Review

2023 In Review: Day 10 – Jazz and Blues

By Jung Bae | January 23, 2024

2023 In Review

1. Introduction + Best Album Art
2. Song of the Year
3. Album of the Year
4. R&B and Soul
5. Rock and Alternative
6. Rap and Hip-hop
7. Dance and Electronic
8. Pop and Ballad
9. Folk and Country
10. Jazz and Blues
11. Crossover and World
12. Best Collaborative Work
13. Rookie Artist of the Year
14. Artist of the Year
15. Other Recognition
16. Concluding Remarks

2023’s jazz crop was heavy on youthful energy, as a majority of the top picks come from early-career artists and even rookies. Vocal jazz had a strong year, as did genre-crossing work like Jade and Mandong’s efforts.

Notes:

The “Next 10” and honorable mention lists are sorted by artist name. Bolded honorable mentions received particularly serious consideration for the Next 10.
he 2023 Jazz and Blues Spotify playlist will be added to this post as an update at the conclusion of the series.

Albums

Best Jazz and Blues Album 2023

Yujin Kim – Extraordinary

A vocal album hasn’t topped our jazz section since 2018, when Solah’s Beautiful Imperfection last did it, and Yujin Kim’s sophomore full-length was a delightful way to break that streak. Each of the nine self-produced tracks drip with style-spanning originality, with the sudden string entrance of “Extraordinary” and the sax morphing into guitar during the fatalistic march of “Whisper of Devil” being some of the most memorable moments all year. The writing reflects Kim’s humanist warmth, delivered in firm and confident performances, supported by Im Eun-ji’s versatile piano play.

The Runner-up

Jung Sumin – 자성 (Intrinsic Nature)

The ponderous vocal veils and sinking ambience that characterize Intrinsic Nature might have pulled the album down into doldrums, but instead Jung Sumin’s bass and Lee Boram’s piano sketch haunting and plaintive melodies that shine through the dark. Jung’s foray into electronica, like the cautiously hopeful “Reversed Dream” and “Delusion” and the increasingly anxious “Enlightenment” and “Neoliberalism”, add a second dimension to the album that deepens its contemplation.

The Next 10

: Carina Nebula – Good Match

: Hanol Kim – Homing

: Jade – Retrospect

: Jo Esther – Being

: Kim Oki – Love Flower

: Mandong – The Bat

: Mijung Lim – Flow

: Nushroom – Salt

: Park Gene Young Trio – Pastorale

: Suwon Yim – Guilt or Tragedy

Carina Nebula – Good Match

Hanol Kim – Homing

Jade – Retrospect

Jo Esther – Being

Kim Oki – 러브플라워 (Love Flower)

Mandong – 박쥐 (The Bat)

Mijung Lim – Flow

Nushroom – Salt

Park Gene Young Trio – Pastorale

Suwon Yim – Guilt or Tragedy

Songs

Best Jazz and Blues Song 2023

Yujin Kim – Continuum
Lyrics and composition by Yujin Kim
Arrangement by Yujin Kim and Im Eun-ji

It’s a sweep at the top for Yujin Kim. “Continuum” was the more reserved half of Extraordinary‘s dual-title lineup, opening with an intriguing piano cadence before blooming into smooth sax and bass that add curvature to the steadiness of that piano line. Both the lyrics and composition suggest things could just end like that – “eternity and infinity” embodied in that perfect equilibrium – but a sudden breakdown and a harder groove transition the song into a fierier second half, rising to a more thrilling conclusion.

The Runner-up

DCON – DCON
Composition by Chu Seong-bin

Chu Seong-bin’s simmering rhythm guitar creates an instant urgency, but “DCON” soon settles into a broader groove that doesn’t lose any of the flash. The piano-led midsection is wondrously sprawling and frenetic, the guitar and drum solos chilly and neatly executed, and Kyung Joo-sung’s bass increasingly assertive as the the melody becomes more and more fragmented towards track’s end. A cool-and-confident debut from the quartet.

