eJazzNews.com Top 10 of 2003

On December 27, 2003, eJazzNews posted its list of the ten best jazz albums of the year, a bare ranking of artist, title and label with no commentary. Five of the ten were led by saxophonists, two of the records went on to win Grammy Awards in February 2004, and three of the leaders have since died: Michael Brecker in 2007, Wayne Shorter in 2023 and Abdullah Ibrahim in 2026.

What the 2003 list said

The ranking is reproduced below with titles and labels corrected where the original post had typos (it spelled Branford Marsalis as “Brandford” and his album as “Romare Bearden Revisted”), and with the details checked against label, discography and Grammy records.

• 1. Jane Ira Bloom, Chasing Paint (Arabesque): subtitled Jane Ira Bloom Meets Jackson Pollock, recorded in 2002 and released March 4, 2003.
• 2. Ted Nash, Still Evolved (Palmetto): with trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Printup, pianist Frank Kimbrough, bassist Ben Allison and drummer Matt Wilson.
• 3. Wayne Shorter, Alegría (Verve): the second album to feature his quartet with Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.
• 4. Dave Holland Quintet, Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM): a double album recorded at Birdland in November 2001 with Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Steve Nelson and Billy Kilson.
• 5. Bruce Barth, Live at the Village Vanguard (MaxJazz): a trio with bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Al Foster, recorded in 2002.
• 6. Omar Sosa, A New Life (Otá): issued on the Cuban pianist’s own label.
• 7. Richard Bona, Munia: The Tale (Universal Music France): released September 22, 2003, and reached number 90 on the French album chart.
• 8. Abdullah Ibrahim, African Magic (Enja; the list also named Justin Time): a 2001 concert recording by his trio with Belden Bullock and Sipho Kunene.
• 9. Michael Brecker, Wide Angles (Verve): his Quindectet, recorded January 22 to 24, 2003, and released September 9.
• 10. Branford Marsalis, Romare Bearden Revealed (Marsalis Music): recorded in June 2003 for a Bearden retrospective that opened at the National Gallery of Art, with guests including Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis.

How the picks fared

At the 46th Grammy Awards in February 2004, which covered records released between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2003, Alegría won Best Jazz Instrumental Album and its opening track, “Sacajawea,” won Best Instrumental Composition. Wide Angles won Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, and Brecker and Gil Goldstein won Best Instrumental Arrangement for “Timbuktu.” Holland’s Extended Play was among the nominees for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Romare Bearden Revealed peaked at number 19 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart.

The list leaned toward saxophonists: Bloom, Nash, Shorter, Brecker and Marsalis led their own records, and Chris Potter was the reed player in Holland’s quintet. For a longer view of the instrument’s players, see our guide to jazz saxophone players.

What happened next

Michael Brecker died of leukemia on January 13, 2007, at 57; his final album, Pilgrimage, won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2008. Wayne Shorter died in a Los Angeles hospital on March 2, 2023, at 89. Abdullah Ibrahim died in Germany on June 15, 2026, at 91, after a short illness. Ted Nash played in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra until 2024, and his big band’s Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom won the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2017. Jane Ira Bloom received a Guggenheim Fellowship in composition in 2007. Our own all-time ranking is on the best jazz albums of all time page.

Sources

• Recording Academy, “46th Annual Grammy Awards,” grammy.com.
• Recording Academy, “Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: 2004,” grammy.com.
• Recording Academy, “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: 2004” and “2017,” grammy.com.
• Wikipedia, “Chasing Paint,” “Alegría (Wayne Shorter album),” “Extended Play: Live at Birdland,” “Wide Angles” and “Romare Bearden Revealed,” accessed October 2026.
• Discogs, “Ted Nash: Still Evolved,” Palmetto PM 2092.
• Wikipedia, “Bruce Barth,” “Omar Sosa,” “Richard Bona” and “Abdullah Ibrahim,” accessed October 2026.
• The Guardian, “Michael Brecker” (obituary), January 16, 2007.
• The Guardian, “Wayne Shorter, icon of jazz saxophone, dies aged 89,” March 2, 2023.
• The Guardian, “South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim dies aged 91,” June 15, 2026.
• Michelle Gumede (Associated Press), “South African jazz icon Abdullah Ibrahim dies in Germany at age 91 after a brief illness,” PBS News, June 15, 2026.
• John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, “Jane Ira Bloom,” fellow profile.
• WRTI, “Ted Nash joins the jazz faculty at Temple, with a focus on the future,” October 8, 2025.
• Wikipedia, “Ted Nash (saxophonist, born 1960)” and “Jane Ira Bloom,” accessed October 2026.

This page is based on an article from the original eJazzNews archive (2001 to 2018), with background and sources added in 2026. The original text is not republished here. You can read the original as it appeared on eJazzNews via the Internet Archive.
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