# Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

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Preserving Alabama's jazz heritage, and inspiring the next generation of artists

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## Posts

- [News & Features from the Jazz World](https://jazzhall.com/news-interviews/)
- [October 19: Third week at No. 1 for Stefon Harris](https://jazzhall.com/october-19-third-week-at-no-1-for-stefon-harris/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a third consecutive week is Stefon Harris Legacy Dances feat. Casey Benjamin (Motema). Most added (+23) are Sean Mason Trio State Of The Art (Taylor Christian) and Joey DeFrancesco Live at Keystone Korner (Mack Avenue). Biggest mover (+76) is Monty Alexander A Jamarican In Paris (PeeWee!). Highest debut
- [Branford Marsalis Quartet and Dianne Reeves: Dedicated to You review – eloquent Coltrane tribute](https://jazzhall.com/branford-marsalis-quartet-and-dianne-reeves-dedicated-to-you-review-eloquent-coltrane-tribute/): (Blue Note)This elegant contemporary reinvention of 1963 album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman pairs Marsalis’s post-bop sax with Reeves’ agile vocals, to time-stopping effect In the early 1960s, the Impulse! label tried to steer its star saxophonist John Coltrane away from increasingly uncompromising and experimental music that it feared might be scaring its customers. Label
- [October 12: Antonio Adolfo and Stefon Harris tie at No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/october-12-antonio-adolfo-and-stefon-harris-tie-at-no-1/): Two releases tie for No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart: Antonio Adolfo Balaios (AAM Music) — which is also most reported (36 stations) — and Stefon Harris Legacy Dances feat. Casey Benjamin (Motema). Most added (+18) is Jocelyn Gould So Delighted (La Reserve). Biggest mover (+67) is Bobby Watson Continuum (HighNote). Highest debut (No.
- [‘I can’t listen to Pink Floyd - I find their music dreary’: Elvis Costello’s honest playlist](https://jazzhall.com/i-cant-listen-to-pink-floyd-i-find-their-music-dreary-elvis-costellos-honest-playlist/): The singer-songwriter owes a lot to Georgie Fame and likes the romantic side of Jimi Hendrix – but which ringtone song can put him in a bad mood? The first song I fell in love with The Wind Cries Mary by Jimi Hendrix, which came out in 1967 when I was 12. Hendrix was known for outgoing
- [October 5: Stefon Harris is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/october-5-stefon-harris-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (40 stations) is Stefon Harris Legacy Dances feat. Casey Benjamin (Motema). Most added (+24) is Bobby Watson Continuum (HighNote). Biggest mover (+65) is Monty Alexander A Jamarican In Paris (PeeWee!) Highest debut (No. 45) is Haruna Fukazawa Plays at the Wrong Time (Orange Paw).
- [Meshell Ndegeocello: Synonym review – vivid all-star reinventions of everyone from Bob Dylan to J-Lo](https://jazzhall.com/meshell-ndegeocello-synonym-review-vivid-all-star-reinventions-of-everyone-from-bob-dylan-to-j-lo/): (Blue Note)In the jazz-soul singer’s ‘expression of queer liberation’, stars from Chaka Khan to Bill Callahan to Cynthia Erivo duet on equally varied songs from Cher to the Human League and beyond It’s fair to say that Meshell Ndegeocello has made a career out of declining to stay in one place too long. Since helping
- [Billie Holiday’s hit was the fruit of another | Brief letters](https://jazzhall.com/billie-holidays-hit-was-the-fruit-of-another-brief-letters/): Abel Meeropol | Streaming cold | Davey’s navy | The knock-on effect | Preordering Dr Richard J Goy (Letters, 23 September) mentions Billie Holiday, and asks “Who would dare to write Strange Fruit today?” As wonderful as Holiday was, she didn’t write Strange Fruit. It was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher and member
- [Arts Council England doesn’t need ‘swagger’, it needs reform | Letter](https://jazzhall.com/arts-council-england-doesnt-need-swagger-it-needs-reform-letter/): Reader Chris Hodgkins proposes a dual‑pillar system that safeguards national institutions while establishing a dedicated body for grassroots arts and music The interview with the new chair of Arts Council England (ACE), who says she wants the organisation to “get its swagger back”, misdiagnoses the crisis facing England’s cultural system (‘I want us to be
- [September 28: Joey Alexander repeats at No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/september-28-joey-alexander-repeats-at-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a second week is Joey Alexander Celestial Keeper (Mack Avenue). Most added (+18) is Azar Lawrence Turn Up The Music (Trazar). Biggest mover (+46) is Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y Kind of Grunge (Cellar Live). Most reported (39 stations) is Stefon Harris Legacy Dances feat. Casey
- [It’s going to be a blast: why 100 tubas are heading for a garden in Haddington](https://jazzhall.com/its-going-to-be-a-blast-why-100-tubas-are-heading-for-a-garden-in-haddington/): Faced with a new concert venue – a vast and beautiful walled garden – John Harris and the Lammermuir festival had to decide how to fill it with sound. Anthony Braxton’s colossal composition was the irresistible solution. Working in contemporary music, I am used to eyebrows being raised by friends and family when I answer
- [September 21: Joey Alexander is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/september-21-joey-alexander-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Joey Alexander Celestial Keeper (Mack Avenue). Most added (+20) is Branford Marsalis Quartet with Dianne Reeves Dedicated To You (Blue Note). Biggest mover (+46) is Sullivan Fortner Leave That In There (Artwork). Highest debut (No. 38) is Carmen Lundy Notes From The Wine Cellar (Afrasia Productions). Most
- [Cassandra Wilson obituary](https://jazzhall.com/cassandra-wilson-obituary/): American jazz singer and songwriter who was inspired by the Delta blues and gospel sounds of her Mississippi childhood Cassandra Wilson, the double Grammy-winning jazz vocalist and songwriter who has died aged 70, was described in 2001 by Time magazine as “America’s best singer”. Superlatives accompanied Wilson throughout her career; her vocal skills supported them.
- [Elkie Brooks looks back: ‘Before I went on stage I used to drink Guinness and a few shots of brandy’](https://jazzhall.com/elkie-brooks-looks-back-before-i-went-on-stage-i-used-to-drink-guinness-and-a-few-shots-of-brandy/): The singer-songwriter on her rock’n’roll past, playing second fiddle to the Beatles, and the key to being an energetic performer in your 80s Born Elaine Bookbinder in Salford in 1945, Elkie Brooks is a rock, blues and jazz singer known as the British Queen of Blues. She spent much of the 1960s on the cabaret circuit,
- [100 years after John Coltrane’s birth, secret tapes are emerging. What can they tell us about jazz’s great rulebreaker?](https://jazzhall.com/100-years-after-john-coltranes-birth-secret-tapes-are-emerging-what-can-they-tell-us-about-jazzs-great-rulebreaker/): The sax star turned his back on fame to embrace free jazz. Caught on a tape machine hidden in an overcoat, newly revealed recordings show how he did it In August 1965, at the height of his fame, saxophonist John Coltrane headlined the DownBeat jazz festival in Chicago. Taking to the stage with a new
- [Gretchen Parlato: The Wise Ones review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/gretchen-parlato-the-wise-ones-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Edition)With guests including Robert Glasper, Parlato turns her immaculate phrasing to soft funk, dancefloor numbers and interpretations of Stevie Wonder and Tears for Fears Hearing Gretchen Parlato’s spellbinding version of the Herbie Hancock song Butterfly was unforgettable when the eloquent LA-born singer’s star glimmered into view in the 2000s. The unique qualities she revealed soon
- [Lucas Debargue: Gershwin Variations album review – freshness and flair](https://jazzhall.com/lucas-debargue-gershwin-variations-album-review-freshness-and-flair/): (Sony)Alongside supple and distinctive accounts of Rhapsody in Blue and the Piano Concerto and Preludes, the French pianist showcases his jazz chops in reinterpretations of Gershwin’s timeless songs Ever since Lucas Debargue took fourth prize at the 2015 international Tchaikovsky competition, he’s refused to be pigeonholed. His distinctive journey brings him now to George Gershwin,
- [September 14: Eight weeks at No. 1 for Emmet Cohen](https://jazzhall.com/september-14-eight-weeks-at-no-1-for-emmet-cohen/): At No. 1 for a eighth consecutive week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Tied for most added (+16) are Dan Siegel Resolution (Seal Stone) and Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble Love Is The Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces (Palmetto). Biggest mover (+41) and highest debut (No. 38) is The
- [‘When there’s joy, there’s room for hope’: Eberechi Eze, Leona Lewis, and Yinka Ilori in conversation with Ezra Collective](https://jazzhall.com/when-theres-joy-theres-room-for-hope-eberechi-eze-leona-lewis-and-yinka-ilori-in-conversation-with-ezra-collective/): Bandleader Femi Koleoso brings together the England and Arsenal star, the musician and the artist to discuss adversity, creativity and Black British culture • ‘On the other side of pain there can be renewal’: Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso on reasons to hold onto hope• ‘Like painting with light’: photographer Temi Adegbayibi on capturing the energy
- [‘I show how energetic it can be’: the photographer capturing Britain’s golden age of jazz](https://jazzhall.com/i-show-how-energetic-it-can-be-the-photographer-capturing-britains-golden-age-of-jazz/): Temi Adegbayibi started out taking pictures of the Ezra Collective and other British musicians as a hobby, then found his work exhibited at the Royal Albert Hall. He discusses Black joy and the movement and stillness of jazz When I speak to Temi Adegbayibi on the phone, the 26-year-old photographer is on the move. He
- [September 7: Emmet Cohen is No. 1 a seventh week](https://jazzhall.com/september-7-emmet-cohen-is-no-1-a-seventh-week/): At No. 1 for a seventh straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+17) is Jalen Baker Repaved (Cellar Live). Biggest mover (+51) is Joey Alexander Celestial Keeper (Mack Avenue). Most reported (36 stations) is Antonio Adolfo Balaios (AAM Music). Tied for highest debut (No. 36) are
- [Cassandra Wilson, Grammy-winning jazz singer, dies aged 70](https://jazzhall.com/cassandra-wilson-grammy-winning-jazz-singer-dies-aged-70/): Mississippi-born Wilson, who worked across folk, pop, R&B and country, was once dubbed America’s best singer Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer has died. She was 70. Dubbed America’s best singer by Time magazine in 2001, Wilson was best known for her genre-bending voice, which expanded the boundaries of traditional blues-based
- [‘It’s the story of what happens when the music stops’: bringing tormented jazz legend Bill Evans to life](https://jazzhall.com/its-the-story-of-what-happens-when-the-music-stops-bringing-tormented-jazz-legend-bill-evans-to-life/): Having directed documentaries about David Bowie, Radiohead and Joy Division, Grant Gee takes on a biopic of the turbulent and tragic American pianist In 1997, Grant Gee directed the video for Radiohead’s single No Surprises, a four-minute film that featured Thom Yorke miming the song inside a water-filled diver’s helmet, apparently almost drowning in the
- [August 31: Sixth week at No. 1 for Emmet Cohen](https://jazzhall.com/august-31-sixth-week-at-no-1-for-emmet-cohen/): At No. 1 for a sixth consecutive week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+20) is Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y Kind of Grunge (Cellar Live). Biggest mover (+54) is Bria Skonberg Indigo (Cellar Music Group). Most reported (40 stations) is Antonio Adolfo Balaios (AAM Music). Highest
- [Gaia Wilmer Large Ensemble: Parabólico review – gorgeous reinvention of Gilberto Gil’s grooves](https://jazzhall.com/gaia-wilmer-large-ensemble-parabolico-review-gorgeous-reinvention-of-gilberto-gils-grooves/): (Sunnyside)Saxophonist and composer Wilmer brilliantly transforms Gil tunes, changing tempos and adding breathy melodies, flourishes of horns or undulating rhythms to luscious effect Over the past three years, Brazilian saxophonist and composer Gaia Wilmer has reimagined the catalogues of her country’s virtuosos so radically that it’s become a signature art. Folia: The Music of Egberto
- [August 24: Five weeks at No. 1 for Emmet Cohen](https://jazzhall.com/august-24-five-weeks-at-no-1-for-emmet-cohen/): At No. 1 for a fifth straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+19) is Rob Dixon Naptown Soul (Strikezone). Biggest mover (+54) and highest debut (No. 22) is Stefon Harris Legacy Dances feat. Casey Benjamin (Motema). Most reported (42 stations) is Conrad Herwig The Latin Side
- [Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, Dafnis Prieto: Fifteen review – Pulitzer winner stirs gorgeous improv patterns](https://jazzhall.com/henry-threadgill-vijay-iyer-dafnis-prieto-fifteen-review-pulitzer-winner-stirs-gorgeous-improv-patterns/): (Nonesuch)By turns gleeful, sensitive, urgent and ruminative, this is a brilliant set that plays to the trio’s formidable strengths Though the century-old Pulitzer prize – launched as a celebration of the craft and social necessity of good news reportage – was eventually expanded to include fiction and music by 1943, the US-born art of jazz
- [August 17: Emmet Cohen is No. 1 for a fourth week](https://jazzhall.com/august-17-emmet-cohen-is-no-1-for-a-fourth-week/): At No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (40 stations) is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+23) is Stefon Harris Legacy Dances feat. Casey Benjamin (Motema). Biggest mover (+84) and highest debut (No. 23) is Goldings Bernstein Stewart Rhombus (Smoke Sessions). The post August
- [A moment that changed me: My stammer made life a misery – then a song gave me back my voice](https://jazzhall.com/a-moment-that-changed-me-my-stammer-made-life-a-misery-then-a-song-gave-me-back-my-voice/): As a teenager, I was so ashamed of my speech disability that even my family didn’t know about it. When Scatman John came on the radio, celebrating his own stammer in a hit about self-esteem, I knew I had to meet him For most of my life, I had one goal: don’t get found out.
- [‘For this record, I took an edible and said, screw it’: jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner on confronting the trauma of Hurricane Katrina](https://jazzhall.com/for-this-record-i-took-an-edible-and-said-screw-it-jazz-pianist-sullivan-fortner-on-confronting-the-trauma-of-hurricane-katrina/): The New Orleans native is a three-time Grammy winner at the top of his game – and is now using his instinctive style to celebrate the resilience and clarity of Katrina survivors ‘Black music is forward and upward in movement, you know? Never forward or upward,” pianist Sullivan Fortner declares. “It’s a tornado that’s always
- [August 10: Third week at No. 1 for Emmet Cohen](https://jazzhall.com/august-10-third-week-at-no-1-for-emmet-cohen/): At No. 1 for a third straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+22) is Goldings Bernstein Stewart Rhombus (Smoke Sessions). Biggest mover (+76) is Ali Ryerson The Ali Ryerson Quartet (ACR Music). Most reported (40 stations) is Conrad Herwig The Latin Side of Chick Corea
- [Blue Note to bring world-famous jazz club to London](https://jazzhall.com/blue-note-to-bring-world-famous-jazz-club-to-london/): Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper will headline opening of club’s first UK venue in Covent Garden next month The world-famous New York jazz club Blue Note will open its first UK venue in London next month. Located in the basement of St Martins Lane hotel, Covent Garden, the club promises the best of British jazz alongside
- [‘Trumpeters? We think we’re the kings of the orchestra’: Wynton Marsalis prepares to blow the Edinburgh festival away](https://jazzhall.com/trumpeters-we-think-were-the-kings-of-the-orchestra-wynton-marsalis-prepares-to-blow-the-edinburgh-festival-away/): It has 12 movements, 200 musicians and aims to unite America. The great US trumpeter and composer talks about his All Rise symphony, his jazz great mentors – and learning humility from his wife At Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Wynton Marsalis is hard to spot. When he first played this venue, in 1984, he was
- [Brian Case obituary](https://jazzhall.com/brian-case-obituary/): No one wrote about jazz and related music with the pungency of my friend and former colleague Brian Case, who has died aged 88. His pieces on favourite figures, from Dexter Gordon to Ian Dury, crackled with allusions and insights drawn from a broad cultural hinterland. Here he is, introducing the young readers of the
- [August 3: Two weeks at No. 1 for Emmet Cohen](https://jazzhall.com/august-3-two-weeks-at-no-1-for-emmet-cohen/): At No. 1 for a second week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (41 stations) is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+15) is Cindy Blackman Santana Coherence (Mack Avenue). Biggest mover for a second week (+41) is Joey Alexander Celestial Keeper (Mack Avenue). Highest debut (No. 32) is Alternative Guitar
- [‘Give respect to Africa and the bush people’: Mulatu Astatke on pioneering Ethio-jazz and honouring his roots](https://jazzhall.com/give-respect-to-africa-and-the-bush-people-mulatu-astatke-on-pioneering-ethio-jazz-and-honouring-his-roots/): The multi-instrumentalist faced resistance when he premiered his sound in the 60s but audiences have fallen in love with it since. Now aged 82, he’s still finding new directions – and wants recognition for Africa’s indigenous artists “Do you know the Metro club?” I feign recognition to the 82-year-old father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke, who
- [Plas Johnson obituary](https://jazzhall.com/plas-johnson-obituary/): Celebrated saxophonist in demand for session work and film soundtracks who was famous for his stylistic and technical versatility As a first-call session musician in the Hollywood studios, the saxophonist Plas Johnson needed to be able to cope with anything the occasion might require. One day in 1963, during a session to record Henry Mancini’s
- [July 27: Emmet Cohen is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/july-27-emmet-cohen-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Most added (+20) is Elias Haslanger Legacy (Bandstand Presents). Highest debut (No. 19) and biggest mover (+84) is Joey Alexander Celestial Keeper (Mack Avenue). Most reported (42 stations) is Conrad Herwig The Latin Side of Chick Corea (Savant). The post July
- [Saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for solo on The Pink Panther Theme, dies aged 94](https://jazzhall.com/saxophonist-plas-johnson-known-for-solo-on-the-pink-panther-theme-dies-aged-94/): Jazz saxophonist – who recorded with artists Frank Sinatra, BB King and more – died in Los Angeles, reports say The US jazz saxophonist Plas Johnson, best known for his solo riff on the timeless classic The Pink Panther Theme, has died at the age of 94, according to reports. The native of Donaldsonville, Louisiana,
- [Norma Winstone and NDR Radio Orchestra: A Timeless Place review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/norma-winstone-and-ndr-radio-orchestra-a-timeless-place-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Enodoc)The emotive lyricist and surefooted improvisor sounds lustrous in a 1990 recording featuring an exquisite I Loves You, Porgy When Norma Winstone, the peerless English vocalist and lyricist, reached 80 in 2021 – still in entrancing voice – a cascade of tributes included one from ECM Records boss Manfred Eicher, legendary master of doing more
- [July 20: Fourth week at No. 1 for Arturo Sandoval](https://jazzhall.com/july-20-fourth-week-at-no-1-for-arturo-sandoval/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a fourth consecutive week is Arturo Sandoval Sangú (TM). Most added (+29) is Joey Alexander Celestial Keeper (Mack Avenue). Highest debut (No. 28) and tied for biggest mover (+93) is Ali Ryerson The Ali Ryerson Quartet (ACR Music). Also tied for biggest mover (+93) is Conrad
- [‘Fun, propulsive, full of queer joy’: readers’ favourite albums of 2026 so far, from Muna to Raye and J Cole](https://jazzhall.com/fun-propulsive-full-of-queer-joy-readers-favourite-albums-of-2026-so-far-from-muna-to-raye-and-j-cole/): After the Guardian’s music critics chose their best of the half-year, we asked you for your picks – from Brian Jackson and Arlo Parks to Maya Hawke, Flea and more • The best albums of 2026 so far• ‘I saw it seven times in the cinema’: readers’ favourite films of 2026 so far The album
- [‘We’ve had moments of devastating pain’: jazz icons Ezra Collective on their new album – and why we can’t rely on the government](https://jazzhall.com/weve-had-moments-of-devastating-pain-jazz-icons-ezra-collective-on-their-new-album-and-why-we-cant-rely-on-the-government/): Speaking at a Guardian Live event at Love Supreme festival, the band tell us about lessons with Tony Allen, mayhem in Lagos and why musicians should be ‘pillars of the community’ At Sussex’s Love Supreme festival last weekend, Femi Koleoso and James Mollison of British jazz figureheads Ezra Collective joined me for a wide-ranging conversation
- [Burning flags, busty blondes and bison skulls: 48 photographs that capture America at 250](https://jazzhall.com/burning-flags-busty-blondes-and-bison-skulls-48-photographs-that-capture-america-at-250/): From the gold rush to civil rights, the moon landing to 9/11, the US has always understood, mythologised and sold itself through the power of the still image The United States was founded in 1776, but did not begin to see itself until the autumn of 1839, when daguerreotypes, the first form of photograph, reached
- [‘I saw Herbie Hancock play with D’Angelo, and got my head blown off!’: the festival keeping alive jazz’s golden age](https://jazzhall.com/i-saw-herbie-hancock-play-with-dangelo-and-got-my-head-blown-off-the-festival-keeping-alive-jazzs-golden-age/): From Miles Davis to Count Basie and Etta James to Prince, Rotterdam’s North Sea jazz festival has hosted the biggest names in music. As the event turns 50, musicians and organisers share their favourite memories from past years – and tell us why jazz isn’t dead For a weekend in July each year, a vast
- [Forty-one members and counting! Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band, the gigantic Leeds jazz group embracing ‘chaos, imperfection and all that’](https://jazzhall.com/forty-one-members-and-counting-fergs-imaginary-big-band-the-gigantic-leeds-jazz-group-embracing-chaos-imperfection-and-all-that/): With a punkish, antifascist take on the trad jazz sound of Duke Ellington, this noisy outfit are epic in every way. But how on earth do they make a living? Fergus Quill picks me up from Leeds station in his Nissan Micra – 152,000 miles on the clock, double bass expertly slotted between seats –
- [July 6: Three weeks at No. 1 for Arturo Sandoval](https://jazzhall.com/july-6-three-weeks-at-no-1-for-arturo-sandoval/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a third straight week is Arturo Sandoval Sangú (TM). Most added (+12) is Seamus Blake Eh! – Plays the Music of Eddie Harris (Cellar Music Group). Biggest mover (+46) and highest debut (No. 39) is Leigh Pilzer Keep Holding On (Strange Woman). Most reported (38 stations)
- [Quincy Jones emailed saying, ‘Hey man, I need to have a word’: how Jacob Collier made In My Room](https://jazzhall.com/quincy-jones-emailed-saying-hey-man-i-need-to-have-a-word-how-jacob-collier-made-in-my-room/): ‘Stevie Wonder and Prince played all the instruments on their albums, but in recording studios. I did it all in a back room at home – and then it won two Grammys’ I grew up as one of the YouTube generation, with the idea that you could create your own fanbase by making videos. So
- [Post your questions for Ezra Collective at Love Supreme festival](https://jazzhall.com/post-your-questions-for-ezra-collective-at-love-supreme-festival/): The Guardian is partnering with Love Supreme this year, where we will have a live Q&A with the UK jazz heroes – leave us your questions for them Vanguards of the London jazz scene, five-piece instrumental group Ezra Collective have spent the past decade electrifying stages from Glastonbury to Wembley Arena with their high-energy antics.
- [June 29: Second week at No. 1 for Arturo Sandoval](https://jazzhall.com/june-29-second-week-at-no-1-for-arturo-sandoval/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a second consecutive week is Arturo Sandoval Sangú (TM). Most added (+16) is Ardeshir Introducing (Cellar Music Group). Biggest mover (+35) and most reported (39 stations) is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Highest debut (No. 40) is Reid Hoyson Project Home (Reid Hoyson Productions).
