The true jazz experience happens onstage in front of an audience—our concert and festival reviewers take you there.
T here’s nothing new, really, about the merging of the fine arts with live music. Gertrude Stein’s Parisian salons were frequented by George Antheil and … Read More “A Salon Experience with Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Marshall Allen, Salvador Jiménez-Flores and Ensemble”
I f you look back, guitarist Miles Okazaki’s output has unfolded in threes. The Mirror/Generations/Figurations trilogy featured septet with no piano on the first two, … Read More “Miles Okazaki’s Boomtown Ensemble In Effect at The Jazz Gallery”
Certified in 2004 by Guinness as the world’s largest jazz fest, the Montreal International Jazz Festival more than upheld that mantle with its 46th edition … Read More “O Canada: Montreal Jazz Festival 2026 Brings Out the Fans”
O ren Ambarchi sits in a hotel lounge, wearing a Triptykon t-shirt as clouds hang over the hills outside of Kongsberg, Norway. The attire’s a … Read More “At the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, the Jazz Trio Keeps Reinventing Itself”
T he Blue Note Jazz Festival returned to the Hollywood Bowl on June 13-14 for its second year under the Blue Note banner. This amphitheater … Read More “Blue Note Jazz Festival 2026 at the Hollywood Bowl: Two Nights of Jazz Without Boundaries”
O f all the improvisational players and composers to have graced stages and pages as of late, Seoul, Korea–born zither manipulator DoYeon Kim is the … Read More “Concert Review: DoYeon Kim Quartet at Solar Myth, Philadelphia”
F rom its recent Grammy nominations for music past (Lights on a Satellite) and present (Swirling), to its place in the 2026 PBS American Masters … Read More “Always Sun Ra in Philadelphia: The Arkestra Honored with Magnificent Wall-Sized Mural”
I will never be accused of neglecting jazz guitarists, and indeed I had the pleasure of taking in two recent livestreams from The Jazz Gallery … Read More “Kurt Rosenwinkel Quintet at the Village Vanguard – Jeff “Tain” Watts Edition”
Composer and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey won a 2024 Pulitzer Prize for the stately “Adagio” (dedicated to trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith), one of his numerous acclaimed … Read More “Tyshawn Sorey Piano Concerto “For Marilyn Crispell,” Featuring Aaron Diehl, Has Its Philly-Hosted World Premiere”
Pianist Brad Mehldau, during a trio concert at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut, made a point of mentioning his West Hartford origins to a generous … Read More “Concert Review: Brad Mehldau Trio at the Ridgefield Playhouse”
