Articles by AAJ Staff

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Take Five with Singer-Songwriter Rachelle Garniez

by AAJ Staff
August 16, 2026

Meet Rachelle Garniez Rachelle Garniez is a songwriter, singer, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised on New York City's 1970s culturally diverse Upper West Side by an American classical pianist and a European professor of French existentialist literature, Rachelle was exposed to rich and multi-layered influences, from utopian collective free-schooling and Austrian Expressionism to roller disco and congueros in Central Park. In 1982, at age 17, she spent a year making her way around Europe. She picked ...

Year in Review

Best Jazz Albums of 2026: All-Star Break Edition

by AAJ Staff
July 13, 2026

As we reach the halfway point of 2026, All About Jazz once again borrows a page from Major League Baseball's All-Star break, replacing home runs with jazz albums. This year, 78 staffers submitted their picks, surpassing 2025's participation by 23 contributors--an incredible turnout. Our album reviewers and radio & podcast hosts bring big ears and eclectic tastes to the table, which means most selections were unique to each contributor. A handful of recordings, however, appeared on multiple ...

Record Label Profile

Nkomo Records: Protest and Poetry

by AAJ Staff
June 20, 2026

This article was first published on All About Jazz on January 10, 2004. Keyboard player Mike Perry shares the management of Nkomo Records, an independent South African jazz label, with saxophonist Winston Mankunku. The two musicians met in Cape Town in 1976. After gigging together in the early '80s, they joined forces to create Nkomo Records as a means to release independent music without the heavy-handed control of a major label. This is the story of ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Saxophonist Bernell Jones II

by AAJ Staff
June 19, 2026

Meet Bernell Jones Originally from Memphis, TN, Bernell Jones II is an NYC-based genre-fluid saxophonist and songwriter. His music showcases a variety of influences from his upbringing such as gospel, jazz, blues, r&b, etc. As a performing artist, he has worked alongside artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Olivia Dean, Wyclef Jean, Philip Harper, Eric Bellinger, and more. As an artist, Bernell has three albums under his belt, including his acclaimed 2024 debut album Typewriter. In his music and his ...

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Take Five with Gary Van Miert AKA The Psychedelic Cowboy

by AAJ Staff
June 5, 2026

Meet Gary Van Miert AKA The Psychedelic Cowboy Gary Van Miert is a New Jersey-based musician and performer best known as the frontman of The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!, a band that blends classic American musical styles like country, gospel, and blues with a distinct vintage flair and theatrical presentation. The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! were designed to replicate the original instrumental lineup of acoustic rhythm guitar, electric lead guitar, and upright acoustic bass used on the first rock and ...

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Take Five with Clarinetist Davide Sgarra

by AAJ Staff
June 1, 2026

Meet Davide SgarraDavide Sgarra is an Italian jazz clarinetist and saxophonist based in Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised near Varese in northern Italy, he went on to earn his Bachelor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands and his Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music in New York City. A specialist in the New Orleans clarinet tradition, Davide performs regularly across the New York jazz scene and has played in venues including ...

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Take Five with Pianist Jon Gold

by AAJ Staff
May 18, 2026

Meet Jon Gold Jon's story begins in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jon's brother (Jay Gold) was an avid music fan who introduced Jon, as a child, to Delta blues, then r&b, and later jazz. Jon's brother Jay was a producer for Mushroom Records, the label for the pop group Heart. Jon started playing slide blues guitar but early on took up piano. One of his first big opportunities was to perform with Dizzy Gillespie for a special ...

Interview

Roswell Rudd: Where Improvisation Lives

by AAJ Staff
May 2, 2026

This article was originally published on All About Jazz in August 2002.All About Jazz met with trombonist and arranger Roswell Rudd in Manhattan to discuss his recent activities and his forthcoming weeklong residency with Steve Lacy at Iridium. Rudd also spoke of his affiliations with Albert Ayler and the still very much alive bassist Lewis Worrell, as well as some of his future projects, including sessions done with Mali musicians and sideman work with Glen Hall and Bobby ...

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Take Five with Harpist / Vocalist Deborah Henson-Conant

by AAJ Staff
April 27, 2026

Meet Deborah Henson-Conant Grammy-nominated electric harpist, singer, composer, and educator Deborah Henson-Conant (DHC), synonymous with her website HipHarp.com, has spent nearly four decades redefining what the harp can be. Blending blues, flamenco, Latin, and classical influences, she creates music that integrates voice, stories, and instrumental performance--driven by rhythm and character. Using a looper pedal and guitar-style effects, she builds layered, improvisational performances as a solo artist and with orchestras and ensembles. She has opened for Ray Charles, toured ...

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Take Five with Guitarist Johannes Ravn Hagmund-Hansen

by AAJ Staff
April 15, 2026

Meet Johannes Ravn Hagmund-Hansen Johannes Ravn Hagmund-Hansen is an award-winning guitarist and composer from Faaborg, Denmark, now based in Brooklyn, New York, after having completed his masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music on a scholarship. He is an in-demand player as both a bandleader and sideman, and has performed his own music at renowned venues such as Nublu, Threes Brewing, Fiction (Brooklyn), Le Baiser Sallé (Paris), Blue Note Dresden, as well as major jazz festivals such as Copenhagen ...