Keyboardist and producer David Garfield pays homage to a close friend and mentor with “Sir Charles,” a sunny ode to the late steel pan artist Vince Charles. An industry veteran who played with Neil...

Groundbreaking collaborative album arrives February 6, 2026 via Motown Gospel and Blue Note Records; title track out today In an unprecedented meeting of two towering American traditions, jazz legend...

Christian McBride winds up a productive year with three Grammy nominations, hoping to add to the nine statuettes the bassist and bandleader has already earned. This time, the 53-year-old Philly...

Braxton Cook’s latest album, Not Everyone Can Go, came about after some serious soul searching. The multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer had been touring relentlessly, with stops in Europe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmy1-mr0RhA Photo by: Emma Summerton LA-based Icelandic-Chinese artist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Laufey is gearing up for what looks to be another year of...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZfQEO6U9iA

The 1988 documentary Let’s Get Lost is a heartbreaking portrait of iconic trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker in his later days. Performing with as much, if not more, depth of feeling as he had in his...

Like many jazz artists, pianist Miki Yamanaka dreamed of recording at the famed Van Gelder Studio. Maybe she could tap into the magic of countless classic jazz albums created within the high-ceilin...

For Rachael and Vilray, the third time’s the charm. Actually, the first two times were pretty damned charming, as well. But the Brooklyn-based duo have further honed their clever, intimate songcraft...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUHtPp0nro

Each year, JAZZIZ asks its critics, contributors and editors to sift through the recordings they’ve listened to over the previous 12 months (give or take) and come up with a list of their 10 favori...

When Charles McPherson first heard Charlie Parker, he was like a kid in a candy store. In fact, he was a kid in a candy store. Just in his early teens, the budding alto saxophonist slipped a coin...

Mal Waldron The Quest (Prestige/New Jazz), 1962 Past and present collide in intriguing ways on this classic sextet recording by pianist Waldron. Among one of the most forward-thinking musicians and...

Phil Haynes & Free Country Liberty Now! (Corner Store Jazz) Brooklyn-based drummer Phil Haynes reconvenes his long-running Free Country quartet for a politically minded double-disc meditation on an...

Sean Mason A Breath of Fresh Air (Taylor Christian) The title of pianist Sean Mason’s second release as a leader alludes not only to a set of music that sidesteps current musical trends of overprod...

Mark Turner Reflections on The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Steps Arts) This year, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner added two anomalies to his discography: his first solo saxophone album,...

Sylvie Courvoisier/Wadada Leo Smith Angel Falls (Intakt) Though each is a ferociously singular artist with their own keenly focused sonic vocabulary, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and trumpeter Wadada...

Patricia Brennan Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic) In her liner notes, Patricia Brennan writes that Of the Near and Far was inspired in part by her love of star-gazing. The harmonies for most of the...

On his new double album, Charles Lloyd celebrates figures who helped shape the course of his remarkable career. By Bob Weinberg Charles Lloyd didn’t set out to make a tribute record. Rather, the...

From the Church to the cosmos, Snarky Puppy has rebuilt the language of groove and connection where complexity and communion could coexist. By Michael Fagien When Jonathan Frakes — the trombone-pla...