Jazz Today

R.I.P. Smooth Jazz, 1985-2008?

[17.Apr.08] :. With two of the US' major "smooth jazz" radio stations defunct to the fickleness of format change, the time to mourn the cheesy sub-genre is now. But what made Smooth Jazz not really jazz at all?

The Gap: Charles Lloyd

[11.Mar.08] :. Saxophonist Charles Lloyd enjoyed periods of critical acclaim, popular celebration, eccentric withdrawal, and general trivialization. He was easy to ignore if you came of jazz fan age after 1970, and that's a shame.

The Gap: Bix Beiderbecke

[31.Jan.08] :. It's never too late to get hip to a good thing. I've finally opened my ears to '20s-era Bix Biederbecke.

The Gap: Paul Bley

[3.Jan.08] :. Paul Bley seems to be that rare jazz musician who has made a romance with the avant-garde seem easy on the ears.

A Laughing Dilemma, Revealed

[15.Nov.07] :. Jazz and its fans have grown all too serious. The genre could use a clown prince or two.

Bass Reflections

[17.Oct.07] :. Recently, two most idiosyncratic jazz bass players, Miroslav Vitous and Eberhard Weber, released riveting, odd, ambitious recordings, suggesting the importance of the bass tradition to the larger history of the music.

Swept off My Feet by “Newcomer” James Carney

[20.Sep.07] :. Current musicians like Brad Mehldau or Greg Osby are the equivalents of Albert Pujols or Mariano Rivera: future legends that walk among us today. Now you're on notice: James Carney may just be a master in the making.

A Critic’s Grab-Bag

[10.Aug.07] :. The most rewarding work as a critic is not in evaluating the flow of big menu items from established artists, but in sampling the little dishes that come along -- like this quartet of obscure, interesting stuff from 2007's first half.

Playing Pop in the Jazz/Soul Shadow

[22.May.07] :. Layman shares Thai food with the band, and discusses the wonderfully uncategorizable music of The Jen Chapin Trio.

The Little Label That Could: An Interview With Cryptogramophone’s Jeff Gauthier

[13.Apr.07] :. "I want every album I produce to take the listener on a journey, perhaps to places they've never been before." Cryptogramophone Records founder Gauthier talks L.A. jazz, musical community, and embracing change.

Celebrating John Coltrane, Personally

[9.Mar.07] :. Spurred on by a couple of anniversaries, a new podcast "Traneumentary", and plenty of memory, Layman reflects on the music and meaning of John Coltrane.

How an Unremarkably Wonderful Work Is the Most Successful Jazz Album, Ever

[21.Dec.06] :. How can it be, in fact, that Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas is perhaps the only universally adored record in jazz history -- the Sgt. Pepper's of improvised music?

A Reluctant ‘Jazz’ Hero: An Interview with Trumpeter, Composer, and Arranger Steven Bernstein

[2.Nov.06] :. The prolific trumpeter talks shirking musical definitions, finding challenging middle ground between 'fake jazz' and 'real musicianship', touring with They Might Be Giants, and turning down Jay-Z.