Articles by Paul Reynolds

Live Review

The Kind of Blue Band at 92NY

by Paul Reynolds
October 21, 2026

The Kind of Blue Band 92NY A Tribute Weekend to Miles Davis New York, NY October 16, 2026 On one level, paying tribute to the best-selling jazz album of all time--and arguably the most critically revered--is a plum musical assignment. It promises playing a masterwork to a crowd that's deeply familiar with it and likely to be thrilled to hear it all performed live for the first time. Yet deciding just how ...

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New York City Jazz Performance Preview: Fall 2026

by Paul Reynolds
September 16, 2026

New York season includes the first fall programs from two recently opened midtown clubs--The Pocket and Jazzcultural and higher-profile shows for fine emerging performers such as singer Ekep Nkwelle and pianist/arranger Joe Block. The preeminent departure is that of Wynton Marsalis who, after 30 years in the job, will lead his last season as the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Consequently, 2026-27 sees The House That Jazz Built programming an even bigger dose of Marsalisiana than ...

Live Review

Samara Joy and Christian McBride at Summerstage

by Paul Reynolds
September 7, 2026

Samara Joy and Christian McBride Summerstage Verve's 70th Anniversary Celebration New York NY September 2, 2026 Founded 70 years ago, Verve Records was launched in part to treat female jazz artists with respect, who too often had been shortchanged within a music community that was male-centric to an extreme. It's fitting, then, that a concert held to honor the label's milestone birthday primarily showcased Verve's women singers over the years. The main event ...

Live Review

Bill Frisell and Ambrose Akinmusire at NoMad Jazz Festival

by Paul Reynolds
August 7, 2026

Bill Frisell and Ambrose Akinmusire Baruch College NoMad Jazz Festival New York NY August 3, 2026 It's not uncommon to describe jazz duets as musical conversations. But the term, suggesting some silences and even disagreements, isn't quite right for an encounter as uninterrupted and musically telepathic as that of Bill Frisell and Ambrose Akinmusire at Baruch College on Monday night. Akinmusire recently (once again) won top honors as the best trumpeter in the prestigious ...

Live Review

Michael Leonhart Orchestra at the 2026 NoMad Jazz Festival

by Paul Reynolds
August 5, 2026

Michael Leonhart Orchestra Rizzoli Bookstore NoMad Jazz Festival New York NY August 2, 2026 Spontaneous creation in jazz usually doesn't extend to the arrangements for a 17-piece orchestra. But Michael Leonhart--who disclosed from the bandstand that his orchestra “did not rehearse for this performance"--wound up arranging on the fly for a chunk of his band's 95-minute twin tribute to Miles Davis and John Coltrane on Sunday. During the looser numbers of the set--which was ...

Live Review

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Play Ellington's Black, Brown, and Beige

by Paul Reynolds
August 2, 2026

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center Ellington's Greatest Masterpiece: Black, Brown, and Beige New York, NY July 23, 2026 Usually dark for the summer, Jazz at Lincoln Center, unusually, presented a concert event this month. Billed as the first performances of the 2026-2027 season for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the twin shows at Rose Hall featured the JLCO at its best. That is, playing compositions by Duke ...

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 ...

Live Review

Melissa Aldana Quartet at Wave Hill

by Paul Reynolds
July 22, 2026

Melissa Aldana Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center Sunset Wednesday New York NY July 15, 2026 Wildfire smoke from Canada choked New York City last Wednesday night, including at Wave Hill, the garden and cultural center located north of Manhattan, which customarily offers outdoor shows with spectacular views of the Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. Given the grimy air, the venue had little choice but to move its scheduled “Sunset Wednesday" ...

Live Review

The Gil Evans Project at Birdland

by Paul Reynolds
June 4, 2026

The Gil Evans Project Birdland Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess New York NY May 27 and May 30, 2026 Among the many celebrations of Miles Davis during his centennial week, it's hard to rival the ambition of Ryan Truesdell's fine five-night takeover of the main room at Birdland to present Sketches Of Spain (Legacy Recordings, 1960) and Porgy and Bess (Columbia Records, 1959), two of the classic big-band collaborations between the trumpeter and ...

Live Review

Joe Alterman, Adam Dorn and Special Guests at Rizzoli Bookstore

by Paul Reynolds
May 11, 2026

Joe Alterman and Adam Dorn (aka Mocean Worker) and special guests Rizzoli Bookstore Les McCann Tribute / All About Jazz 30th Anniversary Party New York, NY May 3, 2026 A landmark birthday calls for a party, preferably with live music. And that's just what was thrown for All About Jazz on Sunday to celebrate the website's 30 years of history. In remarks to open the festivities, AAJ founder--and still the site's publisher--Michael ...