In 2015, when Wales Online described Jordan Rich as the “Cardiff keyboard wizard,” the recognition wasn’t just for a promising up-and-comer—but for a 22-year-old who had made waves far beyond his native Wales, writes Jenny Ashcroft. Born in 1993, Rich had matured into one of the UK’s most gifted jazz fusion keyboardists and composers by his early twenties, with a reputation built not on hype but on an unmistakable musical intelligence and an ability to bridge genres...

Whether these are best releases in 2025 or not, they are the ones that resonated most with me. And 2025 seemed a good year for guitarists; they were often a driving force on many of these recordings and an important element in the mood and atmosphere of the songs. There's Anthony Pirog on Skullcap's Snakes of Albuquerque, Radomir Milojkovic on Muriel Grossmann's Breakthrough, Marvin Sewell on NEA Jazz Master Charles Lloyd's Figure in Blue, Nels Cline leading his Consentrik Quartet and Mary Halvorson on her own About Ghosts and Adam O'Farrill's For These Streets (which seemed like companion releases with both featuring a core group of Halvorson, O'Farrill, Patricia Brennan and Tomas Fujiwara and assorted horn players and bassists), as well as teaming up with fellow guitarist Liberty Ellman on Ches Smith's Clone Row (and she is on several other recordings this year as well... [ read more ]

Jimmy Smith - b. 1925