Will Layman

Will Layman is a writer, teacher and musician living in the Washington, DC area. He has been a contributor to National Public Radio and WNYC's "Soundcheck" as a jazz critic. He plays rock, funk, and jazz in the bars and clubs in and near the nation's capital. His fiction and humor appear in print and online.

Recent

Brad Mehldau Spans Many Musical Forms on 'Finding Gabriel'

Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau creates another hybrid project built on a layering of keyboards, drums, woodwinds, voices, and strings—with a gloss of politics and religion along the edges. Occasionally brilliant.

Music

Jazz Tenor Saxophonist Melissa Aldana Lives Up to the Hype with 'Visions'

Tenor saxophone phenom Melissa Aldana makes her most mature, cooperative recording to date with Visions, evoking the great outside-in Blue Note records of the 1960s.

Music

Camila Meza and the Nectar Orchestra Combine Many Musical Traditions on "Kallfu" (premiere)

Chilean jazz singer and guitarist Camila Meza has a new recording on Sony Masterworks that defies category. Hear her new single "Kallfu".

Music

Dave Douglas Shines with Uri Caine and Andrew Cyrille on 'Devotion'

Jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas reconvenes his duet project with pianist Uri Caine but adds master drummer Andrew Cyrille, creating a unique vehicle for three master musicians.

Music

Jazz Woodwind Player Alexa Tarantino Impresses on 'Winds of Change'

Jazz artist Alexa Tarantino plays with sumptuous tone on flute, alto saxophone, and soprano saxophone. And because she never leans on the sound alone, it creeps up on you during each tune.

Music

Mark Dresser Seven: Ain't Nothing But a Cyber Coup and You

Jazz bassist Mark Dresser's latest, Ain't Nothing But a Cyber Coup & You, is a New Jazz blend of daring improvisation and challenging composition.

Music

Denny Zeitlin Remembers Miles Davis in a New Live Set

Jazz pianist Denny Zeitlin tackles the Miles Davis songbook across four decades, using a wide swath of styles, all inventive, in concert on Remembering Miles.

Music

Joel Ross Is the New 'Kingmaker' on Vibes

Joel Ross is a young jazz star on the vibes with a working band in his Blue Note debut—working a vein that is modern but tied certainly back to a tradition that includes his inspiration, Bobby Hutcherson. Cracking good.

Music

The Art Ensemble of Chicago: We Are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration

A wildly revised version of this venerable creative music ensemble makes a clean, beautiful new recording in the studio and live, with fresh music from Roscoe Mitchell and an argument that the original Art Ensemble of Chicago had everything to do with today's New Jazz.

Music

Jazz's John Patitucci Gets to the 'Soul of the Bass'

Versatile, veteran jazz bassist John Patitucci releases a (mostly) unaccompanied bass album on his own imprint—demonstrating a wide variety of ways the bass can take the lead.

Music

Jazz Guitarist Ben Monder's 'Day After Day' Is a Quiet Stunner

Guitarist Ben Monder has created a quiet stunner: one disc of inventive solo guitar arrangements of standards, and then a second disc for his trio playing pop hits of the '60s and '70s in wonderful ways.

PM Pick

Kendrick Scott Oracle's 'A Wall Becomes a Bridge' Deftly Blends Genres into a Pleasing Jazz Form

Drummer and composer Kendrick Scott has kept a finely balanced band together, pulling together many lovely strands of American music to create jazz that is easy to hear but also complex and compelling. A reason to believe.

Music

With 'Colour' Jazz Pianist Anat Fort Offers More Vigor and Punch in the Playing of the Trio

Israeli pianist Anat Fort and her trio, formed in New York and recorded in the past by ECM, create a lovely and somewhat more adventurous outing on a new label.

Music

Jazz Organ Master Joey DeFrancesco Collaborates with Pharoah Sanders with 'In the Key of the Universe'

PopMatters interviews the Hammond B3 organ master Joey DeFrancesco, who collaborates with tenor giant Pharoah Sanders for a session of spiritual playing.

Music

Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn Continue Their Explorations on 'The Transitory Poems'

The Transitory Poems is a live recording of two jazz masters, Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn, playing four-handed, exploratory improvisations on two pianos.

Music

Anna Webber Finds Her Voice in New Jazz with 'Clockwise'

A composer and woodwind player who is expertly walking the line between jazz and new music, Anna Webber has assembled a great band of improvisors to follow her mostly-brilliant treasure map in the new jazz.

Music

Pop Ten

Scorsese and Dylan: A Match Made in Fantasy

When the Camera Swings: Silent Film Master Paul Leni's 'The Man Who Laughs' and 'The Last Warning'

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