- [Joe Lovano: Paramount Quartet review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/joe-lovano-paramount-quartet-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (ECM)Lovano and his spirited quartet make his instrument glow in all its pliable eloquence, with rattling originals amid the Charlie Haden and Wayne Shorter covers The saxophone’s 19th-century inventor, the Belgian Adolphe Sax, imagined hybrid horns that could combine the speed and fluency of woodwinds with the volume and punch of brass. Sax’s career was
- [June 22: Arturo Sandoval is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/june-22-arturo-sandoval-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Arturo Sandoval Sangú (TM). Most added (+16) is Brad Goode Quintet ft. Ernie Watts Live Your Dream – Live At North Street Cabaret (Origin). Biggest mover (+101) and most reported (39 stations) is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Highest debut (No. 28) is Helen Sung Big
- [‘It’s stronger than a drug!’ Transcendent portraits from Montreux jazz festival – in pictures](https://jazzhall.com/its-stronger-than-a-drug-transcendent-portraits-from-montreux-jazz-festival-in-pictures/): From Quincy Jones to Sam Smith, Raye to Santana, Anoush Abrar has been taking mesmerising photographs of the festival’s stars for years Continue reading... Powered by WPeMatico
- [Abdullah Ibrahim obituary](https://jazzhall.com/abdullah-ibrahim-obituary/): South African jazz pianist, composer and improviser who cast a spell on audiences all over the world The pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, who has died aged 91, was among the first musicians from South Africa to achieve and sustain a major reputation with the international jazz audience. Listeners around the world, at first in small clubs
- [From the pain of apartheid to luscious beauty: 10 of the best recordings by jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim](https://jazzhall.com/from-the-pain-of-apartheid-to-luscious-beauty-10-of-the-best-recordings-by-jazz-legend-abdullah-ibrahim/): The pianist and bandleader, who has died aged 91, had an inimitable style where bright, guileless melody met a fearless improvisational impulse • South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim dies aged 91 Scullery Department (from Jazz Epistle Verse 1, 1960) Born Adolph Johannes Brand in Cape Town in 1934, Abdullah Ibrahim spent his six-decade career
- [South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim dies aged 91](https://jazzhall.com/south-african-jazz-pianist-abdullah-ibrahim-dies-aged-91/): The accomplished musician, who recorded over 70 albums in his career, died peacefully in Germany after a short illness The South African jazz composer and pianist Abdullah Ibrahim has died at the age of 91. His family announced his death in a statement released on Monday. Continue reading... Powered by WPeMatico
- [‘Windrush is a love story too’: Renell Shaw on paying homage to Black British life in his new jazz trilogy](https://jazzhall.com/windrush-is-a-love-story-too-renell-shaw-on-paying-homage-to-black-british-life-in-his-new-jazz-trilogy/): The Ivor Novello-winning musician has written works inspired by his family history. He talks about building music from testimony – and why the Windrush generation deserves new narratives A briefcase-sized console with a large, sleek keypad, the MPC One drum machine is an eye-catching piece of kit. It can’t be easily overlooked among the various
- [June 15: Jeremy Pelt is at No. 1 for eighth week](https://jazzhall.com/june-15-jeremy-pelt-is-at-no-1-for-eighth-week/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for the eighth of nine weeks and third straight week is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+22) and biggest mover (+62) is Helen Sung Big Band Oracles (Sunnyside). Tied for highest debut (No. 47) Ted Rosenthal Trio The Good Old Days
- [Michael Meadowcroft obituary](https://jazzhall.com/michael-meadowcroft-obituary/): Liberal politician, local councillor and Leeds West MP who turned to journalism, writing for the Times and the Guardian Michael Meadowcroft, who has died aged 84 after a short illness, was a Yorkshire Liberal politician and activist of great resource and flair. He constantly wrong-footed Labour in its former heartlands in Leeds as a nimble
- [James Blood Ulmer, adventurous US guitarist and vocalist, dies aged 86](https://jazzhall.com/james-blood-ulmer-adventurous-us-guitarist-and-vocalist-dies-aged-86/): Musician who spliced jazz, funk and blues, including in a spell on a major label in the early 1980s, was celebrated as ‘fearless’ by his family James Blood Ulmer, the US guitarist celebrated for his avant garde splicing of jazz, blues and funk, has died aged 86. A statement on social media said he died
- [Kanya King, founder of Mobo awards for Black British music, dies aged 57](https://jazzhall.com/kanya-king-founder-of-mobo-awards-for-black-british-music-dies-aged-57/): Entrepreneur died of colon cancer, with Mobo Organisation hailing her as ‘one of the most fearless champions’ in the music industry Kanya King, the entrepreneur and tireless champion of Black British music who founded the Mobo awards, has died aged 57 from colon cancer. The news was announced by the Mobo Organisation, which said she
- [June 8: Jeremy Pelt is at No. 1 for seventh of eight weeks](https://jazzhall.com/june-8-jeremy-pelt-is-at-no-1-for-seventh-of-eight-weeks/): Staying at No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for the seventh of eight weeks is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+25) is Richard Baratta Another Kind of Bird (Savant). Biggest mover (+107) is Steve Wilson Enduring Sonance (Smoke Sessions). Highest debut (No. 25) is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth
- [‘It’ll never be like that again’: Sonny Rollins and Steve Schapiro on jazz’s golden age – in pictures](https://jazzhall.com/itll-never-be-like-that-again-sonny-rollins-and-steve-schapiro-on-jazzs-golden-age-in-pictures/): Schapiro’s stunning images of jazz greats in New York – from Dizzy Gillespie to Elvin Jones – make up a new book featuring a foreword by late saxophone icon Rollins Continue reading... Powered by WPeMatico
- [Köln 75 review – how a legendary jazz-improv show was cajoled into being by a German teenager](https://jazzhall.com/koln-75-review-how-a-legendary-jazz-improv-show-was-cajoled-into-being-by-a-german-teenager/): Watchable biopic charts how an 18-year-old German booked the sickly American pianist Keith Jarrett for what became a landmark concert Here is a niche drama about one of the most important chapters in the history of experimental jazz. It is however watchable, well acted and avoids the music-movie cliches – though I could have done
- [Miles Davis’s superior musical intelligence | Letters](https://jazzhall.com/miles-daviss-superior-musical-intelligence-letters/): Dr Richard Carter and Meirion Bowen respond to an editorial which argues that the musician still shapes modern music 100 years after his birth Your editorial marking the centenary of Miles Davis’s birth rather understates his musical intelligence (The Guardian view on 100 years after Miles Davis’s birth: why he still shapes modern music, 24
- [June 1: Jeremy Pelt returns to No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/june-1-jeremy-pelt-returns-to-no-1/): Returning to No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart after a week at No. 2 and five weeks at No. 1 is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+20) is Lakecia Benjamin We Dream (Artwork). Biggest mover (+50) is Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue). Highest debut (No. 37) is
- [Gen Z is catching up with us older readers | Brief letters](https://jazzhall.com/gen-z-is-catching-up-with-us-older-readers-brief-letters/): Everyday actions | Sonny Rollins | Peter Murrell’s purchases | Worcestershire warning | Ozzy Osbourne Is the Guardian now targeting gen Z readers? We’ve had features on “micro-efficiencies” (laying out your clothes or breakfast the night before), paying with cash and now not using weather apps (I stopped checking the weather forecast – and got
- [Magic, mastery and magisterial power: 10 of Sonny Rollins’ greatest recordings](https://jazzhall.com/magic-mastery-and-magisterial-power-10-of-sonny-rollins-greatest-recordings/): After his death aged 95, we look back at a remarkable catalogue of work that stretches from vivacious mid-50s sets to his evocative performance after 9/11 • News: Sonny Rollins, colossus of jazz saxophone, dies aged 95 A 30-year-old Sonny Rollins had already made his unique mark with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk by the
- [Sonny Rollins obituary](https://jazzhall.com/sonny-rollins-obituary/): One of the great American jazz saxophonists regarded as an improvising genius by fans all over the world The flyers for his shows often called the saxophonist Sonny Rollins “the greatest living improviser”. On the face of it, that statement appeared to collide with the evidence, because many of the elements of a Rollins gig
- [Sonny Rollins, colossus of jazz saxophone, dies aged 95](https://jazzhall.com/sonny-rollins-colossus-of-jazz-saxophone-dies-aged-95/): One of the last stars of the bebop generation, Rollins was an genius of melodic invention and improvisation, working with Davis, Monk, Coltrane and others Sonny Rollins interview from 2022: ‘I was so close to the sky. It was spiritual’ Sonny Rollins, one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all time, has died aged 95.
- [The Guardian view on 100 years after Miles Davis’s birth: why he still shapes modern music | Editorial](https://jazzhall.com/the-guardian-view-on-100-years-after-miles-daviss-birth-why-he-still-shapes-modern-music-editorial/): The trumpeter, composer and band leader still towers over jazz because he treated reinvention not as a betrayal, but as necessary for its survival The space reserved for Miles Davis in the pantheon of 20th-century music is not simply because he mastered jazz, but because he refused to let it stand still. As musicians and fans
- [Miles Davis: Ascenseur pour l’Échafaud review – harmonic openness for Louis Malle’s haunting noir thriller](https://jazzhall.com/miles-davis-ascenseur-pour-lechafaud-review-harmonic-openness-for-louis-malles-haunting-noir-thriller/): (Decca France)The trumpeter’s improvised soundtrack for the new wave director’s 1957 film still glows with sensuality, tension and nocturnal beauty in this lavish reissue When Miles Davis was dying in September 1991, an invisible, neighbouring trumpet player, who this writer would frequently hear practising graceful classical phrases, began playing homages to Miles’ voice-like, blues-inflected melodies
- [May 25: Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/may-25-ulysses-owens-jr-and-generation-y-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y Around The World With U (Cellar Music Group). Most added (+19) is Chicago Soul Jazz Collective No Wind & No Rain (Calligram). Biggest mover (+51) is Billy Childs Triumvirate (Mack Avenue). Highest debut (No. 36) is Mark Winkler Love Comes First
- [Weighing up the value of Sats | Brief letters](https://jazzhall.com/weighing-up-the-value-of-sats-brief-letters/): Reality check on exams | Double-decker buses | PM of the north | Bunch of nonsense | Deer department In 1992, we moved from London to Herefordshire with our three children, aged five, seven and nine. When I took them to join the local primary school, I asked the head what he thought of the
- [Andrie Reid obituary](https://jazzhall.com/andrie-reid-obituary/): My partner, Andrie Reid, who has died aged 73, appeared on British TV in the 1980s as a dancer and actor, as well as on stage in dance shows, operas and plays. Her main TV roles were in The Kenny Everett Television Show and as a presenter, singer and dancer in a Thames TV children’s
- [May 18: Jeremy Pelt is No. 1 for a fifth week](https://jazzhall.com/may-18-jeremy-pelt-is-no-1-for-a-fifth-week/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a fifth consecutive week and tied for most reported (42 stations) is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+19) is Ben Wolfe Any Time After Now (Resident Arts). Biggest mover (+81) and highest debut (No. 30) is Arturo Sandoval Sangú (TM).
- [‘We must keep her name alive’: Cesária Évora, the captivating Cape Verdean who went from restaurant singer to global star](https://jazzhall.com/we-must-keep-her-name-alive-cesaria-evora-the-captivating-cape-verdean-who-went-from-restaurant-singer-to-global-star/): After a lifetime of poverty, Évora found huge success aged 51 with 1992 album Miss Perfumado. As Cape Verdean singers celebrate her morna ballads on stage, those who knew her recall her power, pride and constant smoking Cape Verde, an archipelago nearly 400 miles off the coast of Senegal, is home to around 800,000 people:
- [‘I will sing at the drop of a hat’: Jeff Goldblum’s honest playlist](https://jazzhall.com/i-will-sing-at-the-drop-of-a-hat-jeff-goldblums-honest-playlist/): The actor and pianist swapped playing Beethoven for Deep Purple and knows what to put on at a party, but which of his movie themes has he put words to? The first song I learned to play When I was eight, my piano teacher Tommy Emil would come over to our house in Pittsburgh, and
- [The play that changed my life: Jack Shepherd’s dazzling jazz drama was somethin’ else](https://jazzhall.com/the-play-that-changed-my-life-jack-shepherds-dazzling-jazz-drama-was-somethin-else/): The late playwright was also a great actor and pianist who combined all three talents in Chasing the Moment, which flowed like real life Jack Shepherd’s plays have such an easy way of doing things, a kind of structure I really hadn’t experienced before. I had seen and admired him directing his own play, In
- [May 11: Fourth week at No. 1 for Jeremy Pelt](https://jazzhall.com/may-11-fourth-week-at-no-1-for-jeremy-pelt/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a fourth straight week and most reported (45 stations) is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+21) is Arturo Sandoval Sangú (TM). Biggest mover (+55) is Chick Corea Forever Yours: The Final Performance (Candid). Highest debut (No. 33) is Bobby Broom
- [May 4: Three weeks at No. 1 for Jeremy Pelt](https://jazzhall.com/may-4-three-weeks-at-no-1-for-jeremy-pelt/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a third week and most reported (42 stations) is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Biggest mover (+72) and tied for most added (+27) is Chick Corea Forever Yours: The Final Performance (Candid). Also tied for most added (+27) is Steve Wilson Enduring
- [‘Geordie optimism is this rigorous spirit of hard graft’: Newcastle jazz band Knats break out of the north-south divide](https://jazzhall.com/geordie-optimism-is-this-rigorous-spirit-of-hard-graft-newcastle-jazz-band-knats-break-out-of-the-north-south-divide/): While their London peers thrived, Knats faced dwindling funding. But after a Proms appearance and as they release a new album produced by Black Midi’s Geordie Greep, their confidence is high “It’s kind of a silly story,” says King David-Ike Elechi, grinning as he explains the origins of his jazz band Knats. At school, in
- [Add to playlist: the disaster-baiting jazz-rock brinkmanship of Taupe and the week’s best new tracks](https://jazzhall.com/add-to-playlist-the-disaster-baiting-jazz-rock-brinkmanship-of-taupe-and-the-weeks-best-new-tracks/): The trio combine sludgy rock, homemade electronics and squawking into a watertight groove that makes light work of their complex musicianship From Glasgow, ScotlandRecommended if you like Horse Lords, Melt-Banana, abrasive saxophoneUp next Album out now, touring the UK and Ireland from June Taupe’s lawless mix of “not jazz”, sludgy rock and homemade electronics hits
- [Walter Smith III: Twio Vol 2 review – classic jazz is vividly alive in the hands of this incisive saxophonist](https://jazzhall.com/walter-smith-iii-twio-vol-2-review-classic-jazz-is-vividly-alive-in-the-hands-of-this-incisive-saxophonist/): (Blue Note)The redoubtable musician and guests including Branford Marsalis and Ron Carter make standard song-shapes sparkle with focus and rugged phrasing As the passing of time undoes established norms, the contemporary music world keeps updating the meaning of that collection of styles often bundled up as “classic jazz”. In the 1940s, the modernist bebop movement
- [April 27: Jeremy Pelt is No. 1 a second week](https://jazzhall.com/april-27-jeremy-pelt-is-no-1-a-second-week/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (40 stations) is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+29), biggest mover (+82), and highest debut (No. 32) is Billy Childs Triumvirate (Mack Avenue). The post April 27: Jeremy Pelt is No. 1 a second week appeared first on
- [April 20: Jeremy Pelt is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/april-20-jeremy-pelt-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (43 stations) is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). Most added (+18) is Jesse Davis Quartet Reflections (Cellar Music Group). Biggest mover (+54) is Bria Skonberg Brass (Cellar Music Group). Highest debut (No. 31) is is Brian Lynch Torch Bearers (Hollistic
- [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Phil Collins, Oasis, Sade and Wu-Tang Clan among 2026 inductees](https://jazzhall.com/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-phil-collins-oasis-sade-and-wu-tang-clan-among-2026-inductees/): Iron Maiden, Billy Idol, Queen Latifah and Joy Division/New Order will also be inducted, along with the late Luther Vandross Phil Collins, Iron Maiden, Billy Idol, Queen Latifah, Oasis, Sade and Joy Division/New Order will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with first-time nominees Wu-Tang Clan and the late Luther
- [Mike Westbrook obituary](https://jazzhall.com/mike-westbrook-obituary/): Acclaimed musician, composer and bandleader who was one of the most significant figures in the history of British jazz As Ronnie Scott’s Old Place – the original basement club on Gerrard Street in London’s Chinatown – prepared to close its doors for the final time on 25 May 1968, the last musicians to take the
- [April 13: Kurt Elling and The WDR Big Band is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/april-13-kurt-elling-and-the-wdr-big-band-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Kurt Elling and The WDR Big Band In The Brass Palace (Big Shoulders). Most added (+24) is Brian Lynch Torch Bearers (Hollistic Musicworks). Biggest mover (+66) and highest debut (No. 32) is Javon Jackson Jackson Plays Dylan (Solid Jackson). Most reported (43 stations) is Jeremy Pelt
- [April 6: Alexa Tarantino is No. 1 for a seventh week](https://jazzhall.com/april-6-alexa-tarantino-is-no-1-for-a-seventh-week/): At No. 1 for a seventh straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+24) is Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman Spring (BMF Jazz). Biggest mover (+54) is Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y Around The World With U (Cellar Music Group). It’s also tied
- [Terry Cox obituary](https://jazzhall.com/terry-cox-obituary/): Drummer with Pentangle, the folk-rock group who found fame in the 1960s with their fusion of jazz, blues and traditional songs On 27 May 1967, a bravely original band called Pentangle made their first major appearance, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. They were not a typical folk group, although they included the folk
- [Flea: Honora review – Chili Pepper turns piper, taking up trumpet for a soulful jazz odyssey](https://jazzhall.com/flea-honora-review-chili-pepper-turns-piper-taking-up-trumpet-for-a-soulful-jazz-odyssey/): (Nonesuch)Imaginative interpretations of Funkadelic and Frank Ocean sit alongside starry collaborations and gorgeous instrumentals on the bassist’s brassy side project While some rock musicians fill the boredom of long tours with nefarious activities, bassist Flea spent Red Hot Chili Peppers’ global jaunt of 2022-24 practising the trumpet, an instrument he first played as a child
- [Miroslav Vitous: Mountain Call review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/miroslav-vitous-mountain-call-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (ECM)Jack DeJohnette and Michel Portal – both of whom died recently – are phenomenal foils for the Weather Report alumnus’s classical-influenced jazz Czech double bass virtuoso and composer Miroslav Vitous must by now have shrugged off any residual irritation about the oft-circulated fact that he was a founding member of the legendary jazz-rock fusion band
- [March 30: Sixth week at No. 1 for Alexa Tarantino](https://jazzhall.com/march-30-sixth-week-at-no-1-for-alexa-tarantino/): At No. 1 for a sixth consecutive week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+24) and biggest mover (+70) is Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra Alkebulan (Outside In). Highest debut (No. 29) is The Sistering Kate McGarry, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon The Sistering
- [Raye: This Music May Contain Hope review – a wildly ambitious epic of unbridled self-expression](https://jazzhall.com/raye-this-music-may-contain-hope-review-a-wildly-ambitious-epic-of-unbridled-self-expression/): (Human Re Sources)Almost overstuffed with musical ideas, the singer’s second studio album can be self-indulgent and messy, but it’s a heartfelt and exuberant grand statement from an artist determined to go her own way Last autumn, Raye was the subject of a lengthy profile in a major fashion magazine. In it, the singer told an
- [March 23: Five weeks at No. 1 for Alexa Tarantino](https://jazzhall.com/march-23-five-weeks-at-no-1-for-alexa-tarantino/): At No. 1 for a fifth straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (41 stations) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+17) is Aubrey Johnson The Lively Air (Greenleaf Music). Biggest mover (+57) is Monika Herzig Transparent (Key Of B). Highest debut (No. 49) is Interplay
- [March 16: Fourth week at No. 1 for Alexa Tarantino](https://jazzhall.com/march-16-fourth-week-at-no-1-for-alexa-tarantino/): At No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (45 stations) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+20) is The Sistering Kate McGarry, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon The Sistering (Zenzalai Music). Biggest mover (+92) and highest debut (No. 16)
- [Seven of the best music festivals to visit by train from the UK](https://jazzhall.com/seven-of-the-best-music-festivals-to-visit-by-train-from-the-uk/): From jazz in Rotterdam and hip-hop in Paris to brass bands on the beach in Blackpool, the Guardian’s music editor chooses the best European festivals that can be reached by rail Paris has some great festivals, such as Cercle (22-24 May), with dance music stars against the backdrop of planes and rockets in an outdoor
- [March 9: Three weeks at No. 1 for Alexa Tarantino](https://jazzhall.com/march-9-three-weeks-at-no-1-for-alexa-tarantino/): At No. 1 for a third straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and tied for most reported (41 stations) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+27) is Jeremy Pelt Our Community Will Not Be Erased (HighNote). It’s tied for biggest mover (+41) with Kurt Elling and The WDR Big
- [Tomeka Reid: Dance! Skip! Hop! review – an early contender for jazz album of the year](https://jazzhall.com/tomeka-reid-dance-skip-hop-review-an-early-contender-for-jazz-album-of-the-year/): (Out of Your Head)The cellist reunites with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tomas Fujiwara for five stunning tracks that are boundary-pushing yet populist US cellist and composer Tomeka Reid and her frequent guitar soulmate Mary Halvorson have collected so many compliments for their jazzily genre-loose innovations over the past decade and a
- [March 2: Alexa Tarantino repeats at No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/march-2-alexa-tarantino-repeats-at-no-1/): At No. 1 for a second week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (40 stations) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+26) and biggest mover (+61) is Kurt Elling and The WDR Big Band In The Brass Palace (Big Shoulders). Highest debut (No. 34) is NOLA Resistance
- [Willie Colón was an explosive energy source who took salsa into the stratosphere](https://jazzhall.com/willie-colon-was-an-explosive-energy-source-who-took-salsa-into-the-stratosphere/): With his gangster image, Colón ruffled the feathers of the musical establishment, but thrilled millions of fans as he displayed the raw rhythmic possibility of salsa Willie Colón, who has died in New York at the age of 75, was many things: master blaster of Nuyorican salsa; Puerto Rican superstar; actor in Mexican soap operas;
- [Ken Peplowski obituary](https://jazzhall.com/ken-peplowski-obituary/): Jazz musician whose virtuosic abilities with the clarinet and tenor saxophone straddled traditional and modern jazz The principal claim to jazz fame of Ken Peplowski, who has died suddenly aged 66, came from his mastery of the clarinet, an instrument that seemed to struggle for a role once bebop became the lingua franca of the
- [Feburary 23: Alexa Tarantino is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/feburary-23-alexa-tarantino-is-no-1/): At No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (38 stations) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most added (+16) is Dave Slonaker Big Band Shifty Paradigms (Origin). Biggest mover (+46) is Noah Preminger Dark Days (Criss Cross). Highest debut (No. 48) is Melissa Aldana Filin (Blue Note). The
