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.

Live Review

Kate Kortum at Jazz In July, 92NY

by Paul Reynolds
July 29, 2026

Kate Kortum and the Aaron Diehl Trio 92NY Jazz In July New York NY July 22, 2026 Casual jazz fans likely may not yet recognize her name, but the growing reputation of Kate Kortum within the jazz community clearly preceded her appearance last week at the 92nd Street Y Jazz in July Festival. The show became one of the hottest tickets of the festival, with the performance selling out more than a week in ...

Album Review

Arman Sangalang: Waypoints

Read "Waypoints" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 29, 2026

Saxophonist Arman Sangalang released his debut record, Quartet (Calligram Records) in 2023. It was a smoldering sax-and-a-rhythm-section quartet outing that sounded surprisingly fresh for a first recording effort. His follow-up, Waypoints, employs the same format, switching out bassist Matt Ulery for Ethan Philion, while keeping guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Devin Drobka. The sophomore effort careens toward expanded freedom, boldly. “I wanted to give them [his quartet cohorts] the freedom to do what they wanted with the music," ...

Album Review

Ari & Cecil Alexander: Kaleidoscope

Read "Kaleidoscope" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
July 29, 2026

A breezy virtuosity pervades Kaleidoscope from the opening title cut. “I run for the train with you on my mind," vocalist-pianist Ari Alexander sings, “watching the town kaleidoscope by..." She and guitarist Cecil Alexander call their style “rhythmic post-bop," citing Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson and Betty Carter as influences, but you can also hear a bit of Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg and Blossom Dearie in their original compositions, pieces like Dorough and Frishberg's “I'm Hip," which Dearie premiered in 1966 ...

Album Review

Cindy Blackman Santana: Coherence

Read "Coherence" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
July 29, 2026

Some musicians communicate their passion almost before they ever play a note, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana is one of them. Whether performing jazz, rock, soul, or world music, she approaches each style with the conviction that music ultimately transcends categories. Coherence is possibly her clearest statement of that philosophy. Blackman Santana's broad musical perspective comes naturally. She began busking on the streets of New York during the 1980s before quickly moving onto major stages, performing with jazz ...

Radio & Podcasts

John Clayton, Alan Braufman, and New Jazz Underground

by Jerome Wilson
July 29, 2026

This episode features recent music by John Clayton, Quinsin Nachoff, and New Jazz Underground and older work from Alan Braufman, George Haslam, and Cedar Walton. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextet “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Dave Stryker “Taxi Driver" from Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies (Strikezone) 00:54 Cedar Walton “When Love is New" from Manhattan Afternoon (Criss Cross) 7:07 Host Speaks ...

Radio & Podcasts

Remembering Irene Schweizer, Latest from Isaiah Collier, Introducing NicoleYvette and New from the Vault, J.C. Hopkins with Garth Hudson and Levon Helm

by Hobart Taylor
July 29, 2026

Guitarist/Composer David Occhipinti is inspired by Lewis Carroll, Korea's Leenalchi has the “Ultimate Prescription," and Ivo Perelman and Damon Smith engage in a “Duoloue." Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Finola Merivale/Catherine Sikora “The Sea Has Hooves" from Abhaile (Relative Pitch) 00:14 Host Speaks 08:08 David Occhipinti “Frumious Bandersnatch" fromLooking Glass(OODAV) 17:39 Irene Schweizer “Dancing on the Bowery" from Piano Solo: Prelude to a Kiss and More (Intakt) 31:14 Alex Roitman “Anibal Troilo" from La Cochina de Tango (ARTE) 38:12 ...

In Pictures

Lecco Jazz Festival 2026

by Gabriele Guala
July 29, 2026

A collection of photos from Lecco Jazz Festival in Lecco, Italy, July 2026, featuring Billy Cobham, Judith Hill, Jowee Omicil and many others. Special thanks to Anna and Diletta, Fondazione Teàrte Lecco. ...

Catching Up With

Michael League: Lighting the Spark of Snarky Puppy

by Scott Lichtman
July 28, 2026

Together for over 20 years, Snarky Puppy has long set the bar for “propulsive" music. The band's genre is mainly a mix of jazz fusion and funk, with influences of progressive rock, gospel, world and even symphonic music. Its sound is quickly identifiable by the catchy grooves, effortlessly shifting meters and polyrhythms, crisp yet elastic horns, and virtuosic solos from the keyboardists, guitarists, drummers, and other members. No matter the song feel, Snarky Puppy delivers an adrenalin rush audiences through ...

Phil Schaap's Jazz Room

Phil Schaap: A Life in Jazz

by Daniel Gould
July 28, 2026

Phil Schaap, a jazz historian, radio host, record producer, archivist, six-time Grammy Award winner, and 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, called himself “a Johnny Appleseed through the transmitter." Of course, the subject of his proselytizing was jazz, and few did it as long, or through so many different media--broadcasting, teaching, audio engineering, and sound preservation--as did Philip Van Noorden Schaap. Schaap was born April 8, 1951, and raised in the Hollis section of Queens, New ...

Album Review

Kiri Ra!: nen

by Kevin Poindexter
July 28, 2026

The film opens with a wide-angle shot as the camera slowly pans across the scenery: a Finnish lake swallowed by morning fog. Behind the lake is a rolling hill covered with tall, straight, evergreen pines. As the pines poke out of the fog, you can almost smell the deep green needles that sway gently in the morning breeze. Between the stillness of the lake and the rolling hills is a cottage. The camera slowly descends from above, moving through the ...