Jazz Articles
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Joel Ross: Gospel Music
by Jack Kenny
Religion has long provided a stimulus for jazz. Figures as august as Duke Ellington and John Coltrane drew profound inspiration from their faith, though their reception varied. Ellington's religious compositions were often unfairly dismissed as the eccentric, late career works of an aging genius. Conversely, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965) perfectly captured the spiritual zeitgeist of the 1960s.However, Joel Ross operates with different antecedents. His approach to gospel music tracks the biblical narrative linearly: the Creation, ...
Continue ReadingCarol Albert, NOLA Resistance Quintet, Hindy Bare, Roxy Coss, Julia Hulsmann, Roderick Harper. Jazz Birthday Shoutouts & More
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new music from Carol Albert, The NOLA Resistance Quintet, Hindy Bare, Roxy Coss, Hülsmann and Roderick Harper, with birthday shoutouts to Etta James, Eartha Kitt, Barbara Carroll, Kate McGarry, José James, Natalie Douglas, Michelle Nicole, Pureum Jin, Aubrey Logan, Mariah Parker, Nancy Marano and Lori Williams, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear--see them live, buy their music so they can continue to comfort, distract, provoke and remind the world that A Woman's ...
Continue ReadingA New Beginning for Lenard Simpson
by David Bixler
What does it mean to embrace a new beginning? For Chicago alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson, it means answering the call of faith. Inspired by the prophet Isaiah's famous directive to “forget the former things; do not dwell on the past," Simpson's release, New Beginnings (Lenard Simpson Music, 2024), is a stirring, soulful journey. With pianist Julius Tucker, bassist Runere Brooks, and drummer Samuel Jewell, this quartet masterfully blends the spiritual depth of the Black Church experience with the soaring improvisation ...
Continue ReadingIntroducing Saxophonist Langston Hughes II
by Sanford Josephson
In the April 2024 issue of Jersey Jazz, drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. told me he had recently taken four young musicians with him for a tour in Tokyo. One of them was saxophonist Langston Hughes II, then studying for his master's degree at Juilliard. Hughes, said Owens, is “burning up the scene." The 24-year-old Hughes vividly remembers that experience. “It was my first trip out of the country. The culture and the respect they have for jazz in ...
Continue ReadingThe Culture War - Springsteen, Brooks and The American People
by Thomas Cole
On January 30, 2026, the NY Times featured the final opinion column by David Brooks, and two days before I heard Bruce Springsteen's first (and probably not his final) “protest" song. Somehow, they seem incontrovertibly linked in, to and with the history of this country. And to the very core of the human experience. Bruce Springsteen's song, apparently recorded in his home studio, unveils the soul of a pop star beyond his intermittent statements reported in the press. ...
Continue ReadingJerry Weldon: The Summit
by Pierre Giroux
Recorded live before an attentive audience at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in New Jersey, in November 2024, The Summit features tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon consistently giving his best in honour of the hard-swinging values of mid-century hard bop while keeping the music vibrantly alive in the moment. In addition to Weldon, the front line of trumpeter Alonzo Demetrius and trombonist Peter Lin evokes the powerful blend of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the Jazztet of Art Farmer and ...
Continue ReadingNebbia/Banner/Andrzejewski: Presencia
by Mark Corroto
Argentinian tenor saxophonist Camila Nebbia wants it known that she is far more than a passing presence on the contemporary jazz scene. Her high-powered, highly personal saxophone voice has become an in-demand commodity, appearing across a wide range of settings and labels. She has collaborated with artists such as Marilyn Crispell, Leo Genovese, Patrick Shiroishi, Angelica Sanchez, Susana Santos Silva and Kit Downes, while also releasing two striking solo statements: una ofrenda a la ausencia (Relative Pitch, 2023) and Rastro ...
Continue ReadingFats Waller, Joe Magnarelli, Alexa Tarantino & Rebecca Kilgore
by Joe Dimino
The 943rd episode of Neon Jazz opens with a heartfelt tribute to the mighty Rebecca Kilgore, the beloved Portland-based vocalist we lost in January 2026. We honor her artistry and enduring spirit with selections from her 2026 album Sings the Music of Fats Waller--a fitting celebration of joy, swing, and soul. From there, we turn to the master himself, Fats Waller, before pausing to remember another profound loss in the jazz world: the legendary Chicago vocalist Josie Falbo, who left ...
Continue ReadingBrad Kypo, Andre Drage, Trix, Vincen Garcia, Jeremy Green, John McLaughlin
by Len Davis
From Sydney, Australia, we kick off our new releases with “Salon De Musica," taken from a compilation by Brad Kypo, blending rich progressive rock textures. We stay in that vein with “BEQ" from Sweden and Andre Drage from Norway. From Japan, keyboardist Ryosuke Kojima brings lush, atmospheric sounds, followed by fusion heavyweights TRIX with their latest release. Funk takes centre stage next with standout bassist Charles Berthoud and Vincen Garcia. We then feature Canadian guitarist Jeremy Green and Finnish bassist ...
Continue ReadingRichie Beirach: Indelible Memories and Thought-Provoking Reflections on a Life in Jazz, Part 1
by Victor L. Schermer
This two-part article was first published on All About Jazz on August 13, 2019. Part 1 | Part 2 Richie Beirach hovers somewhat mysteriously in the pantheon of the great modern jazz pianists. Some of the others in that category from his generation (coming up in the 1960s/'70s), like Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, and Kenny Barron have greater celebrity, but Beirach easily qualifies alongside them as one of the most accomplished masters. While the ...
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