Jazz Articles
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The Birdland Big Band at Birdland Jazz Club
by Dan Bilawsky
Happy hour on Friday is for unwinding, leaving the work week's burdens behind and--if you're lucky, and in the New York City area--catching The Birdland Big Band. That ensemble has long been holding court at its namesake club in a liminal space between afternoon and evening, filling the gap between life's structured nine-to-five commitments and the weekend's reprieve. Its music, mirroring both sides of that reality, walks a line between tight team work and personal freedom, allowing and encouraging ace ...
Continue ReadingBilly Marrows: Dancing On Bentwood Chairs
by Neil Duggan
Recorded in December 2021 following a run of live performances, Dancing on Bentwood Chairs is the first album from the Billy Marrows Band. The release was put on temporary hold as his charity project album Penelope (Self Produced, 2024) was shortlisted for the 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards Album of the Year and was then followed by a live version. The intriguing album title and cover were inspired by the line “My days of dancing on bentwood ...
Continue ReadingClassic Jazz From Vinyl, including Herbie Hancock and Dinah Washington, and new music from Betty Bryant and Soulive
by David W. Daniels
Classic jazz--vinyl from Herbie Hancock, Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine, and all-digital from Bobby Hutcherson and Gene Ammons. New music from Rules and Gregory Porter, Betty Bryant, Joe Magnarelli, Soulive, and others. Recognizing birthdays this week for Stan Getz, Joe Sample, Eubie Blake, Vinnie Colaiuta, and others. Playlist Horace Silver “The Outlaw" from Further Explorations By The Horace Silver Quintet (Blue Note) 00:00 Herbie Hancock “One Finger Snap" from Empyrean Isles (Blue Note) 10:27 Sarah Vaughan and Billy ...
Continue ReadingGard Nilssen, Shoko Nagai, Aaron Parks, Maryanne de Prophetis & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Enjoy a playlist that brings together energy, intimacy, and creative identity, moving across projects that blur boundaries between electric and acoustic, structure and freedom. From the personal, groove-inflected vision of Maurício Fleury's debut to the explosive collective force of Gard Nilssen's expanded Acoustic Unity, the music thrives on momentum and risk. This set also focuses on Aaron Parks and Shoko Nagai, each featured in two contrasting settings.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash ...
Continue ReadingInside Trio Grande's Genre-Defying Sound
by Steven Roby
What happens when you combine a London-born saxophonist, an Israeli guitarist, and a drummer who also plays bass? You get Trio Grande--a modern jazz supergroup rewriting the rules of the trio format. In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby sits down with Will Vinson to explore the band's evolution from a Paul Motian-inspired vision to a bass-heavy (not bass-less!) powerhouse featuring the incomparable Nate Wood and guitarist Gilad Hekselman. Backstage Bay Area brings ...
Continue ReadingThe Maria Schneider Orchestra at Birdland
by Paul Reynolds
The Maria Schneider Orchestra Birdland New York, NY February 4, 2026 Seeing the Maria Schneider Orchestra is always a singular experience. It's not just the music, although that is unfailingly rich and distinctive. In person, Schneider also disarms, and in the best way. At Birdland last Wednesday, the Minnesotan managed to marry the sophistication of jazz with the homespun directness of small town America through both her music and her Midwestern charm. A case in point came early ...
Continue ReadingJack West/Walter Strauss: Guitars on Life
by Joshua Weiner
Emerging from the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990s, acoustic guitarist Jack West forged a new style on 6-and 8-string instruments that integrates percussive use of the strings and guitar body with melody and harmony. Spicing his tunes with repeated harmonics and slide flourishes and incorporating influences from jazz, folk, rock and Americana music, West has released several albums, both solo and with his group Jack West & Curvature in which his guitar was complemented by percussion, saxophone, cello, ...
Continue ReadingMike Clark and Phil Haynes: Keep Beating The Drum(s)
by Doug Collette
A great drummer is the driving force of any band's performances, whether on stage or in the studio. So, is it any surprise that jazz ensembles led by drummers invariably evince strong collective personalities, even if the members of those groups are as self-motivated and inner-directed as their leader(s)? Each of these bands, led by Mike Clark and Phil Haynes, exhibit a distinct persona, each reflecting the salient virtues of their leaders: a predilection for adventure, a tangible humility, and ...
Continue ReadingDave Stryker: Blue Fire - The Van Gelder Session
by Kyle Simpler
Many of Dave Stryker's recent albums focus on a particular idea or concept that serves as the recording's focal point. His Eight Track series (Strikezone 2013-2019) and Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies (Strikezone, 2025) serve as prime examples. With Blue Fire -The Van Gelder Session, the guitarist steps into the studio of legendary producer Rudy Van Gelder--literally--and he is right at home with this project. The Van Gelder studio produced some of the most memorable albums ...
Continue ReadingHeisenberg Uncertainty Players, Brodie McAllister’s Wattle, Laura Ann Singh
by Cheryl K.
During this week's two-hour program of jazz and improvised music, sounds to take the chill off: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra's “Chelsea Bridge"; the Heisenberg Uncertainty Players's “Catalpa"; Bellbird's “Phthalo Green"; Brodie McAllister's Wattle's “Starlight"; saxophonists' Eric Alexander and Vincent Herring's “Strollin'"; vocalist Laura Ann Singh's “Do Not Remain"; saxophonist Joel Miller's “Harvey"; composer Ron Rieder's “I Sing for You"; and trumpeter John Vanore's “Mvmt II: Gods and Devils."Playlist Duke Ellington “Chelsea Bridge" from The Best of the ...
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