I'm Recommending 14 New Albums

Here are some of my favorite recordings of 2026 (so far)

Every morning I listen to new music, and I’ve already heard several hundred albums since the start of the year. My goal is simple: I seek out the best—drawing on all genres, all styles, all regions—and dig deep to find outstanding recordings you might not hear about elsewhere.

Below are 14 gems. Most of them are hidden from view in the stagnant mainstream culture of our time, where tired formulas and AI slop prevail. These are the real deal, and give me reason for optimism about the future of our music culture.

Spend some time with these tracks. You won’t be disappointed.

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River Eckert: River Eckert
Debut Album from a 16-Year-Old New Orleans Piano Phenom

I’ve seen the future of New Orleans piano and it’s called River Eckert. He’s not even old enough to get a driver’s license—you must be 17 in the state of Louisiana—but has already digested all the varied flavors of his hometown keyboard tradition.

I’m quoted on the youngster’s website, so I’ll repeat here what I say there:

“They don’t teach any of that at Juilliard, not even after hours.”

And I’m not just talking about Eckert’s keyboard skills—he also shows great promise as a singer. In a better world, this kind of talent would get showcased by the media and find its way to the big screen. Maybe that will happen. In the meantime, you can savor how this River runs via his debut album.

It won’t be streaming for a few more days, but River introduces a solo piano video from the release at the 22-minute mark of this interview.

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Sault: Chapter 1
Mystery Band from Britain Plays Funky Gospel

I became a Sault fan when they released five stunning albums over the course of a few months, but kept their identities top secret. Go ahead, visit their website—you will look in vain for bios or any information whatsoever. But these talented musicians perform in a range of genres, playing each style with total commitment and consummate skill.

Now they have returned from their secret hideout with a funk gospel album—it’s like Sly and the Family Stone establishing their own charismatic church. Sure, I’d like to know more about these musicians, but I will happily grant them anonymity and entrance in the Witness Protection Program if they keep delivering music of this caliber.

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Ari Bragi Kárason: Unclear Family
Cool Jazz in a Chet Baker Kind of Way

From the very start of my career as a critic, I championed cool jazz. That went against the grain—jazz is a hot idiom, and its leading practitioners have prized energy and intensity. But there’s also a cool tradition hiding in the wings, from Bix Beiderbecke to Lester Young and beyond. It also deserves our respect.

But if you play in this style, you almost never get grants or awards—it’s somehow un-cool to play cool. So an album like this won’t get much attention. The jazz police will make sure of that.

Listeners will be reminded of cool jazz icon Chet Baker, who continues to exert a powerful influence on European trumpeters. There’s some irony in this. Chet went overseas to avoid narcotics prosecution, and worked steadily to pay for his habit—but the result was that thousands of musicians overseas saw and learned from him at close quarters. That still has an impact today.

Icelandic trumpeter and flugelhorn player Ari Bragi Kárason was born a few months after Chet Baker died, but still keeps that tradition alive in his own work. He hits the spot on his new album Unclear Family. I also want to call your attention to saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist, who earns my praise with his contributions here.