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Top 5, 10 and 25 Lists; Denver Jazz Festival; Henry Mancini, Charlie Ballantine, Fred Hersch; Live from SMOKE; Ukrainian Jazz Prize Announced; Songs of the Week and more
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If you are attending jazzahead!, please pay a visit to the All About Jazz booth (Stand #6A41 in Hall 6) and say hello to John March. We're located on the corner next to the German Market. Also, in this week's newsletter, pianist and composer Nazareno Bicocchi shares his passion for Henry Mancini's compositions with two articles—one where he explains how he embarked on a solo, ear-driven reconstruction of 25 Mancini compositions, recreating their full orchestral detail and expressive nuance using advanced virtual instrument technology. The project took Nazareno a year to complete.
From left to right: Mario Calvitti, John March and Ieva Pakalniškytė
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...
It's easy to get used to the lifestyle: a concert every night, and three on Saturday: eight concerts in six days. Shouldn't life be like this all the time? Well, it was for almost a week in early April around Denver because of the second annual Denver Jazz Fest. I thought I was a diligent concertgoer as the aforementioned schedule attests. And yet, I didn't even make it to a quarter of the concerts on offer during the course of the festival. For its second iteration, the Denver Jazz Fest sponsored 40 concerts in 15 venues over six days. The concerts took place all around Denver and in Boulder. The quality matched the quantity. The festival presented a wide range of jazz from national artists as well as several local heroes. Continue reading...
Henry Mancini was not merely Hollywood's most celebrated composer; he was the vital bridge between the Golden Age of Big Bands and cinematic modernism. His genius lay in his ability to be a "melodic tailor," capable of dressing every scene with an unprecedented sonic palette. Born to Abruzzese immigrants—his father, Quinto, played the flute in a local steel mill band—Mancini carried within him a Mediterranean lyricism that he masterfully fused with the precision of American jazz. This selection for "Building a Jazz Library" explores his most authentic and innovative side, where jazz becomes an architectural work of art—accessible, yet technically flawless. Continue reading...
As Ian Dury might have sung had he played the clarinet, "Hit me with your licorice stick." (That is "rhythm stick" for those not fluent in punk rock.) From the intricacies of classical music to the smooth swing of jazz to Klezmer—the folk music of the Eastern European Jewish population—the instrument resonates throughout a good portion of the civilized world. From slow and melancholy to gliding to blasting, to fingers flying and holes and valves opening and closing, this instrument has many associations, moods and voices. Perhaps it's seen as the sensible, skinnier brother of the saxophone, but the clarinet also has a sexy and seductive side as well as a silly and playful one. For the latter, look no further than the late comic actor John Candy, who could actually play the clarinet. Continue reading...
The Personal Bond with Henry Mancini: The genius composer who redesigned my world through his magical notes My first encounter with Henry Mancini didn't happen by a deliberate choice, but through a cassette recorder and a local radio station in Rome. It was 1998, and at sixteen, I was a young musician obsessed with searching for the timbres of the most diverse musical instruments. I spent my afternoons recording Radio Vaticana Musica specials on cassettes, using their broadcasts to study the DNA of real instruments. I still remember the ignorance of that boy who, while recording a Mancini special, paused the tape on Royal Blue after the second verse just to capture the final trumpet blast. At the time, I didn't care much for jazz, but I was already under the spell of his sonic textures. Continue reading...
So You Don't Like Jazz normally focuses on ways to turn people on to jazz, but this column focuses on five jazz songs whose impact profoundly changed modern music. In the process, they also demonstrated that jazz could be successful in a modern culture dominated by pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues. Arguably, the two most powerful examples were released in 1959, on the cusp of the '60s, followed by another in 1961, and then two more examples from the '70s. Take Five—The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959) The evocative fluid tone of Paul Desmond—that he himself once described as sounding like a dry martini—hooks the listener from the outset. "Take Five" was one of those rare instances when the spark of "it" happens, tastes shifted on a massive scale, new horizons open, and the musical world was suddenly different. Continue reading...