- [‘I’m trying to expand what it means to be a skier’: Mallory Duncan on jazz, freedom and the mountains](https://jazzhall.com/im-trying-to-expand-what-it-means-to-be-a-skier-mallory-duncan-on-jazz-freedom-and-the-mountains/): The Californian once had ambitions of winning gold at the Winter Olympics. But now he is more interested in what skiing can do for the soul Growing up in the Hayward Hills, just south of Oakland, California, Mallory Duncan lived a hybrid lifestyle throughout his childhood. Weekdays were spent at school, avoiding homework, disrupting class
- [Everybody Digs Bill Evans review – absorbing delve into the tumultuous world of the great jazz man](https://jazzhall.com/everybody-digs-bill-evans-review-absorbing-delve-into-the-tumultuous-world-of-the-great-jazz-man/): Grant Gee’s film thoroughly inhabits the creative and personal torment experienced by the American pianist – with a terrific supporting Bill Pullman turn This elusive, ruminative and very absorbing movie presents its successive scenes like a sequence of unresolved chords carrying the listener on a journey without a destination – and is, incidentally, one of
- [‘Choosing happy is a hell of a process’: Thundercat on funk, lost friends and being fired by Snoop Dogg (possibly)](https://jazzhall.com/choosing-happy-is-a-hell-of-a-process-thundercat-on-funk-lost-friends-and-being-fired-by-snoop-dogg-possibly/): The genre-hopping bass virtuoso has backed Ariana Grande and Herbie Hancock, appeared in Star Wars and become a dedicated boxer. Ahead of his fifth album, Stephen Bruner explains his polymath mindset It is an overcast Thursday afternoon at the end of January, and Thundercat is telling me about the time he tried to interest Snoop
- [Feburary 16: Nat Adderley Jr. returns to No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/feburary-16-nat-adderley-jr-returns-to-no-1/): After five weeks at No. 1 and five at No. 2, returning to No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Most added (+15) is Melissa Aldana Filin (Blue Note). Biggest mover (+59) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most reported (43) is Dave
- [The Testament of Ann Lee with Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried review – yelps, bells and bruised beauty](https://jazzhall.com/the-testament-of-ann-lee-with-daniel-blumberg-and-amanda-seyfried-review-yelps-bells-and-bruised-beauty/): Milton Court, London Live on stage the Oscar-winning composer’s score is disorientating, ecstatic and strange. Its star, Amanda Seyfried’s pure voice is the anchor in a brief but absorbing set A few days ago, Amanda Seyfried was on the Graham Norton couch alongside Margot Robbie and Johannes Radebe from Strictly. Tonight, the star of Mean
- [Ralph Towner obituary](https://jazzhall.com/ralph-towner-obituary/): Virtuoso musician and composer who was at the forefront of 1970s jazz fusion, notably with the band Oregon For a quiet man, Ralph Towner, the American multi-instrumentalist and composer, who has died aged 85, had an impressive penchant for sharp epithets about his own creative motives. Describing himself as a “raconteur of the abstract” was
- [Feburary 9: Four weeks at No. 1 for Kenny Barron](https://jazzhall.com/feburary-9-four-weeks-at-no-1-for-kenny-barron/): At No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Most added (+19) is James Fernando Philly 3 (Spring Garden). Biggest mover (+58) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Most reported (43) is Dave Stryker Blue Fire – The Van Gelder Session (Strikezone). Highest
- [‘He used the trumpet as a songbird’: 100 years of Miles Davis, by jazz greats Sonny Rollins, Yazz Ahmed and more](https://jazzhall.com/he-used-the-trumpet-as-a-songbird-100-years-of-miles-davis-by-jazz-greats-sonny-rollins-yazz-ahmed-and-more/): Ahead of the centenary of Davis’s birth, musicians including Terence Blanchard and John Scofield analyse his brilliance: from his soft phrasing and spiritual feel to his raspy cussing and leather outfits The architect of the bestselling jazz album of all time, 1959’s Kind of Blue, trumpeter Miles Davis is a towering figure in the history
- [Julie Campiche: Unspoken review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/julie-campiche-unspoken-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Ronin Rhythm)The composer’s first unaccompanied album turns extended harp technique into music of intimacy, restraint and conviction – inspired by the women who shaped her world When the London jazz festival ran online only in 2020, an enthralling livestreamed performance by Swiss harpist Julie Campiche’s avant-jazz ensemble was a startling highlight, introducing UK audiences to
- [Feburary 2: Third straight week at No. 1 for Kenny Barron](https://jazzhall.com/feburary-2-third-straight-week-at-no-1-for-kenny-barron/): At No. 1 for a third straight week on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Most added (+14) is Joel Ross Gospel Music (Blue Note). Biggest mover (+83) is Joe Magnarelli Decidedly So (Cellar Music Group). Most reported (42) is Dave Stryker Blue Fire – The Van Gelder Session (Strikezone). Highest debut (No.
- [January 26: Kenny Barron repeats at No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/january-26-kenny-barron-repeats-at-no-1/): Repeating at No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (41 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Most added (+25) is Alexa Tarantino The Roar And The Whisper (Blue Engine). Biggest mover (+72) is Dave Stryker Blue Fire – The Van Gelder Session (Strikezone). Highest debut (No. 33) is Noah Preminger Dark Days
- [The one change that worked: I tried all the hobbies I thought I’d hate – and found friendship and escape](https://jazzhall.com/the-one-change-that-worked-i-tried-all-the-hobbies-i-thought-id-hate-and-found-friendship-and-escape/): I was in a work-commute-collapse cycle and didn’t know what to do. Then I began sampling activities I’d previously dismissed – book clubs, line dancing, chess – and it became oddly addictive For most of my life, I treated taste as fixed. There were things I liked and things I didn’t, and that was that.
- [Add to playlist: the dark fog of Los Angeles saxophonist Aaron Shaw and the week’s best new tracks](https://jazzhall.com/add-to-playlist-the-dark-fog-of-los-angeles-saxophonist-aaron-shaw-and-the-weeks-best-new-tracks/): The woodwind player who taught André 3000 music theory releases his searching debut album next month From Los AngelesRecommend if you like Miguel Atwood Ferguson, Shabaka Hutchings’s flute music, the ColtranesUp next Debut album And So It Is released 13 February For woodwind players, breath is everything: the lifeforce of artistry, the thing that furnishes
- [January 19: Kenny Barron returns to No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/january-19-kenny-barron-returns-to-no-1/): Returning to No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart after a week at No. 2, and tied for most reported (37 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Also tied for most reported (37 stations) is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Most added (+21) and biggest mover (+65) is Dave Stryker Blue Fire –
- [January 12: Nat Adderley Jr. returns to No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/january-12-nat-adderley-jr-returns-to-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a fifth chart of the last six, and tied for most reported (40 stations) is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Also tied for most reported (40 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Most added (+17) and biggest mover (+54) Gregory Groover Jr. Old Knew (Criss
- [Advertise on JazzWeek.com or the weekly JazzWeek Newsletter](https://jazzhall.com/advertise-on-jazzweek-com-or-the-weekly-jazzweek-newsletter/): Advertising Order Form Order and upload your web or newsletter ad and pay for it here. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. Company Name * First Last Advertising Name Upload Email * Phone * Address * Address Line 1 Address Line
- [‘I’d never heard anything like it’: the prepared piano revelations of jazz star Jessica Williams](https://jazzhall.com/id-never-heard-anything-like-it-the-prepared-piano-revelations-of-jazz-star-jessica-williams/): Dave Brubeck called her a great and Mary Lou Williams gave her advice. But the prodigy grew frustrated with jazz, quit and started dismantling her instrument. A superb new reissue showcases her findings Flipping through the jazz section on a visit to his local record store a few years ago, artist Kye Potter found a
- [‘This is where it all started’: Nina Simone’s childhood home gets long-awaited rehabilitation](https://jazzhall.com/this-is-where-it-all-started-nina-simones-childhood-home-gets-long-awaited-rehabilitation/): North Carolina home preserved to commemorate legendary musician and civil rights activist, and to serve as arts hub It was a surreal experience for Dr Samuel Waymon, Nina Simone’s youngest sibling, to walk back into the renovated childhood home that he once shared with the singer and civil rights activist. On that day in the
- [Iain Ballamy: Riversphere Vol 1 review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/iain-ballamy-riversphere-vol-1-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Babel Label)The 80s sax star leads an A-list quartet, plus a shared trumpet role for Laura Jurd and Ballamy’s son Charlie Opening 2026’s jazz reviews with a story from the mid-1980s might be risking audience restiveness, but that was the decade in which a far-sighted young saxophonist on the UK jazz scene called Iain Ballamy
- [Eddie Thornton obituary](https://jazzhall.com/eddie-thornton-obituary/): Trumpeter who contributed to Georgie Fame’s Blue Flames and later became a member of Aswad The trumpeter Eddie “Tan Tan” Thornton, who has died aged 94, made the melodies and cadences of his native Jamaica a subtle undercurrent of London’s swinging 60s music scene. As a member of Georgie Fame’s Blue Flames, Thornton contributed to
- [More musicians drop out of Kennedy Center shows after Trump name change](https://jazzhall.com/more-musicians-drop-out-of-kennedy-center-shows-after-trump-name-change/): The Cookers on Monday pulled out of a New Year’s Eve jazz gig at the controversially renamed ‘Trump-Kennedy’ center A second jazz band has pulled out of performing at the controversially renamed “Trump-Kennedy” center in Washington DC, giving just two days notice before their New Year’s Eve gig was set to take place. The Cookers,
- [Kennedy Center president demands $1m from musician who canceled Christmas Eve show](https://jazzhall.com/kennedy-center-president-demands-1m-from-musician-who-canceled-christmas-eve-show/): Drummer Chuck Redd decided to cancel his yearly Jazz Jam after Donald Trump added his name to the venue The president of the Kennedy Center has demanded $1m in damages and fiercely criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that Donald Trump’s
- [The 10 best jazz albums of 2025](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-2025/): Jakob Bro’s Bill Frisell collaboration finally saw the light, Cécile McLorin Salvant drew on her teenage pop memories and Anthony Braxton looked back to 1985• The 50 best albums of 2025• More on the best culture of 2025 UK saxophonist, composer and bandleader Tom Smith was dropping clues to his distinctively contemporary take on jazz
- [The 10 best global albums of 2025](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-global-albums-of-2025/): Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with mournful minimalism, Mohinder Kaur Bhamra’s 1982 album of Punjabi disco makes a comeback and Guatemalan duo Titanic serve up ecstatic tracks• The 50 best albums of 2025• More on the best culture of 2025 A 40-minute suite of continuous, repetitive drumming might not sound like the most accessible music
- [JazzWeek Top 100 for 2025: Cyrus Chestnut is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/jazzweek-top-100-for-2025-cyrus-chestnut-is-no-1/): No. 1 for airplay on the 2025 JazzWeek Top 100 chart is Cyrus Chestnut Rhythm, Melody and Harmony (HighNote). At No. 2 is Artemis Arboresque (Blue Note). No. 3 is Jeremy Pelt Woven (HighNote). No. 4 is Renee Rosnes Crossing Paths (Smoke Sessions). Rounding out the top 5 is Tyreek McDole Open Up Your Senses
- [December 22: Kenny Barron is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/december-22-kenny-barron-is-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (42 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Most added (+8), biggest mover (+71) and highest debut (No. 24) is Various Artists Swinging In The Holidays (Songbook Ink). This is the final chart of 2025. The next weekly chart, dated January 12, 2026, will be published
- [Letter: Faith Evans obituary](https://jazzhall.com/letter-faith-evans-obituary/): When Ed Victor and I shared an office at Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the 1960s we advertised for a secretary. Faith Evans came for an interview, but we felt that she was too highly qualified, hoped to have a more appropriate job later, and suggested she keep in touch. The secretary we hired did not
- [December 15: Fourth week at No. 1 for Nat Adderley Jr.](https://jazzhall.com/december-15-fourth-week-at-no-1-for-nat-adderley-jr/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a fourth consecutive week is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Most added (+12) is Out Of/Into Motion II (Blue Note). Biggest mover (+69) and highest debut (No. 27) is Wycliffe Gordon Holiday Fun! (Arbors). Most reported (44 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). The post
- [December 8: Nat Adderley Jr. is No. 1 a third week](https://jazzhall.com/december-8-nat-adderley-jr-is-no-1-a-third-week/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a third straight week is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Most added (+12) is Jeremy Pelt Christmas Interlude (HighNote). Biggest mover (+23) is Brandon Sanders Lasting Impression (Savant). Highest debut (No. 32) is James Suggs For All We Know (Arbors). Most reported (37 stations) is
- [O come out ye faithful: a joyful roundup of UK culture this Christmas](https://jazzhall.com/o-come-out-ye-faithful-a-joyful-roundup-of-uk-culture-this-christmas/): Beauty and the Beast or Wolf Alice? Queen Marie Antoinette or Count Arthur Strong? Come and behold: the holiday season offers stage, film, music and art that’s worth singing about The 12 Beans of ChristmasTouring to 19 December Last year, character comedians Adam Riches and John Kearns joined forces for an archly silly tribute to crooners
- [‘I almost always play it in hiding, alone’: can anyone get into free jazz, history’s most maligned music?](https://jazzhall.com/i-almost-always-play-it-in-hiding-alone-can-anyone-get-into-free-jazz-historys-most-maligned-music/): Even though he’s partial to hideous noise, free jazz is mostly unknown to the Guardian’s pop critic. A new guidebook from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore may change his mind In the 1980s, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore asked his friend, the writer Byron Coley, to furnish him with a selection of jazz tapes to listen to
- [December 1: Nat Adderley Jr. repeats at No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/december-1-nat-adderley-jr-repeats-at-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a second consecutive week and tied for most reported (41 stations) is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Biggest mover (+37) and tied for most reported (41 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Most added (+8) is Kevin Brown Adventus (Jeru Jazz). Highest debut (No. 43)
- [November 24: Nat Adderley Jr. is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/november-24-nat-adderley-jr-is-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart, biggest mover (+91) and tied for most reported (41 stations) is Nat Adderley Jr. Took So Long (Independent). Most added (+16) is Paul Marinaro Mood Ellington (Origin). Tied for most reported (41 stations) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Highest debut (No. 43) Ted Rosenthal Trio High Standards (TMR
- [Not Mariah again! New music playlists for the Christmas party season](https://jazzhall.com/not-mariah-again-new-music-playlists-for-the-christmas-party-season/): Whether it’s vibe-setting dance and rap for house parties or soothing dream-pop for when you’re contemplating the clear-up, reach for these ready-made playlists Let’s face it: when everyone’s two improvised cocktails deep, they’ll be hollering for Pink Pony Club, and after two more, they’ll be doing Fairytale of New York in a male-female karaoke face-off.
- [Lost Ella Fitzgerald recordings to be released – including her take on 60s pop](https://jazzhall.com/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 Lost recordings of a 1967 Ella Fitzgerald concert, including her spin on the era’s pop songs such as Alfie and Music to Watch Girls By, have been rediscovered and prepared for
- [Letters: Jimmy Carter obituary](https://jazzhall.com/letters-jimmy-carter-obituary/): President Jimmy Carter had an appreciation of the musical heritage of the south that extended beyond gospel and rock. In 1978, he and the first lady, Rosalynn Carter, held a party at the White House for the 25th anniversary of the Newport jazz festival. Carter, accompanied by Dizzie Gillespie and Max Roach, performed (what else?)
- [Bullets and blues: Louis Armstrong’s difficult upbringing revealed after discovery of family police records](https://jazzhall.com/bullets-and-blues-louis-armstrongs-difficult-upbringing-revealed-after-discovery-of-family-police-records/): A new book reveals the jazz musician’s mother and sister were arrested several times for prostitution in New Orleans He was one of the most influential figures in jazz history, famous for hits such as What a Wonderful World, appearing in Hollywood movies and working with stars from Bing Crosby to Ella Fitzgerald. Louis Armstrong’s
- [Mississippi Goddamn: A Celebration of Nina Simone review – singers capture star’s emotional spirit](https://jazzhall.com/mississippi-goddamn-a-celebration-of-nina-simone-review-singers-capture-stars-emotional-spirit/): Royal Festival Hall, LondonCorinne Bailey Rae’s vamping and Laura Mvula’s whispering pain steal the show as five vocalists deliver their own interpretations Nina Simone is a tough singer to take on. Possessed of a mighty voice and virtuosic piano skills, her repertoire spans jazz standards to civil rights anthems, sweeping orchestrations and storytelling balladry. Yet,
- [‘The Köln Concert is the hit he wants to disown’: why Keith Jarrett shunned two new films about his unlikely masterpiece](https://jazzhall.com/the-koln-concert-is-the-hit-he-wants-to-disown-why-keith-jarrett-shunned-two-new-films-about-his-unlikely-masterpiece/): His back hurt and his piano was substandard. But the musician’s improvised 1975 show entered jazz history. Now two films are celebrating that mesmerising night – and the sweary teen promoter who made it happen ‘I went face to face with Keith Jarrett,” recalls Vera Brandes, “and I said to him, ‘Keith, if you don’t
- [Jeremy Pelt: Woven review – accessible post-bop with a touch of electric Miles](https://jazzhall.com/jeremy-pelt-woven-review-accessible-post-bop-with-a-touch-of-electric-miles/): The prolific US trumpeter shuffles the pack with the addition of synths, guitar and vibes to enhance his melodic, dextrous playing Now 48, trumpeter Pelt has maintained a profuse presence in US jazz since his early 20s, racking up an impressive 25 albums, while his contributions as a sideman run into scores. His playing stands
- [Roy Ayers, jazz-funk pioneer behind Everybody Loves the Sunshine, dies aged 84](https://jazzhall.com/roy-ayers-jazz-funk-pioneer-behind-everybody-loves-the-sunshine-dies-aged-84/): Family announces on Facebook that the musician died in New York City after a long illness Roy Ayers, the jazz-funk pioneer whose hit Everybody Loves the Sunshine has become a summer staple across the globe, has died aged 84. A post on the musician’s official Facebook page said: “It is with great sadness that the
- [Everybody Loves the Sunshine is just one point of perfection in Roy Ayers’ truly ubiquitous legacy | Alexis Petridis](https://jazzhall.com/everybody-loves-the-sunshine-is-just-one-point-of-perfection-in-roy-ayers-truly-ubiquitous-legacy-alexis-petridis/): Ayers’ genre-bending jazz-funk sound produced one fantastic album after another – and then found a new lease of life in hip-hop sampling • Roy Ayers, jazz-funk pioneer behind Everybody Loves the Sunshine, dies aged 84 There’s a sense in which Roy Ayers was blessed from the start. Aged five, the son of two musicians –
- [Roy Ayers obituary](https://jazzhall.com/roy-ayers-obituary/): Jazz-soul vibraphonist and band leader best known for his laid-back summer track Everybody Loves the Sunshine When Ruby Ayers, a piano teacher, took her five-year-old son Roy to a concert by the Lionel Hampton Big Band in California in 1945, the boy showed so much enthusiasm for the performance that Hampton presented him with his
- [Branford Marsalis Quartet: Belonging review – a virtuosic take on Keith Jarrett’s seminal 70s album](https://jazzhall.com/branford-marsalis-quartet-belonging-review-a-virtuosic-take-on-keith-jarretts-seminal-70s-album/): (Blue Note)The American sax star follows in the footsteps of Jan Garbarek on a modern-day reprise full of verve Saxophonist extraordinaire Branford Marsalis claims his garlanded quartet is “a chamber group rather a jazz group”, by which he presumably means they are not thirsting for innovation but happy to celebrate and interpret tradition. Hence Belonging,
- [Kamasi Washington review – hip-hop and P-funk inform an outrageously joyful set](https://jazzhall.com/kamasi-washington-review-hip-hop-and-p-funk-inform-an-outrageously-joyful-set/): Great Hall, Cardiff UniversityIn a dazzling performance, the jazz saxophonist draws out tracks from his latest album into giddy extemporisations, ceding the floor to a series of awesome soloists ‘I don’t need to be from here to tell you I love you,” Kamasi Washington says, teeing up the velvet soul of Lines in the Sand.
- [Joe Lovano: Homage review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/joe-lovano-homage-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (ECM)Backed by pianist Marcin Wasilewski’s group, the US sax elder plays freely around a song-rooted approach, resulting in sparkling, spontaneous exchanges Joe Lovano, that giant American elder of jazz reeds-playing, nowadays seems – rather like the equally eminent saxophone master Charles Lloyd – to be simmering all his decades of timeless tunes and exquisite passing
- [Various: Chet Baker Re:imagined review – new reworkings by R&B, pop, soul and jazz artists](https://jazzhall.com/various-chet-baker-reimagined-review-new-reworkings-by-rb-pop-soul-and-jazz-artists/): (Blue Note)There are hits and misses as 15 performers including Dodie, Mxmtoon and Ezra Collective’s Ife Ogunjobi give their personal take on Baker’s unique sound Possessing a whisper-soft voice and sweetly melodic trumpet tone, Chet Baker (1929-1988) had a sound that is often imitated yet almost impossible to master. For the latest edition of Blue
- [Trajal Harrell: The Köln Concert review – Keith Jarrett’s bestselling 70s jazz album made visible](https://jazzhall.com/trajal-harrell-the-koln-concert-review-keith-jarretts-bestselling-70s-jazz-album-made-visible/): Sadler’s Wells East, LondonZürich Dance Ensemble’s extraordinary dancers, led by choreographer Harrell, all but embody the pianist’s free jazz musings, with a little help from Joni Mitchell In essence, American choreographer Trajal Harrell’s magnificent The Köln Concert reveals how dance can embody music and feeling. Performed by seven exceptional and exceptionally individualistic dancers, including Harrell
- [‘Tragedy to transcendence’: Alice Coltrane exhibit honors jazz legend’s sonic and spiritual legacy](https://jazzhall.com/tragedy-to-transcendence-alice-coltrane-exhibit-honors-jazz-legends-sonic-and-spiritual-legacy/): Monument Eternal at Los Angeles’s Hammer Museum showcases the life, music and writing of the groundbreaking artist also known as Turiya Om … Om … Continue reading... Powered by WPeMatico
- [‘Jazz isn’t about perfection’: drummer Billy Cobham on Miles Davis, Massive Attack and still learning at 80](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-isnt-about-perfection-drummer-billy-cobham-on-miles-davis-massive-attack-and-still-learning-at-80/): After a grounding with genre greats, he fused jazz with rock to outrageously funky effect. Ahead of UK dates, he explains why two prosthetic hips aren’t slowing him down Billy Cobham speaks the way he plays drums. Words pour out of him in a great, rhythmic rush, every sentence alive with energy and ideas –
- [Jazz and blues through the camera lens – in pictures](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-and-blues-through-the-camera-lens-in-pictures/): A new joint exhibition showcases the work of photographer Frank Stewart and his mentee Petra Richterová, capturing the essence of jazz and blues within the African diaspora. Over his career, Stewart photographed figures such as Miles Davis, while Richterová has worked for Jazz at Lincoln Center The Blues and Mean Reds and Sound of Light
