Jazz Articles
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Amaro Freitas on Enchantment, Ancestry, and the Future of Solo Piano
by Steven Roby
The Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas doesn't just perform pieces--he creates an atmosphere. A pilgrimage to the Amazon inspired his recent music, and his solo set translates that experience into sound: rainforest textures, ritual movements, and the feeling of two mighty rivers converging and flowing as one. “I create a unique approach to music in my concerts," he says. “I have my sound engineer's support during the performance... I craft moments using loops, small flutes, instruments from the Amazon, and special ...
Continue ReadingLost and Found, part 3: Rare recordings of Ellington, Ben Webster, Art Tatum and Gil Evans
by Larry Slater
There are so many Duke Ellington recordings available. How much undiscovered music of the band can there be? In this hour, you'll hear rarely heard gems from the Ellington discography. Music that's so rare, I doubt even die-hard Ellington aficionados have heard some of these tracks. The Duke Ellington Orchestra with Django Reinhardt at Carnegie Hall. A home recording of Ben Webster on clarinet. Duke Ellington's late great extended work “The River." Also featured are Art ...
Continue ReadingKöln 75
by Paul Reynolds
Köln 75One Two Films / Extreme Emotions / Gretchenfilm / MMC Studios Köln GmbHDIrector: Ido Fluk2025 November, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Köln Concert (ECM Records, 1975), the live recording by Keith Jarrett that stands as the biggest-selling solo album--and piano album--in jazz history. To mark the occasion cinematically, Köln 75 hit select U.S. movie screens in October, 2025. The film defies expectations and takes risks, almost as much as ...
Continue ReadingDumpstaphunk at Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
Dumpstaphunk Miner Auditorium San Francisco, CAOctober 11, 2025 What if the beat were a social contract? That question lingered over a sold-out Saturday at Miner Auditorium, where Dumpstaphunk approached funk not as escapism but as a shared practice--an agreement to move, listen, and shape tension and release as a community. This thesis emerged in the music, in the crowd and in the way bandleader Ivan Neville framed the evening: a collective body choosing the groove. ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier: Angel Falls
by Mike Jurkovic
The history of humankind resounds with the sound of piano/trumpet duets. But not like this one. Not like Angel Falls. Because the true beauty of Angel Falls is that grandmaster Wadada Leo Smith, aided and abetted by the fervent curiosity of Brooklyn- based/Switzerland native pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, enlists the listener as an active creator in truly beatific, beautiful music. That is a magic thing that does not happen often. All too often, the audience is reduced to listening ...
Continue ReadingPharoah Sanders: Love Is Here The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings
by Jack Kenny
The saxophonist Pharoah Sanders was often described as an enigma of jazz, once famously characterized as “a mad wind screeching through the root-cellars of Hell." That “mad wind" is absent on Love Is Here: The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings, but the enigma remains. This pivotal album captures Sanders stretching out, away from his Impulse! Records contract, exploring a sound that moves beyond late-stage John Coltrane and places a greater emphasis on tone, melody, and lyrical expression. Recorded ...
Continue ReadingDavid Helbock, Julia Hofer: Sexy M.F.
by Ludovico Granvassu
Back in 2012 Austrian pianist David Helbock released a beautiful tribute to Prince, entitled Purple (Traumton Records). On his 2025 album Faces of the Night (ACT Music) he returns to his love for the Minneapolis wizard covering two of his songs--including one he skipped the first time around, “Sexy M.F." For Faces of the Night, Helbock teams up with his new co-pilot, the versatile Austrian bassist and cellist Julia Hofer. On this catchy rendition of “Sexy M.F." they are joined ...
Continue ReadingBLINK: BLINK
by Mark Corroto
It bears repeating: collective improvisation is far more challenging than individual soloing. It demands discipline, trust, and, as musicians like to say, exceptional ears. Composer and alto saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra's BLINK demonstrates all three, bringing together five musicians whose listening skills are as sharp as their instincts. The project is built on Dijkstra's long-running Porch Trio, featuring electric bassist Nate McBride and drummer Eric Rosenthal. That core group previously expanded into a sextet for PorchBone (Driff, 2024). With ...
Continue ReadingNew Music from Mayo, Palladino & Mills, Webber & Morris, And More
by Bob Osborne
This show is a trip around jazz's outer edges--where tradition collides with invention. From Michael Mayo's vocal acrobatics on Coltrane's “Giant Steps" to the explosive real-time conduction of Hill Collective, this selection of new releases spans chamber, ensemble, and solo work.Playlist Michael Mayo “Giant Steps" from Fly--Deluxe Edition (Mack Avenue/Artistry Music) 00:00 Pino Palladino and Blake Mills “Heat Sink" from That Wasn't A Dream (New Deal/Impulse Records!) 03:21 Anna Webber Angela Morris Big Band “Mist/Missed" from Unseparate (Out ...
Continue ReadingYakir Arbib & Conti Bilong: Afro Baroque
by Neil Duggan
The fusion of jazz, baroque piano, vocals and traditional Central African and Middle Eastern rhythms might sound like an ambitious overreach, with too many influences competing for space. Yet Afro Baroque proves that what could have been a chaotic collision of styles instead shows how rhythm, melody and cultural expression can complement each other to produce an album of dynamic interplay that entertains throughout. The driving force behind this cross-genre synthesis is the combination of Israeli-Italian pianist Yakir ...
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