Something You Can't Unsee; New Cool Vic Cases; Timely News; Irene Higginbotham, Melissa Errico, Deborah Henson-Conant, and Diana Krall; Raphaël Pannier & Khadim Niang; Songs of the Week and more

 We have some news to share for readers who live between NYC metro and New Haven, CT, including this year's Jersey City Jazz Festival (May 29—31). And if you're ready to sharpen your craft, the Jazz Society of Fairfield County is hosting a free Professional Development Day today for jazz performers and composers. Guitarist and AAJ columnist B.D. Lenz also has a new book out—The Crowd Goes Mild—and yes, we love that title.

We've also made some nice improvements to our Radio & Podcast section, putting our hosts front and center and making it faster and easier to jump into their programs. You can learn more about that here.

Last but not least, everyone's favorite jazz gumshoe is back with three new cases—this time involving A Love Supreme, Blue Note Records, and female pianists from the past.

One-Question Survey Results

Thanks to everyone who took a few seconds to answer our one-question survey about when you read the All About Jazz newsletter. The results are in, and here's how it breaks down: 73% read the newsletter the day it arrives; 8% read it on Friday; and 19% read it some other day (we're guessing Sunday morning with a cup of coffee).

Album Reviews

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

Deface the Currency The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis	Jazz Dreams Kathy Ingraham	Bern Roy Hargrove	Echomyr Lars Danielsson Liberetto
At The BBC 1965 Bill Evans	The Oscar Peterson Trio at Baker's Keyboard Lounge Oscar Peterson Trio	Balkan Soul in the Brave New World Alma Mićić	Honey Sparks In The Dark Kristijan Krajnčan Quartet

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. 

You Have to See It to Believe It: The Addictive Eccentricity of Angine de Poitrine

Normally, whenever someone mentions something we can't unsee, they mean it in the worst possible way. In many cases, this brings to mind an unpleasant or shocking image or moment that lingers longer than we ever wanted it to. Fortunately, this is not always the case. For example, the Canadian duo Angine de Poitrine intentionally shocks audiences with their unusual appearance and sound, but this is a different kind of experience. You can't unsee, and wouldn't want to. There is no question that Angine de Poitrine is unconventional, but they also have an infectious appeal. Since they arrived in 2019, they have established themselves as serious musicians, and practically everyone is talking about them. However, much of the public was unaware of them until Seattle radio station KEXP featured them in a video in February 2026. Continue reading...

"Good Morning, Heartache" by Irene Higginbotham

"Good Morning, Heartache" by Irene Higginbotham with lyrics by Ervin Drake and Dan Fisher remains one of the most well-known songs composed by Higginbotham, a highly prolific female songwriter of the Tin Pan Alley era, writing over 1,000 songs. Originally recorded by Billie Holiday in 1946, "Good Morning, Heartache" was later recorded by hordes of other vocalists including Diana Ross for the 1972 film, Lady Sings the Blues, in which Ross portrayed Holiday. Twenty-six years after it was composed and released the song finally reached #20 on the Billboard R&B chart and #34 on the pop chart, even achieving an Easy Listening hit in the top ten. Continue reading...

Raphaël Pannier & Khadim Niang: Sabar Jazz, An Historic Summit

"Once you have made a decision," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, "the universe conspires to make it happen." French drummer Raphaël Pannier may concur, though as a footnote he might also stress the amount of sweat sometimes required to realize one's biggest dreams. Live In Saint Louis, Senegal, a collaboration between Raphaël Pannier Quartet and Khadim Niang & Sabar Group—not only ranks as one of the best jazz albums of 2025, but it also stands out as a groundbreaking recording in the history of jazz. Recorded live at the 2024 Saint Louis Jazz Festival and released on Miguel Zenon's Miel Music label, Live in Saint Louis, Senegal is certainly not the first meeting between jazz musicians and African musicians. Jazz has a fairly long history of such collaborations, dating back at least to the 1960s. Continue reading...

Case Files: 2026-04

Three new case files from Cool Vic, The Music Dick: The Coltrane That Stayed Behind, The Blue Note That Changed Its Name, and The Woman Behind the Piano. Continue reading...

Melissa Errico: A Voice Reimagined

Melissa Errico is much more than a Broadway star with a great voice. She is an artist who really digs into the "why" behind the music. Her mentor, Stephen Sondheim, once told her to "sing the silence"—to make the quiet moments in a song just as powerful as the big notes. That advice didn't just change her singing; it changed how she tells stories and how she understands the things so many women often leave unsaid. In this interview, Melissa opens up about carrying on after losing the two men who shaped her career: Sondheim and the French composer Michel Legrand. She talks about how she still feels their presence on stage. We also talked about her shift from Broadway forward into jazz. She's evolved from a theater actress into a "girl singer" who can hold her own with legends like George Benson. Continue reading...

Songs of the Week

Two rhythm-forward, globally influenced tracks where collective interplay and layered groove are the thing. Enjoy them.

