JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of January 2023
Will Layman rounds up the best new jazz albums and cocoons with jazz documentaries, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues and Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes.
Will Layman rounds up the best new jazz albums and cocoons with jazz documentaries, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues and Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes.
If you’ve always wanted to get interested in jazz, jump in. Don’t approach it with fear or a sense that you don’t know enough about it. It’s just a smorgasbord of stuff to enjoy.
A culture that digs the surface level in art is understandable. But a culture that prizes schtick and stunt and a pretty face over substance is problematic.
New Orleans' two great Louis, Armstrong and Prima, were formed by their hometown and its culture; though both left the city, it never left them or their music. They were both artists and entertainers, gifted musicians, and unabashed crowd-pleasers.
PopMatters has scoured the musical spectrum for the best examples of the protest song form, including anthems of great popularity and obscurity alike. Stay tuned all week as we unveil the top 100.
Filmmaker Hugo Berkeley, historian Penny M. Von Eschen, and musician Darius Brubeck talk with Will Layman about the State Department's decision to send Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and others around the world to help win the Cold War.