- [The best albums of 2025 so far](https://jazzhall.com/the-best-albums-of-2025-so-far/): Bon Iver straddles stark indie-folk and poppy R&B while PinkPantheress makes an unarguable case for going out out as we revisit six months of the music you mustn’t miss • Tell us your favourite album of 2025 so far• See more of the best culture of 2025 so far Yazz Ahmed’s Bahraini heritage has always
- [Joshua Redman: Words Fall Short review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/joshua-redman-words-fall-short-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Blue Note)The US saxophonist pulls back the vocals of his last record to present a new ensemble and all-original repertoire, resulting in an ideal balance of ingenuity and rapport Joshua Redman has been such a brilliant saxophone improviser for more than three decades that his unerring flawlessness at a spontaneous art almost becomes a tic.
- [Chuck Mangione, Grammy-winning jazz musician and composer, dies aged 84](https://jazzhall.com/chuck-mangione-grammy-winning-jazz-musician-and-composer-dies-aged-84/): Celebrated flugelhorn and trumpet player released over 30 albums and sold millions of records throughout his career The Grammy-winning jazz musician and composer Chuck Mangione died on Tuesday, according to a statement from his family. He was 84. “The family of Chuck Mangione is deeply saddened to share that Chuck peacefully passed away in his
- [Chuck Mangione obituary](https://jazzhall.com/chuck-mangione-obituary/): Musician who helped to create ‘smooth jazz’, an easy-listening sound that won him two Grammy awards While the arrival of rock’n’roll in the 1950s helped deflate the popularity that jazz music had once enjoyed, there would be artists who found a way to bring it back into the mainstream. One of them was Chuck Mangione,
- [Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies aged 88](https://jazzhall.com/eddie-palmieri-pioneering-latin-jazz-musician-and-grammy-winner-dies-aged-88/): The pianist, composer and bandleader was the first Latino to win a Grammy and would win seven more over a career that spanned nearly 40 albums Eddie Palmieri, the avant-garde musician who was one of the most innovative artists of rumba and Latin jazz, has died aged 88. Fania Records announced Palmieri’s death Wednesday evening.
- [Explosive and experimental, Eddie Palmieri was a revolutionary figure in postwar American music](https://jazzhall.com/explosive-and-experimental-eddie-palmieri-was-a-revolutionary-figure-in-postwar-american-music/): The Puerto Rican New Yorker pianist, who has died aged 88, radiated pure joy as he played – never resting on his laurels as he went from jazz to salsa to house and beyond • Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies aged 88 Some 20 years ago I watched as Eddie
- [Miles. review – soulful ode to the jazz genius behind Kind of Blue](https://jazzhall.com/miles-review-soulful-ode-to-the-jazz-genius-behind-kind-of-blue/): Summerhall, EdinburghTrumpeter Jay Phelps plays a devotee of Benjamin Akintuyosi’s Miles Davis in this reverential tribute Celebrity biographical dramas are ten a penny but it takes audacity for a performer to emulate the famous person in question. What elevates Miles., a tribute to jazz legend Miles Davis, is the role of musician Jay Phelps. Not
- [Linda May Han Oh: Strange Heavens review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/linda-may-han-oh-strange-heavens-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Biophilia Records)Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey join the bassist-composer on originals featuring top-end squeals, bass flurries and a guilelessly delicate highlight The power of three has had a great press for a long time, embedded as it’s been in the tenets of Christians, witches, Buddhists, or just the beginnings, middles and ends of fireside stories.
- [‘He fondly called me his hash baby’: Mandy Sayer on her larger-than-life father – a lawbreaking jazz musician who couldn’t read or write](https://jazzhall.com/he-fondly-called-me-his-hash-baby-mandy-sayer-on-her-larger-than-life-father-a-lawbreaking-jazz-musician-who-couldnt-read-or-write/): Gerry Sayer was a warm, funny yet absent father, so consumed with music that he sacrificed family – but his ‘flair for improvisation’ inspired his writer daughter Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email After her wedding service in 2003, Mandy Sayer stopped traffic. Or at least the musicians leading her and her new husband,
- [Sheila Jordan obituary](https://jazzhall.com/sheila-jordan-obituary/): Jazz singer with an unorthodox vocal style who first toured the UK and Europe in the 1960s As a girl growing up in Detroit, the jazz singer Sheila Jordan, who has died aged 96, heard a Charlie Parker record on a jukebox and knew then that his jazz pathway was one that she wanted to
- [Cécile McLorin Salvant: Oh Snap review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/cecile-mclorin-salvant-oh-snap-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Nonesuch)From breezy swing to scampering synths, folksy harmonies to stark wails of the soul, Salvant’s crystalline vocals shine across her ingenious experiments When the US-raised French-Haitian singer Cécile McLorin Salvant played Ronnie Scott’s for the first time as a 25-year-old in 2014, the awestruck atmosphere recognised a young multilingual jazz artist of rare gifts –
- [Add to playlist: the spiky, playful free jazz of Laura Ann Singh and the week’s best new tracks](https://jazzhall.com/add-to-playlist-the-spiky-playful-free-jazz-of-laura-ann-singh-and-the-weeks-best-new-tracks/): A rowdy debut departs from Singh’s American bolero work to revel in the chaos of atonal scrapes, cymbal splashes, wonky horns and raucous vocals From Richmond, VirginiaRecommended if you like Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tomeka Reid, Ornette ColemanUp next Debut album, Mean Reds, released 24 October As the co-founder of American bolero group Miramar, vocalist Laura
- [Jack DeJohnette, versatile jazz drummer known for Miles Davis fusion recordings, dies aged 83](https://jazzhall.com/jack-dejohnette-versatile-jazz-drummer-known-for-miles-davis-fusion-recordings-dies-aged-83/): Drummer played on Bitches Brew and other landmark recordings, as well as making numerous albums as a bandleader Jack DeJohnette, the jazz drummer celebrated as one of the genre’s true greats – who worked with stars including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Charles Lloyd – has died aged 83. A press representative for ECM, the
- [Jack DeJohnette was more than a jazz drummer – his staggering range made him a superhuman force in music](https://jazzhall.com/jack-dejohnette-was-more-than-a-jazz-drummer-his-staggering-range-made-him-a-superhuman-force-in-music/): With a complex playing style that was nevertheless generous towards other musicians, the US musician was in a category all of his own • Jack DeJohnette dies aged 83 My interview with Jack DeJohnette didn’t start well. It was the summer of 2000 and DeJohnette was in London to play with Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio.
- [Jack DeJohnette obituary](https://jazzhall.com/jack-dejohnette-obituary/): Thrilling American jazz drummer, pianist and composer who played with some of the genre’s greatest stars In improvisational music, ungoverned by conductors or sacrosanct scores, and given to abrupt shifts of direction on the whims of performers, drummers are often the intuitive navigators. One of the most creative and viscerally thrilling exponents of that pivotal
- [‘I can’t be silent. I’ve been through too much’: Dee Dee Bridgewater on singing with the greats – and confronting Maga with jazz](https://jazzhall.com/i-cant-be-silent-ive-been-through-too-much-dee-dee-bridgewater-on-singing-with-the-greats-and-confronting-maga-with-jazz/): Fuelled by a loathing of Trump, the war in Gaza and anger at ‘the same old chauvinistic crap’, the 75-year-old – who cut her teeth with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and more – has no plans to stop protesting When I speak to Dee Dee Bridgewater, the jazz singer is preparing for a concert that
- [November 10: JD Allen is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/november-10-jd-allen-is-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (41 stations) is JD Allen Love Letters (The Ballad Sessions) (Savant). Most added (+28) is Lafayette Harris Jr. All In Good Time (Savant). Biggest mover (+59) is Kenny Barron Songbook (Artwork). Highest debut (No. 38) is Christopher McBride & The Whole Proof The Hang, The
- [Sun Ra Arkestra: Lights on a Satellite review – fitting tribute to a century of jazz](https://jazzhall.com/sun-ra-arkestra-lights-on-a-satellite-review-fitting-tribute-to-a-century-of-jazz/): (In+Out)As saxophonist and band leader Marshall Allen turns 100, his evergreen outfit effortlessly draw on their rich history, as classics meet the cosmic One way to celebrate your 100th birthday is with a new album, which is Marshall Allen’s response to his centenary. A distinctive and often wild alto saxophonist, Allen has dedicated his creative
- [It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing | Brief letters](https://jazzhall.com/it-dont-mean-a-thing-if-it-aint-got-that-swing-brief-letters/): Jazz recordings | Liz Truss | Legal lettuce | Learning Latin | Hwyl and hygge Your letter writer was pleased to see a five-star jazz album of the month review (12 January), but failed to say whether he had enjoyed it. Jakob Bro’s Taking Turns is a languid, clever and even pretty album. The big
- [Birdland jazz club: the House of Gone Sounds](https://jazzhall.com/birdland-jazz-club-the-house-of-gone-sounds/): 12 December 1959: Michael Frayn visits the New York club on its tenth anniversary and discovers ‘the city is pretty well shaking with jazz’ Birdland is ten years old this month. The news makes me feel the way I did when I heard that Minou Drouet was writing poetry when she was eight, or that
- [The 10 best jazz albums of 2024](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-2024/): A Mercury prize winner, a host of fresh collaborations and a posthumous release of a much-lauded live performance are all among the year’s standouts • More on the best music of 2024• More on the best culture of 2024 The South Korean former pop singer and jazz composer Jihye Lee woke up the wider jazz
- [Coups, colonialism and all that jazz: the film that unravels extraordinary cold war truths](https://jazzhall.com/coups-colonialism-and-all-that-jazz-the-film-that-unravels-extraordinary-cold-war-truths/): Johan Grimonprez’s documentary Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat reveals the curious link between Black Americans’ fight for civil rights and the assassination of Congo’s first democratically elected Black African prime minister Half-way through Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington’s soulful version of In a Sentimental Mood is interrupted. Suddenly, we see
- [Roy Haynes, jazz drummer whose career spanned nine decades, dies aged 99](https://jazzhall.com/roy-haynes-jazz-drummer-whose-career-spanned-nine-decades-dies-aged-99/): American drummer who began in 1940s swing and bebop scenes played with Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and dozens more Roy Haynes, a drummer who was one of the last remaining musicians of jazz’s swing and bebop eras, has died aged 99. His daughter Leslie Haynes-Gilmore said he had died following a short illness. Haynes’s energetic
- [Lou Donaldson obituary](https://jazzhall.com/lou-donaldson-obituary/): American jazz saxophonist and singer who enjoyed a huge hit with his 1967 anthem Alligator Boogaloo The droll, sleek-haired saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who has died aged 98, was disinclined to let a good lick or a good gag wither on the vine. Alongside his immense saxophone eloquence, he possessed a highly entertaining strangled-parrot blues voice,
- [Roy Haynes obituary](https://jazzhall.com/roy-haynes-obituary/): Jazz drummer who played with Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and earned the nickname Snap Crackle for his crisp style One of the first significant engagements taken on by the great US jazz drummer Roy Haynes, who has died aged 99, was a lengthy stint with Lester Young. After two years in that role, from
- [Music classes resume at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame](https://jazzhall.com/weekly-jazz-classes-resume-at-the-alabama-jazz-hall-of-fame/): The Birmingham music hall and arts nonprofit has restarted Saturday Jazz Greats, its longtime tuition-free music education program. The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, housed in the historic Carver Theatre, started the program in 1999. Each Saturday, professional jazz musicians convened at the Carver to teach students beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of music including instrumental
- [Immanuel Wilkins: Blues Blood review – alto sax player’s hugely ambitious meditation on his roots](https://jazzhall.com/immanuel-wilkins-blues-blood-review-alto-sax-players-hugely-ambitious-meditation-on-his-roots/): (Blue Note)The young American taps into generational memory with assorted guest vocalists and a rich, rewarding palette of styles and moods The first two albums from American alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins showed him a force to be reckoned with; a fluent player steeped in tradition (with Kenny Garrett a touchstone) who is also an inventive
- [Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: The Old Country review – a delightful return to a cherished jazz venue](https://jazzhall.com/keith-jarrett-gary-peacock-paul-motian-the-old-country-review-a-delightful-return-to-a-cherished-jazz-venue/): (ECM)Full of blistering bebop and entrancing swing, this 1992 recording showcases the pianist’s love of the Deer Head Inn, the clapboard 1840s hotel where he cut his teeth When he first played the Deer Head Inn, a romantic 1840s clapboard hotel on the edge of a Delaware national park, Keith Jarrett was 16, just out
- [Michael Mayo: Fly review – a bravura fusion of original work and jazz standards](https://jazzhall.com/michael-mayo-fly-review-a-bravura-fusion-of-original-work-and-jazz-standards/): (Mack Avenue)The US singer-composer’s self-produced follow-up to Bones shifts from soul to a lighter, happier jazz sound The fluctuating divide between soul and jazz has become more blurred than ever, as this young American singer first attested on his acclaimed 2021 debut, Bones – a set with a foot in both genres and a backdrop
- [Quincy Jones, producer and entertainment powerhouse, dies aged 91](https://jazzhall.com/quincy-jones-producer-and-entertainment-powerhouse-dies-aged-91/): Widely and wildly talented musician and industry mogul worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Will Smith and others Quincy Jones’s greatest ever moments – ranked Quincy Jones, a titan of American entertainment who worked with stars from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson and Will Smith, has died aged 91. Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said he
- [Quincy Jones – a life in pictures](https://jazzhall.com/quincy-jones-a-life-in-pictures/): The composer, arranger and producer who worked with stars from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson has died aged 91. We look back at his career highs Continue reading... Powered by WPeMatico
- [Birth of the cool: posters from the Montreux jazz festival through the decades – in pictures](https://jazzhall.com/birth-of-the-cool-posters-from-the-montreux-jazz-festival-through-the-decades-in-pictures/): Since its inception in 1967, the Montreux jazz festival in Switzerland has hosted a dizzying array of musical talent from the world of jazz and beyond: Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie and Miles Davis, and more recently Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Stormzy. The names behind its poster designs are equally illustrious, including Andy Warhol, Keith
- [Quincy Jones and Frank Sinatra: the audacious partnership that rocketed them to another planet](https://jazzhall.com/quincy-jones-and-frank-sinatra-the-audacious-partnership-that-rocketed-them-to-another-planet/): Jones was behind many inflection points in American music, but it all began with a brotherhood with Ol’ Blue Eyes In 1958 Quincy Jones was working in Paris when he received a call on behalf of the princess of Monaco. Grace Kelly had convinced the principality to host a fundraising concert for the United Nations
- [Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny on crafting hits with Joni Mitchell and David Bowie: ‘I had to keep telling myself it was real’](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-guitarist-pat-metheny-on-crafting-hits-with-joni-mitchell-and-david-bowie-i-had-to-keep-telling-myself-it-was-real/): The virtuoso jazz guitarist has worked with a string of legends, winning 20 Grammys in the process. He speaks on his beginnings as a jazz trumpeter, and still striving to improve at 70 Pat Metheny is pretty much everywhere. For the past four decades, the 70-year-old guitarist has been crisscrossing the globe, playing an average
- [‘Leave your ego at the door’: from Thriller to Sinatra, Quincy Jones collaborators tell the stories behind his songs](https://jazzhall.com/leave-your-ego-at-the-door-from-thriller-to-sinatra-quincy-jones-collaborators-tell-the-stories-behind-his-songs/): Whether hashing out Beat It over the phone or jamming with Snoop Dogg, artists who worked alongside Jones recall his skill, kindness and lust for life The 89-year-old musician and bandleader was born in the same generation as Quincy Jones, as jazz gave way to pop in the middle of the century. He also co-founded
- [November 11: 5th of 7 weeks at No. 1 for Warren Wolf](https://jazzhall.com/november-11-5th-of-7-weeks-at-no-1-for-warren-wolf/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart for a second week – and fifth of the last seven – is Warren Wolf History of the Vibraphone (Cellar Music Group). It’s also the week’s most reported release (41 stations). Most added (+15) is Vanisha Gould She’s Not Shiny, She’s Not Smooth (Cellar Music Group). Biggest mover
- [From Elvis to Donna to Stevie: how hit-making legend Quincy Jones created superstars and changed pop history](https://jazzhall.com/from-elvis-to-donna-to-stevie-how-hit-making-legend-quincy-jones-created-superstars-and-changed-pop-history/): Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davies, Frank Sinatra, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick … the powerhouse producer made magical music with everyone who was anyone. We pay tribute to the genius of ‘the Dude’ Over the course of 91 years, Quincy Jones did pretty much everything you could do in the entertainment industry. He was a
- [Delicate ballads, bold brass and the thrill of Thriller: 10 of Quincy Jones’s greatest productions](https://jazzhall.com/delicate-ballads-bold-brass-and-the-thrill-of-thriller-10-of-quincy-joness-greatest-productions/): From his sumptuous vocal jazz with Sarah Vaughan and Helen Merrill to funk with Donna Summer and George Benson, the late producer had astonishing versatility • Quincy Jones dies aged 91 – news• Quincy Jones’s greatest moments – ranked• Quincy Jones – a life in pictures For all Quincy Jones’s astonishing versatility, straddling the analogue
- [Quincy Jones, late music industry great, reflects on talented friends and collaborators – video](https://jazzhall.com/quincy-jones-late-music-industry-great-reflects-on-talented-friends-and-collaborators-video/): Quincy Jones, a titan of American entertainment industry, has died at 91. The musician, producer and composer worked with stars including Ray Charles, Michael Caine, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Jones’s publicist, Arnold Robinson, said the music mogul died on Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family Quincy Jones, producer
- [October 28: Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra are No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/october-28-delfeayo-marsalis-the-uptown-jazz-orchestra-are-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and most reported (40 stations) is Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra Crescent City Jewels (Troubadour Jass). Most added (+21) is The Bad Plus Complex Emotions (Mack Avenue). Biggest mover (+49) is Michael Dease Grove’s Groove (Le Coq). Highest debut (No. 29) is Samara Joy Portrait (Verve).
- [‘Celebrated again’: Portrait of German jazz-age pioneers lost after Nazi takeover return to Berlin](https://jazzhall.com/celebrated-again-portrait-of-german-jazz-age-pioneers-lost-after-nazi-takeover-return-to-berlin/): Jewish Museum in Berlin buys painting of Weintraubs Syncopators, who played the soundtrack to the Weimar cabaret They could play seven instruments each, critics hailed them as the best jazz combo in 1920s Berlin, and the likes of Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker fought to secure them as their backing band. But after the Nazi
- [Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige Revisited](https://jazzhall.com/duke-ellingtons-black-brown-and-beige-revisited/): Black, Brown and Beige, the jewel of Duke Ellington’s extended jazz compositions, “is probably less heard [than] any musical work of comparable reputation,” wrote critic … Read More "Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige Revisited" The post Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige Revisited appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Farewell to 505: curtains close on one of Australia’s most important jazz clubs](https://jazzhall.com/farewell-to-505-curtains-close-on-one-of-australias-most-important-jazz-clubs/): What started out as ‘board games and jazz’ night in a sharehouse living room developed into one of the most welcoming creative spaces in Sydney Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcast Since it opened in 2007, the small Sydney jazz club 505 has become an institution. The kind of
- [SFJAZZ Founder and Executive Director Randall Kline to Resign in 2023](https://jazzhall.com/sfjazz-founder-and-executive-director-randall-kline-to-resign-in-2023/): Randall Kline, who founded SFJAZZ in 1983, has announced that he will be stepping down as Executive Artistic Director in November 2023. The organization, initially … Read More "SFJAZZ Founder and Executive Director Randall Kline to Resign in 2023" The post SFJAZZ Founder and Executive Director Randall Kline to Resign in 2023 appeared first on
- [Older, gifted and Black: the British musicians getting better with age](https://jazzhall.com/older-gifted-and-black-the-british-musicians-getting-better-with-age/): Years of struggle in the music business have motivated the current crop of over-50s Black British talent to make music that’s as exciting as that of the new breed When asked what was the best song he had ever written, the jazz great Duke Ellington famously quipped that it was one yet to come. He
- [Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts Charles Mingus Centennial Celebration](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-at-lincoln-center-hosts-charles-mingus-centennial-celebration/): In honor of the 100th birthday of legendary bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus, Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) will present a Charles Mingus Centennial … Read More "Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts Charles Mingus Centennial Celebration" The post Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts Charles Mingus Centennial Celebration appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [New Orleans rescinds little-known century-old ban on jazz in schools](https://jazzhall.com/new-orleans-rescinds-little-known-century-old-ban-on-jazz-in-schools/): School board ditches policy ‘rooted in racism’ that was widely ignored in practice The New Orleans school board has unanimously reversed a little known but century-old ban on jazz in schools in a city which played a huge role in developing jazz and where it is still played nightly at various venues. “I’m very glad
- [Charles Mingus at 100: The Legacy Continues](https://jazzhall.com/charles-mingus-at-100-the-legacy-continues/): I’m trying to play the truth of what I am,” Charles Mingus once told Nat Hentoff. “The reason it’s difficult is because I’m changing all … Read More "Charles Mingus at 100: The Legacy Continues" The post Charles Mingus at 100: The Legacy Continues appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Herbie Hancock to Receive Medal and Give Commencement Address at Peabody Conservatory](https://jazzhall.com/herbie-hancock-to-receive-medal-and-give-commencement-address-at-peabody-conservatory/): The Baltimore-based Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University has announced that it will present the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in … Read More "Herbie Hancock to Receive Medal and Give Commencement Address at Peabody Conservatory" The post Herbie Hancock to Receive Medal and Give Commencement Address at Peabody Conservatory appeared
