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Introducing AAJ Media; Eric Meyers, Jo-Yu Chen, Bob Graf, and Vance Thompson; Songs of the Week and more
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Like last week, we really packed it in and we have two important announcements to share...
For more than three decades, All About Jazz has connected audiences with the music, the artists, and the stories that define jazz. With the launch of All About Jazz Media, we're expanding that mission into something much bigger: a new kind of media ecosystem designed not just to showcase jazz—but to sustain it.
All About Jazz Media is a global content and funding platform built on a simple but powerful idea: audience engagement should directly support the artists, educators, and cultural infrastructure that make the music possible. Through original programming—podcasts, radio, video, interviews, and more—we'll create compelling content that reaches a worldwide audience. But unlike traditional media platforms, this engagement doesn't stop at consumption. It fuels a transparent, circular model where revenue generated from listening, viewing, and membership is reinvested back into the creative community.
That means supporting artists through compensation and grants, funding new recordings and productions, partnering with educators and institutions, and strengthening the broader jazz ecosystem in a continuous cycle of creation and reinvestment. For creators, it's a platform to produce meaningful work and participate in a sustainable economic model. For audiences, it's an opportunity to go beyond listening—to actively support and shape the future of the music. We believe the future of jazz depends on more than exposure—it depends on sustainability, transparency, and community participation. All About Jazz Media is how we bring those elements together. So stay tuned and watch our introduction video.
If you have an idea for original programming, pitch it to us at [email protected].
We understand why Spotify is popular from a listener's perspective. It's convenient, expansive, and deeply embedded in how people discover music today. But our responsibility at All About Jazz has always been to the artists—and to the integrity of the music itself.
Over time, serious concerns have emerged about how streaming platforms compensate musicians. That issue alone has been widely discussed within the jazz community. More recently, however, additional concerns have surfaced around the attribution and presentation of recordings on the platform—concerns raised publicly by respected artists including Jason Moran and Benny Green. Taken together, these developments have led us to a clear decision: we can no longer support Spotify as part of our editorial ecosystem. As a result, we are discontinuing Spotify playlists from our Song of the Week program.
We originally partnered with Spotify to extend the reach of our Song of the Day selections, using a third-party platform to help bring greater visibility to the music we feature. That goal remains important—but we cannot continue in good conscience under the current circumstances. We also note that Spotify has not provided playlist-level analytics to independent curators in a way that allows for meaningful evaluation of audience engagement—something that has long limited our ability to assess impact. For those who have followed and enjoyed our playlists, we sincerely appreciate your support and regret any inconvenience this change may cause. You can still explore our selections directly on All About Jazz, where our commitment to artists remains unchanged. If you would like to share concerns with Spotify, we encourage you to do so directly.
What Shapes Jazz Improvisation: Culture, Training, or the Moment?
Improvisation is widely regarded as an inherent characteristic of jazz, with the exception of a few subgenres. At the same time, there is a contrasting view that much of modern improvisation amounts to a recombination of well-learned, drilled scales and licks. There is also a third dimension to consider: many folk music traditions across cultures incorporate improvisation as an essential element. This leads to a broader question: to what extent does a musician's cultural background shape their improvisational style and artistic decision-making in the flow of performance? What other factors come into play? Comment here...
Vance Thompson wears a lot of impressive hats: composer, arranger, professor at the University of Tennessee, and founder of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. His main instrument was trumpet until a medical setback forced him to reinvent himself as a vibraphonist. This transformation is documented on his new album, "Lost and Found," featuring a high-caliber quintet that can do just about anything it wants, from cooking on Thompson's original compositions to brilliant takes on music from Chick Corea and Donald Brown. All About Jazz caught up with Thompson to discuss the heartbreak of having to set down his trumpet and the joy and struggle of finding his way forward. Continue reading...
As an independent jazz artist with more than a dozen releases, I've promoted my recordings in all the usual ways, hoping to spread my music and eventually recoup the money I'd invested. Early on, though, I learned about "music libraries"—companies that house vast catalogs of music, soundscapes, and sound effects for film and television production. I mailed CDs to several of them and largely forgot about it. Years later, checks started arriving in the mail. At first, they were small—a couple of dollars here and there. But over time, they grew. I'm not talking retirement money, but enough to pay some bills and earn back my investment. It turns out my music had landed in hundreds of TV programs, and I had no idea. Shows like MTV Cribs, Young Sheldon, Chicago Fire, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, to name a few. Continue reading...
