(Photo via amazon.com)

Beyonce released her album "Lemonade" this year.

(Photo by Sarah Ventre - KJZZ)

Iggy Pop performs at SXSW in 2016.

(Photo by Sarah Ventre - KJZZ)

Noura Mint Seymali, a Mauritanian musician, captivated the audience at a world music showcase.

This year has been a really tough for many people. So as the year draws to a close, we wanted to take a minute to celebrate a few things we loved from this year, in a series called “My Favorite Things.”
 
In this first installment, KJZZ’s resident music maven, Sarah Ventre, talks about her favorite music of the year, from Beyoncé to Saharan desert rock band Imarhan. Other highlights include Arizona band Orkesta Mendoza, and a magnetic performance at SXSW by Iggy Pop.

We’ll be talking with other community members about their favorite things from 2016 over the next couple of weeks.