Alina Bloomgarden believes that music education can reduce recidivism. Many renowned jazz artists have joined her cause.
Tag Archives: Jazz
James Mtume, Whose ‘Juicy Fruit’ Became a Hip-Hop Beat, Dies at 76
In a wide-ranging career, he went from playing percussion with Miles Davis to writing and producing sleek R&B to a long stint on political talk radio.
2021 in Jazz: Intimacy and Conversation
Throughout the pandemic, the music’s flexibility has become an asset. Where will artists take it next?
15 Songs We Almost Missed This Year
Hear tracks by Sofia Kourtesis, Remble, Caetano Veloso and others.
27 Best Box Sets of 2021: A Trip Through Pop, Rap and Jazz
Collections from labels like Fania and Armabillion, icons including Ray Charles and J Dilla, and living artists such as Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Radiohead were welcome additions this year.
For Jazz Musicians in 2021, Two Was the Magic Number
A host of outstanding duet albums emphasized musicians not only collaborating but truly listening to each other.
13 New Christmas Albums That Reimagine Holiday Songs
Fresh seasonal releases from Kelly Clarkson, Bryson Tiller, Nat King Cole and Pistol Annies span genres and generations.
Barry Harris, Pianist and Devoted Scholar of Bebop, Dies at 91
For decades, he performed, taught and toured with unflagging devotion. He also helped to lay the foundation for the widespread academic study of jazz.
Best Jazz Albums of 2021
In a year of continued uncertainty, musicians held their colleagues, and listeners, close.
The Canonization of Saint John Coltrane
The intensity of the jazz legend’s music has always inspired passion, but in the 1960s, one group of devotees was so stirred they founded a church in his name.
Best Albums of 2021
Less isolation didn’t mean a return to normalcy. Albums with big feelings and room for catharsis made the most powerful connections.
Slide Hampton, Celebrated Trombonist, Composer and Arranger, Dies at 89
He began playing professionally as a child, worked with some of jazz’s biggest names in the late 1950s, and remained a leading figure in the music for the next 60 years.
Margo Guryan, Whose Album Drew Belated Acclaim, Dies at 84
She recorded “Take a Picture” in 1968, but it died when she declined to tour. Three decades later, adventurous listeners discovered it and gave it a new life.
Grammys Snubs and Surprises: Kacey Musgraves, Jon Batiste and Abba
A jazz musician snagged the most nominations, and the Weeknd, an artist who said he’s boycotting the awards, found his name on the ballot.
Jon Batiste and Young Chart-Toppers Lead 2022 Grammy Nominations
The Recording Academy, which expanded the top competitions to 10 slots, announces its first ballot since ending its heavily criticized review committees in nearly all categories.
Grammy Nominations 2022 Announcement: Updating List
Artists, albums and songs competing for trophies at the 64th annual ceremony are being announced on Tuesday. The show will take place Jan. 31 in Los Angeles.
Dave Frishberg, Jazz Songwriter and ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ Contributor, Dies
A gifted jazz pianist and a singer with a limited range but a distinctive voice, he wrote mostly for grown-ups but reached his largest audience on “Schoolhouse Rock!”
Pat Martino, Jazz Guitarist Who Overcame Amnesia, Dies at 77
He was one of the genre’s most acclaimed players when brain surgery left him with no memory. But he recovered and made music for another three decades.
How Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter Realized His Dream: an Opera
“Iphigenia,” an update of the ancient Greek myth eight years in the making and decades in the dreaming, will begin a run of performances this month.
La Grenouille NYC: Classic Cuisine and the Owner’s Lusty Crooning
This once-tranquil Midtown shrine of formal French dining has a new feel, as Philippe Masson prowls the floor (and tabletops) in a vigorous jazz act.
Go See These Black Operas
Acquired taste is often richer than, as it were, the easy score.
What a Rare, Live ‘A Love Supreme’ Reveals About John Coltrane
A long-buried private recording of the suite, captured in October 1965, allows listeners to experience more sides of the musician than some major albums in his catalog.
David Sanford’s Music Has Flown Under the Radar. It Shouldn’t.
Few composers have broader stylistic reach. But on a new album, “A Prayer for Lester Bowie,” he makes it all cohere.
Cultural Appropriation Can Be Beautiful
There has always been cultural melding between white and Black America.
Jazz and Opera Come Together in ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’
Two critics discuss Terence Blanchard’s “Fire,” the Metropolitan Opera’s first work by a Black composer.
Lonnie Smith, Soulful Jazz Organist, Is Dead at 79
Adept at blending the sophistication of jazz with the earthy appeal of rhythm and blues, he was later widely sampled by hip-hop artists.