It would be a mistake to say that a classical/jazz hybrid was devoid of interest with its reliance on centuries-old scores. Au contraire. Promise rewards outside of the normal range of expectations. On Rendezvous: Jazz Meets Beethoven, Tchaikovsky & More (Sony, 2025), Taiwanese pianist Jo-Yu Chen begins with a mash-up of two Beethoven classics: "Symphony No. 5" and the "Moonlight Sonata." Together they meet on a grand, increasingly intense scale. "Beethoven was a rock star in his era, with his powerful sonics and rebelliousness," Chen said with a pleased and ruminative expression. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Chen's solo rendition of the second movement of "Sonata No. 8," the "Pathétique," sounding spacious and hushed. She plays the tune as softly as you would step on someone's nouveau riche shag carpet. Continue reading...
There is a particular kind of musician who never quite makes it into the history books despite spending a career in the company of greatness. Bob Graf was that kind of musician—a St. Louis tenor saxophonist who played alongside Count Basie, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Grant Green, and Gerry Mulligan, recorded albums that still sell today, and spent five decades keeping jazz alive in the city that shaped him. He died in 1981 at 54. His story deserves to be told. A St. Louis Voice Robert Paul Graf was born on April 16, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri. He came of age in a city that produced more than its share of jazz talent, and one of his closest musical friendships was with a fellow St. Louisan named Clark Terry. Continue reading...
"Ghosts Of Havana" by Harvie S
Record Label: Origin Records
Released: 2026
"Wedding Song" by Rai Castells
Record Label: Fresh Sound Records
Released: 2025
Thomas Strønen Time Is A Blind Guide: Off Stillness (read);Kendrick Scott Quintet at Smoke (read); Take Five with Guitarist Johannes Ravn Hagmund-Hansen (read); Billy Cobham's Spectrum (read); The Soul Inhabitant: A Conversation with Thomas Dolby (read); Anaïs Reno with the John Toomey Trio at the Attucks Jazz Club (view photos); Joanna Wang's Hotel La Rut at (Le) Poisson Rouge (read); Steve Coleman and Five Elements at Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa (view photos); Aaron Parks Trio & Kurt Rosenwinkel at Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa (view photos); 5 Epic Jazz Songs That Forever Changed the World (read); JAZZ I AM 2026 (view photos)
Allston Boylston: Genre jambalaya this week, exploratory jazz, third stream, straight ahead and the blues (listen); One Man's Jazz: Peter Ehwald, Stéphane Kerecki & Tribute to Bob Rogers (listen); The Outer View: Eugene McDaniels, Catherine Russell and April Varner (listen); Exploration: Jazz Classics from Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine, Charles Mingus, and others; recent or pending releases from Emmet Cohen, Virginia MacDonald, and others (listen); Mondo Jazz: Jasper Høiby, Marion Rampal, Willy Rodriguez, John Ellis & More (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Dominic Walker, Tierney Sutton, Jenny Klukken, Bria Skonberg, Ulysses Owens Jr., Tia Fuller & Shamie Fuller-Royston, Lori Nicely, Marilyn Crispell & More (listen); The Jazz Disturbance: Peter Erskine, Walter Smith III, Shawn Lovato, Jed Levy-Phil Robson Quartet (listen); Neon Jazz: Ted Rosenthal, Bernie Senensky, Michel Petrucciani, Faye Carol & Ken Peplowski (listen); JazzNow: Four new releases from Bria Skonberg, Barry Greene, Jenny Klukken and Paul Keller (listen); Mondo Jazz: China Moses, Sylvie Courvoisier, Ben Rosenblum, Lilly Hertzman & More (listen); The Tonearm: Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Like Tears In Rain (listen); Talk About Jazz: Aaron Irwin, jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and bandleader talks about his new release (listen); Jazz Connections: The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part I: Lush Life, Take the A Train and more (listen); Jazz Backstory: You're a Funny Guy (listen); World of Jazz: New Music from Smith, Wendel, Fraser, Sweenie & More (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Walter Smith III, Paul Keller Orchestra, Javon Jackson, Bria Skonberg and more (listen).