The Next 10

: Hanol Kim – Saryeoni

: Jung Sumin – What I Looked at Quietly Was

: Kim See Hyun Trio – Merry

: Lee Mi-rae – Ombre Dansant

: Lim Hoyeon – Expansion

: Mandong – Civilization

: Seungeun Lee – Conviction

: Time and Place – Monsoon

: Yeesangyu – Introductory Dance

: Yun Hyunsang – Sunset

Hanol Kim – Saryeoni

Jung Sumin – 정적히 바라보았던 것은 (What I Looked at Quietly Was)

Kim See Hyun Trio – Merry

Lee Mi-rae – 그림자가 춤추는 곳 (Ombre Dansant)

Lim Hoyeon – Expansion

Mandong – 문명 (Civilization) (Feat. Sukhoon Chang)

Seungeun Lee – Conviction

Time and Place – 몬순 (Monsoon)

Yeesangyu – 시작하는 춤 (Introductory Dance)

Yun Hyunsang – Sunset (Feat. Danny Koo)

Honorable Mentions

Albums

Brian Shin & the Swing Makers – Brian Shin & the Swing Makers Vol. 2
Chaewon Jung – Attention
Cho Junghee – 각자의 꽃 (The Flower Is You)
DCON – DCON
Detection of Dead Spot – Criticism of Social Darwinism
Eunmi Lee – Introspection
Fridges Quartet – Tiens tiens…
Hanol Kim – Strange Island
Jeong Gon – Inplace
Jun Kim X JJ Kim – E-nvironment
Jung Sumin – Yoo Geun-taek
Kim See Hyun Trio – Warming
Leedongsub Trio – Leedongsub Trio
Lim Hoyeon – Salvation
Meari Nam Band – 기 울 인 체 (Lean On)
Mihyang Moon – I Wished on the Moon
Minseok Choi – Time
Moon – Beyond the Moon
Se Young Kim – For Rest
Seungeun Lee – Conviction
Suwon Yim – 불가사리에게 (Dear Starfish,)
Swan – It’s 美
Teho – Teho4
Time and Place – 범람 (The Surge)
Triomenon – Color de Latin
Tuna Kim – Snapshot
Two Pencils – You and Autumn
Yeesangyu – 춤 (Choom)
Youjin Ko – 엔드 앤드 (End And)
Youngmin Park – My Favorite Things
Yun Hyunsang – Time to Time
Yun Seokcheol & Sejin – The Breakfast Club: 조찬 클럽

Songs

Brian Shin & the Swing Makers – The Toybox Stompers
Carina Nebula – Good Match
DCON – Neptunian
Enigmata – White
Eunmi Lee – Narcissism
Fridges Quartet – Je ne sais rien
Geomseo Ban – Between the Shores
Hanol Kim – Branches
Hanol Kim – Falling Down
Jade – Denial
Jaeil Ji Trio – Spring Came Little Early
Jinju Yi – Between the End and the Beginning (with Lee Sung-chan)
Jo Esther – Being
Jo Esther – Bohol
Jo Esther – Undefined
Jung Sumin – Fountain
Jung Sumin – Reflection
Jung Sumin – 자성 (Intrinsic Nature)
Kim Oki – 러브송 (Love Song) (Feat. Kim Han-joo)
Kim Oki – 볕처럼 빛나는 (Shine Like a Sunlight)
Kim Oki – 우리 영원히 (Forever Love) (Feat. Kim Il-du)
Kim See Hyun Trio – Inversion
Lee Gheun-hyung – The Final
Lee Mi Rae – Perfect Blue
Long Island Jazz Band – Blue Bird
Mandong – Pai, Moon, Everything
Meari Nam Band – 기 울 인 체 (Lean On)
Meari Nam Band – 머무는바다 (To the Ocean We Belong)
Meari Nam Band – 초 (Candle)
Mijung Lim – River
Nushroom – Nest
Nushroom – Voyage
OoOoot, Soojung Kae – 20
Park Gene Young Trio – Dancing Wind
Park Gene Young Trio – Wandering
Se Young Kim – 봄날의 햇살 (The Spring Sunshine)
Seoulit – I Can Make Your Feel Love (Feat. JeA)
Seungeun Lee – Cosmos: Prism, Var
Suwon Yim – Cesspool
Suwon Yim – Cornhusk
Suwon Yim – False Oasis
Suwon Yim – Let’s Bee Friends
Suwon Yim – Sob Story
Suwon Yim – 불가사리에게 (Dear Starfish,) (Feat. Rob Christian)
Teho – 이진법으로 만든 신 (God Binary)
Time and Place – 바늘구멍 하늘 (Needle-Eye Sky)
Triomenon – Color de Latin
Tuna Kim – Snapshot
Yeesangyu – 적당히 부는 바람 (Fine Breeze)
Yeesangyu – 춤 (Choom)
Youjin Ko – Chez Dani (Feat. Nicola Sergio)
Youngmin Park – My Favorite Things
Yujin Kim – Don’t Tell Me
Yujin Kim – Evolve
Yujin Kim – Extraordinary
Yujin Kim – Somewhere a Better Place
Yujin Kim – Whisper of Devil
Yun Hyunsang – Chameleon in the Sunset (Feat. Joon-ho Shim)
Yun Seokcheol & Sejin – 칵테일 파라다이스 (Cocktail Paradise)