Jazz always reflects the spirit of the time. Back in the ragtime period, jazz was volatile—it was sexy, exotic, extroverted. In the early 60s with the Beatles revolution, jazz absorbed those ideas and offered jazz-rock fusion.
Right now we’re in the information era. Every jazz musician has access to boatloads of information, and it’s readily available [...]

Since the early 2000s I have had the privilege of knowing and sometimes performing with legendary vocalist Sheila Jordan.
Born in Detroit in 1928, Sheila started singing in clubs at a young age, eventually falling under the spell of the musicians at the forefront of the bebop revolution, especially Charlie Parker, whose pianist, Duke Jordan, she [...]

I like to think that I had a small part in Sean Jones’ development as one of today’s top jazz trumpeters. In 2000, I was teaching at Ohio State University. I met Sean at a “battle of the bands” in Columbus, and when Sean let loose on his first solo, I was floored by his [...]

Trombonist Steve Davis is one of my favorite musicians playing jazz today. We share similar bloodlines, having both studied with Jackie McLean at the Hartt School in Connecticut. After graduation in 1989, Jackie recommended Steve to his old boss Art Blakey, making Steve one of the last musicians to join the Jazz Messengers before Blakey’s [...]

Esperanza Spalding appears to be somebody from another planet. She’s just this absolute musical genius. She’s one of the most giftedly lyrical musicians alive today—when you hear her inventing melodies, it’s nothing short of miraculous.
Esperanza Spalding has been one to watch since she appeared on the jazz scene in 2005. An unconventional kid, she got [...]

I was 22 when I first heard pianist Geoffrey Keezer. It was the early 90s and people had been talking about him—he joined Art Blakey at 17, he was a prize pupil of James Williams, he had ridiculous technique. But when I actually walked into Bradley’s in New York’s Greenwich Village and heard Keezer up [...]

In 1995, the Cuban-born pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba was booked for a week at Yoshi’s Nitespot in Oakland, California when the U.S. State Department refused to grant visas to his drummer and bassist. It just so happened that saxophonist Joe Lovano was trying to book the club for the same week. The club’s owner arranged for [...]

“Precocious” is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Aaron Parks. At 15, he was attending the University of Washington, doing a triple major in computer science, math, and music. He did not plan to pursue music professionally, but soon after university, he was performing and recording with many of the [...]

There has been a movement in jazz as of late: a younger crowd of jazz musicians are combining jazz with the hip-hop and neo-soul that they grew up listening to. At the forefront of this movement is Robert Glasper, a virtuosic and inventive pianist who has recently released his third album for Blue Note Records.
Glasper has [...]