As we complete another trip around the sun, it’s that time again to start to look back on some of the best releases of 2024. Similar to previous years, we will start with the best new albums and follow it up with a deep dive into some of the standout reissues, compilations, singles, tracks and more.

Overall, it was another great year for music, with a number of highly-anticipated releases and many breakthrough recordings. As always, it was hard to narrow down the list to 40 albums, as there are plenty of more releases that are worthy, and I’m sure I missed a notable few (my apologies for any that slipped through the cracks).

With plenty of uncertainty in the next year and beyond, it will be important more than ever for us all to turn to art and music as a mechanism for inspiration, hope and a call for change and the world we hope to be a part of. It will also be just as important that we all get behind these musicians and artists and support their efforts by purchasing their music and attending their concerts and events. As Gil Scott-Heron said, “The revolution will not be televised.”

Thank you to everyone who continues to support this site and now, the BeatCaffeine Radio show on Motion FM. This is purely a labor of love, and the support is greatly appreciated and what keeps this train moving forward.

Here are BeatCaffeine’s Favorite New Albums of 2024!

40. Soren Skov Orbit — ‘Adrift’
(Frederiksberg Records)

Led by co-founders Søren Skov (saxophonist) and Peder Vind (keyboardist), experimental Danish quintet Søren Skov Orbit released their brilliant debut album in 2024 on Frederiksberg Records, titled Adrift. The exploratory recording is steeped in cosmic excursions, spiritual trans-like grooves, heavy reverb, soaring saxophone melodies, and layered percussion rhythms that will have the listener asking for more.

39. The Jazz Defenders — ‘Memory In Motion’
(Haggis Records)

Bristol-based quintet The Jazz Defenders followed up their 2022’s acclaimed LP King Phoenix and a slew of notable 7inch singles with a superb new full-length, titled Memory In Motion. Building off the foundation of some of their more recent releases, the 9-track recording captures the essence of that classic 1960s hard-bop and modal sound, while creating something fresh and forward-looking. The album also incorporates elements of soul, hip-hop, and 70s influenced fusion, with a strong nod to the dancefloor.

38. Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O — ‘True Story’
(New Soil / Mushroom Hour)

One of the leading musicians at the forefront of South Africa’s vibrant jazz scene, Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O, released his metaphorical autobiography full-length, True Story. The remarkable 9-track album fuses together a wide range of sounds and influences, including spiritual jazz, funky township and highlife grooves, soulful chants and vocal melodies, and dynamic percussion rhythms.

37. The Heavy Hitters — ‘That’s What’s Up!‘
(Cellar Music)

Sound the alarm! Pianist Mike LeDonne leads an impressive sextet that includes tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, bassist Alexander Claffy, and drummer Kenny Washington for “in-your-face” loft-style jazz session that will be having the listener seeking to catch their breathe. Great from start to finish, this is definitely one of the best live recordings you’ll hear this year.

36. Another Taste — ‘s/t’
(Space Grapes)

The Rotterdam, Netherlands based group behind incredible Space Grapes 12inch releases under aliases Mad Honey, Jambonne, GALXTC, and now Another Taste, released their highly anticipated debut self-titled album. Inspired by the obscurity and the do-it-yourself approach of private press culture of the late 1970s and 80s, the group perfectly captures the underground Brit-funk sound from that era blended with disco and boogie.

35. Ashley Henry — ‘Who We Are’
(Believe / Naïve)

Another artist at the forefront of London’s thriving jazz scene, gifted pianist Ashley Henry, returns with his first album since his 2019 breakthrough release, Beautiful Vinyl Hunter, with a superb sophomore full-length, titled Who We Are. The 14-track recording builds off the foundation of his previous record, blending together jazz and influences of hip-hop and soul, all with a forward-thinking approach.

34. Cruisic — ‘Euphoria’
(Flower Records)

Internationally acclaimed Japanese electronic-meets-jazz duo of Yukinari Iwata and Ryusuke Kakizawa known as Cruisic, released their highly-anticipated debut album this year. This 8-track release follows a number of now hard-to-find singles (which are included on this record), including Jazz Room Records’ 7″ featuring Azymuth’s “Jazz Carnival” and 808 State’s “Pacific 707”. Great from start to finish, other standout tracks include brilliant renditions of Tania Maria’s “Come With Me”, and full-length versions of some of their early material, like “Inspector Norse”, “Floating”, and “Finally”.
Prime selections for the dancefloor!

