Click to listen to the Top 88 of 2016 on Spotify or YouTube.
Click here for the 2016 Top Tens from our Show Hosts
| ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | |
| 1) | Charles Lloyd | I Long to See You (Purchase) | Blue Note |
| 2) | John Scofield | Country for Old Men (Purchase) | Impulse! |
| 3) | Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family | Beginning of a Memory (Purchase) | Palmetto |
| 4) | Yellowjackets | Cohearence (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 5) | Erroll Garner | Ready Take One (Purchase) | Octave/Legacy |
| 6) | The Bad Plus | It’s Hard (Purchase) | Okeh |
| 7) | Renee Rosnes | Written in the Rocks (Purchase) | Smoke Sessions |
| 8) | Charlie Hunter | Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth (Purchase) | GroundUp |
| 9) | Tierney Sutton | The Sting Variations (Purchase) | BFM |
| 10) | Allen Toussaint | American Tunes (Purchase) | Nonesuch |
| 11) | Marcus Strickland | Nihil Novi (Purchase) | Blue Note |
| 12) | Whirlpool with Ron Miles | Dancing on the Inside (Purchase) | Ears & Eyes |
| 13) | Bill O’Connell & the Latin Jazz All Stars | Heart Beat (Purchase) | Savant |
| 14) | Will Bernard | Out and About (Purchase) | Posi-Toneh |
| 15) | Jane Ira Bloom | Early Americans (Purchase) | Outlilne |
| 16) | Theo Croker | Escape Velocity (Purchase) | Okeh |
| 17) | Marquis Hill | The Way We Play (Purchase) | Concord |
| 18) | Ed Calle | 360 (Purchase) | Mojito |
| 19) | Damian Draghici | The American Dream (Purchase) | Century Jazz |
| 20) | Snarky Puppy | Culcha Vulcha (Purchase) | GroundUp |
| 21) | Julian Lage | Arclight (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 22) | Chris Cheek | Saturday Songs (Purchase) | Sunnyside |
| 23) | Metalwood | Twenty (Purchase) | Cellar Live |
| 24) | Esperanza Spalding | Emily’s D+Evolution (Purchase) | Concord |
| 25) | Paquito D’Rivera | Paquito & Manzanero (Purchase) | Sunnyside |
| 26) | Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom | Otis Was a Polar Bear (Purchase) | Royal Potato Family |
| 27) | Dick Oatts/Mats Holmquist New York Jazz Orchestra | A Tribute to Herbie + 1 (Purchase) | Mama |
| 28) | Corey Christiansen | Factory Girl (Purchase) | Origin |
| 29) | Gordon Goodwin’s Little Phat Band | An Elusive Man (Purchase) | Music of Content |
| 30) | Brian Bromberg | Full Circle (Purchase) | Artistry |
| 31) | Ryan Keberle & Catharsis | Azul Infinito (Purchase) | Greenleaf |
| 32) | Madeleine Peyroux | Secular Hymns (Purchase) | Impulse! |
| 33) | Scott Tixier | Cosmic Adventure (Purchase) | Sunnyside |
| 34) | Fahir Atakoglu | Live at Umbria Jazz (Purchase) | Far & Here |
| 35) | Nels Cline | Lovers (Purchase) | Blue Note |
| 36) | Afro Bop Alliance Big Band | Revelation (Purchase) | Oa2 |
| 37) | Jason Miles | To Grover With Love: Live in Japan (Purchase) | Whaling City Sound |
| 38) | Jeff Coffin & Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band | The Inside of the Outside (Purchase) | Ear Up |
| 39) | Dominick Farinacci | Short Stories (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 40) | Ray Obiedo | Latin Jazz Project Vol. 1 (Purchase) | Rhythmus |
| 41) | Gregory Porter | Take Me to the Alley (Purchase) | Blue Note |
