POP & JAZZ ALBUMS

FROM FIONA APPLE TO CHARLES LLOYD, UNFORGETTABLE ALBUMS FROM A YEAR WE’D LIKE TO FORGET

The vital need for music has never been greater, at least in this century, than it was in 2020.

Of course, music is essential at any time, whether as a brief diversion or an immersive experience, a cause for boisterous celebration or quiet contemplation, a cry of despair or a lifeline of hope.

During a global pandemic, the value of music grows exponentially. This holds especially true when that pandemic has shuttered concert venues of all sizes.

As COVID-19 surged, ebbed and surged again, I sometimes found myself enveloped in an unfamiliar silence. Rather than listen to music each day, as I normally would have, I thought of favorite songs and albums, then “played” them — so to speak — almost note for note in my head. That’s why, when I wrote in May about 68 records that changed my life, I didn’t have to hear them again before writing about them.

Other records, some of which I had not heard in years, also sprang back to life in an instant when I thought of them. I immediately recalled how they made me feel when I first heard them and how I felt during subsequent listens.

In many instances, I even recalled where I bought them. That was back when no week was complete without browsing at Off the Record in Hillcrest or Tower Records on Sports Arena Boulevard, no visit to L.A. complete without stopping at Aaron’s or the Tower store on Sunset Boulevard.

It remains to be seen if we will be able to listen to any of our favorite music from 2020 without thinking of the pandemic. Here are some of the pop and jazz albums that helped me through a year we’d all like to forget.

Best pop albums of 2020

1. Fiona Apple, “Fetch The Bolt Cutters”

(Epic)

2. Bob Dylan, “Rough and Rowdy Ways”

(Columbia)

3. Phoebe Bridgers, “Punisher” (Dead Oceans)

4. Lido Pimienta, “Miss Colombia”

(Anti)

5. Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over”

(Mercury Nashville)

6. Jeff Parker

& The New Breed, “Suite for Max Brown”

(Nonesuch)

7. Moses Sumney, “Grae” (Jagjaguwar)

8. Taylor Swift, “Folklore” (Republic)

9. Natalia Lafourcade, “Un Canto por México, Vol. 1” (Sony Music Mexico)

10. Run The Jewels, “RTJ4" (BMG)

Best jazz albums of 2020

1. Charles Lloyd,

“8 Kindred Spirits,

Live at the Lobero”

(Blue Note)

2. Maria Schneider Orchestra, “Data Lords” (Artistshare)

3. Keith Jarrett, “Budapest Concert” (ECM)

4. Liberty Ellman,

“Last Desert” (Pi)

5. Ambrose Akinmusire, “On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment”

(Blue Note)

6. Sun Ra Arkestra, “Swirling” (Strut)

7. Rudresh Mahanthappa, “Hero Trio” (Whirlwind)

8. Dave Douglas,

“Dizzy Atmosphere”

(Greenleaf Music)

9. Charles Mcpherson, “Jazz Dance Suites”

(Chazz Mack Music)

10. Steph Richards, “Supersense”

(Northern Spy)