33. Dina Ögon — ‘Orion‘
(Playground Music)

Swedish supergroup Dina Ögon follows up two highly acclaimed album Oas (2023) and their self-titled debut (2021) with another incredible full-length in Orion. This 9-track recording features a blend of cosmic grooves, celestial pop, spacey folk and soulful vocal melodies with a touch of balearic vibes.

32. David Versace — ‘Eye to Eye’
(La Sape Records)

Australian-based keyboardist, composer and producer David Versace returned with another remarkable full-length for Melbourne-based La Sape Records, titled Eye to Eye. This standout 8-track album blends together spacey cosmic piano-driven grooves with funky and dynamic percussion rhythms and soulful trumpet solos and melodies.

31. Nicola Conte — ‘Umoja (Joaquin Joe Claussell Sacred Rhythm Music & Cosmic Arts Remixes)’
(Far Out Recordings)

Building off Italian jazz pioneer Nicola Conte’s highly-acclaimed 2023 album Umoja, London’s Far Out Recordings released a superb collection of 10 exclusive remixes by legendary New York house music icon Joaquin Joe Claussell. Aimed directly at the dancefloor, Claussell has turned up the heat on each track, while not loosing the foundation of the original, while providing additional percussion, guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, drum programming and more. 

30. Galliano — ‘Halfway Somewhere‘
(Brownswood)

One of the great stories of 2024 was the return of Acid Jazz forefathers Galliano, with their first release in almost three decades. Born out of London’s underground clubs and warehouse parties of the mid to late 80s, the groups new album, released on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, brilliantly captures the feel of their earlier groundbreaking recordings, while moving their sound forward.

29. Nat Birchall Unity Ensemble — ‘New World’
(Ancient Archive Of Sound)

Representing the second album featuring his 7-piece Unity Ensemble, along with legendary UK tenor saxophonist Alan Skidmore and guest percussionist Mark Wastell, Manchester-based saxophonist Nat Birchall returns with a brilliant 6-track recordings build off the foundation heard on many of Birchall’s last few releases, which blend together strong John Coltrane and spiritual jazz influences with rhythmic and hypnotic percussion grooves. This has an overall late 60s Impulse! Records era feel, why still very much looking forward towards the future.

28. Marcos Valle — ​’Tú​nel Ac​ú​stico’
(Far Out Recordings)

Brazilian legend Marcos Valles continues to shine with each and every recording, and that’s certainly the case on his latest album for Far Out Recordings, titled Túnel Acústico, which brilliantly blends Brazilian boogie, jazz and fusion with breezy grooves and some smooth soulful vocals. The full-length also includes a previously unreleased track featuring the late great Leon Ware. Now 81 years young, there seems to be no slowing down in sight for Valle, who is truly one of the greatest artists of our time.

27. Chris Bangs — ‘Dream World‘
(Acid Jazz Records)

On the heels of the release of the brilliant Nova Vida debut album and last year’s breakthrough Firebird recording, legendary UK-based producer Chris Bangs also released the remarkable full-length Dream World in 2024. Influenced by jazz-funk pioneers Mizell Brothers, Wayne Henderson, George Duke, and his acid jazz roots, this 9-track record includes a fusion of Latin and Brazilian/samba rhythms, spacey cosmic keys, and soulful horns, all resulting in a heavy dose of uptempo grooves primed for the jazz dancefloor.

26. David Lyn — ‘The World I Hear (Essence Of Life)’
(Music Without Labels)

UK producer and multi-instrumentalist David Lyn released a brilliant debut album in 2024, titled The World I Hear (Essence Of Life), that is the first in a series that explores the elements of fire, earth, water and wind with focuses on the twin entities of love and water. This 12-track recording features a heavy dose of rhythmic percussion and a wide range of globally influenced grooves, from jazz dance and Afro-house to spiritual meditative melodies, soul, Latin and beyond.

25. Aura Safari & Jimi Tenor — ‘Sensory Blending’
(Hell Yeah Recordings)

In an impressive collaborative effort, rising Italian collective Aura Safari and legendary Finnish musician Jimi Tenor teamed up on a brilliant cosmic jazz-funk album. This nine-track recording came about when Tenor was at Tangram in Perugia performing at a Hell Yeah party, and the day prior, met up in the studio with Aura Safari, who are local to the region. The session, which represented the first meeting between the two, resulting in nice mix of psychedelic jazz-funk, spacey grooves, dynamic percussion rhythms, souring horn solos, and soulful hypnotic vocals.