- [Chops: The Fight Over Music Royalties](https://jazzhall.com/chops-the-fight-over-music-royalties/): In November, the Ben Allison Quartet finished a sold-out three-night stint at Birdland. The performance featured music from the bassist’s latest offering, Moments Inside. Allison … Read More "Chops: The Fight Over Music Royalties" The post Chops: The Fight Over Music Royalties appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [JazzTimes 10: Jelly Roll Morton’s Greatest Performances](https://jazzhall.com/jazztimes-10-jelly-roll-mortons-greatest-performances/): Jelly Roll Morton was the first musician of any kind—and what a kind he was—who made me ask myself, “Is this guy for real?” The … Read More "JazzTimes 10: Jelly Roll Morton’s Greatest Performances" The post JazzTimes 10: Jelly Roll Morton’s Greatest Performances appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Park Place in Newark Renamed Wayne Shorter Way](https://jazzhall.com/park-place-in-newark-renamed-wayne-shorter-way/): WBGO has partnered with the City of Newark, New Jersey, to rename a section of that city’s Park Place as Wayne Shorter Way in honor … Read More "Park Place in Newark Renamed Wayne Shorter Way" The post Park Place in Newark Renamed Wayne Shorter Way appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [A Banner Night for Jon Batiste at the 2022 Grammy Awards](https://jazzhall.com/a-banner-night-for-jon-batiste-at-the-2022-grammy-awards/): When Jon Batiste was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards back in November, across a dizzying range of genres (including classical!), it seemed that the members … Read More "A Banner Night for Jon Batiste at the 2022 Grammy Awards" The post A Banner Night for Jon Batiste at the 2022 Grammy Awards appeared first on
- [Tina May obituary](https://jazzhall.com/tina-may-obituary/): Jazz singer with an openness to many ways of making music and a gift for imparting a beguiling freshness to classic material The buoyancy and warmth of the British jazz singer Tina May, who has died of a brain tumour aged 60, were lifelong virtues that made a difficult art sound natural, drew every listener
- [The Cello in Jazz](https://jazzhall.com/the-cello-in-jazz/): “People often tell me that the cello is their favorite instrument,” Erik Friedlander laments, “and that can be a curse. It puts the cello in … Read More "The Cello in Jazz" The post The Cello in Jazz appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Chronology: Eight Great Jazz Soundtracks](https://jazzhall.com/chronology-eight-great-jazz-soundtracks/): Films that tell stories about jazz open a revealing window on the place and perception of the music within popular culture. See Kevin Whitehead’s compelling … Read More "Chronology: Eight Great Jazz Soundtracks" The post Chronology: Eight Great Jazz Soundtracks appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Charnett Moffett 1967 – 2022](https://jazzhall.com/charnett-moffett-1967-2022/): Charnett Moffett, a bassist and composer whose virtuosity on both electric (often fretless) and acoustic instruments was matched by his versatility, died April 11 at … Read More "Charnett Moffett 1967 – 2022" The post Charnett Moffett 1967 – 2022 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Flora Purim: If You Will review – a happy 80th birthday return](https://jazzhall.com/flora-purim-if-you-will-review-a-happy-80th-birthday-return/): (Strut)The first lady of Brazilian music is back with a celebratory album that keeps it in the family The first lady of Brazilian music (there’s a long queue) celebrates her 80th birthday with her first album in 15 years. With her family and favoured musicians in support, it’s a celebratory affair, mixing new material and
- [JazzTimes 10: Essential Charles Mingus](https://jazzhall.com/jazztimes-10-essential-charles-mingus/): He was sometimes called “Jazz’s Angry Man.” Perhaps it’s better to think of him in comparison with Beethoven: tempestuous, capable of roiling, grandiose passions and … Read More "JazzTimes 10: Essential Charles Mingus" The post JazzTimes 10: Essential Charles Mingus appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Overdue Ovation: Azar Lawrence Speaks of Working for Miles, McCoy, Elvin—and God](https://jazzhall.com/overdue-ovation-azar-lawrence-speaks-of-working-for-miles-mccoy-elvin-and-god/): There’s something perfect about speaking with saxophonist/composer Azar Lawrence right after he’s clicked off from virtual Sunday church services. Still dwelling in the Los Angeles … Read More "Overdue Ovation: Azar Lawrence Speaks of Working for Miles, McCoy, Elvin—and God" The post Overdue Ovation: Azar Lawrence Speaks of Working for Miles, McCoy, Elvin—and God appeared
- [Dexter Gordon and the Truth of ‘Round Midnight](https://jazzhall.com/dexter-gordon-and-the-truth-of-round-midnight/): Jazz films have a tendency to let you know that they’re very much about jazz. The medium—and the clichés associated with it—can become a hook … Read More "Dexter Gordon and the Truth of ‘Round Midnight" The post Dexter Gordon and the Truth of ‘Round Midnight appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [40 years of the Wire magazine: ‘Music deserves intelligent treatment. If that’s elitist, so be it’](https://jazzhall.com/40-years-of-the-wire-magazine-music-deserves-intelligent-treatment-if-thats-elitist-so-be-it/): From free jazz to doomy drones, outsider artists have always found a home in the Wire. Its creators reflect on upending the orthodoxy, coining genres – and their hatred of big-name rivals “We were the last resort for a lot of music because nobody else would touch it,” says Tony Herrington, publisher of the Wire
- [Overdue Ovation: Greg Abate is in the Right Place at the Right Time](https://jazzhall.com/overdue-ovation-greg-abate-is-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time/): Have saxophone, will travel. With apologies to Paladin, that sums up the career of reed player Greg Abate. Since the early 1990s, he’s been a … Read More "Overdue Ovation: Greg Abate is in the Right Place at the Right Time" The post Overdue Ovation: Greg Abate is in the Right Place at the Right
- [Letter: Tina May obituary](https://jazzhall.com/letter-tina-may-obituary/): In 1992 Tina May was the first winner of the Musicians’ Company Young Jazz Musician of the Year award. She was so delighted by the Company’s support that she became a liveryman and an enthusiastic member of its jazz committee, which I chaired at the time. Through her wide experience of both gigging and teaching
- [4th Avenue Jazz Festival Returns in August](https://jazzhall.com/4th-avenue-jazz-festival-returns-in-august/): After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival will return to Birmingham’s Historic 4th Avenue Business District. Read Shauna Stuart's full story.
- [Smoke Jazz Club Reopens in NYC](https://jazzhall.com/smoke-jazz-club-reopens-in-nyc/): Smoke Jazz Club, the acclaimed New York City venue that was closed to indoor performances and dining for more than two years due to the … Read More "Smoke Jazz Club Reopens in NYC" The post Smoke Jazz Club Reopens in NYC appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [JazzTimes 10: Classic Hard Bop Albums](https://jazzhall.com/jazztimes-10-classic-hard-bop-albums/): It was the 1950s. Bebop had established itself as the new paradigm of jazz, but its newest popular variant, “cool jazz” or “West Coast jazz,” … Read More "JazzTimes 10: Classic Hard Bop Albums" The post JazzTimes 10: Classic Hard Bop Albums appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Playlist: Father's Day Tunes from the JLCO](https://jazzhall.com/playlist-fathers-day-tunes-from-the-jlco/): In recognition of Father's Day, we invited the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to share some of their favorite tunes on the theme of fatherhood. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Herbie Hancock: ‘Miles Davis told me: I don’t pay you to get applause’](https://jazzhall.com/herbie-hancock-miles-davis-told-me-i-dont-pay-you-to-get-applause/): At 82, the jazz legend will this weekend be one of the oldest performers ever to grace Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage. He recalls his career highs, from making his hip-hop classic Rockit to working with Thundercat When the pandemic took the now 82-year-old jazz legend Herbie Hancock off the road, his half-century passion for Nichiren Buddhism
- [Kevin Eubanks’ Remarkable Life Journey](https://jazzhall.com/kevin-eubanks-remarkable-life-journey/): When you’re on TV, everybody knows you, or at least thinks they know you. Take Kevin Eubanks, who was on NBC’s Tonight Show five nights … Read More "Kevin Eubanks’ Remarkable Life Journey" The post Kevin Eubanks’ Remarkable Life Journey appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Moor Mother: Jazz Codes review – a stunning continuum of Black music](https://jazzhall.com/moor-mother-jazz-codes-review-a-stunning-continuum-of-black-music/): (Anti-)What started life as a poetry book has evolved into an ambitious anthropological project spanning jazz, R&B, hip-hop and more As a poet, composer, educator, audiovisual artist, activist and playwright, Moor Mother’s Camae Ayewa connects with people in any environment – be it her native Philly DIY scene, teaching in LA or her residency at
- [Overdue Ovation: It’s Happening Now for George Freeman](https://jazzhall.com/overdue-ovation-its-happening-now-for-george-freeman/): At 95, Chicago-based guitarist George Freeman is among the world’s oldest active jazz musicians. Although he came of musical age in the 1940s and counts … Read More "Overdue Ovation: It’s Happening Now for George Freeman" The post Overdue Ovation: It’s Happening Now for George Freeman appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Freddie Hubbard: Music Is Here (Live at ORTF Paris 1973) (Wewantsounds)](https://jazzhall.com/freddie-hubbard-music-is-here-live-at-ortf-paris-1973-wewantsounds/): In the early ’70s, Freddie Hubbard was paralleling Miles Davis in going electric and funky. Unlike Miles, though, Hubbard’s recordings were increasingly defined by his … Read More "Freddie Hubbard: Music Is Here (Live at ORTF Paris 1973) (Wewantsounds)" The post Freddie Hubbard: Music Is Here (Live at ORTF Paris 1973) (Wewantsounds) appeared first on
- [Celebrating Mingus 100 review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/celebrating-mingus-100-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (ACT)Played by a classy nonet at Berlin’s Philharmonie hall, at its best this set of Charles Mingus material is full of the exultant, forward-charging energy of its composer This centenary year of Charles Mingus’ birth deserves to be a landmark celebrated everywhere creative music thrives, not just in the jazz world that has lauded him
- [Roger Humphries Named Recipient of the Living Legacy Jazz Award](https://jazzhall.com/roger-humphries-named-recipient-of-the-living-legacy-jazz-award/): Pittsburgh native Roger Humphries has been named the recipient of the 2022 Living Legacy Jazz Award, presented by PECO (the Pa.-based energy company) in association … Read More "Roger Humphries Named Recipient of the Living Legacy Jazz Award" The post Roger Humphries Named Recipient of the Living Legacy Jazz Award appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1920s: Critics’ Picks](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-the-1920s-critics-picks/): In 2020, to celebrate JazzTimes’ 50th anniversary, we made a bold (some would say foolhardy) call: the top 50 jazz albums of the past 50 … Read More "The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1920s: Critics’ Picks" The post The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1920s: Critics’ Picks appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1930s: Critics’ Picks](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-the-1930s-critics-picks/): In 2020, to celebrate JazzTimes’ 50th anniversary, we made a bold (some would say foolhardy) call: the top 50 jazz albums of the past 50 … Read More "The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1930s: Critics’ Picks" The post The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1930s: Critics’ Picks appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1940s: Critics’ Picks](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-the-1940s-critics-picks/): In 2020, to celebrate JazzTimes’ 50th anniversary, we made a bold (some would say foolhardy) call: the top 50 jazz albums of the past 50 … Read More "The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1940s: Critics’ Picks" The post The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1940s: Critics’ Picks appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1950s: Critics’ Picks](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-the-1950s-critics-picks/): In 2020, to celebrate JazzTimes’ 50th anniversary, we made a bold (some would say foolhardy) call: the top 50 jazz albums of the past 50 … Read More "The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1950s: Critics’ Picks" The post The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1950s: Critics’ Picks appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1960s: Critics’ Picks](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-the-1960s-critics-picks/): In 2020, to celebrate JazzTimes’ 50th anniversary, we made a bold (some would say foolhardy) call: the top 50 jazz albums of the past 50 … Read More "The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1960s: Critics’ Picks" The post The 10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1960s: Critics’ Picks appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [John Scofield Talks his Solo Debut and More](https://jazzhall.com/john-scofield-talks-his-solo-debut-and-more/): Nearly two decades before COVID-19 was even a twinkle in a pangolin’s eye—if in fact those endearing critters had any coronavirus connection at all—John Scofield … Read More "John Scofield Talks his Solo Debut and More" The post John Scofield Talks his Solo Debut and More appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Thelonious Monk’s First Sessions](https://jazzhall.com/thelonious-monks-first-sessions/): Put a “the” in front of a name and it acquires historical heft. The Thelonious Monk who entered New York City’s WOR Studios as Halloween … Read More "Thelonious Monk’s First Sessions" The post Thelonious Monk’s First Sessions appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Chronology: Coleman Hawkins Reaches New Heights in the Late ’50s and Early ’60s](https://jazzhall.com/chronology-coleman-hawkins-reaches-new-heights-in-the-late-50s-and-early-60s/): In spring 1963, when Coleman Hawkins was 58 and making some of the most astonishing music of his career, he gave a short but revealing … Read More "Chronology: Coleman Hawkins Reaches New Heights in the Late ’50s and Early ’60s" The post Chronology: Coleman Hawkins Reaches New Heights in the Late ’50s and Early
- [Royal Canadian Mint Issues a New $1 Oscar Peterson Coin](https://jazzhall.com/royal-canadian-mint-issues-a-new-1-oscar-peterson-coin/): In an unveiling on August 11, 2022, the Royal Canadian Mint announced the creation of a new $1 coin honoring the pianist and longtime Canadian … Read More "Royal Canadian Mint Issues a New $1 Oscar Peterson Coin" The post Royal Canadian Mint Issues a New $1 Oscar Peterson Coin appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [Jazz and the Mob: A History](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-and-the-mob-a-history/): When master pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines was in the midst of a 12-year residency at the Grand Terrace nightclub on the South Side of Chicago, … Read More "Jazz and the Mob: A History" The post Jazz and the Mob: A History appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Barbara Thompson obituary](https://jazzhall.com/barbara-thompson-obituary/): Formidably talented saxophonist at the heart of many jazz line-ups who blazed a trail for female instrumentalists The early 21st century’s fast-moving story of genre-fluid, culture-crossing musical innovation nowadays takes for granted the contributions of a growing cohort of powerful female saxophone players. But not so long ago, a woman was a startling rarity on
- [Organist Joey DeFrancesco dies at 51](https://jazzhall.com/organist-joey-defrancesco-dies-at-51/): Once hailed as "the greatest jazz organist on the planet" by JazzTimes, Joey DeFranceso died Aug. 25, 2022 at age 51. Signed to Columbia Records at 16, DeFrancesco released his first album, "All of Me," and joined Miles Davis on a five-week European tour at 17. That tour with Davis led to playing keyboards for Davis
- [Joey DeFrancesco 1971 — 2022](https://jazzhall.com/joey-defrancesco-1971-2022/): Joey DeFrancesco, an astonishingly gifted multi-instrumentalist who as a teenager kickstarted a renaissance of the Hammond B-3 organ in jazz, died August 25 after a … Read More "Joey DeFrancesco 1971 — 2022" The post Joey DeFrancesco 1971 — 2022 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Letter: Barbara Thompson obituary](https://jazzhall.com/letter-barbara-thompson-obituary/): The collaboration between Barbara Thompson and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra on the album Bulletproof (2021) stemmed from the years in which she and her husband, Jon Hiseman, gave the band help and advice. For years they came to the NYJO’s annual residency at Ronnie Scott’s club in London, and her detailed feedback after the
- [Renowned jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis dies aged 87](https://jazzhall.com/renowned-jazz-pianist-ramsey-lewis-dies-aged-87/): The musician had three Grammy awards, seven gold records and later, hosted his own radio and TV shows to his credit Ramsey Lewis, the renowned jazz pianist whose music entertained fans over a more than 60-year career that began with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and made him one of the country’s most successful jazz musicians,
- [Ramsey Lewis 1935 – 2022](https://jazzhall.com/ramsey-lewis-1935-2022/): Ramsey Lewis, a Chicago-born and -based pianist whose successful early career in jazz led him to surprising pop stardom, died September 12 at his Chicago … Read More "Ramsey Lewis 1935 – 2022" The post Ramsey Lewis 1935 – 2022 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [‘Butt-shakers and toe-tappers’: Ramsey Lewis brought jazz to the people](https://jazzhall.com/butt-shakers-and-toe-tappers-ramsey-lewis-brought-jazz-to-the-people/): The piano great tuned in to the hits of his day and played hard bop to a rock backbeat, crossing into the mainstream and becoming one of the most sampled musicians of all time • Renowned jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis dies aged 87 For the first half of the 20th century, jazz musicians would interpret
- [Terri Lyne Carrington on her mission to correct jazz history: ‘Women don’t get called geniuses enough’](https://jazzhall.com/terri-lyne-carrington-on-her-mission-to-correct-jazz-history-women-dont-get-called-geniuses-enough/): The best-known book of jazz standards contains 399 pieces written by men and just one by a woman. With the all-female New Standards, the pioneering drummer-bandleader is undoing the idea of jazz as a boys’ club Imagine for a moment that you are a jazz musician looking for a standard to master – one of
- [Delfeayo Marsalis Is the Hartt School’s New Artist in Residence](https://jazzhall.com/delfeayo-marsalis-is-the-hartt-schools-new-artist-in-residence/): The University of Hartford’s Hartt School has appointed Delfeayo Marsalis its 2022-23 Artist in Residence. Marsalis will work with students at the school’s Jackie McLean Institute … Read More "Delfeayo Marsalis Is the Hartt School’s New Artist in Residence" The post Delfeayo Marsalis Is the Hartt School’s New Artist in Residence appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [Courtney Pine: ‘My music teacher said Black people like me shouldn’t go to university’](https://jazzhall.com/courtney-pine-my-music-teacher-said-black-people-like-me-shouldnt-go-to-university/): The jazz musician on his brush with death and an unfortunate trouser malfunction at an awards ceremony Born in London, Courtney Pine, 58, released his first album, Journey to the Urge Within, in 1986. His 1995 album Modern Day Jazz Stories was nominated for the Mercury music prize, and he won best jazz act at
- [Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders dead at 81](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-legend-pharoah-sanders-dead-at-81/): Revered spiritual jazz saxophonist was known for his unique playing style and collaborations with John Coltrane Pharoah Sanders, the revered American jazz saxophonist, has died aged 81. The news was confirmed by Sanders’ label, Luaka Bop, on Twitter. “We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label’s statement read. “He died
- [Pharoah Sanders 1940 — 2022](https://jazzhall.com/pharoah-sanders-1940-2022/): Pharoah Sanders, a pioneering tenor saxophonist and composer who became synonymous with the spiritual jazz aesthetic, died September 24 at a hospital in Los Angeles, … Read More "Pharoah Sanders 1940 — 2022" The post Pharoah Sanders 1940 — 2022 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Sue Mingus 1930 — 2022](https://jazzhall.com/sue-mingus-1930-2022/): Sue Mingus, the fourth wife and widow of Charles Mingus who for over 40 years curated his music and ensured its regular public performance, died … Read More "Sue Mingus 1930 — 2022" The post Sue Mingus 1930 — 2022 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Pharoah Sanders obituary](https://jazzhall.com/pharoah-sanders-obituary/): US saxophonist who started his career with Sun Ra and John Coltrane and went on to find a more spiritual voice The distinctive sound of Pharoah Sanders’ tenor saxophone, which could veer from a hoarse croon to harsh multiphonic screams, startled audiences in the 1960s before acting in recent years as a kind of call
- [Ramsey Lewis obituary](https://jazzhall.com/ramsey-lewis-obituary/): American jazz pianist whose influence stretched from Britfunk groups in the 1970s to modern performers such as Mariah Carey The American jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, who has died aged 87, enjoyed considerable crossover success. For almost 60 years Lewis was one of the world’s most popular jazz musicians: a knack for interpreting pop songs as
- [Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/sun-ra-arkestra-living-sky-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Omni Sound) The 98-year-old Arkestra vet Allen keeps the Ra flame burning with tranquil, semi-free jazz passages featuring kora, piano and his own abrasive sax. Even Chopin gets a look-in In his biography Space Is the Place, documenting the life, times and boundless dreams of Arkestra leader Sun Ra, John F Szwed described Ra’s vivid
- [Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues review – swinging doc is a stirring tribute](https://jazzhall.com/louis-armstrongs-black-blues-review-swinging-doc-is-a-stirring-tribute/): Freewheeling across the trumpeter’s pathbreaking career, Sacha Jenkins’ immensely enjoyable study speeds through giddyingly rich source material Luxuriating in a wealth of archival material that encompasses radio and TV interviews, privately recorded conversations from reel-to-reel tapes (Armstrong could swear like a sailor), and good old-fashioned newspaper clippings (remember them?), this documentary about the great Louis
- [‘We captured lightning’ – documenting jazz hero Roy Hargrove](https://jazzhall.com/we-captured-lightning-documenting-jazz-hero-roy-hargrove/): Film-maker Eliane Henri set out to chronicle the day-to-day life of revered jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove – but didn’t know she would also be documenting his untimely death From the start of their 28-year friendship, Eliane Henri knew trumpeter Roy Hargrove was a genius. “I was 17 when I went to see his first show
- [National Youth Jazz Orchestra: She Said review – vibrant homage to female jazz composers old and new](https://jazzhall.com/national-youth-jazz-orchestra-she-said-review-vibrant-homage-to-female-jazz-composers-old-and-new/): (NYJO)The ensemble’s programme aimed at remixing the genre’s gender balance has resulted in an ambitious and arresting LP Installed, finally, in a home of their own after half a century of making do, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) have the facilities to undertake efforts such as this, “a programme to remix the gender balance
- [Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky (Omni Sound)](https://jazzhall.com/sun-ra-arkestra-living-sky-omni-sound/): With 2020’s Swirling, the Sun Ra Arkestra—forever dedicated to the boundary-expanding Saturn-al jazz and future-life theories of the late Sun Ra—hung up a back-in-business sign for … Read More "Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky (Omni Sound)" The post Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky (Omni Sound) appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Craft/Concord)](https://jazzhall.com/vince-guaraldi-trio-a-charlie-brown-christmas-craft-concord/): For many jazz fans, it’s the greatest holiday recording ever. For others, with its largely instrumental, non-caroling format, perhaps not. But the creative soundtrack work … Read More "Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Craft/Concord)" The post Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Craft/Concord) appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Sun Ra and the Cornucopia House Band](https://jazzhall.com/sun-ra-and-the-cornucopia-house-band/): There are certain works of art with which I wish I could have a conversation, so that I might express my gratitude for them. I … Read More "Sun Ra and the Cornucopia House Band" The post Sun Ra and the Cornucopia House Band appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week](https://jazzhall.com/vince-guaraldi-trio-a-charlie-brown-christmas-review-alexis-petridiss-album-of-the-week/): (Fantasy)No one expected these songs of off-key melancholy, imperfect singing and seasonal disappointment to succeed, but nearly 60 years on, the jazz pianist’s masterpiece endures Vince Guaraldi’s career, or rather the legacy of his career, is a curious thing. His name is absent from the index of Ted Gioia’s authoritative The History of Jazz. Nor