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, special events and more. View all recent announcements.
Announcing Smoke Jazz Club's May Line-up Including Miles Davis Centennial, Album Release Shows By Steve Wilson, Billy Childs And Jeremy Pelt, And More (read); Drummer Bob Holz Releases New Single 'Pink Fur' (read); Jason Vitelli Releases Vibrant Instrumental Album "2. No Wave Gaze" (read); Vel Lewis Announces New Smooth Jazz Single "Smoovee" Featuring Marion Meadows (read); Austrian-Venezuelan Vocalist Patricia Moreno Releases 'Volver' (read); Hamburg-Based Band Rokost Releases Debut Album (read); Lee Mendelson Film Productions Celebrates 75 Years of Vince Guaraldi Music with the Premiere Release of the Soundtrack to the Classic PEANUTS Specials (read).
Got news? Share it in our newsletter and on our website. Learn how, here.
Posted to All About Jazz Newsletter IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
Read more posts by Michael Ricci
Introducing All About Jazz Media
For more than three decades, All About Jazz has connected audiences with the music, the artists, and the stories that define jazz. With the launch of All About Jazz Media, we're expanding that mission into something much bigger: a new kind of media ecosystem designed not just to showcase jazz—but to sustain it. All About Jazz Media is a global content and funding platform built on a simple but powerful idea: audience engagement should directly support the artists, educators, and cultural infrastructure that make the music possible. Through original programming—podcasts, radio, video, interviews, and more—we'll create compelling content that reaches a worldwide audience. But unlike traditional media platforms, this engagement doesn't stop at consumption. It fuels a transparent, circular model where revenue generated from listening, viewing, and membership is reinvested back into the creative community.
That means supporting artists through compensation and grants, funding new recordings and productions, partnering with educators and institutions, and strengthening the broader jazz ecosystem in a continuous cycle of creation and reinvestment. For creators, it's a platform to produce meaningful work and participate in a sustainable economic model. For audiences, it's an opportunity to go beyond listening—to actively support and shape the future of the music. We believe the future of jazz depends on more than exposure—it depends on sustainability, transparency, and community participation. All About Jazz Media is how we bring those elements together. So stay tuned and watch our introduction video.
If you have an idea for original programming, pitch it to us at [email protected].
Spotify Crossed the Line
We understand why Spotify is popular from a listener's perspective. It's convenient, expansive, and deeply embedded in how people discover music today. But our responsibility at All About Jazz has always been to the artists—and to the integrity of the music itself. Over time, serious concerns have emerged about how streaming platforms compensate musicians. That issue alone has been widely discussed within the jazz community. More recently, however, additional concerns have surfaced around the attribution and presentation of recordings on the platform—concerns raised publicly by respected artists including Jason Moran and Benny Green. Taken together, these developments have led us to a clear decision: we can no longer support Spotify as part of our editorial ecosystem. As a result, we are discontinuing Spotify playlists from our Song of the Week program.
We originally partnered with Spotify to extend the reach of our Song of the Day selections, using a third-party platform to help bring greater visibility to the music we feature. That goal remains important—but we cannot continue in good conscience under the current circumstances. We also note that Spotify has not provided playlist-level analytics to independent curators in a way that allows for meaningful evaluation of audience engagement—something that has long limited our ability to assess impact. For those who have followed and enjoyed our playlists, we sincerely appreciate your support and regret any inconvenience this change may cause. You can still explore our selections directly on All About Jazz, where our commitment to artists remains unchanged. If you would like to share concerns with Spotify, we encourage you to do so directly.
One-Question Survey & Big Question
We've nearly gathered enough answers, but we still need a few more. Please let us know if you read the newsletter on Thursday (when it lands), or later in the week. It's just one question, takes five seconds, so let us know here. Your feedback really does help shape what we do next.What Shapes Jazz Improvisation: Culture, Training, or the Moment?
Improvisation is widely regarded as an inherent characteristic of jazz, with the exception of a few subgenres. At the same time, there is a contrasting view that much of modern improvisation amounts to a recombination of well-learned, drilled scales and licks. There is also a third dimension to consider: many folk music traditions across cultures incorporate improvisation as an essential element. This leads to a broader question: to what extent does a musician's cultural background shape their improvisational style and artistic decision-making in the flow of performance? What other factors come into play? Comment here...
