The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1970s

The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les Stances a Sophie (Nessa, 1970)
Charlie Haden - Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra (Impulse!, 1970)
Stanley Turrentine - Sugar (CTI, 1970)
Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay (CTI, 1970)
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970)
Joe Henderson - In Pursuit of Blackness (Milestone, 1971)
Bill Evans - The Bill Evans Album (Columbia, 1971)
Ornette Coleman - Science Fiction (Columbia, 1971)
Carla Bley - Escalator Over the Hill (JCOA, 1971)
George Benson - Beyond the Blue Horizon (CTI, 1971)
Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (Columbia, 1971)
Herbie Hancock - Mwandishi (Columbia, 1971)
John McLaughlin - My Goal’s Beyond (Douglas, 1971)
Freddie Hubbard - Straight Life (CTI, 1971)
Weather Report - Weather Report (Columbia, 1971)
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame (Columbia, 1971)
Stan Getz - Captain Marvel (Columbia, 1972)
Chick Corea - Return to Forever (ECM, 1972)
Grover Washington Jr. - Inner City Blues (Kudu, 1972)
Julius Hemphill - Dogon A.D. (Mbari, 1972)
Miles Davis - On the Corner (Columbia, 1972)
Charles Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music (Columbia, 1972)
Bill Evans with the George Russell Orchestra - Living Time (Columbia, 1972)
McCoy Tyner - Echoes of a Friend (Milestone, 1972)
Sonny Rollins - Next Album (Milestone, 1972)
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Fanfare for the Warriors (Atlantic, 1973)
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (Columbia, 1973)
Dave Holland - Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1973)
John McLaughlin & Carlos Santana - Love Devotion Surrender (Columbia, 1973)
Joe Pass - Virtuoso (Pablo, 1973)
Return to Forever - Light as a Feather (Polydor, 1973)
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire (Columbia, 1973)
Keith Jarrett - Belonging (ECM, 1974)
Cecil Taylor - Silent Tongues (Arista, 1974)
Charles Mingus - Changes One & Two (Atlantic, 1974)
Sarah Vaughan - Send in the Clowns (Mainstream, 1974)
Weather Report - Mysterious Traveller (Columbia, 1974)
Paul Desmond - Pure Desmond (CTI, 1974)
Oscar Peterson/Joe Pass/Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen - The Trio (Pablo, 1974)
McCoy Tyner - Trident (Milestone, 1975)
Bill Evans -Alone Again (Fantasy, 1975)
Dexter Gordon - Bouncin’ with Dex (SteepleChase, 1975)
Stanley Clarke - Journey to Love (Nemperor, 1975)
Wayne Shorter - Native Dancer (Columbia, 1975)
Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert (ECM, 1975)
Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson - Ella and Oscar (Pablo, 1975)
Grover Washington Jr. - Mister Magic (Kudu, 1975)
Bill Evans/Tony Bennett - The Bill Evans/Tony Bennett Album (Fantasy, 1975)
Charlie Haden - Closeness (Horizon, 1976)
Art Pepper - The Trip (Contemporary, 1976)
Shakti - Shakti with John McLaughlin (Columbia, 1976)
George Benson - Good King Bad (CTI, 1976)
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior (Columbia, 1976)
Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius (Epic, 1976)
Stanley Clarke - School Days (Nemperor, 1976)
Dexter Gordon - Homecoming (Columbia, 1976)
Weather Report - Black Market (Columbia, 1976)
Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass - Fitzgerald & Pass…Again (Pablo, 1976)
George Benson - Breezin’ (Warner Bros., 1976)
Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life (ECM, 1976)
Sonny Rollins - Easy Living (Milestone, 1977)
Herbie Hancock - Herbie Hancock Trio (CBS, 1977)
Ornette Coleman/Charlie Haden - Soapsuds, Soapsuds (Horizon, 1977)
V.S.O.P. - The Quintet (Columbia, 1977)
McCoy Tyner - Supertrios (Milestone, 1977)
Ron Carter - Piccolo (Milestone, 1977)
Lee Ritenour - Captain Fingers (Epic, 1977)
Al Jarreau - Look to the Rainbow (Warner Bros., 1977)
Weather Report - Heavy Weather (Columbia, 1977)
The Heath Brothers - Passin’ Through (Columbia, 1978)
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Nice Guys (ECM, 1978)
Keith Jarrett - My Song (ECM, 1978)
Woody Shaw - Rosewood (Columbia, 1978)
Jack DeJohnette - New Directions (ECM, 1978)
Sonny Rollins - Don’t Stop the Carnival (Milestone, 1978)
Ron Carter - Peg Leg (Milestone, 1978)
Air - Air Lore (Arista Novus, 1979)
Weather Report - 8:30 (Columbia, 1979)
Old and New Dreams - Old and New Dreams (ECM, 1979)
Betty Carter - The Audience with Betty Carter (Bet-Car, 1979)
Tony Williams - The Joy of Flying (Columbia, 1979)
Sarah Vaughan - The Duke Ellington Songbook, Vols. 1 & 2 (Pablo, 1979)