24. Markus Holkko — ‘Eye of the Universe’
(Jazzaggression)

Finnish saxophonist and composer Markus Holkko and his superb quintet released a brilliant new album on Jazzaggression, titled Eye of The Universe. Recorded at Studio Pelto in Finland, this 8-track recording covers a lot of ground musically, touching upon spiritual, modal and Latin jazz while incorporating psychedelic grooves and electric cosmic textures.

23. Kamasi Washington — ‘Fearless Movement’
(Young)

One of jazz’s modern day giants, returned his third full-length release, titled Fearless Movement. From start to finish, this might arguably Kamasi Washington’s most diverse album album to date, as each song takes on a life of it’s own, while still sounding cohesive as an overall recording. The 12-track album also features an impressive cast of guest musicians, including George Clinton, Thundercat, Terrace Martin, André 3000 (yes on flute), BJ The Chicago Kid and more. 

22. Nubya Garcia — ‘Odyssey’
(Concord Jazz)

London-based tenor saxophonist, bandleader and composer Nubya Garcia followed up her breakthrough 2020 album SOURCE, with another incredible full-length release for Concord Jazz, titled Odyssey. Produced by Garcia in collaboration with Kwes, the session also includes and impressive cast of supporting musicians like Joe Armon-Jones on keys, Daniel Casimir on bass, drummer Sam Jones and special guests esperanza spalding and Georgia Anne Muldrow.  Great from start to finish, the incredible 12-track recording blends orchestral arrangements with jazz, R&B and dub grooves. 

21. Ezra Collective — ‘Dance, No One’s Watching’
(Partisan Records)

One of the most exciting groups to emerge out of the current London jazz scene, followed up their 2023 Mercury Prize with a highly-anticipated new release, titled Dance, No One’s Watching. This brilliant and expansive 19-track 2xVinyl release the many dance floors they encountered on their recent travels from London to Chicago, Lagos to Sydney, and in many other parts of the world. The full-length blends together jazz-funk, Afrobeat, and dub, while also including arguably the track of the year in “God Gave Me Feet For Dancing”, featuring vocalist Yazmin Lacey.

20. LCSM ‘Likwid Continual Space Motion’ — ‘The Remedy‘
(Super-Sonic Jazz Records)

UK broken beat legend and producer IG Culture returned with his groundbreaking cosmic jazz project Likwid Continual Space Motion (aka LCSM), featuring 18-tracks and a strong cast of special guests, this recording fuses together funky jazz instrumentation, broken beat, UK street soul, mind-bending Afro-futuristic grooves, and influences spawned from within London club culture. The idea and the complex world of fungi also played an influence within the music and the overall concept of the album, acting as almost a metaphor for wide array of sub-genres and scenes with the UK scene. 

19. Vibration Black Finger — ‘Everybody Cryin’ Mercy’
(Enid Records)

UK-based producer, DJ, and musician, Lascelle ‘Lascelles’ Gordon, who was a founding member of legendary acid-jazz group The Brand New Heavies and a pioneering DJ at the legendary 1990s Wag Club, released his latest offering from his adventurous project Vibration Black Finger, titled Everybody Cryin’ Mercy. This 10-track recording blends together spiritual jazz grooves with P-funk and post-punk inspired energy. The album also features vocals from Jaye Ella Ruth, also formerly of The Brand New Heavies and others.

18. Cotonete — ‘Victoire De La Musique’
(Heavenly Sweetness)

The French jazz-funk group Cotonete returned in 2024 with a fantastic eclectic album for the Heavenly Sweetness label, titled Victoire De La Musique. Produced by Ibiza-based DJ and beat maker Guts, this 9-track recording touches upon numerous global influences, from Brazilian and Caribbean-inspired jazz funk, to cosmic French grooves, breezy Balearic vibes and just about everything in between. The album also features a number of notable special guests, including Sabrina Malheiros, Leron Thomas, UK street soul pioneer Omar, and Parisian based musical icon Gystere Peskine.

17. Greg Foat — ‘The Rituals of Infinity’
(Ameritz Music)

Just one of the many superb releases from London composer and keyboardist Greg Foat, who seems to put out new music every couple of months over the past few years. Titled The Rituals of Infinity, this 7-track cosmic excursion includes all of those elements we love about Foat’s music, spacey analog keyboard grooves, cinematic atmospheric textures and an overall sound that will have the listener transported to a new socially cosmic dimension. The album also features the legendary saxophonist Art Themen, who was also featured on Foat’s phenomenal 2023 recording Off​-​Piste.

16. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet — ‘The Way Out of Easy‘
(International Anthem)

International Anthem has released a remarkable new live album from boundary-pushing guitarist Jeff Parker and his ETA IVtet featuring saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose, capturing one of the group’s Monday night performances at the Los Angeles-based Enfield Tennis Academy. Recorded on January 2nd, 2023, this 4-track 70-minute set provides us a macro-lens view of the ever-refining, infinite organic essence of the ensemble as they stretch out across a single night. Not realizing it at the time of the recording, this turned out to be the final year for the venue, which the group performed weekly to packed audiences for 7 years.

15. Work Money Death — ‘People Of The Fast Flowing River’
(ATA Records)

UK-based saxophonist Tony Burkill leads his superb ensemble with another spiritual jazz masterpiece and third Work Money Death release the Leeds-based ATA Records, titled People of the Fast Flowing River. Featuring four expansive tracks over 42-minutes, the music captures the spirit of those classic late 60’s and early 70’s recordings on Impulse! Records and Strata-East, including a heavy dose of soaring solos, meditative soulful grooves, layered horns, dynamic percussion and more.

14. EABS — ‘Reflections of Purple Sun’
(Astigmatic Records)

Wrocław-based experimental jazz fusion quintet EABS returns to their Polish jazz roots and pays tribute to the late great trumpter Tomasz Stańko and his groundbreaking 1973 album Purple Sun. The brilliant 6-track recording fuses together spacey cosmic grooves, soulful horn melodies, and dynamic rhythms that work on the dancefloor and in a listening session.

13. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few — ‘The Almighty’
(Division 81 Records)

Saxophonist and composer Isaiah Collier follows up last year’s breakthrough direct-to-disc album Parallel Universe on the Night Dreamer label with another remarkable full-length for the Chicago-based Division 81 Records, titled The Almighty. This is Collier’s first quartet offering since 2021’s Cosmic Transition, and combines spiritual jazz in the vein of 60s era Pharoah Sanders, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, etc., with soulful melodies and grooves.

12. Lucien Johnson — ‘Ancient Relics’
(Deluge Records)

New Zealand-based saxophonist, composer and bandleader Lucien Johnson, who notably led Shogun Orchestra and collaborated with Lord Echo and the Black Seeds, returned with his first album in four years, a brilliant self-released full-length, titled Ancient Relics. This incredible 6-track recording fuses together cosmic and spiritual jazz grooves with Johnson’s soulful saxophone playing, electric and acoustic keys, harp, and dynamic percussion rhythms and textures that span from meditative to sonically adventurous. Fans of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders should definitely check this out.

11. Soulstance presents: Jazz 2 More — ‘Dancing With a Jazz Spirit’
(Irma Records)

Pure jazz dancefloor heat from Italian brothers and “nu jazz” pioneers Gianni and Vincenzo Lo Greco (aka Soulstance) on their latest release of their Jazz 2 More project. This 10-track session is great from start to finish, blending together soulful jazz and Latin-inspired percussion with house, broken beat, and spiritual grooves. The only knock is that currently this album is only available digitally — hopefully that changes soon!

10. Lucas Arruda — ‘Ominira’
(Favorite Recordings)

This superb recording from Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Lucas Arruda features a nice blend of sun-drenched cosmic jazz and breezing balearic and AOR grooves, infused with Afro-Brazilian roots and rhythms. The full-length includes everything from the more laid-back cuts like “The Bravest Heart”, “4:28am” and the title track “Ominira”, to jazz dancefloor gems such as “Abraco Pro Ed” and “The Mountain”, spiritual selections like “Chant & Dance”, and plenty more.

9. New Regency Orchestra — ‘s/t’
(Mr Bongo)

Led by the person behind London’s Total Refreshment Centre and co-founder of Church of Sound, Lex Blondin, New Regency Orchestra is an 18-piece Afro-Cuban jazz big band, inspired by the musical melting pot of NYC in the 1950s, but with the forward-thinking approach from the region’s best Latin and jazz musicians. The group’s self-tilted debut features a wide selection new superb renditions of timeless Afro-Cuban jazz classics, including music by Tito Puente, Chico O’Farrill, René Hernandez, Rafael Labasta, Sahib Shihab and more. It’s a 50s Latin time machine into the future!

8. Marc Mac Presents Visioneers — ‘Def Radio’
(Omniverse Records)

Legendary UK producer Marc Mac returns with his first release in a decade from his long-running Visioneers project, titled Def Radio. This incredible 12-track full-length, released on Omniverse Records, features everything from instrumental renditions of Hip-Hop classics to groove-oriented jazz-funk cuts. The recording came together with contributions from founding member Luke Parkhouse (aka Hopper), along with Carina Andersson, Luman Child, TRAC and Drue Davis. 