| 42) | Warren Wolf | Convergence (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 43) | Harry Allen’s All Star New York Saxophone Band | The Candy Men (Purchase) | Arbors Jazz |
| 44) | John Beasley | Monk’estra Vol. 1 (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 45) | Wayne Bergeron | Full Circle (Purchase) | Yamaha |
| 46) | Kenny Garrett | Do Your Dance! (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 47) | Le Rex | Wild Man (Purchase) | Cunieform |
| 48) | Harold Lopez-Nussa | El Viaje (Purchase) | Mack Avenue |
| 49) | Rene Marie | Sound of Red (Purchase) | Motema |
| 50) | Christopher’s Very Happy Band | We Are Bathed in Sunlight (Purchase) | Realtown! |
| 51) | Monika Herzig | The Whole World in Her Hands (Purchase) | Whaling City Sound |
| 52) | Bob Mintzer | All L.A. Band (Purchase) | Fuzzy Music |
| 53) | Camila Meza | Traces (Purchase) | Sunnsyside |
| 54) | Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble | Havana Blue (Purchase) | 316 |
| 55) | Peter Erskine | Dr. Um and the Lost Pages (Purchase) | Fuzzy Music |
| 56) | Fred Hersch Trio | Sunday Night at the Vanguard (Purchase) | Palmetto |
| 57) | The Phil Norman Tentet | Then & Now (Purchase) | Mama |
| 58) | Susie Arioli | Spring (Purchase) | Spectra |
| 59) | Manuel Valera & Groove Square | Urban Landscape (Purchase) | Destiny |
| 60) | The 14 Jazz Orchestra | Nothing Hard is Ever Easy (Purchase) | Dabon |
| 61) | Ed Calle | Mamblue (Purchase) | Mojito |
| 62) | Ed Cherry | Soul Tree (Purchase) | Posi-Tone |
| 63) | SFJazz Collective | The Music of Michael Jackson and Original Compositions (Purchase) | SFJaz |
| 64) | Kenny Barron | Book of Intuition (Purchase) | Impulse! |
| 65) | Eric Hargett Trio | Steppin’ Up (Purchase) | Whaling City Sound |
| 66) | Silvano Monasterios | Partly Sunny (Purchase) | Savant |
| 67) | Enrico Rava | Wild Dance (Purchase) | ECM |
| 68) | Jim Rotondi | Dark Blue (Purchase) | Smoke Sessions |
| 69) | Dr. Lonnie Smith | Evolution (Purchase) | Blue Note |
| 70) | Steve Turre | Colors for the Masters (Purchase) | Smoke Sessions |
| 71) | JD Allen | Americana: Musings on Jazz and Blues (Purchase) | Savant |
| 72) | Jerry Bergonzi | Spotlight on Standards (Purchase) | Savant |
| 73) | Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra | All My Yesterdays: the Debut 1966 Recordings (Purchase) | Resonance |
| 74) | Branford Marsalis Quartet with Kurt Elling | The Journey (Purchase) | Marsalis/Okeh |
| 75) | Murray, Allan & Carrington Power Trio | Perfection (Purchase) | Motema |
| 76) | Ian Shaw | The Theory of Joy (Purchase) | Jazz Village |
| 77) | Dave Stryker | Eight Track II (Purchase) | Strike Zone |
| 78) | Steve Fidyk | Allied Forces (Purchase) | Posi-Tone |
| 79) | Ken Peplowski | Enrapture (Purchase) | Capri |
| 80) | Freddie Hendrix | Jersey Cat (Purchase) | Sunnyside |
| 81) | Guillermo Klein | Los Guachos V (Purchase) | Sunnyside |
| 82) | Jae Sinnett | Zero to 60 (Purchase) | J-Nett |
| 83) | Stryker/Slagle Band Expanded | Routes (Purchase) | Strike Zone |
| 84) | Cory Weeds & the Jeff Hamilton Trio | This Happy Madness (Purchase) | Cellar Live |
| 85) | Bill Charlap Trio | Notes From New York (Purchase) | Impulse! |
| 86) | Michael Dease | Father Figure (Purchase) | Posi-Tone |
| 87) | Ted Nash Big Band | Presidential Suite (Purchase) | Motema |
| 88) | One for All | The Third Decade (Purchase) | Smoke Sessions |