"One Summer's Day" by Owen Chen
Record Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2026
"Bright Child" by Steve Kovalcheck
Record Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2026
Emmet Cohen Presents: Miles and Coltrane at 100 at Jazz Alley (read); Vijay Iyer Quartet at Smoke (read); Amaro Freitas 'Y'Y' at Piacenza Jazz Fest 2026 (view photos); Lee Whiteman: My Jazz Odyssey (read); Köln 75 (read); Listen to Prestige Now, Think Later (read); Charlie Ballantine Establishes Himself on the East Coast (read); Fred Hersch: The Touch of Genius (read); Bergamo Jazz Festival 2026 (view photos); Mr. P.C.'s Tuning Under Duress, Now Was the Time, and Quid Pro Dough (read); Michael Formanek: aka the Stinger (listen).
Allston Boylston: Satoko Fujii/Myra Melford Together Again + John Hollenbeck and Abate Beirhun (listen); The Outer View: Brian Lynch, Bebel Gilberto, and Do Yeon Kim (listen); One Man's Jazz: Camila Nebbia, Nick Fraser Trio & Bruno Bode (listen); Exploration: Happy Birthday Herbie Hancock! Recognizing birthdays of Gene Ammons, Joshua Espinoza, and Others; New Music From Kurt Elling, Spyro Gyra, and More (listen); Mondo Jazz: Daniel Rotem, Stefano Bollani, Asher Gamedze, Holly Palmer & More (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Isabella Isherwood, Katie Bull, Faye Carol, Judith Owen, Marilyn Maye, Flea &More (listen); Caminhos Do Jazz: From This Very Moment On with Alan Schulman and Stacey Schulman (listen); Neon Jazz: Peter Erskine, Bryan Lynch, Bria Skonberg, Carolyn Trowbridge & David Basse (listen); Talk About Jazz: Javon Jackson, Renown Saxophonist, Channels Dylan In New Release (listen); Mondo Jazz: Lea Maria Fries, Gary Versace, Amalie Dahl, Ingrid Jensen & More (listen); The Tonearm: Ben Wendel: Assembling The Mallet Avengers (listen); Jazz Backstory: Tunes, Titles & Intent (listen); The Stereo Image: Céline Peterson Prefers Sarah Vaughn to Britney Spears (listen); Live At The Bop Stop: Tim Picard Quartet (listen); Jazz Connections: The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part II: Lotus Blossom, Raincheck and some less well known tunes from the Strayhorn songbook. (listen); World of Jazz: New Music From Smith, Barakan, LDL, Harrington Jaffe & Shiroishi, And More (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Eli Howell, Peter Erskine, Brian Lynch, Fuller Sound and more (listen); Jazz Bastard: Take the Smoove with the Rough (listen).
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, special events and more. View all recent announcements.
John Medeski & Los Abstraccioneros Unite For Benefit Concert Supporting Amazon Rainforest Restoration (read); Calm And Collected Music Group Expands Into Podcasts With Launch Of 'Jazz Language' (read); Hyphen Dash Wins First Prize In the Inaugural Ukrainian Jazz Prize 2025 (read); All About Jazz Launches All About Jazz Media, Expanding Into a New Era of Storytelling and Artist Support (read); NEC's Contemporary Musical Arts Spring Ensemble Festival Highlights Students Performing Music From A Range Of Traditions including West African, Middle Eastern, Jewish, American Roots, And Indie/Punk/Art Rock (read); Beyond NYC: Using Texas To Build Your U.S. Jazz Career (read); Guitarist Matthew Stevens Releases New Single "Hazy" Featuring Saxophonist Josh Johnson (read); New England Conservatory Announces 155th Commencement With Distinguished Speaker Denyce Graves And Honorary Degree Recipients Gary Bartz And Gary Dunning (read).
The Ukrainian Institute, in partnership with the Europe Jazz Network (EJN), is proud to announce the winners of the first Ukrainian Jazz Prize 2025, a national award established to recognise outstanding Ukrainian jazz musicians and support their international development. The Prize highlights the diversity, innovation, and resilience of the Ukrainian jazz scene and aims to strengthen its presence within the European and global music landscape. Continue reading...