- [Jazz Music Awards: Celebrating the Spirit of Jazz](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-music-awards-celebrating-the-spirit-of-jazz/): The Jazz Music Awards: Celebrating the Spirit of Jazz, the first awards celebration to exclusively focus on Jazz announces a star-studded lineup of acclaimed artists who will perform live under the musical direction of NEA Jazz Master and three-time Grammy Award-winning musician, composer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington. Grammy and Tony Award-winning artist Dee Dee Bridgewater and multiple award-winning
- [The Story Behind Wynton Marsalis’ Debut Album](https://jazzhall.com/the-story-behind-wynton-marsalis-debut-album/): The impact of Wynton Marsalis’ self-titled debut is immeasurable. Released 40 years ago, the album introduced the wider jazz world to a preening trumpeter from … Read More "The Story Behind Wynton Marsalis’ Debut Album" The post The Story Behind Wynton Marsalis’ Debut Album appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Audio Files: The Best Stereo System for Jazz Fans](https://jazzhall.com/audio-files-the-best-stereo-system-for-jazz-fans/): Ask an audiophile what kind of stereo system a rock fan is likely to have, and they’ll probably describe a JBL setup with muscular amps … Read More "Audio Files: The Best Stereo System for Jazz Fans" The post Audio Files: The Best Stereo System for Jazz Fans appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [‘The baddest technician’: how Don Cherry is still making jazz new](https://jazzhall.com/the-baddest-technician-how-don-cherry-is-still-making-jazz-new/): The man who turned bebop upside down with Ornette Coleman went on to work with artists from Sonny Rollins to Ian Dury – and the London jazz festival is set to show he’s still inspiring Nineteen fifty-nine was a pivotal year in jazz. In August, trumpeter Miles Davis released his landmark album Kind of Blue,
- [Daniela Soledade Introduces Herself](https://jazzhall.com/daniela-soledade-introduces-herself/): North American jazz fans are just starting to learn the name Daniela Soledade, but in Brazil, where she was born and raised through her early … Read More "Daniela Soledade Introduces Herself" The post Daniela Soledade Introduces Herself appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Sonny Rollins at the Turning Point](https://jazzhall.com/sonny-rollins-at-the-turning-point/): Toward the end of the 1950s, the already renowned tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins managed to kick his addiction to heroin. But he soon realized that … Read More "Sonny Rollins at the Turning Point" The post Sonny Rollins at the Turning Point appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Ball State University Jazz Ensemble: I Can See the Other Side (self-released)](https://jazzhall.com/ball-state-university-jazz-ensemble-i-can-see-the-other-side-self-released/): The Ball State jazz studies program’s debut recording showcases the Muncie, Indiana school’s premier big band as it digs into four original compositions, a student … Read More "Ball State University Jazz Ensemble: I Can See the Other Side (self-released)" The post Ball State University Jazz Ensemble: I Can See the Other Side (self-released) appeared
- [Pharoah Sanders remembered by Kamasi Washington](https://jazzhall.com/pharoah-sanders-remembered-by-kamasi-washington/): 13 October 1940 – 24 September 2022The musician salutes the long career of the fellow saxophonist, the master of spiritual, ‘cosmic’ jazz who was ‘like a third grandfather’ to him Cherry Valentine remembered by Bimini Read the Observer’s obituaries of 2022 in full When I was eight or nine, my father took me to see
- [A Question of Balance: Racial and Gender Equity in the Jazz Classroom](https://jazzhall.com/a-question-of-balance-racial-and-gender-equity-in-the-jazz-classroom/): About a year after he began working at Harvard University, pianist/composer Vijay Iyer was in a faculty meeting. A visiting committee—a group of academics from … Read More "A Question of Balance: Racial and Gender Equity in the Jazz Classroom" The post A Question of Balance: Racial and Gender Equity in the Jazz Classroom appeared
- [Keiko Okuya Jones, Widow of One of Jazz’s Greatest Drummers, Has Died at 85](https://jazzhall.com/keiko-okuya-jones-widow-of-one-of-jazzs-greatest-drummers-has-died-at-85/): The following is an official statement from the family of the late Elvin Jones, received at the JazzTimes office earlier today, December 14. The family … Read More "Keiko Okuya Jones, Widow of One of Jazz’s Greatest Drummers, Has Died at 85" The post Keiko Okuya Jones, Widow of One of Jazz’s Greatest Drummers, Has
- [University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble: The Early Years… / …’Til Now (Mark Masters)](https://jazzhall.com/university-of-kentucky-jazz-ensemble-the-early-years-til-now-mark-masters/): These two compilations, originally released in 2019, celebrated two milestones for the University of Kentucky’s Mega-Sax jazz ensembles: 50 years since the first band was … Read More "University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble: The Early Years… / …’Til Now (Mark Masters)" The post University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble: The Early Years… / …’Til Now (Mark
- [University of Nevada-Las Vegas Jazz and Commercial Music Division: Almost There (Vegas)](https://jazzhall.com/university-of-nevada-las-vegas-jazz-and-commercial-music-division-almost-there-vegas/): UNLV’s 2022 jazz recording spotlights the Vegas program’s abundance of musical riches. Disc one features the Division of Jazz and Commercial Music’s premier big band, … Read More "University of Nevada-Las Vegas Jazz and Commercial Music Division: Almost There (Vegas)" The post University of Nevada-Las Vegas Jazz and Commercial Music Division: Almost There (Vegas) appeared
- [Jazzmeia Horn is No. 1 on 2022 Top 100](https://jazzhall.com/jazzmeia-horn-is-no-1-on-2022-top-100/): Topping the JazzWeek 2022 Year End Top 100 Jazz Chart is Jazzmeia Horn Dear Love (Empress Legacy). Rounding out the top five are: No. 2, Diego Rivera Mestizo (Posi-Tone); No. 3, Alvin Queen Trio Night Train To Copenhagen (Stunt); No. 4 Steve Davis Bluesthetic (Smoke Sessions); and No. 5, Bill O’Connell A Change Is Gonna
- [The 20 greatest Christmas albums – ranked!](https://jazzhall.com/the-20-greatest-christmas-albums-ranked/): Whether you fancy a heartwarming carol with Elvis or the story of a yuletide drug dealer from OutKast, there’s a festive album for you in our rundown of the best ever The US avant-folk trio began their musical career carol singing, which makes We Three Kings a kind of back-to-their-roots enterprise. Quite sparsely arranged, it
- [Year in Review: The Top 10 Historical Albums of 2022](https://jazzhall.com/year-in-review-the-top-10-historical-albums-of-2022/): We calculated our top 10 historical/reissue recordings of 2022 based on year-end lists by our writers. They were asked to choose the five best historical … Read More "Year in Review: The Top 10 Historical Albums of 2022" The post Year in Review: The Top 10 Historical Albums of 2022 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [Year in Review: The Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2022 (40-21)](https://jazzhall.com/year-in-review-the-top-40-jazz-albums-of-2022-40-21/): We calculated our top 40 new releases of 2022 based on year-end lists by our writers. They were asked to choose the 10 best new … Read More "Year in Review: The Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2022 (40-21)" The post Year in Review: The Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2022 (40-21) appeared first on
- [University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band: LAB 2021 (North Texas Jazz)](https://jazzhall.com/university-of-north-texas-one-oclock-lab-band-lab-2021-north-texas-jazz/): With the University of North Texas in the midst of celebrating the 75th year of its storied jazz program, this latest release from its premier … Read More "University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band: LAB 2021 (North Texas Jazz)" The post University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band: LAB 2021 (North Texas
- [Allah supreme: how Pharoah Sanders found freedom and rebellion in Islam](https://jazzhall.com/allah-supreme-how-pharoah-sanders-found-freedom-and-rebellion-in-islam/): The saxophonist was among an assembly of American jazz musicians who reached across continents to find meaning in sound The day the music died was 24 September 2022. On that Saturday, the legendary tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, a man who blew his horn “as if he was a dragon breathing fire”, passed on, at age
- [The 10 best jazz albums of 2022](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-2022/): Kokoroko sounded fresh on their debut record, we heard a classic bebop set from the late, great Joe Harriott, and Charles Lloyd completed his three-part trio masterpiece The best music of 2022 More of the best culture of 2022 Hot live bands don’t always make hot records, but south London eight-piece Kokoroko nailed that transition
- [Oklahoma State University Jazz Orchestra: Room 118 (OSU Jazz Studies)](https://jazzhall.com/oklahoma-state-university-jazz-orchestra-room-118-osu-jazz-studies/): This latest project from the Oklahoma State University Jazz Orchestra is titled to honor a spot that made a big impact on decades of music … Read More "Oklahoma State University Jazz Orchestra: Room 118 (OSU Jazz Studies)" The post Oklahoma State University Jazz Orchestra: Room 118 (OSU Jazz Studies) appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered
- [Houston Person: Reminiscing at Rudy’s review – a melody masterclass](https://jazzhall.com/houston-person-reminiscing-at-rudys-review-a-melody-masterclass/): (HighNote)The saxophonist and his top band eschew improvisation in favour of faithful renditions of classic tunes, from Cole Porter to Paul Anka There aren’t many of them about in the jazz world these days, but the American tenor saxophonist Houston Person is undoubtedly a melody man. He likes to keep close to the tune and
- [The Definition of Swing](https://jazzhall.com/the-definition-of-swing/): Ever since I was in the 7th grade, I have had a passion for jazz. I have always listened to and enjoyed a wide variety … Read More "The Definition of Swing" The post The Definition of Swing appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Cuba Across the Generations](https://jazzhall.com/cuba-across-the-generations/): The last time Hilario Duran, the 69-year-old Cuban Canadian piano master and composer, teamed up with another pianist was in 2017, when he performed duets … Read More "Cuba Across the Generations" The post Cuba Across the Generations appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Oscar Peterson: Black + White review – profile of pianist lets the music do the talking](https://jazzhall.com/oscar-peterson-black-white-review-profile-of-pianist-lets-the-music-do-the-talking/): A somewhat reverent look at the jazz piano virtuoso includes many famous contributors The legendary jazz piano virtuoso is the subject of this warmly celebratory if undemanding documentary, which takes us through his life and times and also brings together jazz musicians to play a special session in his honour. Peterson was a musician who
- [Finding A Voice for Black Jazz](https://jazzhall.com/finding-a-voice-for-black-jazz/): The following is an excerpt from Willard Jenkins’ latest book, Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story, which was released … Read More "Finding A Voice for Black Jazz" The post Finding A Voice for Black Jazz appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [West Virginia University Jazz Ensemble: Celebrating 40 Years of Jazz at WVU (Mon Hills) and WVU Jazz Ensemble 1: Sum of All the Parts (Spotify)](https://jazzhall.com/west-virginia-university-jazz-ensemble-celebrating-40-years-of-jazz-at-wvu-mon-hills-and-wvu-jazz-ensemble-1-sum-of-all-the-parts-spotify/): These two Mountaineer recordings are poles apart in concept and configurations— one septet and one big band—yet they combine to make a very fine showcase … Read More "West Virginia University Jazz Ensemble: Celebrating 40 Years of Jazz at WVU (Mon Hills) and WVU Jazz Ensemble 1: Sum of All the Parts (Spotify)" The post
- [‘I had to do dramatic things to get attention’: sax player Lakecia Benjamin on crashing Prince gigs and charming Stevie Wonder](https://jazzhall.com/i-had-to-do-dramatic-things-to-get-attention-sax-player-lakecia-benjamin-on-crashing-prince-gigs-and-charming-stevie-wonder/): The US musician once had to strategise her way to the spotlight. Now, having survived a life-threatening accident, she’s using her solo career to highlight ‘those who aren’t getting enough shine’ During a fallow work period in the early 2000s, saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin took matters into her own hands. “People weren’t calling me for gigs,
- [Joy to the World: Samara Joy Wins Big at the Grammys](https://jazzhall.com/joy-to-the-world-samara-joy-wins-big-at-the-grammys/): Defying expectations—and sparking an uproar on Brazilian Twitter—jazz vocalist Samara Joy won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best New Artist during the CBS broadcast of … Read More "Joy to the World: Samara Joy Wins Big at the Grammys" The post Joy to the World: Samara Joy Wins Big at the Grammys appeared first on
- [The Many Keys of Fred Hersch](https://jazzhall.com/the-many-keys-of-fred-hersch/): Behind Fred Hersch there’s a view of Central Park. Billows of lush trees buffer the bright, sunny green of the Sheep Meadow, bracketed by the … Read More "The Many Keys of Fred Hersch" The post The Many Keys of Fred Hersch appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [In Memoriam: Joey DeFrancesco](https://jazzhall.com/in-memoriam-joey-defrancesco/): My introduction to Joey’s music was in 1995 when I was given his Live at the 5 Spot CD as a Christmas gift and immediately … Read More "In Memoriam: Joey DeFrancesco" The post In Memoriam: Joey DeFrancesco appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [In Memoriam: Ramsey Lewis](https://jazzhall.com/in-memoriam-ramsey-lewis/): I’ll never forget the first time I began to get a feeling for the gentleman behind Ramsey’s iconic piano playing. It was at the 2010 … Read More "In Memoriam: Ramsey Lewis" The post In Memoriam: Ramsey Lewis appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [In Memoriam: Ernie Andrews](https://jazzhall.com/in-memoriam-ernie-andrews/): Ernie Andrews, a deep-voiced singer who scored a major hit (1945’s “Soothe Me”) when he was still in his teens but remained perennially underrecognized by … Read More "In Memoriam: Ernie Andrews" The post In Memoriam: Ernie Andrews appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [In Memoriam: Sue Mingus](https://jazzhall.com/in-memoriam-sue-mingus/): In January of 1987, somebody told Sue Mingus there’s this new tenor player in town, and so she came out to a gig on Long … Read More "In Memoriam: Sue Mingus" The post In Memoriam: Sue Mingus appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [In Memoriam: Ron Miles](https://jazzhall.com/in-memoriam-ron-miles/): I was living in Seattle and my manager received a cassette from someone named Ron Miles. I had no idea who he was. He had … Read More "In Memoriam: Ron Miles" The post In Memoriam: Ron Miles appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Wayne Shorter, icon of jazz saxophone, dies aged 89](https://jazzhall.com/wayne-shorter-icon-of-jazz-saxophone-dies-aged-89/): Composer and performer traversed numerous phases of jazz history, and fused his playing with the likes of Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and Carlos Santana Wayne Shorter, one of America’s greatest jazz saxophonists whose career spanned bop, fusion and more, has died in hospital in Los Angeles, aged 89. His publicist confirmed his death to the
- [In Memoriam: Wayne Shorter](https://jazzhall.com/in-memoriam-wayne-shorter/): Innovative, Enigmatic, and Inventive are all words that are used to describe this century’s visionary musician, Wayne Shorter. And these words are all true. But, … Read More "In Memoriam: Wayne Shorter" The post In Memoriam: Wayne Shorter appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Ahmad Jamal, influential jazz pianist, dies aged 92](https://jazzhall.com/ahmad-jamal-influential-jazz-pianist-dies-aged-92/): Over a career spanning seven decades, musician was hailed for his ability to transcend genres Ahmad Jamal, the influential jazz pianist, composer and band leader, has died at the age of 92. His daughter, Sumayah Jamal, confirmed to the New York Times that the cause of death was prostate cancer. Continue reading... Powered by WPeMatico
- [Ahmad Jamal obituary](https://jazzhall.com/ahmad-jamal-obituary/): Innovative pianist who preferred the term American classical music to jazz, and became a favourite of hip-hop artists The dapper and sagacious Ahmad Jamal may have looked more like a UN delegate than a jazz musician, but he was recognised as a truly great jazz artist by some of the music’s most notable pioneers. Jamal,
- [RIP Ahmad Jamal July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023](https://jazzhall.com/rip-ahmad-jamal-july-2-1930-april-16-2023/): The post RIP Ahmad Jamal July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023 appeared first on JazzTimes. Powered by WPeMatico
- [Harry Belafonte, entertainer and activist, dies at 96](https://jazzhall.com/harry-belafonte-entertainer-and-activist-dies-at-96/): Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and civil rights activist who broke down racial barriers, has died aged 96. As well as performing global hits such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), winning a Tony award for acting and appearing in numerous feature films, Belafonte spent his life fighting for a variety of causes. He bankrolled
- [Here is Your Game Night Playlist if You Love Jazz](https://jazzhall.com/here-is-your-game-night-playlist-if-you-love-jazz/): Hosting a weekend game night is a great way to connect with friends and family and generate some healthy competition. From card games to board games, there are endless ways to get creative when it comes to game night. However, there are a few key components that go into hosting the perfect game night. Of
- [‘It’s a rockstar album’: the UK jazz musicians marking five decades of Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew](https://jazzhall.com/its-a-rockstar-album-the-uk-jazz-musicians-marking-five-decades-of-miles-daviss-bitches-brew/): In an epic feat of improvisation, 12 players over three days reimagined the jazz great’s magnum opus. Nubya Garcia, Dave Okumu and producer Martin Terefe talk us through the recording of London Brew “We played for three days straight with no notes on the page and no repeats. There were 12 musicians in the room,
- [Dorothy Ashby was the pioneer harpist who opened up the instrument to Black musicians like me](https://jazzhall.com/dorothy-ashby-was-the-pioneer-harpist-who-opened-up-the-instrument-to-black-musicians-like-me/): A contemporary of Alice Coltrane’s, Ashby mixed genres and broke down musical barriers. Now I am proud to be bringing some of her unreleased music to audiences for the first time I began playing harp at 11 and the traditional path to follow with the instrument was the classical music one, where all the players
- [‘We paved the way for the Rolling Stones’: Ottilie Patterson, the forgotten first lady of British blues](https://jazzhall.com/we-paved-the-way-for-the-rolling-stones-ottilie-patterson-the-forgotten-first-lady-of-british-blues/): She was a standout singer – but crumbled after a brutal marriage and backstreet abortion. Ahead of a new reissue, her peers recall what happened to this singular talent The late British jazz singer George Melly used to ask his audiences: “Who is the greatest blues vocalist Britain has ever produced?” He’d tease them, asking,
- [Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke: Lean In review – a winning partnership between old friends](https://jazzhall.com/gretchen-parlato-and-lionel-loueke-lean-in-review-a-winning-partnership-between-old-friends/): (Edition)The American singer and Benin guitarist join forces on a languid mix of bossa nova, power ballads – and Foo Fighters Gretchen Parlato’s previous album, 2021’s Flor, saw her widely acclaimed as the outstanding jazz voice of the times. After several years when her career was put on hold for motherhood, Flor was a remarkable
- [‘People call me the godfather of fusion’: the return of jazz-funk keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith](https://jazzhall.com/people-call-me-the-godfather-of-fusion-the-return-of-jazz-funk-keyboardist-lonnie-liston-smith/): He has worked with Miles Davis, been sampled by Jay-Z, and has now made his first album in 25 years. He explains how going on TikTok helped him rediscover his cosmic keyboard sound Over the last 60 years, keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith has made an artform out of countering some of jazz music’s loudest heavyweights
- [The Role of Jazz in Student Creativity and Expression](https://jazzhall.com/the-role-of-jazz-in-student-creativity-and-expression/): Source: Pexels From the Neanderthal flute to a DJ controller with more buttons than a cockpit panel of an airplane, music has been the primary medium of creative self-expression since the dawn of mankind. As a genre that encourages improvisation, collaboration, and individuality - a far cry from some of the more formulaic branches of
- [Astrud Gilberto obituary](https://jazzhall.com/astrud-gilberto-obituary/): One of Brazil’s leading bossa nova singers best known for the 1964 international hit The Girl from Ipanema Astrud Gilberto, who has died aged 83, became the best known female bossa nova singer, thanks to her cool, breathy and delightful treatment of The Girl from Ipanema, a song that sold more than a million copies
- [John Coltrane recordings lost in New York Public Library will finally be heard](https://jazzhall.com/john-coltrane-recordings-lost-in-new-york-public-library-will-finally-be-heard/): The 1961 recordings of live sessions with Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman and Elvin Jones have never been released Never-before-heard live recordings of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy have been discovered in the New York Public Library and will be released for the first time next month, more than 60 years after they were
- [The Art of Localization: Jazz’s Adaptation to Different Cultures](https://jazzhall.com/the-art-of-localization-jazzs-adaptation-to-different-cultures/): Jazz music is one of the most popular music genres today. People love to listen to jazz on all kinds of social occasions and daily events. From studying at home or spending a romantic evening with your partner to throwing a business party for your colleagues, jazz finds a way to make it work. This
- [Nat King Cole ‘From The Capitol Vaults (Vol. 4)’ Out Now](https://jazzhall.com/nat-king-cole-from-the-capitol-vaults-vol-4-out-now/): Continuing Capitol/UMe’s ongoing roll-out of rare tracks by Nat King Cole comes the highly anticipated From The Capitol Vaults (Vol. 4) out June 16, 2023, just in time for Father’s Day and Juneteenth. This fourth digital-only collection features 14 timeless tracks, 12 of which are available for the first time on streaming platforms. From The Capitol Vaults (Vol. 4) highlights Cole’s velvety smooth
- [Exploring the Magic of Jazz: The Different Styles and Subgenres](https://jazzhall.com/exploring-the-magic-of-jazz-the-different-styles-and-subgenres/): Perhaps not as popular as it first was, jazz music continues to be enjoyed by millions around the world. The music style may be considered by newer generations to be a little different to their tastes, but for those that grew up with it around the home, there might not be anything better. The birthplace
- [Nina Simone’s 20 greatest songs – ranked!](https://jazzhall.com/nina-simones-20-greatest-songs-ranked/): Ahead of an album of previously unreleased 1966 live recordings, we appraise the strident, sexual, socially conscious songcraft of a truly indomitable artist One thing Nina Simone had in abundance was attitude, which can be heard in her frankly astonishing version of Brecht and Weill’s Pirate Jenny. It is a theatrical piece that she sings
- [Tony Bennett, US singer with seven-decade career, dies aged 96](https://jazzhall.com/tony-bennett-us-singer-with-seven-decade-career-dies-aged-96/): Publicist confirms death of American pop and jazz singer who became torchbearer for Great American Songbook Tony Bennett, the American pop and jazz singer who became the torchbearer for the Great American Songbook during a seven decade career, has died aged 96, his publicist said on Friday. Bennett was perhaps best known for his 1962
