JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of Summer 2024
PopMatters presents the best new jazz albums of the summer of 2024, and our columnist examines the recent recordings of Washington, DC, jazz phenom Anthony Pirog.
matt mitchell
JazzMatters: The Best Jazz of March-May 2024
PopMatters presents the best new jazz recordings from March to May 2024 in the realm of piano jazz. We also reflect on the legacy of the late David Sanborn.
JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of Autumn 2023
Our jazz columnist chooses the best new jazz albums of Autumn 2023 while reflecting on a new documentary, Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity.
JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of Autumn 2022
PopMatters jazz critic Will Layman rounds up the best new jazz albums of recent vintage, including some thoughts about the US festival season and the undersung virtuoso Warren Wolf.
Gordon Grdina’s Nomad Trio Create a Potent Mix on ‘Nomad’
Vancouver guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina joins forces with two stellar New York jazz players to create a snapping blend of free improvisation, sharp fusion, and jabbering polyrhythm.
Jazz Guitarist Miles Okazaki Returns with a Quartet for ‘The Sky Below’
New Jazz guitarist Miles Okazaki brings back his brilliant quartet for a follow-up to and transformation of 2017's Trickster, daring some new challenges and sometimes coming through with answers on The Sky Below.
The Best Jazz of 2019
Our jazz critics create four quartets of great creative music, demonstrating four trends that keep "jazz" relevant in a new century.
Matt Mitchell Rocks Out Impressively with New Jazz on ‘Phalanx Ambassadors’
The most versatile pianist in jazz, Matt Mitchell makes a fiery album of new music that definitively rocks even in its intricacy.
Dave Douglas Quintet’s ‘Brazen Heart: Live at Jazz Standard’ Sits Cozily Next to Miles Davis’ ‘Plugged Nickel’ Recordings
This is trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas' second quintet, playing its repertoire from memory in eight sets in four nights. Dazzling.
Dan Weiss Forms His Dream Band to Play His Nightmare Music
Dan Weiss' Starebaby is both terrifying and thoughtful. The balance it achieves might be even more terrifying.
The Best Jazz of 2017
The best and most exciting jazz of 2017 is increasingly happening at the intersection of different streams of music. Reveling in a diversity of influences and therefore a kind of complexity makes it "art music", inevitably.
Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace
Matt Mitchell's latest recording for a large new jazz ensemble is one of the most riveting and original recordings of the decade.