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
Us @ jazzahead! 2026
From left to right: Mario Calvitti, John March and Ieva Pakalniškytė
One-Question Survey & Big Question
I think we've gathered enough answers, but if you haven't participated and want to, there's still time. Just let us know if you read the newsletter on Thursday (when it lands), or later in the week. It's one question, takes five seconds, and 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. Deface the Currency The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis |  Jazz Dreams Kathy Ingraham |  American Crow Maria Schneider Orchestra |  Echomyr Lars Danielsson Liberetto |
 Everything Happens to Me 1959—Live at the Cellar Art Pepper |  Bern Roy Hargrove |  Honey Sparks In The Dark Kristijan Krajnčan Quartet |  Balkan Soul in the Brave New World Alma Mićić |
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.Denver Jazz Fest 2026
It's easy to get used to the lifestyle: a concert every night, and three on Saturday: eight concerts in six days. Shouldn't life be like this all the time? Well, it was for almost a week in early April around Denver because of the second annual Denver Jazz Fest. I thought I was a diligent concertgoer as the aforementioned schedule attests. And yet, I didn't even make it to a quarter of the concerts on offer during the course of the festival. For its second iteration, the Denver Jazz Fest sponsored 40 concerts in 15 venues over six days. The concerts took place all around Denver and in Boulder. The quality matched the quantity. The festival presented a wide range of jazz from national artists as well as several local heroes. Continue reading...
Henry Mancini: The Architect of Sound
Henry Mancini was not merely Hollywood's most celebrated composer; he was the vital bridge between the Golden Age of Big Bands and cinematic modernism. His genius lay in his ability to be a "melodic tailor," capable of dressing every scene with an unprecedented sonic palette. Born to Abruzzese immigrants—his father, Quinto, played the flute in a local steel mill band—Mancini carried within him a Mediterranean lyricism that he masterfully fused with the precision of American jazz. This selection for "Building a Jazz Library" explores his most authentic and innovative side, where jazz becomes an architectural work of art—accessible, yet technically flawless. Continue reading...
The Top 25 Songs Featuring Clarinet
As Ian Dury might have sung had he played the clarinet, "Hit me with your licorice stick." (That is "rhythm stick" for those not fluent in punk rock.) From the intricacies of classical music to the smooth swing of jazz to Klezmer—the folk music of the Eastern European Jewish population—the instrument resonates throughout a good portion of the civilized world. From slow and melancholy to gliding to blasting, to fingers flying and holes and valves opening and closing, this instrument has many associations, moods and voices. Perhaps it's seen as the sensible, skinnier brother of the saxophone, but the clarinet also has a sexy and seductive side as well as a silly and playful one. For the latter, look no further than the late comic actor John Candy, who could actually play the clarinet. Continue reading...
Henry Mancini: The Genius Composer
The Personal Bond with Henry Mancini: The genius composer who redesigned my world through his magical notes My first encounter with Henry Mancini didn't happen by a deliberate choice, but through a cassette recorder and a local radio station in Rome. It was 1998, and at sixteen, I was a young musician obsessed with searching for the timbres of the most diverse musical instruments. I spent my afternoons recording Radio Vaticana Musica specials on cassettes, using their broadcasts to study the DNA of real instruments. I still remember the ignorance of that boy who, while recording a Mancini special, paused the tape on Royal Blue after the second verse just to capture the final trumpet blast. At the time, I didn't care much for jazz, but I was already under the spell of his sonic textures. Continue reading...
5 Epic Jazz Songs That Forever Changed the World
So You Don't Like Jazz normally focuses on ways to turn people on to jazz, but this column focuses on five jazz songs whose impact profoundly changed modern music. In the process, they also demonstrated that jazz could be successful in a modern culture dominated by pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues. Arguably, the two most powerful examples were released in 1959, on the cusp of the '60s, followed by another in 1961, and then two more examples from the '70s. Take Five—The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959) The evocative fluid tone of Paul Desmond—that he himself once described as sounding like a dry martini—hooks the listener from the outset. "Take Five" was one of those rare instances when the spark of "it" happens, tastes shifted on a massive scale, new horizons open, and the musical world was suddenly different. Continue reading...
