Sound Grammar: The Best Jazz Albums of 2025

I always wanted to write how Miles Davis talked: abrupt, profane, contemptuous, in a stiletto rhythm that jabbed and stung and threw off unexpected sparks of enlightenment and tenderness. Of course, that was a voice that defied imitation.

Fortunately, Quincy Troupe did the next best thing in writing Miles’ Autobiography, where you can almost hear his jagged, bristling voice talking shit, spreading gossip, telling lies that somehow reveal deep truths. We need voices like that now, fearless and defiant.