordings in Oracle (2017) and Dance Of The Demon (2018), the Munich-based quartet Web Web continued to make their mark with the release of Worshippers. Arguably the group’s best and most adventurous to date, this most recent recording takes listeners on a journey through Afro and spiritual jazz, combined with cinematic vibes and hard-hitting percussion grooves. Vocalist Joy Denalane also adds some beautiful and haunting vocal melodies, in which she improvised on four of the tracks.

 
 

11. Jeff Parker & The New Breed — ‘Suite for Max Brown’
(International Anthem)

Composer, multi-instrumentalist and Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker follows up his highly-acclaimed New Breed debut recording with a brilliant follow-up release, dedicated as a living tribute to his mother Maxine Brown. Building on the foundation of the first New Breed release, this new album blends together looping J-Dilla-like sampled beats, cinematic atmospheric tones, electronic effects, and Parker’s always on point guitar lines. Suite for Max Brown once again proves that Jeff Parker is one of today’s most creative and musically diverse artists regardless of genre.

 
 

10. Reuben Vaun Smith — ‘Warm Nights’
(Soundway Records)

Former rising soccer star Reuben Vaun Smith, who had to prematurely retire from the sport due to an unfortunate knee injury, turned the life-changing situation into an inspiring story, by refocusing his energy towards music, and thereby releasing what is truly one of the soundtracks of the summer, and future summers to come. Released on Soundway Records, Smiths’ lo-fi tropical Balearic debut blends together synth-based balearic grooves, mid-tempo lo-fi electronic beats and sun-drenched sonic landscapes.

 
 

9. Y-Bayani & Baby Naa, The Band of Enlightenment, Reason and Love — ‘Nsie Nsie’
(Philophon)

Following a string of three incredible 7inch singles, beginning in 2016, Max Weissenfeldt’s Berlin-based Philophon label released the highly-anticipated full-length album from Ghanaian singers and songwriters Y-Bayani & Baby Naa, backed by the label’s “sessions ensemble” The Band of Enlightenment, Reason and Love. This recording is an incredible mix of roots Reggae rhythms, Afro synth pop, funk and gospel. Even though it took close to a decade to come together and record with many coincidental encounters along the way, the end result is an absolute masterpiece.

 
 

8. Shabaka & The Ancestors — ‘We Are Sent Here By History’
(Impulse!)

Shabaka Hutchings is arguably the most breakthrough artist to have come out of the recent resurgent London jazz scene. Over the past couple of years, the composer and saxophonist’s other two groups, Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming, have released a number of incredible recording via the legendary Impulse! label. Following up on the ensemble’s 2016 Brownswood debut, Wisdom of Elders, Hutchings reunited with his South African collective The Ancestors to put out an incredible new conceptual album, titled We Are Sent Here By History. Guided by the an hour-long conceptualized poem, written and performed by Siyabonga Mthembu that explores African and Afro-Caribbean traditions, while connecting lessons of the past directly to the future, this eleven-track recording combines Hutchings’ fiery saxophone lines with Mthembu’s powerful vocals, layered horn melodies, hard-hitting bass grooves, and African-influenced percussion rhythms. 

 
 

7. Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos — ‘Bichos‘
(Olindo Records)

Released on the great London-based label Olindo Records, this nine-track recording from Venezuelan bassist Raúl Monsalve and an absolutely superb band, brilliantly fuses together Latin funk and jazz with Afrobeat rhythms, cosmic synth melodies, electronics, layered horns, driving percussion rhythms, and soulful Spanish vocals. For Monsalve, who has dedicated much of his life learning traditional Afro-Venezuelan music, he is now pushing the sound forward into completely new orbits.

 
 

6. Nubya Garcia — ‘Source‘
(Concord Records)

28-year-old saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia has been one the most active artists in the current London jazz scene. Her much-anticipated full-length debut album on Concord Records brilliantly displays the saxophonists’ vast array of influences including the Caribbean sounds of reggae and dub, South and Central American-rooted Latin grooves, and Coltrane/Impulse-era spiritual post-bop jazz. Regardless where she chooses to take the music on this recording, her soulful and powerful saxophone playing has a commanding presence. Incredible from start to finish, Source is up there alongside some of the best recordings to have come out of this current wave of innovative jazz music resonating currently in London and across the UK region.

