Articles by Dave Kaufman

Jazz Raconteurs

Julius Hemphill: Marty Ehrlich and Tim Berne Remember a Musical Visionary

by Dave Kaufman
September 20, 2026

Julius Hemphill, a brilliant alto saxophonist and extraordinary composer, was a towering figure in avant-garde jazz and creative music. Yet his body of work remains surprisingly little known, even among aficionados of this sort of adventurous music. Hemphill's music demonstrated a deep feeling for the blues and other African American traditions. His creative vision extended well beyond jazz performance, incorporating chamber music, theater, dance, and other forms of artistic expression. Hemphill came of age during a period when Black experimental ...

In Pictures

Après le déluge: Cécile McLorin Salvant’s Radiant Performance at Little Island

by Dave Kaufman
August 24, 2026

It was a night when the rain fell hard, the music gathered force, and the shared experience became magical. That was the scene on Sunday, August 16, 2026 at Little Island, where Cecile McLorin Salvant and her quartet performed beneath steadily darkening skies. Salvant is perhaps the greatest jazz singer of her generation. She possesses an extraordinary voice, complete command of her instrument, and the ability to elevate almost any material into high art. She is both a ...

In Pictures

Strange Heavens, Sublime Music: Linda May Han Oh Trio at the 2026 Newport Jazz Festival

by Dave Kaufman
August 17, 2026

This year marked the 72nd year of the Newport Jazz Festival and the first with Nate Smith as artistic director, succeeding Christian McBride, who served in that capacity for a decade. It was also my fourth year working the festival as a photographer and photo-essayist, an experience that continues to be one of the high points of my life. Like the vast majority of jazz festivals, Newport features a broad range of jazz-adjacent music as well as artists ...

In Pictures

Branford Marsalis Quartet: A Joyous Celebration in Jamaica, Queens

by Dave Kaufman
August 2, 2026

On a beautiful summer afternoon at Rufus King Park in Queens, the Branford Marsalis Quartet turned the Downtown Jamaica Riddim and Jazz Festival (07/26/2026) into a joyous celebration. The quartet is one of the finest working groups in contemporary jazz. Its regular lineup includes Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass, and Justin Faulkner on drums. Calderazzo and Revis were unavailable for this performance and were replaced by Geoffrey Keezer on piano and Barry Stephenson on bass. The substitutions ...

In Pictures

Angine de Poitrine: Microtones, Masks, and Madness in Montreal

by Dave Kaufman
July 20, 2026

Angine de Poitrine (AdP) are a masked experimental rock duo from Saguenay, Quebec, featuring guitarist Khn de Poitrine and drummer Klek de Poitrine. They became viral superstars almost overnight after KEXP posted their 27-minute performance from the Trans Musicales festival in France. The video has received more than 30 million views across platforms and helped propel them to sold-out performances around the world. I have never seen anything quite like it in my decades of following music. Khn ...

Jazz Fiction

Ignition of the Ages: Sonny Sharrock’s Seismic Siege of the Detroit State Theatre

Concept by Dave Kaufman | Written by AI
February 12, 2026

Sonny Sharrock was a singular force in music, a brilliant and volcanic guitarist who bridged the jagged divide between the visceral power of Jimi Hendrix and the spiritual depth of John Coltrane. In 1991, he released his masterpiece, “Ask the Ages," a record that remains a high-water mark of modern jazz. Tragically, it would serve as his final statement; Sharrock passed away just a few years after its release, leaving behind a profound “what-if" in the history of the genre. ...

In Pictures

The Anna Webber Nonet at the Jazz Gallery: Reflections from the Edge of a World Gone Awry

by Dave Kaufman
February 6, 2026

The Jazz Gallery has functioned as a vital incubator for the New York jazz scene since its founding in 1995, specifically designed as a non-profit space where the primary goal is artistic risk rather than commercial viability. Anna Webber has a longstanding relationship with the Gallery; she was the 2022 recipient of the Margaret Whitton Award for female composers who lead their own ensembles. A celebrated composer and musician, Webber received the BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize in ...

In Pictures

Reimagining Bitches Brew at the New York City Winter Jazzfest

by Dave Kaufman
January 26, 2026

Each year, the New York City Winter JazzFest, in collaboration with the music-promotion collective Pique-Nique, presents its “Take Two" series, which revisits and reimagines landmark recordings from the jazz canon. Previous editions have paid tribute to historically significant works, including a memorable presentation of Max Roach's Members, Don't Git Weary (Leo Lab, 1968) several years ago. This year's “Reimagine Bitches Brew" event, which took place at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) on January 13, 2026, extended that lineage, situating the album ...

Jazz Fiction

A Love Supreme at Carnegie Hall: Coltrane’s Night of Fire and Grace

Concept by Dave Kaufman | Written by AI
January 25, 2026

Carnegie Hall, New York City--November 1965. Something sacred broke open the air last night. It began not with a note, but with a shimmer. Elvin Jones washed a mallet across a suspended gong, a metallic exhale that seemed to expand until it touched the gilded balconies of Carnegie Hall. The silence that followed was heavy, not empty--the kind of silence that waits for a prophecy. When John Coltrane stepped forward, flanked by McCoy Tyner and Jimmy ...

In Pictures

Chad Taylor and Smoke Shifter at the Jazz Gallery

by Dave Kaufman
January 12, 2026

The most excellent album, Smoke Shifter (Otherly Love Records, 2025), places Chad Taylor in the foreground as a bandleader, but his enduring presence onstage is evidenced by a long career built on deep collaborations. He is widely recognized for his close musical bond with saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, an association that ranges from duo work to trios to their standout, acclaimed Molecular Systematic Music Quartet. That same responsive intelligence has shaped Taylor's roles across the various Chicago Underground projects and ...