Radio & Podcasts
Tune in daily to hear the internet's top jazz programs including Mondo Jazz, Jazz Bastard, World of Jazz, The Third Story, One Man's Jazz, Jazz at 100, Neon Jazz, A Broad Spectrum, Liner Notes and more. View our program schedule and check out the most recent JazzWeek Radio Chart.
Gregory Hutchinson: It’s All About Feel
by Leo Sidran
Gregory Hutchinson--or “Hutch" as he is known--is one of the most highly regarded and highly recorded jazz drummers on the planet. Part of what makes him so special is that he sits at the crossroads of the old school and the new school. He was mentored by old jazz masters like Red Rodney, Ray Brown and Betty Carter. He worked extensively with Joshua Redman and Roy Hargrove, among many other innovative jazz musicians of his generation.He has also ...
Continue ReadingJake Lamar on his Jazz Noir novel 'Viper's Dream'
by Leo Sidran
Writer Jake Lamar talks about growing up in the Bronx, his lifelong love affair with writing, moving to France in the '90s, his career as a novelist, playwright, and cultural critic in Paris, and his new book Viper's Dream, a Jazz Noir crime novel set in the jazz world of Harlem between 1936 and 1961. After graduating from Harvard University, Lamar spent six years writing for Time Magazine. He has lived in Paris since 1993 and teaches creative ...
Continue ReadingBen Sidran at 80: This is your life
by Leo Sidran
For the fifth consecutive year I interviewed my father, Ben Sidran on his birthday. This year he's turning 80 and I surprised him with reflections and anecdotes by friends and colleagues from throughout his career, including Jeff Greenfield, Boz Scaggs, Jann Wenner, Glyn Johns, Michael Cuscuna, Phil Upchurch, Georgie Fame, Gil Goldstein, Neil Tesser, Janis Siegel, Jorge Drexler and many more! ...
Continue ReadingLaila Biali is taking requests
by Leo Sidran
Singer, pianist and songwriter Laila Biali recently released Your Requests (ACT Music), built around a collection of songs from the Great American Songbook that were requested by her fans. After a string of projects of her original songs and more contemporary covers, the album was a departure for her. After spending years living in New York, Laila moved back to her native Canada to raise her son, along with her husband, drummer and producer Ben Wittman, who she ...
Continue ReadingScenes from the 2023 Montreal Jazz Festival
by Leo Sidran
Conversations on community, artificial intelligence, identity, fan engagement, healthy living, life on the road and more, recorded at the 2023 Montreal International Jazz Festival. Featuring Michael League, Nate Smith, Carlos Homs, Julius Rodriguez, Benny Benack III, Emmet Cohen, Stacey Kent and others. ...
Continue ReadingBrandee Younger: I'm Done Running From The Harp Police
by Leo Sidran
When it comes to instruments that are not easily designed for improvising soloists, there is perhaps none more difficult to handle than the harp. And when it comes to contemporary jazz harpists, there is perhaps none more influential in this moment than Brandee Younger. From the very beginning, as a young music student growing up on Long Island, Brandee Younger was toeing the line between her classical, orchestral musical education and the hiphop, soul and pop music that ...
Continue ReadingBen Wendel On 'The Unspeakable Truths' That Are Passed Between Musicians
by Leo Sidran
For saxophonist Ben Wendel, the pandemic provided the space for him to develop his latest solo record, All One (Edition Records), a project that is both very solitary and very collaborative. It features a woodwind choir of saxophones and bassoons performed entirely by Ben, and then joined by special guests like singers Cecile McLorin Salvant and Jose James, guitarist Bill Frisell, and trumpeter Terence Blanchard.Wendel is no stranger to experimentation or to collaboration. As a member of the ...
Continue ReadingVijay Iyer: How To Make Music Matter To People
by Leo Sidran
Pianist-composer Vijay Iyer has been described by The New York Times as a “social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway." He has been praised by Pitchfork as “one of the best in the world at what he does," by the Los Angeles Weekly as “a boundless and deeply important young star," and by Minnesota Public Radio as “an American treasure."He received a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States ...
Continue ReadingChristian McBride On Leading By Example And 'Living The Life You Believe In'
by Leo Sidran
To say Christian McBride is prolific is both obvious and an understatement. The list of his projects is too long to fit neatly into any one container--he's a musician, an educator, a composer, an artistic director, and a broadcaster. He's an ambassador, a personality, an icon. And of course, he is a bassist. One gets the sense that his days are simply fuller than most people's days. He always seems to be coming from some other event, or ...
Continue ReadingSamara Joy On Her 'Fast Authentic' Success
by Leo Sidran
Accepting her Grammy award for Best New Artist last month, Samara Joy looked out at a sea of faces that she had grown up admiring and said, “I've been watching y'all on TV for so long... I'm born and raised in the Bronx." It was almost as though she was reminding herself of just how far she had come, and just how quickly. That was a big moment for the 23-year-old singer who was just a year and ...
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