Iconic Music in Film; The Jazzy Past of Alan Greenspan; Jazz in France; More Membership Improvements; Songs of the Week and more

This week brought exciting progress and a glimpse of even greater things to come.

All About Jazz saw significant improvements this week, most of them under the hood, though many are beginning to surface in ways you'll notice. We completed upgrades to our two most important forms: the member settings page and the musician settings page. We also made additional enhancements to the member page (example) before signing off on it earlier this week. If you haven't updated your member page in a while, sign in and have fun with it.

Speaking of fun, we're developing a badging system to recognize participation and achievements throughout the platform. As part of that effort, we've created a series of leaderboard pages that highlight community activity. You can now see who is adding events, managing musician pages, and contributing in other ways from our staff page (see the MORE section).

What continues to amaze me about All About Jazz and Jazz Near You is the sheer volume of information flowing through the platform every day. The exciting part is connecting it all in ways that make jazz discovery more engaging, more useful, and ultimately more rewarding for everyone.

In the spirit of discovery, we published two articles this week that couldn't be more different: one explores iconic music in film, while the other revisits the surprisingly jazzy past of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. I never figured I'd see the day when the Grateful Dead shared the home page with Alan Greenspan, but somehow, it feels very AAJ.

Album Reviews

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

Alive With Ghosts Today Chris Potter	Omni James Brandon Lewis Quartet	Slowly Melting Janel Leppin	Robyn Spangler Robyn Spangler
Northern Readings Carlos Henrique Pereira	Feebles, Fables And Ferns Mick Goodrick & Fred Hersch	Miles '56: The Prestige Recordings Miles Davis	No Nation but Imagination Alexander Hawkins

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.

Iconic Music in Film: Boomer Edition

One of the pleasures of looking back at film music from the boomer years is realizing how quickly the walls were coming down. Classical themes turned into jazz-funk hits. Soul records won Oscars. Rock songs became character development. Bluegrass, blues, disco, Latin jazz, and spaghetti-western minimalism all found their way onto the screen, and in the process changed what movie music could do. Before the 1960s, a "serious" film score usually meant orchestral sweep—Maximilian Schauensteiner, Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa, that whole grand tradition. Then something happened. Popular music stopped being background flavor and became the emotional engine of the movies themselves. A needle-drop could tell you who a character was, where America was headed, and what a generation was feeling before a line of dialogue was spoken. This list isn't meant to be definitive, and it certainly isn't a ranking. Continue reading...

Alan Greenspan, 1926—2026: The Reedman Who Conducted the Economy

He kept the clarinet. Sixty years after he last played for money, the central banker still had the instrument from his dance-band days; when a television crew trooped in, he turned it over in his hands but would not play it, remembering too well how it was supposed to sound. Alan Greenspan, who died on 22 June 2026 aged 100, chaired the Federal Reserve for nearly nineteen years and was canonised as "the Maestro," a pun before it was a tribute. Long before he conducted the world's largest economy, he was a clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, and walked away because, on the best nights beside Stan Getz, he could hear how far short of greatness he fell. Continue reading...

Hugues Kieffer: Marseille, Five Continents, One Jazz

In its 26 years of existence, the festival Marseille Jazz Five Continents has evolved from an event aimed primarily at local audiences—offering Marseille residents the chance to hear some of the biggest names in jazz live—to a boundary-crossing festival that embraces the full richness and diversity of contemporary jazz. Today, it offers an immersive experience spanning classical, free, soul, African, Sub-Saharan, Caribbean, Latin, electronic, and other emerging musical languages. Its evolution mirrors that of the city that hosts it: multicultural, hybrid, open, and inclusive. The festival unfolds over eight months across numerous venues, encompassing free performances, concerts in schools and neighboring municipalities, brass bands, cine-concerts, exhibitions, installations, and even guided musical meditation experiences. Its beating heart, however, unfolds over two summer weeks between June and July, when audiences can attend two or three concerts each day in a variety of settings, each offering a distinct listening experience. Continue reading...

Sceaux Jazz Festival 2026: A Rising Voice Just Outside Paris

Just a short ride south of Paris, in the grand Cour d'Honneur of the Château de Sceaux, the Sceaux Jazz Festival has quietly become one of the more intriguing additions to France's summer jazz calendar. Founded in 2021 by Les Gémeaux during the cultural reopening that followed the pandemic, the festival was born from a simple desire: to reconnect artists and audiences through live music in an outdoor setting. What began as an emergency response to canceled concerts has evolved into an annual gathering that pairs emerging artists with internationally recognized performers in one of the region's most picturesque settings. Now in its fourth edition, this open-air festival continues to embrace a philosophy of accessibility, presenting jazz that welcomes both longtime devotees and curious newcomers. Continue reading...

