Charli xcx leads male-dominated Brit awards nominations – with first Beatles nod since 1977
Brat scores the British pop star five nominations, while male acts make up 53% of the overall field and mixed acts 12%
Elgar Howarth obituary
Conductor of contemporary opera and trailblazing force in the tradition-bound world of brass band music
Glebe: Gaudí review – a bold British jazz fusion debut
Guitarist Kieran Gunter and pianist Chris Bland and co embrace prog-rock, synth and velvety vocals on this Pat Metheny-inspired set
Lost Ella Fitzgerald recordings to be released – including her take on 60s pop
Oakland concert recording from 1967 features jazz standards alongside unheard Fitzgerald versions of the era’s hits, including Alfie and Music to Watch Girls By
Barre Phillips obituary
Jazz bassist and master of improvisation encouraged by Ornette Coleman who left the US for France
Laurie Holloway obituary
Composer, pianist and musical director on popular TV shows such as Parkinson and Strictly Come Dancing
Jakob Bro: Taking Turns review – lost masterpiece from great Dane’s understated jazz supergroup
Played by world-class personnel including Bill Frisell and the late, great alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, this 2014 set is full of subtle, spontaneous ideas
French flirting, flute fusion and love flowin’ free: the best old music we discovered this year
A little crate-digging can yield buried treasure – as our music writers found this year when they discovered everything from Taiwanese pop star to Cher’s disco era
Music: Kitty Empire’s 10 best albums of 2024
Americana’s classiest duo weather the storm, Kendrick Lamar has the last word, UK jazz soars – and Charli xcx unleashes the power of Brat
The 10 best contemporary albums of 2024
Astrid Sonne’s sonic odyssey led her to Auto-Tune experiments, Caroline Shaw took Emily Dickinson into junkyard hip-hop and Nala Sinephro went space-age
Zakir Hussain obituary
Virtuoso tabla player whose work with a variety of musicians included composing for films
Martial Solal obituary
French jazz pianist who loved to improvise and wrote the score for Jean-Luc Godard’s film A Bout de Souffle
Sun Ra Arkestra: Lights on a Satellite review – fitting tribute to a century of jazz
As saxophonist and band leader Marshall Allen turns 100, his evergreen outfit effortlessly draw on their rich history, as classics meet the cosmic
The 10 best global albums of 2024
DJ Love celebrated car horns, Kenyan metalhead Lord Spikeheart traversed trap and doom, while 82-year-old Milton Nascimento joined forces with Esperanza Spalding
‘You can’t help but sing along’: celebrities’ most-loved Christmas carols
Bryn Terfel, Lucy Worsley, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Eleanor Oldroyd, Angel Blue, Charlotte Ritchie, Courtney Pine and more share their festive favourites