Passing Masters of Jazz: Arthur Blythe and Larry Coryell
Jazz long ago lost its early geniuses of swing and bebop. Now masters from the '70s and onward are starting to pass, too. Remembering Arthur Blythe and Larry Coryell.
jazz today
The Microscopic Septet: Pioneers Across Jazz Boundaries
In the '80s, "The Micros" mixed tradition and avant-garde jazz with impunity and almost got famous doing it. Today they're just playing the blues.
Overlooked Jazz Gems of 2016
No matter how much music I listen to every year, I miss some great records, somehow. Here are a half-dozen albums from 2016 that deserve our attention.
Finding the Sublime in Jazz, an Argument for Abstraction
Jazz columnist Will Layman presents seven pieces of music as evidence of the beauty and urgency of pure sound in instrumental jazz.
No Piano, Please!
Four recent releases demonstrate the stylistic range and power of jazz that isn't hemmed in by chords.
Becca Stevens on Popping Jazz Boundaries
Becca Stevens, a perfect exemplar musician of boundary-less "jazz" in 2016, makes the case for the power and difficulty of art-pop in our age.
Delving Into the Marrow of a Song With Singular Jazz Singer and Songwriter René Marie
René Marie, like Gregory Porter, writes songs and creates records that have the soul and story-telling impulse to reach beyond jazz audiences.
Ralph Alessi: A Trumpet King for 2016
Quietly, brilliantly, Brooklyn-based jazz trumpeter Ralph Alessi is everywhere at once, defining the music with flexibility and freedom.
The Triumphant Emptiness of Snarky Puppy
If an iTunes library on shuffle needed a house band, Snarky Puppy would be it.
The Kamasi Washington Phenomenon
PopMatters' jazz critics didn't include Kamasi Washington's The Epic on their "Best of 2015" list, despite its huge acclaim by mainstream critics. Here's why.
Yesterday and Today—Jazz Trumpets Across the Divide
Avant garde trumpeter Nate Wooley has chosen to interpret the music of his childhood hero, the conservative Wynton Marsalis. Why not?
Darius Jones, Jazz Bohemian
With his new collaboration with French singer Emilie Lesbros, Darius Jones cements his position as a brilliant, model jazz musician in the new century.