Album Reviews
The album reviews below represent our most popular from the past week. View more recent reviews. Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard Immanuel Wilkins Quartet |  Deface the Currency The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis |  American Crow Maria Schneider Orchestra |  Jazz Dreams Kathy Ingraham |
 The Ecstasy of Love Michael Moody |  Everything Happens to Me 1959—Live at the Cellar Art Pepper |  Dance! Skip! Hop! Tomeka Reid Quartet |  Shimmering Prologue: The Lost Sandbox Sessions Duke Ellington, Brian Wilson and Friends |
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. For example, if it's a big band or large ensemble recording, select Jack Bowers. You can familiarize yourself with our staff, here.Vance Thompson's Reinvention
Vance Thompson wears a lot of impressive hats: composer, arranger, professor at the University of Tennessee, and founder of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. His main instrument was trumpet until a medical setback forced him to reinvent himself as a vibraphonist. This transformation is documented on his new album, "Lost and Found," featuring a high-caliber quintet that can do just about anything it wants, from cooking on Thompson's original compositions to brilliant takes on music from Chick Corea and Donald Brown. All About Jazz caught up with Thompson to discuss the heartbreak of having to set down his trumpet and the joy and struggle of finding his way forward. Continue reading...
The Sync Director: Eric Meyers
As an independent jazz artist with more than a dozen releases, I've promoted my recordings in all the usual ways, hoping to spread my music and eventually recoup the money I'd invested. Early on, though, I learned about "music libraries"—companies that house vast catalogs of music, soundscapes, and sound effects for film and television production. I mailed CDs to several of them and largely forgot about it. Years later, checks started arriving in the mail. At first, they were small—a couple of dollars here and there. But over time, they grew. I'm not talking retirement money, but enough to pay some bills and earn back my investment. It turns out my music had landed in hundreds of TV programs, and I had no idea. Shows like MTV Cribs, Young Sheldon, Chicago Fire, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, to name a few. Continue reading...
Jo-Yu Chen: For Taiwanese Pianist Classical Jazz is a Gas
It would be a mistake to say that a classical/jazz hybrid was devoid of interest with its reliance on centuries-old scores. Au contraire. Promise rewards outside of the normal range of expectations. On Rendezvous: Jazz Meets Beethoven, Tchaikovsky & More (Sony, 2025), Taiwanese pianist Jo-Yu Chen begins with a mash-up of two Beethoven classics: "Symphony No. 5" and the "Moonlight Sonata." Together they meet on a grand, increasingly intense scale. "Beethoven was a rock star in his era, with his powerful sonics and rebelliousness," Chen said with a pleased and ruminative expression. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Chen's solo rendition of the second movement of "Sonata No. 8," the "Pathétique," sounding spacious and hushed. She plays the tune as softly as you would step on someone's nouveau riche shag carpet. Continue reading...
Bob Graf: A St. Louis Tenor Voice the World Almost Missed
There is a particular kind of musician who never quite makes it into the history books despite spending a career in the company of greatness. Bob Graf was that kind of musician—a St. Louis tenor saxophonist who played alongside Count Basie, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Grant Green, and Gerry Mulligan, recorded albums that still sell today, and spent five decades keeping jazz alive in the city that shaped him. He died in 1981 at 54. His story deserves to be told. A St. Louis Voice Robert Paul Graf was born on April 16, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri. He came of age in a city that produced more than its share of jazz talent, and one of his closest musical friendships was with a fellow St. Louisan named Clark Terry. Continue reading...
