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About Billy Higgins

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Musician

Billy Higgins was reportedly the most recorded jazz drummer in history, and certainly one of the most beloved. Higgins was one of the most musically sensitive jazz players around, with a light but active swing. His style did not draw attention to itself and could not be described by mannerisms; his musicianship simply raised the standard of every band he played in. Although he did release few records under his own name, Higgins was in great demand as a sideman, providing sensitive accompaniment in a variety of settings. Higgins was born in Los Angeles, on Oct. 11, 1936 and began playing drums at the age of 12

Article: Reanimating Conversations Past

Charlie Haden: Anatomy of a Jazz Classic

by John Ephland
August 31, 2026

It was a phoner from the suburban Chicago offices of DownBeat to bassist Charlie Haden in L.A. Our talk, which was held on September 15, 1991, was periodically interrupted by his needing to say, “Hold on one second." The occasion? The 30th anniversary of the release of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's groundbreaking LP Free Jazz: A Collective ...

Article: Live Review

Moldejazz 2026

by Daniel Mège
August 4, 2026

Located at 62°7 North, Moldejazz (the Molde International Jazz Festival) is the ideal place for a festival in week 29, in early summer. A floral scent drifts through The Town of Roses, a ribbon less than a kilometer wide wedged into a peninsula between fjord and mountains. Even once it has set, the sun is never far ...

Article: Interview

John Bishop: A Multi-Dimensional Journey in Jazz

by Paul Rauch
March 9, 2026

John Bishop has spent the past 50 years traversing a jazz landscape that has been in a state of constant change. The music has continued to evolve at a rate one might expect from art in general, while the business end of it has seen radical change that most would consider a state of de-evolution. As ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Mal Waldron: His Journey Across 12 Albums

by Carl Medsker
February 20, 2026

Mal Waldron's life story is compelling, and to mark his 2025 centenary, this article aims to introduce his work to those less familiar with it by tracing his journey across 12 distinctive recordings. Max Roach once singled him out, along with Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, Hasaan Ibn Ali and Randy Weston, as uniquely original ...

Album

The Complete Pharoah Sanders Theresa Recordings

By Pharoah Sanders

Label: Mosaic Records
Released: 2025

Album

I Thought About You

By Louis Stewart

Label: Livia Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: I Thought About You; Litha; Smiling Billy; Unit 7; November Girl; Straight No Chaser; All Blues; November Girl - alt.

Article: History of Jazz

Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Sauce: Adding Spice to Charlie Brown Vanilla

by Arthur R George
December 21, 2025

It's not simply that pianist Vince Guaraldi slipped jazz past the unsuspecting in composing A Charlie Brown Christmas, the evergreen “Peanuts" animation and soundtrack that has become inescapably part of the holiday. First broadcast in 1965, going on to six decades ago, A Charlie Brown Christmas is a tradition unto itself. It returns to television through ...

Article: Play This!

Aretha Tillotson: Sad Junie (to Highway Jake)

by John Chacona
December 11, 2025

If the average fan living south of the 49th Parallel knows anything about jazz in Canada, it might begin and end with Oscar Peterson and Diana Krall. Yes, Toronto is emerging as a great jazz city and there are all those players from Nanaimo, but in between, nothing, right? Bassist Aretha Tillotson is here to explode that ...

Article: Radio & Podcasts

Ashley Maher, Thom Rotella, Anne Mette Iversen, Jerry Weldon, La Tanya Hall, Kate Wyatt & More

by Mary Foster Conklin
October 27, 2025

This broadcast includes new releases from Ashley Maher, Thom Rotella, Anne Mette Iversen, Jerry Weldon, LaTanya Hall and Kate Wyatt, with birthday shoutouts to Anita O'Day, Nellie Lutcher (Hurry On Down), Victoria Spivey, Esperanza Spalding, Bobby Troup, Amy London, Barbara Fasano and Laura Nyro, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear--see them ...