Jazz Articles
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Sound & Gravity: Chicago's New Home For Poignant Creative Music
by Hrayr Attarian
The inaugural 2025 edition of the ambitious Sound & Gravity Festival took place from September 10th through September 14th at seven different venues on Chicago's Northwest Side. Over 50 musicians, from several countries, performed works spanning genres from contemporary Western classical to jazz, experimental music, and indie rock. The not-for-profit Constellation Performing Arts, which drummer Mike Reed founded in 2013, organized this five-day event. The music was very much in the eclectic style presented at Constellation Chicago over the past ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Coleman: With Strings
by Jack Bowers
Sooner or later (usually later), a jazz saxophonist (or other instrumentalist) will entertain a desire to leave his or her normal comfort zone and record an album with “class." In other words, cue the string section and get ready to score some ballads. Tenor virtuoso George Coleman, who likely needs no introduction to even the more casual jazz fan, is the latest to take the With Strings plunge, diving headlong into a number of sumptuous, string-laden arrangements by Bill Dobbins. ...
Continue ReadingClassic jazz from Horace Silver, Betty Carter, along with recent releases from Carole Nelson Trio, Eric Alexander, and more
by David W. Daniels
Other classic jazz from Annie Ross, Quincy Jones, and more. New releases from Cecile McLorin Salvant, Atlanta's own Karla Harris, and more. Additional birthdays for Jon Hendricks, Brother Jack McDuff, Steve Coleman, and more. Playlist Horace Silver “Ill Wind"--from Further Explorations By The Horace Silver Quintet (Blue Note) 00:00 Annie Ross “Twisted"--from Jazz Divas: Gold (Various Artists) (Verve) 9:07 Quincy Jones “Air Mail Special"--from The Classic Albums 1956--1963 (Compilation) (Enlightenment) 16:44 Gene Ammons “The Happy Blues"--from Greatest Hits: ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier & Wadada Leo Smith, Led Bib. Russ Lossing & Zack Lober
by Maurice Hogue
An episode filled with enticing new releases, highlighted by the musical union of pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and trumpet master Wadada Leo Smth. Look for Angel Falls on end-of-year best-of lists. England's rowdy Led Bib is back as a quartet, while pianist Russ Lossing continues his string of excellent trio releases, this time in the company of bassist Mark Helias and drummer Eric McPherson. There's a taste of pure avant-garde from Havana, Cuba in Against The Jazz Police by bass clarinetist ...
Continue ReadingRon Carter's Foursight Quartet at Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
Ron Carter's Foursight Quartet Miner Auditorium / SFJAZZ CenterSan Francisco, CA September 19, 2025 After a 50-minute opener with no introductions, Ron Carter took the microphone, smiled, and deadpanned, “Thank you and goodnight." A beat later: “I am boss of the microphone." He waved his cuffs toward the band to take a real bow. The joke set the tone. Leadership would not be loud. Time, taste, and the craft of saying exactly what needs to ...
Continue ReadingGary Bartz Is Nobody's Jazz Musician
by Bridget A. Arnwine
Gary Bartz is nobody's jazz musician. What he has built and created as an artist with a career that spans six decades defies labels, especially ones that have storied racist connotations and otherwise derogatory origins like the word jazz. He is a composer of the finest order and as gifted as the most revered names in classical music. Defining his work as improvised music is too simple a term to fully capture the essence of what Bartz and “jazz" musicians ...
Continue ReadingUNLV Jazz Ensemble, Jamile, Eli Yamin, Peter Campbell, Shuteen Erdenebaatar & More
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Jamile, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Jazz Ensemble (UNLV), Eli Yamin, Peter Campbell and Shuteen Erdenebaatar & Nils Kugelmann, with birthday shoutouts to Doris Tauber (Them There Eyes, Drinking Again) Cecilia Coleman, Ramona Horvath, Helen Sung, Champian Fulton, Giacomo Gates, Maria Muldaur, Amy Winehouse, Christie Dashiell and Lorraine Feather, 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 ...
Continue ReadingMeet journalist Rob Adams
by Cheryl K.
In this hour, an interview with UK journalist and operator of Rob Adams Music Touring, Rob Adams. Plus, new music from the Webber/Morris Big Band, Icelandic pianist and post-classical composer Eydís Evensen, and another single from vocalist and storyteller Allen Austin-Bishop's upcoming release. Playlist Darius Jones “We Inside Now" from Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity) 8:13 Webber/Morris Big Band “Just Intonation Etudes for Big Band -Pulse" from Unseparate (Out of Your Head) 5:46 [excerpt] Peter ...
Continue ReadingFreedom, Not Formula: Yilian Cañizares’ Living Ritual
by Steven Roby
Yilian Cañizares's chapter unfolds in steps: singles leading into an EP and the full-length Vitamina Y (Planeta Y), written for the trio she has toured with for years. “It's my first album with a trio," she says. “They are not only my colleagues but also my friends... the backbone of the music I'm creating right now." The title is personal and purposeful: “It's inspired by all the people that I call my 'vitamin persons... ' I hope that this music ...
Continue ReadingTake Five with King Llama
by AAJ Staff
Meet King Llama: Los Angeles-based King Llama has carved a bold lane in the modern jazz-fusion landscape, blending the fire of progressive rock with the soul of improvisation. Founded by guitarist and composer Ryan Tanner Bailey, the band quickly gained attention for its fearless mix of intricate time signatures, fluid guitar textures, and a rhythm section that bridges funk, Latin, and jam-band energy. Alongside drummer Luis Briones, bassist Anthony Crawford, and guitarist Billy Paulsen, King Llama has expanded from a ...
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