14 Best Music Releases in 2014
From Neil Young and Bob Dylan to Prince and Dianne Reeves. See who else made our cut
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David McClister
Willie Nelson
Band of Brothers (Sony/Legacy) Willie Nelson — the songwriter — returns to gratify fans with his first album to showcase mostly originals since 1996.
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Lester Cohen
Melissa Etheridge
This Is M.E. (MLE/Universal) The guitar-wielding singer-songwriter stretches her musical range on this album while celebrating her recent marriage to Linda Wallem.
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Autumn de Wilde
Smokey Robinson
Smokey & Friends (Verve) The Motown legend demonstrates why he’s one of the most important American songwriters to emerge in the past 50 years.
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Robert Sebree La Lennoxa Ltd
Annie Lennox
Nostalgia (Blue Note) The Scottish blue-eyed soul diva has recorded a winner that shows off her fancy for American jazz and blues.
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Warner Bros. Records
Bette Midler
It’s the Girls (Warner Bros.) The brassy legend gives a fun new meaning to “riot girl” as she pays tribute to various “girl singing groups” with songs such as “Be My Baby” and “Tell Him.”
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Jerris Madison
Dianne Reeves
Beautiful Life (Concord) The heralded jazz singer offers spellbinding makeovers of pop and soul gems, including Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You.” What could be more divine?
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Ed Miles
Robert Plant
Lullaby and…the Ceaseless Roar (Nonesuch) In a career-defining move, the former Led Zeppelin front man thought big — stylistically — and is now reaping his highest critical praise yet.
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NPG/Warner Bros. Records
Prince
Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum (Warner Bros.) He still reigns supreme with these two gripping discs 30 years after his breakthrough film and soundtrack, Purple Rain.
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Pegi Young
Neil Young
Storyone (Reprise) Epic themes concerning the environment and his divorce meet epic execution on this album, thanks to a sweeping 92-piece orchestra.
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David Katzenstein
Regina Carter
Southern Comfort (Sony Masterworks) The jazz violin virtuoso takes us on a musical travelogue that traces her Alabama roots with a hearty mix of blues, gospel and bluegrass.
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Shawn Peters
Various Artists, Uncompromising Expression (Blue Note)
Uncompromising Expression (Blue Note) One of the year’s most efficient and enjoyable surveys of the world’s most famous jazz imprint, this five-disc anthology includes early innovators (Meade “Lux” Lewis) as well as modern-day hit makers (Gregory Porter, pictured).
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Steve Schapiro
Bill Evans
The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 (Prestige) Reissued on four 180-gram vinyl LPs, these legendary live sessions from the influential pianist captured him at the height of his mercurial career.
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Elliott Landy
Bob Dylan and the Band
The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 (Legacy/Columbia) The six-disc package contains 138 tracks from Dylan’s historic spring 1967 sessions in West Saugerties, N.Y. Every serious Bob Dylan fan has been feverishly waiting for this near-mythical set.
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