This is the first time that I’ve ever enjoyed enough records from the country and Southern rock genres to put together a list. Maybe I’m getting old and turning into that country music-loving guy that my relatives always told me I would

When compiling my lists of best jazz records, broken up into 3 distinct areas of jazz, I used three criteria for inclusion on one of these lists: 1. Is it good enough? (duh) 2. Is it jazz? (duh) -and- 3. Have I already reviewed it in some form or another?

What a year. Several metric tons of great music passed through my ears but somehow I managed to remember almost none of it. Too busy. Too worried. Too distracted. Being so caught up in my own thoughts caused most of sound to bounce right off.

<<< Part Three, Whack Jazz In the final piece of these exhaustive, four-part salutes to the top releases of 2012, the fusion jazz records are surveyed.

Live albums and reissues give us a chance to take stock, be that in reevaluating something you once hated and/or missed — or, even more rewardingly, gaining fresh perspective on songs you thought you knew by heart.

A tough choice it is, but after much thought here are my Top 10 new albums of 2012

<<< Part Two, Mainstream and Modern Jazz ||| Part 4, Fusion Jazz >>> In continuing with a long-held tradition, I’ve parsed out the jazz that goes avant-garde from the more conventional stuff.

For hard rock and metal, 2012 certainly wasn’t the best year that I can remember. In all honesty, there were only a few albums that came across my desk that really excited me.

<<< Part One, Non-Jazz ||| Part 3, Whack Jazz >>> In the jazz world, I’ve found that the long-established artists, especially the ones who play in the well-established styles, get the bulk of the press and buzz.

In one way or another, each of these recordings confounded and delighted me. Pushed me to new vistas, either in the way I approached the artist, their own original work, or the tunes they covered. Made me think, and feel differently.