 
 

5. Alabaster DePlume — ‘To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1‘
(International Anthem / Total Refreshment Centre)

Released early in 2020 when had no idea of the challenging times that were ahead, Manchester-born, London-based composer, saxophonist and visionary Alabaster DePlume released a much-needed beautiful album featuring a collection of enchanting and meditative instrumentals. Recorded over a span of eight years, the 11-track recording has an overall spiritual and meditative vibe, combining minimalist jazz, atmospheric tones, and layered acoustic instrumentation, featuring a combination of horns, sparse piano melodies, acoustic guitars, strings, and subtle percussion accents and rhythms. Definitely healing music for the current times we are all living in.

 
 

4. Khruangbin — ‘Mordechai‘
(Dead Oceans Records)

The Houston, Texas based trio Khruangbin (pronounced KRUNG-bin, a Thai word meaning “airplane”) definitely had a very busy year. On top of releasing a great new Late Night Tales compilation, and collaborative effort with Leon Bridges (Texas Sun EP), the group released one of the best albums of 2020 in Mordechai. This album sees the band further developing their unique guitar-driven “desert psych-funk” sound, blending together a fusion of reggae dub, surf-rock, and funky Middle Eastern-influenced soul and disco. The recording also featured more vocals than any of the past albums, and also included the addition of vibes, percussion, and pedal steel on select tracks. At times the music can be very moody, almost soundtrack-like, and at other moments, the grooves are primed for a cosmic dance floor. Regardless the direction, Khruangbin continues to to further develop and take their music to new heights with each recording, and that was certainly the case on their latest full-length.

 
 

3. SAULT — ‘UNTITLED (Rise)‘
(Forever Living Originals)

Released digitally on the same day that the group’s groundbreaking UNTITLED (Black Is) album was released on vinyl, SAULT surprised us once again by releasing another brilliant album in UNTITLED (Rise). Building on the same important themes of UNTITLED (Black Is), the music continues to speak out against racial injustices, white supremacy, and police brutality globally. Another masterful produced recording, the 15-track album fuses together post-disco “ESG-like” grooves, funky hip-hop percussion breaks, synth-based melodies, electronic beats, and soulful melodies. Where Black Is was a call for action, Rise is a rally cry to keep moving forward to bring necessary change. 

 
 

2. LCSM ‘Likwid Continual Space Motion’ — ‘Earthbound‘
(Super-Sonic Jazz Records)

UK broken beat legend and producer IG Culture followed up last year’s breakthrough EP1 release under his LCSM ‘Likwid Continual Space Motion’ alias, with a groundbreaking new 18-track Afro-futuristic soundtrack. This brilliant recording propels listeners into orbit, blending broken beat rhythms and space-age jazz, with driving saxophone lines, otherworldly synth melodies, funky layered percussion, and cosmic grooves. In just about any other year, this would be without a doubt, the best album of the year (see the next release on the list). Regardless, IG Culture has produced an instant classic, easily one of the most forward-thinking and mind-bending Afro-futuristic recordings you’ll ever hear. 

 
 

1. SAULT — ‘Untitled (Black Is)‘
   (Forever Living Originals)

There is not a group that made more of an impact musically in 2020 than the UK-based collective SAULT. Featuring producer Dean “Inflo” Wynton Josiah, vocalist Cleo Sol, and rapper/vocalist Melisa Young (aka Kid Sister), the group not only released two of the best albums you’ll ever hear, they created a soundtrack for the most important movement of our time, in Black Lives Matter. Following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black Americans, SAULT released Untitled (Black Is). The music on this recording (and UNTITLED ‘Rise’) speaks out against racial injustices and police brutality, at times even using protest-influenced chats like “Guns down / don’t shoot” and “racist / policeman”. The recording perfectly captures the mixture of emotions surrounding the civil unrest that we saw over the summer, featuring songs of anger, sadness, out cry, and hope for the future. Production wise, the album blends together post-disco grooves, Afro-funk, electronic beats, and soulful melodies. Untitled (Black Is) is not only the best album of the year, it is without a doubt one of the true essential albums of our lifetime.

 
 

BeatCaffeine 2020 Favorites Lists:
Favorite Albums of 2020
Favorite EP Releases of 2020
Favorite Tracks of 2020
Favorite Compilations of 2020
Favorite Reissues of 2020

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