Jazz
Max Roach's 1960 landmark 'We Insist!' proves timeless in a reissue
Roach's album was recently named to the National Recording Registry, a roster of works deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant; We Insist! scores in all three categories.
Reissue traces jazz giant Ornette Coleman's 'Genesis of Genius'
Coleman's first LPs from the late 1950s are newly available. They showcase Coleman's sound before he began making the records with his own bands that made him a controversial jazz star.
Cecil Taylor's piano lightning bolts are precisely targeted in this 1973 recording
Taylor's 1973 concert at New York's Town Hall has just been released for the first time as a digital album. It's a great, early example of Taylor's mature music — dense but well-designed.
Lennie Tristano's private stash of recordings reveal a trove of free improvisations
Despite the poor sound quality, Tristano's newly unearthed Personal Recordings from 1946-1970 are fascinating. Free jazz can be rambunctious, but these musicians step and listen carefully.
Pianist Craig Taborn practices the art of instant composing on 'Shadow Plays'
Taborn is one the most inventive and resourceful pianists in improvised music today. He has a new solo album — his first in a decade — and, like the previous one, it's a stunner.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba's trio finds that swinging sweet spot on 'Skyline'
The Cuban piano whiz teams up with American jazz greats Jack DeJohnette and Ron Carter on a new album. Skyline is three masters enjoying each other's company, with us listeners as lucky eavesdroppers.
Trumpeter Lee Morgan channels Coltrane's splashy style in 'Live at the Lighthouse'
In 1970, Morgan recorded three shows at the Lighthouse jazz club in Hermosa Beach, Calif. A new box set captures Morgan and his band putting their own spin on Coltrane's trance-like repetitions.
Saxophonist Joel Frahm Proves Himself A Master Storyteller On 'The Bright Side'
Frahm has a brawny tenor sax sound, strong and consistent from top to bottom. His new trio album shows off his ability to use pacing and momentum to tell a compelling story.
COVID Era Produces A New Crop Of Solo Records From Jazz Instrumentalists
J.D. Allen's Queen City and Jon Irabagon's Bird With Streams are two very different new albums by outstanding tenor saxophonists.
'Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans' Is A Solid Introduction To An Enduring Body Of Work
Four decades after his death, Evans remains part of the jazz conversation. A new anthology surveys records the jazz pianists made as leader, from 1956 until his death in 1980.