Suraya Mohamed for NPR – “This is me coming back full circle in my life,” Dee Dee Bridgewater told NPR right before this Tiny Desk performance. Ever since her teenage years, she’s wanted to make her latest album, Memphis… Yes, I’m Ready. Now, a gorgeous…
Giovanni Russonello for THE NEW YORK TIMES – The saxophonist Ravi Coltrane has spent much of his career standing apart from the heavy legacy of his father, John Coltrane, who died when he was not yet 2 years old. Of late, the…
John Bungey for THE TIMES: Charles Lloyd, a musician who has lived many lives, fixes me with his wise-owl gaze and says quietly: “I am one of the last of the Mohicans. There aren’t too many of us left.” Mohicans? Lloyd,…
JAZZTIMES – For this annual companion poll to last issue’s Top 50 Critics’ Picks, our regular contributors and critics participated in this survey based on our yearly Readers’ Poll. Voters were asked to focus on artists’ achievements during 2017 rather than assessing…
Scott Bernstein for JAMBASE – Instrumental quartet TAUK has been hard at work in the studio with longtime producer Robert Carranza and have unveiled the first taste of their new music. TAUK debuted the track “Premises” yesterday on SiriusXM’s Jam On, a song…
Close But No Cigar: #1 Contemporary Jazz Album & #3 Jazz Album The DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO is a Unique 60’s & 70’s vintage soul trio with the sounds of the Hammond B3 mixed with tasty guitar lines & old school style pocket drumming.…
Landon Kuhlmann for DAYTROTTER – Before you Google it, that instrument is a hammered dulcimer. It’s an old instrument that has roots in a few different cultures, and many different versions of it exist. It’s probably something you’ve heard before but…
Rachel George for BILLBOARD – Three-time Grammy-nominated piano prodigy Joey Alexander is premiering the title track from his upcoming Eclipse album exclusively on Billboard. The young artist’s musicianship and knowledge of jazz and classical fundamentals are embraced on this free, peaceful 10-minute track. He approached “Eclipse” with subtle sounds and delicate…
Rodney Carmichael for NPR: In the canon of R&B, the ’80s are frequently dismissed as the genre’s most soulless decade. Nelson George called it “the death of rhythm and blues” in his book of the same name, citing the now infamous Harvard…
Congrats to Stacey Kent, whose new album “I Know I Dream” won Vocal Album of the Year at the Jazz Japan Awards! “It’s often said that the most sophisticated jazz audiences in the world these days are to be found…