Songs of the Week
Both pieces unfold with quiet elegance, where melody, space, and ensemble interplay take center stage. Enjoy them. "Ghosts Of Havana" by Harvie S
L I S T E N
Album Information
Title: Bright DawnRecord Label: Origin Records
Released: 2026
"Wedding Song" by Rai Castells
L I S T E N
Album Information
Title: ShiftingRecord Label: Fresh Sound Records
Released: 2025
Top Songs
The songs below represent the most heard in the past four weeks. View the Song of the Day archive. Aqui, Oh! From the album Aqui, Oh! [Feat. Flora Purim & Airto Moreira] By Ricardo Bacelar |  Rachmaninoff en Ritmo From the album Rachmaninoff en Ritmo By Terry Heimat |  Autumn Serenade From the album Autumn Serenade By The Cafe Society |  Gods and Devils From the album Easter Island Suite By John Vanore |
 The Jazz Brothers Visit Curtis Street From the album Home By Keith Oxman |  Moonglow From the album Uma Noite De Jazz Em São Paulo By Hector Costita |  S'Posin From the album Flying High: Still Soaring By Champian Fulton |  It's One or Not One From the album Reckless Meter By Eric Gunnison |
Choice Content
Thomas Strønen Time Is A Blind Guide: Off Stillness (read);Kendrick Scott Quintet at Smoke (read); Take Five with Guitarist Johannes Ravn Hagmund-Hansen (read); Billy Cobham's Spectrum (read); The Soul Inhabitant: A Conversation with Thomas Dolby (read); Anaïs Reno with the John Toomey Trio at the Attucks Jazz Club (view photos); Joanna Wang's Hotel La Rut at (Le) Poisson Rouge (read); Steve Coleman and Five Elements at Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa (view photos); Aaron Parks Trio & Kurt Rosenwinkel at Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa (view photos); 5 Epic Jazz Songs That Forever Changed the World (read); JAZZ I AM 2026 (view photos)
Radio & Podcasts
Tune into our extensive collection of quality programs every week.Allston Boylston: Genre jambalaya this week, exploratory jazz, third stream, straight ahead and the blues (listen); One Man's Jazz: Peter Ehwald, Stéphane Kerecki & Tribute to Bob Rogers (listen); The Outer View: Eugene McDaniels, Catherine Russell and April Varner (listen); Exploration: Jazz Classics from Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine, Charles Mingus, and others; recent or pending releases from Emmet Cohen, Virginia MacDonald, and others (listen); Mondo Jazz: Jasper Høiby, Marion Rampal, Willy Rodriguez, John Ellis & More (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Dominic Walker, Tierney Sutton, Jenny Klukken, Bria Skonberg, Ulysses Owens Jr., Tia Fuller & Shamie Fuller-Royston, Lori Nicely, Marilyn Crispell & More (listen); The Jazz Disturbance: Peter Erskine, Walter Smith III, Shawn Lovato, Jed Levy-Phil Robson Quartet (listen); Neon Jazz: Ted Rosenthal, Bernie Senensky, Michel Petrucciani, Faye Carol & Ken Peplowski (listen); JazzNow: Four new releases from Bria Skonberg, Barry Greene, Jenny Klukken and Paul Keller (listen); Mondo Jazz: China Moses, Sylvie Courvoisier, Ben Rosenblum, Lilly Hertzman & More (listen); The Tonearm: Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Like Tears In Rain (listen); Talk About Jazz: Aaron Irwin, jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and bandleader talks about his new release (listen); Jazz Connections: The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part I: Lush Life, Take the A Train and more (listen); Jazz Backstory: You're a Funny Guy (listen); World of Jazz: New Music from Smith, Wendel, Fraser, Sweenie & More (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Walter Smith III, Paul Keller Orchestra, Javon Jackson, Bria Skonberg and more (listen).
News Announcements
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, special events and more. View all recent announcements.
Announcing Smoke Jazz Club's May Line-up Including Miles Davis Centennial, Album Release Shows By Steve Wilson, Billy Childs And Jeremy Pelt, And More (read); Drummer Bob Holz Releases New Single 'Pink Fur' (read); Jason Vitelli Releases Vibrant Instrumental Album "2. No Wave Gaze" (read); Vel Lewis Announces New Smooth Jazz Single "Smoovee" Featuring Marion Meadows (read); Austrian-Venezuelan Vocalist Patricia Moreno Releases 'Volver' (read); Hamburg-Based Band Rokost Releases Debut Album (read); Lee Mendelson Film Productions Celebrates 75 Years of Vince Guaraldi Music with the Premiere Release of the Soundtrack to the Classic PEANUTS Specials (read).
Got news? Share it in our newsletter and on our website. Learn how, here.
Posted to All About Jazz Newsletter IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
Read more posts by Michael Ricci
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