From Chicago to Infinity and Beyond; Dead Trane; Live Jazz Everywhere; Civil Disobedience; Remembering Abdullah Ibrahim; Brooklyn Guitars; Songs of the Week and more

It was another eventful week as we overhauled the AAJ member experience, especially the information you can share with the community. Since I've completed most sections of my own member page, you can see what's possible here. You'll also notice the new "PRO" and "Builder" designations—hover over each to discover what they mean.

In addition to the member page upgrade, we replaced the tabbed interface on your member settings form with a simpler one-column layout. If you haven't visited your member page in a while, take a few minutes to complete as much information as possible. The more you share, the easier it is for fellow readers to discover your jazz interests and connect with you. You can now also link to your Bluesky page and identify yourself as a student (more on why that designation will be useful in the future).

From the sounds of it, many of you want to vote in our latest venue poll, support the cause, or update your member or professional page, but encounter difficulties signing in. I've also heard from readers who forget their password, request a reset, and never see the email because it lands in their spam folder.

One of our goals is to remove barriers between you and the full All About Jazz experience (which still includes a complimentary haircut). To help, we're exploring Google authentication so you can sign in with your Gmail account. If we can make it work, we will.

In the meantime, if you request a password reset, please check your spam folder for our email. You may also want to take advantage of your browser's password manager or a service such as LastPass to simplify future sign-ins.

Album Reviews

The album reviews below represent our most popular from the past week. View more recent reviews.

Alive With Ghosts Today Chris Potter	Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings Ambrose Akinmusire / Mary Halvorson	We Dream Lakecia Benjamin	Slowly Melting Janel Leppin
Don't Drink the Milk—It's Spoiled How Now Brown Cow	The Ali Ryerson Quartet Ali Ryerson	Northern Readings Carlos Henrique Pereira	Robyn Spangler Robyn Spangler

Looking for an album review?

If you're a musician, publicist, or record label seeking album review coverage on All About Jazz, please read our review submission guide, then complete the coverage request form here. When submitting your request, include up to five AAJ album reviewers who best align with your music.

Calligram Records: Chicago Meets the World

Chicago-based Calligram Records was founded in 2023 by trumpeter Chad McCullough and saxophonist Geof Bradfield. Three years and 34 albums later, they have emerged as an authoritative and varied voice for creative jazz from the Windy City and around the world. Their output ranges from small groups to chamber jazz to lively, horn-driven soul outings. With third anniversary celebration events coming up, it seems like a good time to look behind the scenes of this small yet distinctive label. All About Jazz: How did you get into the record label business? Geof Bradfield: I'll answer this first, then I'm going to hand it over to Chad, because he's been in the record label business on both ends of it way longer than I have. I have been on several different independent record labels like Origin, Delmark Records and a handful of others over the years. Continue reading...

How John Coltrane Changed Rock Music: The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead, probably more than any other rock band that emerged from the 1960s, tapped into the full scope of American musical tradition. From their earliest days, they were an eclectic rock band, blending elements of blues, r&b, country, bluegrass, and jazz. But rather than trying to replicate particular genres exactly, the band's goal was to allow their music to amalgamate these influences in a natural and unpretentious manner. The Dead's broad musical foundation, although something of a defining characteristic, was actually not what set them apart. As the band, along with numerous fans, would admit, recordings could not adequately capture the group's sound. To really get the full Grateful Dead experience, you needed to hear them perform live, and every show was different. As Jerry Garcia once explained in an interview, the band had "an inability to do the same thing twice." Continue reading...

Civil Disobedience at Joe's Pub

Civil Disobedience presented a stellar show at Joe's Pub in New York City that covered a uniquely curated set of music taken exclusively from Civil Rights-era recordings on Blue Note Records. Led by bassist, activist, and composer David Ambrosio, the group is a quintet that features an all-star cast of some of the most renowned members of the greater jazz community. The impassioned, attentive dialogue between Ambrosio and his bandmates was undeniable from the downbeat and displayed a deeply resonant respect and of a pivotal moment in jazz and '60s America. Civil Disobedience has been a project nearly a decade in the making. Ambrosio, saxophonist Donny McCaslin and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen originally began collaborating under the name Chump Change some years prior. Continue reading...

Abdullah Ibrahim: 1934—2026

Abdullah Ibrahim , the South African pianist, composer and bandleader, died in Bavaria, Germany, on 15 June 2026. He was born Adolph Johannes Brand in Cape Town on 9 October 1934. Frail but undimmed, Ibrahim last performed on 27 March at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, in the city that made him. He grew up around District Six, the inner-city quarter—mixed, Muslim, musical—that the apartheid state would later try to erase. As a boy he acquired the nickname "Dollar Brand," which he was to use as his professional name. His grandmother played piano for the local African Methodist Episcopal church and his mother led its choir; the Cape Town of his boyhood folded together Khoisan song, Christian hymn, Cape Malay melody, and the American jazz that arrived on sailors' records. Continue reading...

Brooklyn Guitar Festival 2026

Over the weekend of June 12-13th, the very first Brooklyn Guitar Festival took place and featured appearances from some of the most touted players around today. It was presented by Joel Harrison and Alex Skolnick, two tireless advocates for guitar-related events in the greater New York Area and also highly active performers themselves. The first evening of the festival took place at Warsaw in Greenpoint and was less of the marathon that took place the following day at the Arlo Hotel in Williamsburg. That said, the show featured a stylistically diverse array of music from traditional jazz to funk-fusion as well as soul, blues and straight up rock—sometimes in a single set. Things kicked off with a smoldering set from Austin, TX-based Jackie Venson with a sound situated somewhere between all of the aforementioned style poles. Continue reading...