Top Songs

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

Rachmaninoff en Ritmo From the album Rachmaninoff en Ritmo By Terry Heimat	Somewhere with Charlie From the album Twelve and Twenty By Vic Dillahay	Oppression Is Nine Tenths Of The Law From the album Oppression is Nine Tenths of the Law By Organic Pulse Ensemble	Ghosts Of Havana From the album Bright Dawn By Harvie S
Moonglow From the album Uma Noite De Jazz Em São Paulo By Hector Costita	Africa From the album The Last Trane to Africa By Ian Dogole	Octavia's Stories From the album Neural Resonance: Tales from the OmniSphere By Jair-Rohm Parker Wells	Wedding Song From the album Shifting By Rai Castells

Choice Content

Diana Krall at The Music Center at Strathmore (read); Take Five with Harpist / Vocalist Deborah Henson-Conant (read); Coltrane 100 at The Freight (read); Rebekka Salomea: German's Jazz Award's 2026 Artist of the Year (read); Reaper on the Bus (read); Branciforte & Barbieri: Ghosts in the Machines (read); Jazzkaar Interviews: Donny McCaslin (read); Marilyn Crispell at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (read); Billy Mohler's Euro American Quartet at Arcipelago Cremona (view photos).

Radio & Podcasts

Tune into our extensive collection of quality programs every week.

The Outer View: Mike Westbrook 1936—2026 & More (listen); Exploration: Happy Birthday Charles Mingus, Carl Allen, and Others; Recent music from Sasha Berliner, Lexingtone, and More (listen); JazzNow: Four new releases from The Ben Markley Big Band, Brian Lynch, Tierney Sutton & Tamir Hendelman, and Ulysses Owens, Jr. (listen); The Jazz Disturbance: Marta Sánchez, Billy Childs, Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet, The Outskirts (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Ron Wilkins & Rebecca Patterson, Catherine Russell, Danny Sinoff, Miho Hazama, Hendrik Meurkens, Jaana Narsipur & More (listen); Jazz On The Tyne: JustKing Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Zoë Gilby, And More (listen); Neon Jazz: Joe Henderson, Tia Fuller, Jack Wood, Dave Stryker & Lionel Cole (listen); North Star Sounds: Harriet Tubman, Peter Brötzmann, Angelika Niescier and many exciting new releases (listen); The Stereo Image: Eric Montzka: Music Doesn't Breathe Anymore (listen); Strictly Jazz Sounds: Walter Smith III: Driving Modern Jazz With An Unyielding Voice (listen); The Tonearm: Tomeka Reid: The Low Seat, The Long Haul, And 'Dance! Skip! Hop!' (listen); Mondo Jazz: Dave Adewumi, Elan Mehler, Siphonoforo, Corcoran Holt & More (listen); Jazz Connections: The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part III: Such Sweet Thunder and The Far East Suite (listen); Live At The Bop Stop: Stacy Dillard and Keigo Hirakawa (listen); Jazz Backstory: Potpourri: Part 2 (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Barry Greene, Jared Hall, Jesse Davis, Ray Obiedo and more (listen); Rotations: Ella Feingold, Persian Empire, Closed City, The Westerlies, Antoni Wojnar and more (listen); World of Jazz: New Music From Jackson, Gehenot, Arbenz, And More (listen).

News Announcements

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

B.D. Lenz Strikes A Chord With 'And The Crowd Goes Mild,' New Book Out May 1 (read); Jersey City Jazz Festival 2026 Lineup Revealed (read); Explode Your Jazz Career! Free Jazz Professional Workshop  'The Business Of The Beat' (read); Andy Nechaevsky Explores Memory And Acoustic Ecology In 'Red Box' (read); The Rhythmic Alchemy Of Srisley: Weaving Korean Heritage With Afro-cuban Heat (read); Armen Donelian Crafts A Unique Pianistic Perspective On 'Inquiry,' Set For June 5 Release By Sunnyside Records (read); Psychedelic Cowboy Gary Van Miert Returns With 4th LP Ofcosmic Gems On 'Music Sounds Better When You're Stoned' (read); Brian Eaton Returns With A Sprawling Wooden-Hewed Epic 'Parable Of The Trees' (read); Chicago Saxophonist Michael Hudson-Casanova Releases 'Heyman 2' On Each And Only (read).



The Jersey City Jazz Festival returns in 2026 with its biggest event yet, inviting music fans of all ages to experience jazz from across the spectrum including straight-ahead, Latin jazz and more throughout an unforgettable three-day celebration. Presented by Exchange Place Alliance, the free event runs from Friday evening, May 29 through Sunday, May 31 along the Hudson River waterfront at Exchange Place Plaza, offering sweeping views of lower Manhattan. Designed to welcome both locals and visitors, the Jersey City Jazz Festival continues to grow as a destination event that's easy to reach from the tri-state area for a day trip or a full weekend immersed in live music, culture and community. Continue reading...

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Posted to All About Jazz Newsletter IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
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