Jazz Articles about Miles Okazaki

About Miles Okazaki

Interview

Miles Okazaki's Monkathon: The Complete Thelonious Monk–Live

by Keith Flint
October 10, 2026

Guitarist Miles Okazaki, originally from Port Townsend, Washington, has become an integral figure in New York's creative music scene. Over the course of his career, he has toured and recorded with such artists as Kenny Barron, John Zorn, Steve Coleman, Miguel Zenón, Henry Threadgill, Patricia Brennan, Dan Weiss, Matt Mitchell, Mary Halvorson, and Darcy James Argue. His current projects include the trio Trickster and a large-scale ensemble, which released Boomtown (Pi Recordings) in June. On October 10, 2026, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Miles Okazaki, Camila Nebbia/Chris Corsano & Dan Phillips

by Maurice Hogue
July 6, 2026

My last memory of Wyoming was 50-some years ago when I arrived at the bus depot in Cheyenne. I needed to eat so headed for the cafeteria where I asked the grizzled old ex-cowboy behind the serving counter what was good. He said try the chili, whereupon he waved a ladle over the chili tureen and a humongous cloud of black flies flew up and away. As did I--to the vending machines. Guitarist Miles Okazaki hopefully avoided such a culinary ...

Album Review

Jon Irabagon: Focus Out

Read "Focus Out" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
June 1, 2026

Focus Out è la seconda uscita discografica di Rising Sun, ennesima formazione partorita dalla mente vulcanica del sassofonista Jon Irabagon, da diversi anni figura centrale nella scena più vivace, creativa e imprevedibile del jazz statunitense. Un quartetto acustico/elettrico con i fiocchi che si avvale dell'apporto di musicisti altrettanto creativi e già coinvolti in passati progetti del sassofonista di origini filippine. Come la maggior parte delle incisioni di Irabagon, Focus Out sorprende per la sua organicità a dispetto della varietà di ...

Album Review

Jon Irabagon: Focus Out

Read "Focus Out" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 6, 2026

Jon Irabagon remains among the most uncompromising voices in contemporary jazz. A first-generation Filipino American from Chicago, he draws deeply from the AACM legacy--Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Muhal Richard Abrams--and his home city's tradition of bold, searching saxophone work. Since his 2008 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition win, Irabagon has used his Irabbagast Records imprint to sustain a commitment to fierce originality and collective dialogue. Focus Out serves as a formidable statement from his working quartet, featuring Irabagon ...

Album Review

Ye Olde 2: Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time

Read "Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 9, 2025

Ten years after the first Ye Olde (Yestereve Records, 2015) was framed around a fantasy quest into a riotous Brooklyn guitar summit, trombonist extraordinaire Jacob Garchik returns with Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time, a 48-minute sci-fi prog jazz odyssey stretching from the heat death of the universe to the resurrection of consciousness itself. The original crew--Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, and Jonathan Goldberger on guitars, Vinnie Sperrazza on drums--anchors six of the eight tracks plus the ...

Album Review

Patricia Brennan: Of the Near and Far

Read "Of the Near and Far" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
December 3, 2025

Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan continues to redefine her creative horizons on Of The Near And Far, a fourth leadership date that expands her sonic blueprint without tempering the imagination that has marked her rise. Each of its predecessors has been completely different, from the horn-rich Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic, 2024), to the percussion-centered More Touch (Pyroclastic, 2022), to her debut, the solo Maquishti (Valley Of Search, 2021). She avoids familiar paths once again here, writing for an accomplished ten-strong unit which merges ...

Album Review

Patricia Brennan: Of the Near and Far

Read "Of the Near and Far" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
November 17, 2025

In un paio d'anni, Patricia Brennan è balzata ai vertici del jazz più innovativo. Se già il magistrale e pluripremiato Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic Records, 2024) era un salto avanti rispetto ai precedenti More Touch (Pyroclastic Records, 2022) e Maquishti, stavolta la vibrafonista d'origine messicana presenta un'opera ancor più sorprendente, cambiando organico in un'esplorazione ambiziosa e audace. «Sono sempre stata affascinata dal cielo e dalle stelle--dice la Brennan. Se guardi attentamente, tutto può essere collegato attraverso forme geometriche. Ho ...