Songs of the Week
Two accessible yet sophisticated guitar-led tracks from our friends at OA2 Records. Enjoy them. "One Summer's Day" by Owen Chen
L I S T E N
Album Information
Title: The Ghibli CollectionRecord Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2026
"Bright Child" by Steve Kovalcheck
L I S T E N
Album Information
Title: Buckshot BluesRecord Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2026
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 |  Somewhere with Charlie From the album Twelve and Twenty By Vic Dillahay |  Autumn Serenade From the album Autumn Serenade By The Cafe Society |
 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 |  S'Posin From the album Flying High: Still Soaring By Champian Fulton |  Africa From the album The Last Trane to Africa By Ian Dogole |
Choice Content
Emmet Cohen Presents: Miles and Coltrane at 100 at Jazz Alley (read); Vijay Iyer Quartet at Smoke (read); Amaro Freitas 'Y'Y' at Piacenza Jazz Fest 2026 (view photos); Lee Whiteman: My Jazz Odyssey (read); Köln 75 (read); Listen to Prestige Now, Think Later (read); Charlie Ballantine Establishes Himself on the East Coast (read); Fred Hersch: The Touch of Genius (read); Bergamo Jazz Festival 2026 (view photos); Mr. P.C.'s Tuning Under Duress, Now Was the Time, and Quid Pro Dough (read); Michael Formanek: aka the Stinger (listen).
Radio & Podcasts
Tune into our extensive collection of quality programs every week.Allston Boylston: Satoko Fujii/Myra Melford Together Again + John Hollenbeck and Abate Beirhun (listen); The Outer View: Brian Lynch, Bebel Gilberto, and Do Yeon Kim (listen); One Man's Jazz: Camila Nebbia, Nick Fraser Trio & Bruno Bode (listen); Exploration: Happy Birthday Herbie Hancock! Recognizing birthdays of Gene Ammons, Joshua Espinoza, and Others; New Music From Kurt Elling, Spyro Gyra, and More (listen); Mondo Jazz: Daniel Rotem, Stefano Bollani, Asher Gamedze, Holly Palmer & More (listen); A Broad Spectrum: Isabella Isherwood, Katie Bull, Faye Carol, Judith Owen, Marilyn Maye, Flea &More (listen); Caminhos Do Jazz: From This Very Moment On with Alan Schulman and Stacey Schulman (listen); Neon Jazz: Peter Erskine, Bryan Lynch, Bria Skonberg, Carolyn Trowbridge & David Basse (listen); Talk About Jazz: Javon Jackson, Renown Saxophonist, Channels Dylan In New Release (listen); Mondo Jazz: Lea Maria Fries, Gary Versace, Amalie Dahl, Ingrid Jensen & More (listen); The Tonearm: Ben Wendel: Assembling The Mallet Avengers (listen); Jazz Backstory: Tunes, Titles & Intent (listen); The Stereo Image: Céline Peterson Prefers Sarah Vaughn to Britney Spears (listen); Live At The Bop Stop: Tim Picard Quartet (listen); Jazz Connections: The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part II: Lotus Blossom, Raincheck and some less well known tunes from the Strayhorn songbook. (listen); World of Jazz: New Music From Smith, Barakan, LDL, Harrington Jaffe & Shiroishi, And More (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Eli Howell, Peter Erskine, Brian Lynch, Fuller Sound and more (listen); Jazz Bastard: Take the Smoove with the Rough (listen).
News Announcements
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, special events and more. View all recent announcements.
John Medeski & Los Abstraccioneros Unite For Benefit Concert Supporting Amazon Rainforest Restoration (read); Calm And Collected Music Group Expands Into Podcasts With Launch Of 'Jazz Language' (read); Hyphen Dash Wins First Prize In the Inaugural Ukrainian Jazz Prize 2025 (read); All About Jazz Launches All About Jazz Media, Expanding Into a New Era of Storytelling and Artist Support (read); NEC's Contemporary Musical Arts Spring Ensemble Festival Highlights Students Performing Music From A Range Of Traditions including West African, Middle Eastern, Jewish, American Roots, And Indie/Punk/Art Rock (read); Beyond NYC: Using Texas To Build Your U.S. Jazz Career (read); Guitarist Matthew Stevens Releases New Single "Hazy" Featuring Saxophonist Josh Johnson (read); New England Conservatory Announces 155th Commencement With Distinguished Speaker Denyce Graves And Honorary Degree Recipients Gary Bartz And Gary Dunning (read).
The Ukrainian Institute, in partnership with the Europe Jazz Network (EJN), is proud to announce the winners of the first Ukrainian Jazz Prize 2025, a national award established to recognise outstanding Ukrainian jazz musicians and support their international development. The Prize highlights the diversity, innovation, and resilience of the Ukrainian jazz scene and aims to strengthen its presence within the European and global music landscape. Continue reading...
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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