- [Herbie Hancock review – still seeking the new after 50 years of jazz curiosity](https://jazzhall.com/herbie-hancock-review-still-seeking-the-new-after-50-years-of-jazz-curiosity/): Barbican, London Band featuring Terence Blanchard and drummer Jaylen Petinaud is firmly rooted in the present “I did a lot of stuff in the 70s,” Herbie Hancock remarks midway through the first of two Barbican performances. He’s not wrong. 2023 marks 50 years since his album Head Hunters, a landmark moment for jazz as another
- [Amid pop’s revolutions, Tony Bennett was a steady, classy constant](https://jazzhall.com/amid-pops-revolutions-tony-bennett-was-a-steady-classy-constant/): He had ups and downs both professional and personal, but by rejecting fashion and forging ahead with his jazz-informed, after-hours style, Bennett remained hugely admired Over the course of Tony Bennett’s 71-year career, pop music changed beyond recognition. At one end of it, his first No 1 single Because Of You was displaced from the
- [I left my art in San Francisco: Tony Bennett interviewed – archive, January 1972](https://jazzhall.com/i-left-my-art-in-san-francisco-tony-bennett-interviewed-archive-january-1972/): 15 January 1972: In London to record a television series, Bennett talks about his musical career as well as a love of art Tony Bennett, an entertainer described by Frank Sinatra (an egocentric not noted for the lavishness of his public assessments of rival talents) as “the greatest ballad singer of them all,” last week
- [‘Music shouted louder than racism’: the pioneering Black nightclub born in far-right east London](https://jazzhall.com/music-shouted-louder-than-racism-the-pioneering-black-nightclub-born-in-far-right-east-london/): Bentley’s, set up in what was then the National Front stronghold of Canning Town, all too briefly became a legendary weekend mecca for soul, hip-hop and reggae In 1983, Canning Town in the borough of Newham in east London returned the highest number of votes for the National Front in the country. A year later,
- [‘I felt his vibration!’ Sonny Roberts, the UK’s first Black music studio owner](https://jazzhall.com/i-felt-his-vibration-sonny-roberts-the-uks-first-black-music-studio-owner/): The Jamaican immigrant producer and entrepreneur, who is being honoured with a blue plaque this week, laid the foundations for a vibrant British reggae scene A couple of years after he arrived at Tilbury docks on the SS Manistee in 1958, Jamaican carpenter Sonny Roberts took the keys to a dusty, neglected basement at 108
- [‘How a man grew to greatness’: the incredible story of saxophonist Wayne Shorter](https://jazzhall.com/how-a-man-grew-to-greatness-the-incredible-story-of-saxophonist-wayne-shorter/): In a new Amazon docuseries, executive-produced by Brad Pitt, the late music legend tells his story of triumph and tragedy Dorsay Alavi met the saxophone virtuoso and composer Wayne Shorter in 1995, when she was hired by Verve Records to direct a video in support of his album High Life. So began a three-decade friendship
- [Herb Alpert on 80 years in music: ‘Mozart, Thelonious Monk ... all of us have the same 12 notes’](https://jazzhall.com/herb-alpert-on-80-years-in-music-mozart-thelonious-monk-all-of-us-have-the-same-12-notes/): The trumpeter and co-founder of A&M Records answers your questions on writing a Bond theme, selling 72m albums and signing Janet Jackson, Karen Carpenter and the ‘appalling’ Sex Pistols What was it like singing such a famous, beautiful Burt Bacharach song as This Guy’s in Love With You? eamonmccBurt and I were dear friends. When
- [Nina Simone: gifted, black and Desert Island Discs’ most selected artist in 2022](https://jazzhall.com/nina-simone-gifted-black-and-desert-island-discs-most-selected-artist-in-2022/): Exclusive: Jazz singer is first black person to become a year’s most selected artist in eight decades of BBC show She’s put a spell on us. Nina Simone is the new queen of Desert Island Discs after castaways chose her songs more than any other artist in 2022. The American jazz singer and pianist is
- [‘I imagine he’s in the cosmos, hearing music’: Floating Points on his landmark album with Pharoah Sanders](https://jazzhall.com/i-imagine-hes-in-the-cosmos-hearing-music-floating-points-on-his-landmark-album-with-pharoah-sanders/): The UK producer has never spoken about one of the century’s most acclaimed records, Promises, until now. He recalls bonding with the late jazz legend over okra curry – then making a masterpiece On 24 September 2022, Sam Shepherd arrived at a hospital in Los Angeles a few moments after the saxophonist Pharoah Sanders died,
- [Mo Foster obituary](https://jazzhall.com/mo-foster-obituary/): My friend and neighbour Mo Foster, who has died aged 78, was a session bass guitar player in the 1970s and 80s working with such people as Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Gerry Rafferty, Joan Armatrading and Gary Moore. Over the years he played on a number of hit singles including Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
- [Carla Bley, imaginative jazz pianist and composer, dies aged 87](https://jazzhall.com/carla-bley-imaginative-jazz-pianist-and-composer-dies-aged-87/): Musician’s work spanned the mainstream and avant-garde, including in fusions with the world of rock Carla Bley, the American jazz composer-pianist celebrated for boldly avant-garde work as well as her uplifting and beautiful takes on the genre’s mainstream, has died aged 87. Her death was announced by longtime partner and musical collaborator Steve Swallow, who
- [Carla Bley obituary](https://jazzhall.com/carla-bley-obituary/): Jazz musician and composer whose prolific output was deliriously entertaining, bewildering and bewitching The jazz composer Carla Bley, who has died aged 87, created an enormous body of work with emotional punch, intellectual reach and musical depth. She was also a role model for independent musicians, with her own label and studio in New York
- [Ron Carter, jazz’s most prolific bassist: ‘Our band was a laboratory – and Miles Davis was head chemist’](https://jazzhall.com/ron-carter-jazzs-most-prolific-bassist-our-band-was-a-laboratory-and-miles-davis-was-head-chemist/): He overcame prejudice to play on more than 2,000 albums, and is still going strong at 86. Carter recalls laughter with Aretha Franklin, composing with Roberta Flack, and what Miles taught him in their classic quintet ‘There are three pieces of advice I give all my students: first, be on time. Time is money so
- [Ruben Studdard Album ‘ The Way I Remember It’ Out Now](https://jazzhall.com/ruben-studdard-album-the-way-i-remember-it-out-now/): "THE WAY I REMEMBER IT" is the eight studio album from the Velvet Teddy Bear himself, Ruben Studdard. The album will be globally available this Friday via the label partnership with Legend Tribe, RCS, and the SRG-ILS Group. Earlier this year, we were first introduced to the to the newly updated sound from Ruben Studdard, with the album
- [Corinne Bailey Rae review – a genre-mashing celebration of her artistic freedom](https://jazzhall.com/corinne-bailey-rae-review-a-genre-mashing-celebration-of-her-artistic-freedom/): Ladbroke Hall, LondonShowcasing her fourth album, Black Rainbows, the singer-songwriter moves away from her soulful roots to a more anguished, angry sound that is also joyful and cathartic Corinne Bailey Rae wanders the stage wordlessly, wafting handheld percussion instruments at amplifiers and members of her band as though burning sage to cleanse the space. All
- [Ambrose Akinmusire: Owl Song review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/ambrose-akinmusire-owl-song-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Nonesuch)The California-raised trumpet virtuoso provides a balming trio album to counter our information overload The news that Ambrose Akinmusire likes owls comes as no surprise once you start pondering the watchful patience and swooping accuracy of this California-raised trumpet virtuoso’s jazz creativity for the past 15 years. Showered with plaudits in that time (with comparisons
- [The 10 best contemporary albums of 2023](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-contemporary-albums-of-2023/): There was soothing minimalism and bowel-quaking low end as Neil Gaiman got some wonderfully quizzical accompaniments and Manchester’s answer to Sun Ra freaked out• More on the best music of 2023• More on the best culture of 2023 Sydney-based string quartet FourPlay have made a name by playing versions of music by various rock and
- [The 10 best jazz albums of 2023](https://jazzhall.com/the-10-best-jazz-albums-of-2023/): Nikki Iles affirmed her flawless ear, Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke finished each other’s sentences and Tyshawn Sorey rewrote standard-song interpretation • More on the best music of 2023• More on the best culture of 2023 Since the 1990s, the pianist and composer Nikki Iles has been a sought-after accompanist with a flawless anticipatory ear,
- [Joel Ross: Nublues review – vibraphonist’s innovative homage to tradition](https://jazzhall.com/joel-ross-nublues-review-vibraphonists-innovative-homage-to-tradition/): (Blue Note)The American musician shifts away from 12-bar blues to ‘an energy’ in this mix of seven originals and Monk and Coltrane covers When the pandemic arrived, Joel Ross went back to school – to New York’s famous New School conservatory, where completing his degree included a class on the blues. It proved a resonant
- [Charles Lloyd: The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow review – sax legend shows no sign of slowing down](https://jazzhall.com/charles-lloyd-the-sky-will-still-be-there-tomorrow-review-sax-legend-shows-no-sign-of-slowing-down/): (Blue Note)The octogenarian joyfully whispers and warbles his way through sublime tone poems, impassioned tributes and traditional spirituals with an all-star band Charles Lloyd is the last man standing of an inspired 1950s American saxophone generation, which included his late friends and contemporaries John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, and the now-retired Sonny Rollins. He once
- [‘Joni Mitchell said she felt as awkward as me’: Brittany Howard on poverty, chaos, Alabama Shakes and fame](https://jazzhall.com/joni-mitchell-said-she-felt-as-awkward-as-me-brittany-howard-on-poverty-chaos-alabama-shakes-and-fame/): The Alabama Shakes frontwoman became the toast of music’s A-list – so why did she feel so miserable? She reveals the grief and heartbreak she overcame to make her stellar new album On a good morning, Brittany Howard wakes up and decides who she wants to be. She will come up with a character, select
- [Les McCann obituary](https://jazzhall.com/les-mccann-obituary/): American jazz musician whose popular blues and gospel-inspired sounds were later sampled by a host of rap artists For much of his professional life, the jazz musician Les McCann was able to counter the barbs of critics by pointing to the enthusiasm with which his music was received by a large following. McCann, who has
- [‘A man cannot learn without discipline’: jazz guru Marshall Allen on life with Sun Ra – and turning 100](https://jazzhall.com/a-man-cannot-learn-without-discipline-jazz-guru-marshall-allen-on-life-with-sun-ra-and-turning-100/): From fighting in a second world war cavalry unit to sharing in a vision for an interstellar Black utopia, the multi-instrumentalist – in a rare audience at his astonishing practice space – has had a musical journey like no other Germantown, near Philadelphia, is your average small town in the north-eastern US. Some blocks boast
- [The sophisticated jazz of Cab Calloway – archive, March 1934](https://jazzhall.com/the-sophisticated-jazz-of-cab-calloway-archive-march-1934/): 8 March 1934: Musical scholars who go to the American bandleader for an explanation of ‘scat’ singing will be sorely disappointed LondonNo matter into what ecstasies Mr Cab Calloway urges his audiences at the Palladium he will sorely disappoint the musical scholars who go to him hopefully for an explanation of “scat” singing in terms
- [‘Reminds them of home’: African and Caribbean artists are reviving New Orleans’ musical spirit](https://jazzhall.com/reminds-them-of-home-african-and-caribbean-artists-are-reviving-new-orleans-musical-spirit/): Beset by hurricanes and rising insurance prices, the city saw people leaving in droves – but a program is encouraging jazz artists to move to the ‘most exciting musical city in the world’ Hammered by hurricanes, rutted streets and rising insurance rates, the metro New Orleans area saw 45,000 people leave between 2020 and 2023
- [David Sanborn, jazz saxophonist known for work with David Bowie and more, dies aged 78](https://jazzhall.com/david-sanborn-jazz-saxophonist-known-for-work-with-david-bowie-and-more-dies-aged-78/): Musician who played sax solo on Young Americans and released a series of Grammy-winning albums dies from prostate cancer David Sanborn, the Grammy-winning saxophonist whose expressive versatility across jazz and pop also made him a sought-after session player for tracks such as David Bowie’s Young Americans, has died aged 78. A message on social media
- [David Sanborn obituary](https://jazzhall.com/david-sanborn-obituary/): American alto saxophonist who played with of many of the jazz greats and collaborated with David Bowie and Stevie Wonder So distinctive was the soaring, heart-piercing sound of David Sanborn’s alto saxophone, and yet so comprehensive in its instant evocation of the spirit of a certain essence of US popular music, that it became familiar
- [A new start after 60: I had a dream about playing the trombone – so I became a musician at 72](https://jazzhall.com/a-new-start-after-60-i-had-a-dream-about-playing-the-trombone-so-i-became-a-musician-at-72/): More than 60 years after teaching herself the guitar, Noreen Davies woke one morning inspired to return to music. Now, she spends much of her free time jamming and gigging Twelve years ago, Noreen Davies had a dream. In it, the artist and cafe owner, then 72, saw herself wielding an unusual instrument. “There was
- [S5 E10: Gregory Porter, singer-songwriter](https://jazzhall.com/s5-e10-gregory-porter-singer-songwriter/): Bringing lashings of comfort and joy to Grace’s house for the final episode of this season is the legendary jazz singer Gregory Porter. The multi-Grammy award-winner, known for his smooth, silky tones and iconic headgear, is gliding in on a wave of Californian soul to ease us into some truly mellow seasonal joy. Food and
- [The big band theory: is the jazz orchestra seeing a renaissance?](https://jazzhall.com/the-big-band-theory-is-the-jazz-orchestra-seeing-a-renaissance/): Before bebop ushered in the age of trios and quartets, large outfits dominated the scene. Now a new generation of players are bringing back the tradition – and its sense of community Most jazz artists have what could be called the Big Band Dream. That dream is to lead between 12 and 20 musicians, comprising
- [Kamasi Washington: Fearless Movement review – the sax star dials up the tempos](https://jazzhall.com/kamasi-washington-fearless-movement-review-the-sax-star-dials-up-the-tempos/): (XL)Input from George Clinton, André 3000 and Washington’s toddler daughter feature on his virtuosic, richly varied latest Kamasi Washington could never be accused of fearful stasis. As one of the premier jazz crossover stars of the past decade, the LA saxophonist’s fiercely exuberant output has spread far outside the genre’s confines. Virtuoso musicianship is, naturally,
- [JazzWeek Top 100 for 2023: Ed Cherry is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/jazzweek-top-100-for-2023-ed-cherry-is-no-1/): No. 1 for airplay on the 2023 JazzWeek Top 100 chart is Ed Cherry Are We There Yet? (Cellar Music Group). At No. 2 is Antonio Adolfo Bossa 65 Celebrating Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal (AAM Music). No. 3 is Louis Hayes Exactly Right (Savant). Coming in at No. 4 is Lakecia Benjamin Phoenix (Whirlwind
- [Unheard Louis Armstrong recordings to be released](https://jazzhall.com/unheard-louis-armstrong-recordings-to-be-released/): What a Wonderful World and You’ll Never Walk Alone are among five unreleased tracks on compilation Louis in London, performed at the BBC in 1968 Unheard performances by Louis Armstrong at the BBC in 1968, regarded by Armstrong aficionados as some of the jazz legend’s greatest work, are to finally be released. A compilation titled
- [Jake Long: City Swamp review – mesmerising spiritual jazz channels Miles Davis and William Blake](https://jazzhall.com/jake-long-city-swamp-review-mesmerising-spiritual-jazz-channels-miles-davis-and-william-blake/): (New Soil)Billed as ‘a dystopian suite’, the drummer-composer’s debut solo album is an intense affair, with a stellar lineup that includes Nubya Garcia and Shirley Tetteh In 2018, bandleader and composer Jake Long and his group Maisha debuted with There Is a Place, an outstanding album of “spiritual jazz” that captured the vibrancy of a
- [I may not understand jazz – but I know enough to know it’s wonderful | Adrian Chiles](https://jazzhall.com/i-may-not-understand-jazz-but-i-know-enough-to-know-its-wonderful-adrian-chiles/): It’s one of the most baffling of all art forms, and the most mocked. Laugh all you like; these musicians are working miracles I went to watch some jazz and everyone laughed at me. Family, friends, anyone on the bus who heard me and my friend talking on the way there, all sniggering, scoffing, smirking.
- [Keith Jarrett and all that plink-plonk jazz | Brief letters](https://jazzhall.com/keith-jarrett-and-all-that-plink-plonk-jazz-brief-letters/): Gentle jazz | Piano man | Political pledges | Tory leaflets | Labour toast Adrian Chiles’s choice of Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert to impress a date would have been a big ask for anyone new to jazz (I may not understand jazz – but I know enough to know it’s wonderful, 26 June). He would
- [Mark Winkler: The Rules Don’t Apply review – crisp, timeless joie de vivre](https://jazzhall.com/mark-winkler-the-rules-dont-apply-review-crisp-timeless-joie-de-vivre/): (Cafe Pacific)The LA singer-songwriter and co hit the sweet spot once more on this elegant set of originals and covers, which include a surprising Beatles number Over a long career and a score of albums, Los Angeles vocalist Mark Winkler has flown slightly under the radar, acclaimed for his songwriting (covered by Randy Crawford and
- [Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin review – an inspiring homage](https://jazzhall.com/meshell-ndegeocello-no-more-water-the-gospel-of-james-baldwin-review-an-inspiring-homage/): (Blue Note)Part church service, part exploration of Black identity, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter’s tribute to Baldwin revisits his writing in the light of Black Lives Matter American polymath Meshell Ndegeocello won a Grammy for her 2023 LP The Omnichord Real Book, and this multi-voiced, jazz-adjacent theatrical opus ramps up the veteran bassist and singer’s ambitions further.
- [Wayne Shorter: Celebration Volume 1 review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/wayne-shorter-celebration-volume-1-review-john-fordhams-jazz-album-of-the-month/): (Blue Note)This 2014 live recording of the saxophonist’s late-career quartet showcases one of the great modern jazz bands and the enthralling genius of their leader Wayne Shorter brought ethereally timeless beauty to the sometimes impatient soundtrack of jazz. In the months before his death at 89 in March 2023, the saxophonist/composer was curating his archives
- [Milton Nascimento and Esperanza Spalding: Milton + Esperanza review – a quixotic double act](https://jazzhall.com/milton-nascimento-and-esperanza-spalding-milton-esperanza-review-a-quixotic-double-act/): (Concord)The veteran Brazilian singer and US composer-musician’s contrasting vocal styles captivate on an album that also features Paul Simon and Dianne Reeves Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento has long fascinated western musicians, in particular US jazzers such as the late sax titan Wayne Shorter, though UK yacht rockers Duran Duran also bagged him for their 1993
- [Milton Nascimento and Esperanza Spalding: Milton + Esperanza review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month](https://jazzhall.com/milton-nascimento-and-esperanza-spalding-milton-esperanza-review-ammar-kalias-global-album-of-the-month/): (Concord)The 81-year-old singer’s collaboration with the US jazz bassist reworks past songs in lively and expansive ways, masterfully blending their exciting voices Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento has one of the most dextrous voices in global music. From his 60s samba-funk releases as part of the Clube de Esquina movement, where he sang with a soft,
- [Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk a Mile in My Shoe review – perseverance and Philly pride](https://jazzhall.com/orrin-evans-and-the-captain-black-big-band-walk-a-mile-in-my-shoe-review-perseverance-and-philly-pride/): (Imani Records)Evans’ soulful and communal album explores his health condition with the help of A-list instrumentalists and vocal stars including Bilal and the legendary Lisa Fischer ‘This record is me opening the door into what I’ve lived with for years,” says the Philadelphia-raised pianist and composer Orrin Evans of his long-running Captain Black Big Band’s
- [Etienne Charles: Creole Orchestra review – jazz trumpeter’s big band dream come true](https://jazzhall.com/etienne-charles-creole-orchestra-review-jazz-trumpeters-big-band-dream-come-true/): (Culture Shock)The Trinidad-born musician and his 22-piece ensemble excel in all styles, from Benny Goodman and Eartha Kitt to Charles’s own Carib-flavoured compositions “Wow! A big band record – a dream come true,” writes Trinidad-born trumpet player Etienne Charles in the cover notes to his 10th album. A gifted player and composer, Charles has been
- [Nubya Garcia: Odyssey review – a rich, orchestral journey of self-discovery](https://jazzhall.com/nubya-garcia-odyssey-review-a-rich-orchestral-journey-of-self-discovery/): (Concord Jazz)The British sax star rekindles her love for scoring strings on her second solo album, with the help of Chineke! Orchestra, Esperanza Spalding and more Tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia is one of the top-line names to emerge from the past decade’s explosion of young London jazz talent. Her second solo album foregrounds Garcia’s deepening
- [Sérgio Mendes, the musician who left Brazil to bring the sounds of his country to the world](https://jazzhall.com/sergio-mendes-the-musician-who-left-brazil-to-bring-the-sounds-of-his-country-to-the-world/): The man who made bossa nova an international sensation has died at 83, after a 60-year, 35-album career that straddled musical genres Bringing Brazilian music to the world and the world to Brazilian music: for decades, this was Sérgio Mendes’s mission and passion. The artist died on Friday at the age of 83, after a
- [Sérgio Mendes obituary](https://jazzhall.com/sergio-mendes-obituary/): Brazilian musician best known for his hit Mas Que Nada who popularised bossa nova worldwide Sérgio Mendes, who has died aged 83 after suffering from the effects of long Covid, was one of the most successful Brazilian artists of all time. A pianist, songwriter, arranger and bandleader, he enjoyed a lengthy career that began in
- [Jazz Conversations review – breezy tribute to Miles Davis](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-conversations-review-breezy-tribute-to-miles-davis/): The Place, LondonThe Body of People Jazz Theatre Company presents a rich programme, including a celebration of the great trumpeter It’s rare to see pure jazz dance on stage in the UK, even in its natural home of musical theatre, where contemporary, street and commercial styles have encroached. And it’s impressive that choreographer Dollie Henry
- [Benny Golson obituary](https://jazzhall.com/benny-golson-obituary/): Tenor saxophonist whose compositions were valued for their harmonic challenge and melodic grace When the photographer Art Kane trained his lens on a group of 57 assorted jazz musicians in front of a brownstone house in Harlem one day in the summer of 1958, what he saw represented almost the entire history of the idiom.
- [September 23: Emmet Cohen is No. 1](https://jazzhall.com/september-23-emmet-cohen-is-no-1/): No. 1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart is Emmet Cohen Vibe Provider (Mack Avenue). Most added (+33) is Christian Sands Embracing Dawn (Mack Avenue). Biggest mover (+76) is Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra Crescent City Jewels (Troubadour Jass). Highest debut (No. 25) is Bill Warfield & The Hells Kitchen Funk Orchestra Chesapeake (Planet
- [Unique Things to Do in Birmingham AL](https://jazzhall.com/unique-things-to-do-in-birmingham-al/): While the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame is undoubtedly a must-visit destination for any jazz aficionado and deserves a prominent spot on your bucket list, Birmingham offers a rich tapestry of experiences beyond its musical heritage. To fully immerse yourself in the city's unique charm, consider exploring Redfin's Blog, "Unique Things to Do in

