Articles by Paul Reynolds
Ra Kalam Bob Moses and the Heart Breath Ensemble at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem
by Paul Reynolds
Ra Kalam Bob Moses and the Heart Breath EnsembleThe National Jazz Museum in Harlem New York, NY January 22, 2026 The concert by Ra Kalam Bob Moses--as the veteran drummer is now known--and the Heart Breath Ensemble on Thursday was not what it seemed at first glance, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The afternoon set at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem was unexpectedly free-wheeling. Yet Moses and five colleagues pulled off an engaging hour ...
Continue ReadingJoel Ross and Others at the 2026 Winter Jazzfest's Brooklyn Marathon
by Paul Reynolds
Manhattan Marathon | Brooklyn Marathon Joel Ross and Others Winter Jazzfest Brooklyn MarathonNew York, NY January 10, 2026 New York's Winter JazzFest--to its credit--does not present stars of pop and other non-jazz genres to expand its audience and fill the festival coffers. But the January jazz mainstay is not averse to programming jazz-adjacent musicians or jazz artists who are dabbling in crossover projects that are shaded with non-jazz influences. Both kinds ...
Continue ReadingNels Cline and Others At 2026 Winter Jazzfest's Manhattan Marathon
by Paul Reynolds
Manhattan Marathon | Brooklyn MarathonNels Cline and More Winter Jazzfest's Manhattan Marathon New York, NY January 9, 2026 Like New York's winters on the whole, the long nights of the city's Winter JazzFest demand hardiness. Moveable feasts that sprawl onto multiple stages in a neighborhood, the Jazzfest's celebrated marathons require braving New York's cold to trudge, for up to a mile, between clubs. And when you arrive at one, you may have to ...
Continue ReadingUnity Jazz Festival 2026 at Jazz At Lincoln Center
by Paul Reynolds
Unity Jazz FestivalOpening NightJazz at Lincoln CentreNew York, NY January 8, 2026 It does not rain--or snow--jazz in New York in the first week of January, it pours--or blizzards--the music. Winter JazzFest, the longtime colossus that takes over clubs in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, has been joined in the past three years by the Unity Jazz Festival, which runs two marathon nights within the multiple spaces of the Jazz at Lincoln Center headquarters just north of ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier, Wadada Leo Smith and Mary Halvorson at Roulette
by Paul Reynolds
Sylvie Courvoisier, duets with Wadada Leo Smith and Mary Halvorson Roulette Intermedium New York, NY December 7, 2025 So far this jazz season, you'd be hard-pressed to find a double bill as savvy, timely and well-located as Sunday's concert of duets at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn. In successive sets, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier played with her partners for two acclaimed duo albums in 2025: trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, with whom she recorded Angel Falls (Intakt Records, 2025), and ...
Continue ReadingJazz and Place: A Symposium and Walking Tour
by Paul Reynolds
Jazz and Place: Cities, Soundscapes, Venues The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University Symposium and walking tour New York, NY November 14, 2025 The roots of jazz in New Orleans; nascent big band in Kansas City; bebop in the clubs of New York and, later, freer sounds from downtown industrial lofts. The impetus for jazz has arisen not only from specific artists and record labels but from milieus--the cities, neighborhoods, subcultures, and venues ...
Continue ReadingRon Carter New Jazz Trio And Foursight Quartet At Birdland
by Paul Reynolds
Ron Carter New Jazz Trio and Foursight Quartet Birdland New York, NYOctober 16 and 23, 2025 Ron Carter turned 88 in May, 2025. That fact is hard to reconcile with the continuing vitality and frequency of his performances, including those with two small groups at Birdland Jazz Club this month--as part of his customary October residency at the midtown Manhattan venue. Carter's age was underlined, though, by an anecdote he told after ...
Continue ReadingKöln 75
by Paul Reynolds
Köln 75One Two Films / Extreme Emotions / Gretchenfilm / MMC Studios Köln GmbHDIrector: Ido Fluk2025 November, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Köln Concert (ECM Records, 1975), the live recording by Keith Jarrett that stands as the biggest-selling solo album--and piano album--in jazz history. To mark the occasion cinematically, Köln 75 hit select U.S. movie screens in October, 2025. The film defies expectations and takes risks, almost as much as ...
Continue ReadingPatricia Brennan Trio at Bar Bayeux
by Paul Reynolds
Patricia Brennan Trio Bar Bayeux New York, NY September 24, 2025 If you've heard of Patricia Brennan, it's likely the awareness is recent. The Mexican vibraphonist isn't new to the scene, having been quietly honing her reputation through high-caliber collaborations in New York and elsewhere since at least the early 2020s. Yet she's traveled a little under the radar, even within the avant circles in which she belongs stylistically. Now, all of a ...
Continue ReadingThe Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with John Pizzarelli at the 92NY Jazz in July
by Paul Reynolds
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with John Pizzarelli Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92NY Jazz in July New York, NY July 15, 2025 What's the perfect jazz concert for a sultry summer night? If short and swinging (and air conditioned) is your answer, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra delivered the goods at the 92nd Street Y Jazz in July Festival on Tuesday night. This was a direct and amiable big band performance, geared to a ...
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