Brainy Jazz Saxophonist Walter Smith III Returns to His Texas Roots
For his new jazz album, Walter Smith III discovers new inspiration in the Houston of his childhood to create his most fully realized work yet.
post-bop
Miles Davis’ ‘Filles de Kilimanjaro’ Makes a Jazz Noise
Miles Davis was a shapeshifter, and in his restlessness, he urged and created the groundwork for protean music that reflected shapes and shifts.
Charles Mingus at His Unruly, Instigative Peak on ‘The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s’
Charles Mingus’ The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s is right there next to his most blistering records from the 1960s. It’s that good.
Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, and Jack DeJohnette Are ‘Live at Ronnie Scott’s’
Legendary pianist Bill Evans with a trio not often recorded with Eddie Gomez on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums live in London's famed club.
Finding Joe Castro’s ‘Passion Flower’
Jazz's Joe Castro is always in the groove and the other players in the pocket. There's a uniformity of taste on these records despite their different sources, styles, and periods from which they originally emerged.
Futureshock: Herbie Hancock and the Body Politics of Pop
A classically trained jazz pianist who spent five years with the Miles Davis Quintet, Herbie Hancock is also a practising Buddhist whose ideas about transcending the body are realized in his funky cyborg "Rockit" video.
Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975
Two Bremen concerts by groups led by bassist and composer Charles Mingus in 1964 and 1975 remind us of the longevity and vitality of his brilliance.
Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington Join Together to Take Berkeley Higher
Two generations of Jedi jazz masters join forces for a majestic co-headlining tour. Like Kamasi Washington, Herbie Hancock expresses sentiment for the good people of humanity coming together to transcend the chaos of modern times.
Brad Mehldau Spans Many Musical Forms on ‘Finding Gabriel’
Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau creates another hybrid project built on a layering of keyboards, drums, woodwinds, voices, and strings—with a gloss of politics and religion along the edges. Occasionally brilliant.
Eric Dolphy: Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions
An exploratory few sessions from late in Eric Dolphy's life show him expanding in both expansive and intimate ways.
Dexter Gordon Is Still a Big Part of the Reason Why This Kind of Mainstream Jazz Stirs the Soul
On the eve of his U.S. homecoming, jazz tenor saxophone legend Dexter Gordon played Japan for the first time, sounding majestic and fluent.
‘Seymour Reads the Constitution!’ is Brad Mehldau’s 2018 Victory Lap
Reunited with drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier, Brad Mehldau dives back into the trio format with gusto.