## Pages

- [Home](https://jazzhall.com/): We honor the pioneers who shaped jazz history. Those who gave rise to the art form. We hope to inspire the next generation of jazz greats.
- [Saturday Jazz Greats](https://jazzhall.com/saturday-jazz-greats/)
- [2026 SJG Fall Registration](https://jazzhall.com/2026-sjg-fall-registration/): Welcome to the 2026 Fall Registration for the Saturday Jazz Greats Program! We’re excited to welcome you and your child to our music community and hope this experience will positively impact their growth and future in meaningful ways. Please complete this registration form for all students interested in participating. A $50 - $75 registration fee
- [2026 SJG Fall Schedule](https://jazzhall.com/2026-sjg-fall-schedule/)
- [Internships](https://jazzhall.com/internships/): Internship Opportunity Here at Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, we offer a variety of internship opportunities for college students and recent graduates of bachelor’s or master’s degree programs to participate in furthering their skills & gaining insight into real-world experiences while working in a nonprofit organization. While interning here, you will be able to gain
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- [Exhibitions and Operations Intern](https://jazzhall.com/exhibitions-and-operations-intern/): Internship Overview: The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame is seeking a highly organized and motivated intern to support both exhibition work and daily operations. This role combines hands-on experience in coordinating jazz-focused exhibits with assisting in administrative tasks such as scheduling, logistics, and correspondence. This internship is ideal for students interested in Museum Studies, Art
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- [Jazz Hall Friends](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-hall-friends/)
- [2026 SJG Spring Registration Form](https://jazzhall.com/2026-sjg-spring-registration-form/): Saturday Jazz Greats — 2026 Spring Registration Welcome to the 2026 Spring Registration for the Saturday Jazz Greats Program! We’re excited to welcome you and your child to our music community and hope this experience will positively impact their growth and future in meaningful ways. Please complete this registration form for all students interested in
- [JEN Conference](https://jazzhall.com/jen-conference/)
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- [Ticket Contest](https://jazzhall.com/ticketcontest/): Radio Ticket Contest One pair of tickets to see Timothy Huffman & Jose Carr, Sat. Feb 22 at 7 p.m. Name to reserve two tickets(Required) First Last You may pick up the tickets at the front desk upon entering the CarverEmail(Required) Enter Email Confirm Email We will contact you via email if you win ticketsMay
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- [](https://jazzhall.com/6601-2/): Jazz Hall Friends Jazz Hall Friends is a membership opportunity aimed to support the efforts of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Become a member today to receive benefits that will improve and enrich your theatre-going experience at the Carver Theatre. Next Steps: Sync an Email Add-OnTo get the most out of your form, we
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- [2025 Saturday Jazz Greats Registration Form](https://jazzhall.com/2025-spring-saturday-jazz-greats-registration-form/): Saturday Jazz Greats Registration This is the registration form for the Saturday Jazz Greats Classes. Please be aware that a $75.00 registration fee must be paid in full before your child begins class. Payment for classes can be done in-person or online from the Saturday Jazz Greats page! Child's InformationName(Required) First Last Date of
- [Group Volunteer](https://jazzhall.com/volunteer/group-volunteer/)
- [Volunteer](https://jazzhall.com/volunteer/)
- [Individual Volunteer](https://jazzhall.com/volunteer/individual-volunteer/)
- [Programs & Personalities](https://jazzhall.com/programs-personalities/)
- [Volunteer Form](https://jazzhall.com/volunteer-form/): Join Our Team: Volunteer You can donate your time to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. We are currently looking for volunteers to assist with office and museum work, event staffing, and more. If you love jazz and want to be a part of our team, fill out the form and let us know. Thank
- [venue](https://jazzhall.com/venue/)
- [Educational Programming](https://jazzhall.com/educational-programming/)
- [Carver Theatre](https://jazzhall.com/carver-theatre/)
- [Tours](https://jazzhall.com/tours/)
- [Visit](https://jazzhall.com/visit/)
- [Volunteer Sign Up](https://jazzhall.com/volunteer/volunteer-sign-up/)
- [Marketing Intern](https://jazzhall.com/marketing-intern/): Marketing & Special Events Internship Internship Overview: The Marketing & Special Events Internship at AJHoF provides an exciting opportunity for enthusiastic individuals to gain hands-on experience in marketing, event planning, and nonprofit management. All internships are by quarter unless specified. This internship is designed to offer a well-rounded experience in the arts and nonprofit
- [Recruitment Intern](https://jazzhall.com/recruitment-intern/): Recruitment Internship (Volunteer Specialist) Internship Overview: The Recruitment Internship at AJHoF offers an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on experience in volunteer and intern recruitment, management, and nonprofit coordination. This internship is perfect for individuals who are passionate about fostering community engagement and contributing to the arts. Internship Tasks: Volunteer Recruitment: Develop and implement
- [General Nonprofit Intern](https://jazzhall.com/general-nonprofit-intern/): General Nonprofit Internship Internship Overview: The General Nonprofit Internship at AJHoF provides a versatile opportunity for individuals to gain hands-on experience across various aspects of nonprofit management, including administration, fundraising, community engagement, and event coordination. Internship Tasks: Administrative Support: Assist with day-to-day office tasks, including data entry, filing, and correspondence. Fundraising and Grant
- [Hall of Fame Inductees](https://jazzhall.com/hall-of-fame-inductees/)
- [Bascomb, Paul](https://jazzhall.com/bascomb-paul/)
- [Our Inductees](https://jazzhall.com/our-inductees/): All | B C E G H J M P There are currently 8 names in this directory.Bascomb, PaulPaul Bascomb Callins, JothanJothan CallinsEaton, ClevelandCleveland Eaton 1979Grimes, JohnnyJohnny Grimes 1979Harris, RichardRichard Harris 1979Jones, Jonathan JoJonathan Jo Jones 1979Mitchell, James HJames H. Mitchell 1979Parrish, AveryAvery Parrish 1979
- [Inductees](https://jazzhall.com/inductees/): All | B C E G H J M P There are currently 8 names in this directory.Bascomb, PaulPaul Bascomb Callins, JothanJothan CallinsEaton, ClevelandCleveland Eaton 1979Grimes, JohnnyJohnny Grimes 1979Harris, RichardRichard Harris 1979Jones, Jonathan JoJonathan Jo Jones 1979Mitchell, James HJames H. Mitchell 1979Parrish, AveryAvery Parrish 1979
- [Radio Calendar](https://jazzhall.com/radio/radio-calendar/)
- [Events](https://jazzhall.com/event-directory/): [add_eventon]
- [Friends](https://jazzhall.com/friends/)
- [Shop](https://jazzhall.com/shop/)
- [Our Mission](https://jazzhall.com/our-mission/)
- [Artistic Programming](https://jazzhall.com/artistic-programming/)
- [Community Outreach](https://jazzhall.com/community-outreach/)
- [Jazz Recycle](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-recycle/)
- [Board of Directors](https://jazzhall.com/board-of-directors/)
- [Radio Profiles](https://jazzhall.com/radio-profiles/)
- [Board Profiles](https://jazzhall.com/board-profiles/)
- [Profiles](https://jazzhall.com/profiles/)
- [Staff Single Page](https://jazzhall.com/staff-single-page/)
- [Fun With Jazz](https://jazzhall.com/fun-with-jazz/)
- [Jazz Masters Class](https://jazzhall.com/jazz-masters-class/)
- [Programs](https://jazzhall.com/programs/)

## Ultimeters

- [Giving Tuesday Campaign](https://jazzhall.com/ultimeter/giving-tuesday-campaign/)

## Venues

- [Linn Park](https://jazzhall.com/venue/linn-park/)
- [Carver Theatre](https://jazzhall.com/venue/carver-theatre/)
- [Williams Chapel CME Church](https://jazzhall.com/venue/williams-chapel-cme-church/)
- [Alys Stephens Center](https://jazzhall.com/venue/aly-stephens-center/)
- [Cahaba Brewing Company](https://jazzhall.com/venue/cahaba-brewing-company/)
- [True Story Brewing Company](https://jazzhall.com/venue/true-story-brewing-company/): True Story Brewing Company, located in the Crestwood Shopping Center next to Crestwood Park, offers house-crafted brews and pub food, such as a variety of hot dogs, tacos and nachos. Sit at the bar, at a table in the performance room, or in the outdoor back patio.
- [Ernest L. Knight Center, Alabama A&M University](https://jazzhall.com/venue/ernest-l-knight-center-alabama-am-university/)
- [Jazzi's on 3rd](https://jazzhall.com/venue/jazzis-on-3rd/)
- [Jazzi's on 3rd](https://jazzhall.com/venue/jazzis-on-3rd-2/)
- [Dorothy Day Jemison Theater (Alabama School of Fine Arts)](https://jazzhall.com/venue/dorothy-day-jemison-theater/)
- [Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema, Inc](https://jazzhall.com/venue/sidewalk-film-center-cinema-inc/)

## Organizers

- [Eventbrite](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/eventbrite-2/)
- [StoryCorps](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/storycorps-2/)
- [Fever](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/fever-2/)
- [Fly V](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/fly-v/)
- [Birmingham Business Alliance](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/birmingham-business-alliance/)
- [Young Artist Space Showcase](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/young-artist-space-showcase-2/)
- [The Flourish Alabama](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/the-flourish-alabama/)
- [USC Jazz](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/usc-jazz/)
- [Pour Crazy Bartending Services](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/pour-crazy-bartending-services/)
- [Encore Theatre and Gallery](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/encore-theatre-and-gallery/)
- [Magic City Blues Society](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/magic-city-blues-society/)
- [Alabama Symphony Orchestra](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/alabama-symphony-orchestra-2/)
- [MLB](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/mlb/)
- [Wykeria's Dance Studio](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/wykerias-dance-studio/)
- [Mountain Brook Junior High Choir](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/mountain-brook-junior-high-choir/)
- [HBCU Spring Coming](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/hbcu-spring-coming/)
- [Alys Stephens Center](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/aly-stephens-center/)
- [Cahaba River Society](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/cahaba-river-society/)
- [Tennessee Valley Jazz Society](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/tennessee-valley-jazz-society-2/)
- [Tennessee Valley Jazz Society](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/tennessee-valley-jazz-society/)
- [Alabama Symphony Orchestra](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/alabama-symphony-orchestra/)
- [Alabama School of Fine Arts](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/alabama-school-of-fine-arts/)
- [Young Artist Space Showcase](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/young-artist-space-showcase/)
- [Alabama Symphony Orchestra](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/alabama-symphony-orchestra/)
- [Sidewalk Fest](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/sidewalk-fest/)
- [Fever](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/fever/)
- [StoryCorps](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/storycorps/)
- [Eventbrite](https://jazzhall.com/organizer/eventbrite/)

## Events

- [Magic City Classic Jazz Happy Hour](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr-5/): 🏈🎷 THE MAGIC CITY CLASSIC IS CALLING! 🎷🏈 The Classic weekend is heating up, and we’re bringing the vibes to the Carver! Join the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame for Jazz in the Magic City Happy Hour — an evening of live jazz, good drinks, great energy, and Birmingham culture. ✨ 🎶
- [Candlelight: Tribute to Queen and The Beatles](https://jazzhall.com/event/candlelight-tribute-to-queen-and-the-beatles/): ⭐ Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Birmingham. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Queen vs. The Beatles at Carver Theatre under the gentle glow of candlelight. This is a tribute concert experience. It is not affiliated with,
- [Candlelight: Tribute to Michael Jackson](https://jazzhall.com/event/candlelight-tribute-to-michael-jackson/): Celebrate the King of Pop's legendary career through a collection of his greatest hits. From Billie Jean to Thriller and Man in the Mirror, rediscover Michael Jackson's unforgettable music through the warm glow of Candlelight! This concert experience is a tribute. It is not associated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the artist, their
- [Encore Presents Before I Let Go: The Stage Play](https://jazzhall.com/event/encore-presents-before-i-let-go-the-stage-play/): TARA KENDRICK thought she knew exactly what the rest of her life would look like—until twenty-seven years of marriage comes crashing down in divorce court. At fifty-four, suddenly single and forced to face a future she never planned for, Tara turns to the three women who have been beside her through everything. Janelle’s strict rules
- [Moxie Events Presents: The Magic of Motown](https://jazzhall.com/event/moxie-events-presents-the-magic-of-motown/): Get ready, Birmingham… the music that defined a generation is coming your way. The Magic of Motown takes over the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame on Sunday, October 11th for one unforgettable night of nonstop hits, energy, and soul. This electrifying, critically acclaimed production has wowed audiences across the country, earning its reputation as “the #1
- [Wild Cards Premiere Screening](https://jazzhall.com/event/wild-cards/): Seating is first-come, first-served. Seat numbers are for record keeping only. VIP will have dedicated seating assigned on the day of the event. PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE
- [The Jazz Room: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans](https://jazzhall.com/event/the-jazz-room-a-journey-to-the-heart-of-new-orleans/2026-11-13/): ⭐ Come on down to The Jazz Room in Birmingham, AL! With a mix of carefully chosen classics and spontaneous improvisation, this feel-good live music performance takes you on a journey to the roots of revolutionary New Orleans jazz. General Info 📅 Times: showings will be at 6:30pm and 8:30pm, select your date & time directly
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Tyne Seymour](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-tyne-seymour/): Ready for another night of Jazz at the Carver Theatre? Join us Thursday, October 8th, from 5-7 PM for an evening of live music featuring Tyne Seymour. Come connect with fellow jazz lovers, enjoy great drinks, and experience a night you won’t forget! Whether you’re looking for a place to unwind after work, hang with
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Erroll Woodward](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-erroll-woodward/): Ready for another night of Jazz at the Carver Theatre? Join us Thursday, October 15th, from 5-7 PM for an evening of live music featuring Erroll Woodward. Come connect with fellow jazz lovers, enjoy great drinks, and experience a night you won’t forget! Whether you’re looking for a place to unwind after work, hang with
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Jose Carr](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr-6/): Ready for another night of Jazz at the Carver Theatre? Join us Thursday, November 5th, from 5-7 PM for an evening of live music featuring Jose Carr Quintet. Come connect with fellow jazz lovers, enjoy great drinks, and experience a night you won’t forget! Whether you’re looking for a place to unwind after work, hang
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Jose Carr](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr-4/): Ready for another night of Jazz at the Carver Theatre? Join us Thursday, October 22nd, from 5-7 PM for an evening of live music featuring Jose Carr Quintet. Come connect with fellow jazz lovers, enjoy great drinks, and experience a night you won’t forget! Whether you’re looking for a place to unwind after work, hang
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Jose Carr](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr-3/): Ready for another night of Jazz at the Carver Theatre? Join us Thursday, October 1st, from 5-7 PM for an evening of live music featuring Jose Carr Quintet. Come connect with fellow jazz lovers, enjoy great drinks, and experience a night you won’t forget! Whether you’re looking for a place to unwind after work, hang
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Jose Carr](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr-2/): Ready for another night of Jazz at the Carver Theatre? Join us Thursday, September 24th, from 5-7 PM for an evening of live music featuring Jose Carr Quintet. Come connect with fellow jazz lovers, enjoy great drinks, and experience a night you won’t forget! Whether you’re looking for a place to unwind after work, hang
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Jose Carr](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr-quintet-3/): December Jazz Happy Hour is Here! 🎄🎷 Join us Thursday December 3rd from 5–7 PM featuring live music by Jose Carr Quintet. Celebrate the season with live jazz, festive vibes, great drinks, and good company at the Carver Theatre!
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Jose Carr](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-jose-carr/): 🎷 The Final Jazz Happy Hour of 2026! 🎷 Let’s close out the year with an evening of great music, good vibes, and community at the Carver Theatre! 🎶 Join us Thursday, December 17 from 5–7 PM for our LAST Jazz Happy Hour of the year, featuring live jazz from the incredible Jose Carr Quintet.
- [Jazz Happy Hour with Josh Constantine](https://jazzhall.com/event/jazz-happy-hour-with-josh-constantine/): Another Thursday, another unforgettable Jazz Happy Hour at the Carver Theatre! Join us Thursday December 10th from 5–7 PM featuring live music by Josh Constantine. Enjoy great drinks, amazing music, and an atmosphere you don’t want to miss. Bring your friends, unwind after work, and spend the evening with us at Jazz Happy
- [The Jury Experience – Death on the Port Side](https://jazzhall.com/event/the-jury-experience-death-on-the-port-side-2/): Fever presents: The Jury Experience - Death on the Port Side! You’ve been called for jury duty. Step into a thrilling courtroom drama at the Carver Theatre, where the audience is the jury. Listen to testimonies, analyze evidence, and ultimately decide… guilty or not guilty? Throughout the show, analyze witness testimonies, examine the evidence, and
- [The Jury Experience - Death on the Port Side](https://jazzhall.com/event/the-jury-experience-death-on-the-port-side/): Fever presents: The Jury Experience - Death on the Port Side! You’ve been called for jury duty. Step into a thrilling courtroom drama at the Carver Theatre, where the audience is the jury. Listen to testimonies, analyze evidence, and ultimately decide… guilty or not guilty? Throughout the show, analyze witness testimonies, examine the evidence, and

## Series

- [The Jazz Room: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans](https://jazzhall.com/series/the-jazz-room-a-journey-to-the-heart-of-new-orleans/)
- [Jazz on 4th](https://jazzhall.com/series/jazz-on-4th/)