JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of Summer 2023
Our jazz columnist chooses the best new jazz albums of the summer while reflecting on the passing of Astrud Gilberto and Tony Bennett.
jazz
Meshell Ndegeocello’s ‘The Omnichord Real Book’ Is Stellar Soul Music
Meshell Ndegeocello always creates a mood around the music that puts rhythm, harmony, and melody in delicious orbits. This is a real genre-crossing soul album.
Alabaster DePlume Uplifts on Spiritually-Stirring ‘Come With Fierce Grace’
Alabaster DePlume’s Come With Fierce Grace is uplifting music for a chaotic present and a must for jazz fans and anyone who appreciates rich creative art.
Thelonious Monk’s Seminal ‘Brilliant Corners’ Gets Reissue Treatment It Deserves
As the latest entry in a carefully curated audiophile series, jazz icon Thelonious Monk’s 1957 masterpiece Brilliant Corners sounds better than ever.
Yussef Dayes’ Debut Is an Enormous Statement of His Talent
Black Classical Music takes the listener on a highly groovy and ultimately fulfilling ride through the peaks and valleys inside Yussef Dayes’ musical brain.
Metal’s Imperial Triumphant Present 10 Jazz Albums That Inspire
Metal’s Imperial Triumphant create a type of fusion that marries black/death metal with jazz from across its history. The band discuss their favorite jazz LPs.
Jazz Pianist Alfredo Rodríguez Thrives in Brighter Hues on ‘Coral Way’
Alfredo Rodríguez’s Coral Way radiates positive energy without relying on good vibes, a show of skill and passion that pushes his career further forward.
The Alt-Right’s Roots Go Deep in Co-Opting Pop Music
As with the Nazis and Goebbels and the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right’s desire to co-opt pop music for their purposes requires ideological and ethical gymnastics.
‘Dreams in Double Time’: When Bebop Counter-Punched Racist Violence
In this excerpt from Jonathan Leal’s study of Black American jazz, Dreams in Double Time, bebop gives the music a “new accent” and the outsider citizenry a “new language” for counter-punching rebellion.
Sun Ra Arkestra Travel the Spaceways at SFJazz Center
A Sun Ra Arkestra show promises a chance to leave the often dreary Earth blues behind and board a spaceship ride into the cosmos with these sonic adventurers.
Jazz Pianist Mal Waldron’s ‘Mal/2’ Gets Loving Reissue Treatment
Mal Waldron’s Mal/2 vinyl reissue is a handsome package that perfectly captures the late, great jazz pianist just as he was starting his 40-plus-year roll.
The Many Sounds of Bob Dylan’s Voice
Are Bob Dylan’s improved vocals in his later years a deliberate aesthetic choice? Has he re-focused his attention on the art of singing?