Results for "Video"

Video

Whiplash

Featuring the music of Hank Levy
Duration: 05:18
November 29, 2026

Whiplash is as thrilling and tension-filled as any full-length jazz movie you may encounter. It’s written around the big band tune by Hank Levy. The premise is that an egotistical, latent-psychotic conservatory band conductor focuses his jealousy on his ensemble, especially a talented drummer, until their collective relationship falls apart. The combined talents of well-known actor J.K. Simmons as the conductor, Miles Teller as the young drummer and writer/director Damien Chazelle make the relationships compelling enough to prompt the audience to ask: “what if this has happened to my school jazz band?” Spoiler alert: this video clip is an iconic scene – the conductor has a question about keeping time. It’s a must-see movie and clip, but if you’re pressed for time start at 0:49.

Video

Oleo

Featuring the music of Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen
Duration: 03:10
November 22, 2026

He is arguably the best walking acoustic bassist of all time… with the hardest to pronounce name: Neils-Henning Ørsted Pederson. Pederson, a Dane born in 1946, was playing with some of jazz’s greats in his teens and eventually spent long partnerships with Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins and Kenny Drew among others. In this remarkable performance of Rollins' “Oleo,” he transforms the bass into a swinging, bop solo voice, demonstrating the extraordinary technique and rhythmic command that would make him one of jazz's A-list. Listen for the astonishing speed and clarity of his lines and how effortlessly he navigates the tune's "Rhythm Changes" harmony. The solo is not merely a display of chops--it has momentum, melodic direction and undeniable swing.

Video

Birks' Works

Featuring the music of Christian McBride
Duration: 6:52
November 15, 2026

How often does one get to hear two top-notch upright basses, alternately walking and soloing as a duo? Russell Hall (seen on the right) is known for his work with Emmet Cohen, as well as Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste and Wayne Shorter. Christian McBride is arguably the most prolific and accomplished bassist / project leader in jazz today. Here they ease into Dizzy Gillespie’s modified minor blues, "Birks’ Works." McBride picks up steam at 3:25 and the pair have real fun together starting 5:06. Before you finish, turn off your ears and simply visualize the joy exchanged between the two. For a peppier version, search YouTube for the Red Garland Quintet take on the same song.

Video

Allan Holdsworth: Frankfurt '86

Featuring the music of Allan Holdsworth
Duration: 02:51
November 8, 2026

While it’s impossible to substitute for a top notch musical spirit, there are times where technology can serve as a soulmate. Such is the case with British guitar maestro Allan Holdsworth. He developed an electronics-driven sound that incorporated long-sustain / constant volume lines and a fat tone that was equal parts distorted guitar, violin and 80’s synth pad. To top it off, his improvisational lines contained turns and leaps that forged a new vocabulary for guitarists. His performance at the Deutsche Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, 1986, capture Holdsworth at the cutting edge. He starts out on a Stratocaster copy plus heavy doses of digital delay, compression, pitch shifters and distortion. The instrumentalist then switches to the SynthAxe Guitar Synthesizer, a whole new invention that uses triggers under the frets and a separate set of short strings to track the guitarist’s playing and map it to synth modules (search YouTube for "Allan Holdsworth plays SynthAxe" ). Sadly, the “bionic guitarist” passed away in 2017.

Video

Live at Transition Festival

Featuring the music of Emma Rawicz
Duration: 22:24
November 1, 2026

Emma Rawicz (pronounced Rah’-veech) is an high-flying tenor and soprano saxophonist based in London. To give a sense of her accelerating maturity and popularity, she won the prestigious UK Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Newcomer in 2022 and for Best Instrumentalist just two years later. Her playing combines impressive technical command with natural musicality, and compositions that shift between lyrical passages, probing grooves and modern harmonic twists. Rawicz tours prodigiously and is at home in a live setting (read the review Emma Rawicz At Roscommon Arts Centre. Listen to the opener “A Wide, Wide Sea” from this Transition Festival performance in the Netherlands. Rawicz builds intensity without simply turning up the volume, while pianist Ivo Neame, bassist Kevin Glasgow and drummer Asaf Sirkis continually reshape the music underneath her. The three-piece set also includes “The Oak Tree” (at 08:18) and “Rebecca” (15:16).

