Author's posts
New Music Monday for May 11, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifySaxophonist Wayne Escoffery is renowned for his fiery, muscular and virtuosic tenor playing, but his explosive sound is paired with a soft-spoken and thoughtful demeanor off the bandstand. In many cases, both those aspects of his personality can be credited to the same inspirations–giants of the music who …
New Music Monday for May 4, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifySisterhoods have been steadily moving toward the forefront of the jazz scene. Elevated by purpose and promise, and upholding the virtues of equality and community, these sororities have become a substantial force in the music today. Monika Herzig, a thoughtful composer and inventive pianist, has become a key …
New Music Monday for April 27, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Duchess’s embrace of merriment is not merely a by-product of the group’s natural joie de vivre; their commitment to joy stems from a deeply rooted belief that in troubled times, sharing and spreading happiness is a necessary act. On its third full-length release, “Live at Jazz Standard,” the …
New Music Monday for April 20, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify The dynamic young saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin presents “Pursuance: The Coltranes,” paying homage to two of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century, John and Alice Coltrane. Under the tutelage of jazz luminary and co-producer Reggie Workman, whose supple bass lines underscored countless of the Coltranes’ recordings, Benjamin …
New Music Monday for April 13, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify After 20 years at the helm of her acclaimed acoustic sextet, taking her across the globe and onto such renowned stages as the Newport Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Amina Figarova embarks on a bold new chapter with the release of “Persistence.” On …
New Music Monday for April 6, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Snorre Kirk—the composer, bandleader and drummer—has long since made his mark on listeners in Scandinavia and further south. He was 16 when he went from Norway to Helsingor in Denmark. The relocated Norwegian, an exquisitely flexible musician with a keen eye for tradition, sits behind the kit with …
New Music Monday for March 30, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify The release of Harold Mabern’s new album, “Mabern Plays Mabern,” is the source of a mixture of pride and sorrow. Pride because Mabern’s 27th recording as leader, culled from the same three January 2018 nights at Smoke Jazz Club in New York City that generated his 26th, documents …
New Music Monday for March 23, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify The origin story of jazz has been debated and mythologized. The first jazz players interviewed often attributed their knowledge and sound to one man: Buddy Bolden. There have been many attempts in the past century to reenact concerts of Bolden’s heyday, yet most attempts to bring his sound …