Songs of the Week

David Ambrosio's Civil Disobedience brings drummer Joe Chambers' composition back into focus (also see our Joe's Pub concert review above) while drummer Jason Kruk fronts an all-star line-up including guitarist Wayne Krantz. Enjoy them.

Top Songs

The songs below represent the most heard in the past four weeks. View the Song of the Day archive.

Extinct Man From the album Stay Still By Digba Ogunbiyi	Fire And Rain From the album Invisible Piano By John Beasley	Crazy World of Love From the album Crazy World of Love By Louise Alexandra	IT's Gotta B U! From the album It's Gotta B U! By Tony Adamo
One for Joe From the album Retrospective By Carl Clements	Melusina From the album Jazz Dreams By Kathy Ingraham	Northern Readings From the album Northern Readings By Carlos Henrique Pereira	The Happiest Man On Earth From the album Patternmaster By Mark Turner

Choice Content

The Rite Festival 2026 (read); Cosmic Music: The Life, Art And Transcendence Of Alice Coltrane (read); Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet at SFJAZZ Center (read); Joe Locke Quartet at Jazzcultural (view photos); The Rolling Stones—The Biography (read); Joscho Stephen Trio at Chicago Temple (view photos); Nkomo Records: Protest and Poetry (read); Christian McBride and Ursa Major at Garcia's Chicago (view photos); Take Five with Saxophonist Bernell Jones II (read); Steve Swell Quartet & Michael Foster / Chuck Roth Duo at P.I.T. (read); Chucho Valdés and His Royal Quartet at Miner Auditorium (read).

Radio & Podcasts

Tune into our extensive collection of quality programs every week.

Allston Boylston: New music from South Africa's Nduduzo Makhathini, Kalia Vandever, Emily Kuhn and the Helen Sung Big Band (listen); The Outer View: Mal Waldron, Bria Skonberg, and James Blood Ulmer (RIP) (listen); Mondo Jazz: Nils Berg, Mahan Mirarab, Luca Falomi-Anais Drago-Fausto Beccalossi & More (listen); Exploration: Tribute to Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand; RIP Walt Parazaider; New Music From Audrey Ochoa, Chris Potter, and Others (listen); One Man's Jazz: James Brandon Lewis, Gebhard Ullmann, Ivo Perelman & Paul Dunmall (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Robyn Spangler, Alicia Waller, Nicole Zuraitis, Elsa Nilsson, Seth Kibel & More (listen); The Stereo Image: Michelle Jones—Disney & Wayne Newton and the Legal Fight that Changed Copyright Law (listen); Neon Jazz: Emmett Cohen, Gunhild Carling, Gregory Golub, Henry Robinett & Sonny Rollins (listen); Bitches Brew: Lyle Workman, Joel Sena, Casiopea, simon Phillips, Dennis Chambers, Virgil Donati (listen); Caminhos Do Jazz: Hamilton de Holanda: Chegando a San Antonio! (listen); Talk About Jazz: Steve Shaiman: Swingtime Big Band bandleader, artistic director and genre ambassador extraordinaire (listen); Mondo Jazz: Evi Filippou, Adam Schatz, Fuchsthone Orchestra, Hannah Marks & More (listen); Mondo Jazz: Tyshawn Sorey, Ola Tunji, Fred Pasqua, Your Brother's Keeper, Gary Bartz (listen); The Tonearm: Billy Polo: Audio Engineer As Archaeologist (listen); Live At The Bop Stop: Max Schlenk Quintet (listen); Liner Notes: Unearthing Dolphy & Ornette: Inside Jeff Lederer's There's A Yearnin' (listen); Jazz Connections: Miles the Composer in the '50s: Jazz Musicians Play Miles, Part 2 (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Helen Sung, Le Boeuf Brothers, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Carolyn Lee Jones and more (listen); Rotations: Collin Walcott, Yussef Kamaal, Max Roach, Bobby Previte And More. (listen); World of Jazz: New Releases From Ize Trio, Daniel Pinilla, Alabaster DePlume, James McGowan And More (listen); The Jazz Disturbance: Eva Novoa, Matt Slocum, New Jazz Underground, 8 Octopi (listen).

News Announcements

Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, special events and more. View all recent announcements.

The Spirit Of New York Meets The Adriatic: 11th Annual Made In New York Jazz Festival Celebrates Landmark Edition In Montenegro (read); Ravita Jazz Performs Live On The Plaza Concert Series on July 27 (read); JazzWeek Radio Chart: June 22, 2026 (read); Pharaoh's Daughter Unveils 6th Album, Songs Of Desire (read); Jazz-con 2026 Announces September Dates, Early Bird 'Yardbird Special' And Initial Session Highlights For The Ultimate Jazz Music Business Conference (read); All About Jazz's 2026 Top Jazz Venues Poll Launches. Vote Today. (read); Spontaneous Groovin' Combustion 'Toast Of The Town' (read); 23rd Edition Rochester International Jazz Festival Starts Friday June 19th (read).

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Posted to All About Jazz Newsletter IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
Read more posts by Michael Ricci