Jazz Articles

Our daily articles are carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. You can find more articles by searching our website, see what's trending on our popular articles page or read articles ahead of their published dates on our Coming Soon page. Read our daily album reviews.

So You Don't Like Jazz

Thirty Essential Transformative Guitarists

by Alan Bryson
September 9, 2026

"Best guitarist" lists are inherently subjective--often nonsensical. They rank the unrankable, folding popularity, technique, cultural impact, sales, and personal taste into a single hierarchy. This list takes a different approach, acknowledging thirty guitarists who transformed the instrument itself: they created new techniques, pioneered fresh concepts, expanded its sonic vocabulary, and changed how those who followed them played. Each left the guitar different from how they found it. Thirty names could easily be a hundred, so a word on a ...

Profile

The Discreet Charm of Tete Montoliu

by Con Chapman
September 9, 2026

In 1947 tenor saxophonist Don Byas, a transplant from America following a tour of Europe, joined a society orchestra--complete with strings--to play dates in Spain. After their ballroom engagement was over, Byas and the band's rhythm section would jam until the early morning hours when they would be forced to quit “either because the police burst in at four in the morning, or because Don had been drinking a bit too much," according to a Spanish jazz critic.

Album Review

Tara Minton: The Devil Invites You To Dance

Read "The Devil Invites You To Dance" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
September 9, 2026

With themes from Aztec mythology and Latin American traditional dance, Tara Minton's The Devil Invites You To Dance follows a soul's journey through the underworld of shadows and desire. The Australian harpist, vocalist and composer wrote the album over two weeks in Mexico City's Coyoacán borough, immersing herself in its culture, music, street art and dance. The resulting 10-track album features an outstanding ensemble comprising Miguel Gorodi on trumpet and flugelhorn, John J Williamson on double bass, David ...

Album Review

Michael Rabinowitz Jazz Quartet South: Reunion

by Jack Bowers
September 9, 2026

Although the words “jazz" and “bassoon" rarely appear in the same sentence, that is something North Carolina-based jazz bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz would like to help change. Yes, Rabinowitz is a jazz musician, and the bassoon is his instrument of choice, which must have led to some interesting conversations: “Hey, would you like to join my jazz quartet?" “I might. What instrument do you play?" “I play the bassoon." “The bassoon? Like in ...

Radio & Podcasts

Elsa Nilsson, Miles Okazaki, and Andrew Cyrille

by Jerome Wilson
September 9, 2026

This program features recent music by Elsa Nilsson and Miles Okazaki and older work by Terje Rypdal and Andrew Cyrille.Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Tom Ollendorff “Meaningless Mirror" from Where in the World (Fresh Sound New Talent) 1:06 Caelan Cardello “Groundwork" from Chapter One (Jazz Bird) 6:32 Host Speaks 12:24 Kurt Elling and the WDR Big Band “They ...

Radio & Podcasts

Miki Yamanaka Trio, Dennis Mitcheltree, Myra Melford and the Fire and Water Quintet

by Hobart Taylor
September 9, 2026

New Music from Miki Yamanaka, Wadada Leo Smith, Mali Obomsawin, and Remembering Cassandra Wilson and Chick Corea Host Speaks 00:00 Cassandra Wilson “Last Song (For Lester)" from Coming Forth by Day (Legacy) 00:06 Dwayne Dolphin “Were They Only Dreams" from Let the Music Play (Imani) 05:56 Miki Yamanaka “Wolfe" fromBreathe(Cellar) 10:34 Host Speaks 16:06 Patrick Shiroishi/Jason Nazary “another true story" from here i am no i (We Jazz) 17:39 Rebecca Hennessy “I Can Go to the River" from Drift (T-Sound) ...

The Blue Note Portal

The Beatles—Future Perfect, Part 11

by Blue Note Portal
September 9, 2026

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14Year 1969--The Morning After Morning over Lake Tahoe arrived as if nothing had happened. The lake was still that impossible cobalt blue, the pines still motionless in the cold, high air, the far Sierra ridgelines still cut sharp against a pale gold sky. But inside House B, the mood had altered ...

Radio & Podcasts

Folk and Futurism with Sofia Rei

by Leo Sidran
September 9, 2026

Argentine singer, composer and producer Sofía Rei talks about leaving Buenos Aires and rediscovering the music of home, moving beyond the boundaries of jazz, embracing electronics and production, and learning from collaborators and students. Her new album, Antónima (GroundUP), brings those threads together through what she calls “Folk and Futurism" a meeting place for tradition, technology and a distinctly contemporary musical identity. ...

Chats with Cats

Mark Gross: Jazz for Teens

by B.D. Lenz
September 8, 2026

For many young musicians, learning jazz is about much more than learning how to play an instrument. It's about developing confidence, learning to listen, finding your own voice, and discovering how to work with others.Few people understand that better than Mark Gross. As Director of Jazz Instruction at NJPAC, Gross has spent years helping shape the next generation of jazz musicians through programs like TD Jazz for Teens, while also drawing on his own experience as a performer ...

History of Jazz

John Coltrane in Detroit: A Brief History

by Paul Rauch
September 8, 2026

When the calendar turned to 2026, a spirit of celebration was sparked in the jazz community. It marked one hundred years from the birth dates of two jazz titans in John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Coltrane departed us in 1967 from cancer, a life of barely more than forty years that changed the course of jazz. He had forged his approach to playing as a member of Davis' groundbreaking, mid-1950s sextet. Davis, after a brief hiatus in the mid 1970s, ...