Songs of the Week

Because two bones are better than one. 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	IT's Gotta B U! From the album It's Gotta B U! By Tony Adamo	One For Steve From the album Steps Taken By Eli Howell
Melusina From the album Jazz Dreams By Kathy Ingraham	Northern Readings From the album Northern Readings By Carlos Henrique Pereira	Irina From the album Civil Disobedience By David Ambrosio	Flow From the album Eikon By Michele Maggi

Choice Content

Louis Hayes at Jazz Alley (read); Beat at Uber Eats Music Hall (read); Sun Chung of Red Hook Records: Listening at the Threshold (read); Dewey Huang: Where Mandarin Songwriting Meets Bossa Nova (read); Joe Morris at Vision Fest 30 (read); Jah Wobble: Memories (listen); Bob Dylan at the Rady Shell (read); Lover Man (read); Ronell Johnson: A New Orleans Life and a Horn Played with Joy (read).

Radio & Podcasts

Tune into our extensive collection of quality programs every week.

Allston Boylston: Get hip to Anggie Obin + James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Jeff Parker IVtet and Gretchen Parlato (listen); The Outer View: Ben Wolfe, David Janeway, and Ben Wendel (listen); Mondo Jazz: New Jazz Underground, Open Thread, Kalia Vandever, Micah Thomas, Immanuel Wilkins (listen); Mondo Jazz: Zela Margossian, Rosa Brunello, Goran Kajfes, Avin Omar, Michel Petrucciani, Dave Ambrosio (listen); Exploration: End Of Month Keyboard Special With Music From Ethan Iverson, Karla Harris and Joe Alterman, Richard "Groove" Holmes, and Others (listen); Injazz: Roseye, Franz von Chossy, Ntjam Rosie, Hermine Deurloo & Anton Goudsmit and more (listen); One Man's Jazz: Gerry Hemingway, OM and Perelman/Sharp/Baptista (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Cento Threeo, Kat Gang, Sylvia Brooks, Leigh Pilzer, Armen Donelian, The Miggy Augmented Orchestra & More (listen); The First Instrument Jazz Show: Somi, Theo Bleckmann, Carmen Lundy, Duchess And More! (listen); The Stereo Image: Hank O'Neal: Owner of Chiaroscuro Records—Part 1 (listen); Neon Jazz: Mike Clark, Lisanne Lyons, Seth Kibel, Jeff Rupert & Chris Hazelton (listen); Caminhos Do Jazz: Freedom! Juneteenth National Independence Day (listen); Jazz On The Tyne: Clark Tracey, Laura Jurd, Eyolf Dale, And More (listen); Strictly Jazz Sounds: Jeremy Pelt: Jazz, Leadership, and Legacy (listen); Mondo Jazz: Pat Metheny, Tiwayo, Trish Clowes, Kiri Ra!, Catherine Russell, Clément Janinet (listen); The Tonearm: Ora Cogan: Hard Hearted Is How You Survive (listen); Live At The Bop Stop: Max Johnson 3 (listen); Mondo Jazz: Ilaria Capalbo, Steven Bernstein, The Breaks, Levi Harvey & More (listen); JazzNow: New releases from vocalist Mark Winkler, the debut by drummer Avind Ramdas, clarinetist Harry Skoler and the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective (listen); Jazz Bastard: Do You CTI What I CTI? (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Brad Goode, Michael Dease, Charles Chen, Sarah Sharp and more (listen); World of Jazz: New Music From Altin Sencalar, Tyshawn Sorey, The Phoenix Trio And More (listen); Rotations: Elton Dean & The Wrong Object, Steven Bernstein, Joe Henderson And More (listen).

News Announcements

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

All About Jazz Top 10 Songs: June 2026 (read); Generations Deconstructed Tour Featuring Will Calhoun, Ozmosys, And The Rock N' Roll Collective (read); Modern Drum Master Mathias Kunzli's New Album Now Available (read); Smoke Jazz Club Unveils Line-up For August Featuring Tributes To Parker, Davis And Coltrane, Leading Organ Trio Album Release, And More (read); JazzWeek Radio Chart: June 29, 2026 (read); Jersey City Jazz Festival 2026: A Fest For Musicians And More (read); Eric Hofbauer And EHX—'Tongues / Hope Language' Now Out On Vinyl! Double Album Gatefold (read).

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