Video

Radar

Featuring the music of Jonathan Barber
Duration: 6:48
October 18, 2026

You may not have heard of drummer Jonathan Barber, but he’s already arrived as a powerhouse. Word-of-mouth led him to transformative roles with tenor saxophonist JD Allen in 2013 and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt starting in 2017. After being named “#1 Up-and-Coming Drummer” in 2018 by Modern Drummer, he caught the ear of Pat Metheny, who brought him early into his Side-Eye project. Barber brings explosive intensity through muscular tom fills, rat-a-tat jabs on snare and sophisticated syncopation on cymbal. He leads the group Vision Ahead, blending fusion, bop and gospel feels, with his long-time personnel Andrew Renfroe on guitar, Taber Gable on keys, Matt Dwonszyk on bass and Matt Knoegel here on tenor. Captured live for the concert series “Musig im Pflegidach” (“Music in the Care Home Attic”), the performance of “Radar” unfolds under the aged wooden rafters of a Benedictine monastery founded in 1027 AD. Note the great blend of timbres, especially horn and guitar.

Video

Jan Garbarek in Concert 2006

Featuring the music of Jan Garbarek
Duration: 99:00
October 11, 2026

There are few modern jazz styles as distinctive as the atmospheric “Nordic Jazz,” and few artists who have contributed to that sound as much as tenor/soprano saxophonist Jan Garbarek. His use of space and reverb, combined with bent notes, created a plaintive sound that borders on sacred, especially on ballads. Taken at greater tempo, his bends sound more like squawks, his melodies are folk-like and his drum kit and percussion players favor world music rhythms. The result is a sense of unabashed joy and a unique feel that’s a far cry from syncopated swing. For your listening pleasure, revel in the mastery of Garbarek (pronounced Gar-Bah’-Rek, accent on the second syllable) and his group in their concert at Burghausen Wacker-Halle in Germany in 2006. Yes, you can listen to just one or two songs, but the whole concert is truly brilliant. For choice video viewing from an earlier period in his career, look on YouTube for the Jan Garbarek Group and “Molde Norwalk Concert 1982.”

Video

Everything in its Right Place

Featuring the music of Peter Martin
Duration: 04:53
October 4, 2026

Radiohead’s track “Everything in its Right Place” was seminal. It announced the transition of the band from indie guitar rock to ambient pulse music. The song, from 2000, has since been covered by several stars, including Robert Glasper and Brad Mehldau, but for the best version when it comes to a polished video, here’s a vote for the version from Open Studio. Open Studio is an online jazz teaching platform covering beginner to master class levels. Among its well-known teachers are the performers on this track: Peter Martin on piano, Adam Maness on synthesizer, Bob DeBoo on bass and bass synthesizer, and Kaleb Kirby on drums. Completed in a single take, this Radiohead cover tune offers an experience that should get any jazz fan’s head bobbing. Especially worth noting are the laid-back intensity; the dark visual backdrop contrasted with angled spotlights; the clever knob-turning effect from muffled tone to bright at 00:36; the reharmonized piano solo at 1:34, and the set-'em-loose drum solo.

Video

Defying Gravity

Featuring the music of Amanda Barise
Duration: 04:05
September 27, 2026

Powerhouse collective, Third Reprise, breathes electric, new life into theater standards by reimagining them through a sophisticated jazz-funk lens. Fronted on this tune by the soulful, soaring vocals of Amanda Barise and anchored by arranger Daniel Rudin's sharp instrumentation, this live studio performance transforms a Broadway classic, “Defying Gravity,” from the musical and movie Wicked, into an absolute groove monster. Listen for the exceptionally tight horn-driven syncopation, the slick synth textures, and a blistering bassline that underpins Barise's vocal acrobatics during the climax. It takes (show/jazz/funk) fusion in a whole new direction.

Video

Take the 'A' Train - Gypsy Jazz Style

Featuring the music of Clement Reboul
Duration: 02:08
September 20, 2026

Every day is a good day to “Take the 'A' Train.” That’s especially true when one encounters a highly-talented, yet lesser-known gypsy jazz band driving the train’s wheels at 134 beats per minute. Guitarists Clement Reboul and Aurélien Robert, upright bassist Ghali Hadefi and guest clarinetist Hugo Proy nail the tempo and hot jazz feel, and the guitarists perfectly complement each others’ strumming and riffs. The coordination is a sign of the years of experience that the collective Clément Reboul’s Jazz Manouche has working together. All aboard!