7. Rosa Brunello — ‘Senseless Acts of Love’
(Domanda Music)

Italian bassist and composer Rosa Brunello follows up her breakthrough debut, with another brilliant offering on Tommaso Cappellato’s Domanda Music label, titled Senseless Acts of Love. Featuring a superb cast of musicians, including trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, baritone saxophonist and flautist Tamar Osborn, keyboardist Maurice Louca, drummer, percussionist and beat programmer Marco Frattini, guitarist and keyboardist Enrico Terragnoli, and trombonist Luca Tapino, the music off this 10-track recording builds off Brunello’s debut, fusing together hypnotic grooves and rhythms, with spiritual vibes, synth-based electronic tones, and cosmic textures.

6. Emanative — ‘Abstract Intuition’
(Home Planet Recordings)

Up there with some of drummer, composer, and producer Emanative (aka Nick Woodmansey) greatest works, this 38-minute session blends together layered percussion rhythms with hypnotic textures, looping electronic elements, and meditative grooves with each song building up to a crescendo as it moves along. One of the standout singles, “Messimalism (Above Thought)” takes the listener on a trance-like sonic journey that can even work on the dancefloor. The recording includes contributions by by legendary trombonist and longtime Arthur Russell collaborator Peter Zummo, Sarathy Korwar, Jessica Lauren and others.

 

5. Caixa Cubo — ‘Modo Avião’
(Far Out Recordings)

The São Paulo-based jazz-funk/fusion trio Caixa Cubo returns for their highly anticipated full-length release for Joe Davis’ superb Far Out Recordings, titled Modo Avi​ã​o. Receiving a ton of rotational play by Gilles Peterson, Colin Curtis, Kev Beadle and many others, this 13-track album is arguably their best to date, blending together funky cosmic keys with heavy-hitting bass grooves and dynamic percussion rhythms. Made up of Henrique Gomide (keyboards), Noa Stroeter (bass), and João Fideles (drums), this brilliant recording has a sound reminiscence of 70s fusion pioneers Azymuth and Marcos Resende while still looking forward into the future.

4. Les Hommes — ‘Sì, così’
(Sudden Hunger)

This brilliant 11-track album leans into the East London trio’s groove-oriented lounge jazz sound with a solid dose of cinematic funk, deep-space tones, 70s Italian library music influences and exotica percussion. Led by Rory More‘s soulful explorations on the mid-century Lowrey organ, the recording also features bass clarinet, Arcadian flutes, conga-based rhythms and more. Incredible from start to finish, this is one of those albums that you’ll undoubtedly have on repeat as everything hits just right.

3. Nova Vida — ‘Ritmo Da Vida’
(BDQ Records)

Legendary UK-based DJ and producer Chris Bangs follows-up last year’s superb ‘My Only’ 7″ debut from his latest project Nova Vida with a highly-anticipated full-length release, titled Ritmo Da Vida, on London’s BDQ Records. This brilliant 10-track recording fuses together soulful Brazilian and Latin flavored rhythms with soulful vocals, and jazz dance-inspired grooves. With a warm feel-good feel throughout, there is no doubt that this was the soundtrack of this past summer, and by far one of the top albums of 2024.

2. Nala Sinephro — ‘Endlessness’
(Warp Records)

As a follow-up to 2021’s breakthrough recording Space 1​.​8, London-based Caribbean-Belgian composer, producer and musician Nala Sinephro has released a masterful new album, titled Endlessness on Warp Records. Featuring some of the best UK musicians, including Shirley Tetteh, James Mollison, Edward Wakili-Hick, Nubya Garcia, Jake Long and others, this epic 10-part suite named “Continuum” goes features a brilliant blend of acoustic instrumentation and electronics to create cosmic meditative tones and cinematic grooves that feel almost at times, like a soundtrack to an adventurous space sci-fi film.

1. Finn Rees — ‘Dawn Is A Melody’
(Mr Bongo)

One of Melbourne’s rising artists, Finn Rees, who also plays keys with 30/70 and Allysha Joy, and is one-half of Close Counters, releases his debut album on Mr Bongo, titled Dawn Is A Melody. This brilliant 10-track album features a wide palette of textures, fusing together piano and spacey keys with lush strings, harp, soulful horn melodies, dynamic percussion, and cosmic overtones. Great from start to finish, it’s like a melding of Herbie Hancock, Alice Coltrane, and Arthur Verocai, while having its own original twist.

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