Catching Up With

Less formal than our standard interviews with a focus on an artist's recent recording project or tour.

Satoko Fujii on Sound, Freedom, and Not Two

by Cezary L. Lerski
September 11, 2026

Across nearly three decades, Not Two Records has documented some of the most adventurous music in improvised art--and few artists embody that spirit more fully than Satoko Fujii. A pianist, composer, and bandleader of extraordinary range, Fujii has released over 100 albums, each marked by curiosity, fearlessness, and emotional clarity. Her relationship with Not Two is one of the label's defining stories: built on trust, shared values, and a commitment to music that exists outside commercial expectations. In ...

Elias Haslanger: Music for 2026, Not 1956

by Hank Hehmsoth
August 27, 2026

Tenor saxophonist and composer Elias Haslanger has spent much of his career carrying several generations of jazz history at once. An Austin native and longtime presence on the Central Texas jazz scene, he has absorbed lessons from mentors including Ellis Marsalis, Dr. James Polk and Maynard Ferguson while developing his own identity as a bandleader and composer. Legacy (Bandstand Presents, 2026), his ninth recording as leader, was released July 24 and features ten original compositions performed with trumpeter and flugelhornist Mike Sailors, pianists Andy ...

Goldings, Bernstein & Stewart on 35 Years Together and Their New Album

by Leo Sidran
August 18, 2026

You can tell a lot about a band by the way they act offstage, how they talk to one another, and even more, how they listen. By the quality of their conversation. It's a useful measure when talking about Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart, a trio whose history stretches back more than three decades, and whose music still depends on that same essential exchange. Logging onto a Zoom call with them, it's immediately clear ...

New York's Hottest New Club Has Arrived

by Mark Robbins
August 14, 2026

Martin Porter's life has revolved around jazz from an early age. Growing up playing jazz piano and listening to the greats, he eventually found himself living out a dream--working at the Jazz Standard, one of the city's premier jazz clubs. The closing of the Standard left a void in New York's jazz community--one that Martin Porter was determined to help fill. Along with his partner, he did just that with the opening of their new club, The Pocket. During the Newport ...

Michael League: Lighting the Spark of Snarky Puppy

by Scott Lichtman
July 28, 2026

Together for over 20 years, Snarky Puppy has long set the bar for “propulsive" music. The band's genre is mainly a mix of jazz fusion and funk, with influences of progressive rock, gospel, world and even symphonic music. Its sound is quickly identifiable by the catchy grooves, effortlessly shifting meters and polyrhythms, crisp yet elastic horns, and virtuosic solos from the keyboardists, guitarists, drummers, and other members. No matter the song feel, Snarky Puppy delivers an adrenalin rush audiences through ...

Tyler Soifer: The Art of Audio

by Kitty Kalriess
July 26, 2026

On April 8, 2026, musicians Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Nduduzo Makhathini, Linda May Han Oh and Jeff Tain Watts treated an audience to their collaborative reflection of John Coltrane in celebration of what would be the the centennial of the birth of the iconic saxophonist. The McCarter center on the campus of Princeton University hosted Coltrane 100, and the touring group performed to an almost sold-out house. After long contemplation of the masterful performance, a thought lingered; the ...

Pedro Molina: No Denial of the Power of a Music Video

by Scott Lichtman
July 6, 2026

Bassist / composer / group leader Pedro Molina has released a searing, spontaneous album called A Name I Knew (Carimbo Porta-jazz, 2026). A Name I Knew received 4 stars from All About Jazz. In addition to the 8-song suite reflecting a struggle with Alzheimer's Disease by someone close to him, Molina created an experimental music video for the lead track, “Denial." AAJ interviewed him about his creative process and takeaways from making the video. This may help other musicians decide whether to ...

Bluesman Kenny Wayne Shepherd balances past, present

by Jim Trageser
June 5, 2026

Blues guitarist, singer, composer and bandleader Kenny Wayne Shepherd is marking the 30th anniversary of the release of his debut recording with a national tour in which he and his band perform that album, Ledbetter Heights (Giant Records, 1995), in its entirety. They also re-recorded the album track-by-track with longtime vocalist, Noah Hunt, who only joined the band for the second release. It was only a few months after his 18th birthday that his debut came out, and ...

Marta Sánchez: Hitting a Different Note

by Don Ball
April 7, 2026

Marta Sánchez has established herself as one of the up-and-coming musicians in the jazz field, as evinced by her 2025 DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star Pianist category win. In addition to her prowess on the piano, she is a skilled composer, whose compositions with her quintet over the past decade have shown an intricate capacity for writing for horns and interweaving her piano with the other instruments. In the past few years, she has been paring down her ...

Kit Downes: The Art Of Sonic Curiosity

by Marco Iacoboni
November 11, 2025

Some use the piano to tell stories, and some use the pipe organ to create entire universes. Then there's Kit Downes, who does both, with a sensitivity and talent that have made him one of the most interesting and sought-after names on the European scene. Winner of the prestigious BBC Jazz Award, nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and acclaimed for his revolutionary trilogy of solo organ albums on (ECM Records), Downes has redefined the role of the pipe organ ...