Pee Wee Ellis, James Brown’s Partner in Funk, Dies at 80
As musical director for the bands behind Mr. Brown and also Van Morrison, Mr. Ellis helped forge new hybrids, meshing pop, jazz, R&B and more.
George Mraz, Consummate Jazz Bassist, Dies at 77
For half a century, he was in constant demand, backing big names like Oscar Peterson as well as countless up-and-coming performers.
Bennie Pete, Bandleader Who Kept the Beat After Katrina, Dies at 45
A tuba player and the leader of the Hot 8, one of New Orleans’s high-profile brass bands, he brought music to his fellow citizens in the difficult days after the storm.
‘Buena Vista Social Club’ at 25: Memories of Memories
A group of older Cuban musicians recorded some of their favorite songs in 1996, and the album became an unlikely blockbuster. How do we hear it a quarter-century later?
George Wein, Jazz Festival Trailblazer, Is Dead at 95
He brought jazz (and later folk music) to Newport, R.I., and made festivals as important as nightclubs and concert halls on jazz musicians’ itineraries.
The Trumpeter Adam O’Farrill’s Art of Avoiding the Obvious
The son and grandson of Latin jazz royalty is releasing a new album with his quartet Stranger Days, and it’s their most melodically engaging yet.
Phil Schaap, Grammy-Winning Jazz D.J. and Historian, Dies at 70
His radio programs, most notably on Columbia University’s WKCR, were full of minutiae he had accumulated during a lifetime immersed in the genre.
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love the Trumpet
Listen to Louis Armstrong’s sweetness, Miles Davis’s wild squall, Handel’s Baroque majesty and other favorites.
How Do You Write Down a Scratching, Crunching Violin ‘Chop’?
The chop turns string players into beatboxers. After it developed organically over decades, musicians are making new efforts to notate it.
Charlie Watts, the Unlikely Soul of the Rolling Stones
In a band that defined debauched rock ’n’ roll, he was a quiet, dapper jazz fan. But their unusual chemistry defined the rhythm of the Stones, and of rock.
The Struggle to Save a House of Music, and Its Legacy
For decades, the Tangier home of Abdellah El Gourd has been a wellspring of the Gnawa musical tradition and a place of pilgrimage for jazz performers. But it has fallen into deep disrepair.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Team Up Again, and 10 More New Songs
Hear tracks by Lizzo featuring Cardi B, Machine Gun Kelly, Brandee Younger and others.
‘Bix’ Review: A Jazz Legend Fondly Remembered
The composer and cornet player Bix Beiderbecke changed music forever in a very short life. A restored documentary from the ’80s goes into the details.
Roy Hargrove and Mulgrew Miller’s Glorious Duets
Two performances by the trumpeter and pianist are collected on “In Harmony,” a new double album that takes on standards via a fresh lens.
DMX’s Posthumous All-Star Track, and 9 More New Songs
Hear tracks by Griff, Kidd G, Masayoshi Fujita and others.
5 Things to Do on Memorial Day Weekend
Our critics and writers have selected noteworthy cultural events to experience virtually and in person in New York City.
Bob Koester, Revered Figure in Jazz and Blues, Dies at 88
Mr. Koester’s Delmark Records and his Chicago record store were vital in preserving and promoting music the big labels tended to overlook.
Nicki Minaj Reunites With Lil Wayne and Drake, and 13 More New Songs
Hear tracks by Olivia Rodrigo, Tony Allen, L’Rain and others.
Bach Invented. Now a Pianist Is Trying to Match Him.
With “Inventions/Reinventions,” Dan Tepfer fills out Bach’s missing two-part inventions with daring free improvisations.
From the Lindy Hop to Hip-Hop in One Improvising Body
To watch LaTasha Barnes dance is to watch historical distance collapse.
An Anthem About Hugging Your Friends Again, and 10 More New Songs
Hear tracks by Rostam, Marcellus Juvann, Gogo Penguin and others.
Soli Sorabjee, Eminent Indian Jurist and Jazz Lover, Dies at 91
Mr. Sorabjee was a constitutional expert and free speech advocate who served two stints as the nation’s attorney general. He died of the coronavirus.
James Brandon Lewis, a Saxophonist Who Embodies and Transcends Tradition
His new album, “Jesup Wagon,” is a tribute to another polymathic figure who insisted on cutting his own path: George Washington Carver.
Billie Eilish’s Portrait of Power Abuse, and 11 More New Songs
Hear tracks by Willow featuring Travis Barker, girl in red, DJ Khaled featuring Cardi B, and others.