Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
In Memoriam: Cassandra Wilson, 1955–2026
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
A document of John Lee Hooker live in Paris.
(Photo: Courtesy Southern Echoes)Here’s a fresh batch of blues on vinyl to break your heart and make you love it. And when that heart needs mending, we’ve got a little Mahalia Jackson to get your soul stirring.
John Lee Hooker
The Charcot Sessions
Southern Echoes
An RSD Exclusive with a pressing of 1,250, Southern Echoes gives us a three-album set of blues godfather John Lee Hooker. The set documents the full October 1969 recording from Studio Charcot in Paris — music that had never been previously released in its entirety. Pressed on electric blue vinyl, the set includes 22 classic tracks.
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Willie Dixon
What Happened To My Blues
Culture Factory
An RSD Exclusive, What Happened To My Blues could be the finest album from Willie Dixon, one of the true fathers of Chicago blues. This package includes an OBI side strip, cardboard jacket, printed inner sleeve, and it’s pressed on bright orange vinyl.
culturefactory-usa.com
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Dave Specter
Message In Blue
Delmark
This thinking-man’s bluesman from Chicago has been an artist deserving wider recognition for decades. That may be the reason that Delmark, also based in Chicago, decided to make this album the first vinyl pressing the company has done since 1991.
delmark.com
JJ Grey & Mofro
Orange Blossoms (Deluxe Edition)
Alligator Records
An RSD First, limited to 900 copies, this first-time-on-vinyl release shakes the Southern roots of this blues-rockin’ juggernaut. The tracks have been remastered and pressed at 45 rpm on dual orange LPs housed in a gatefold cover that includes previously unpublished photos.
alligator.com
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Mahalia Jackson
Movin’ On Up A Little Higher
Shanachie
Ah, Mahalia, one of the the greatest vocalists in gospel history. Here we have an RSD First limited to 1,000 copies, where Jackson performs hymns from her youth with her mentor Thomas A. Dorsey. The performances come from 1946–1957.
shanachie.com
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
Bertoncini was a specialist and advocate for the nylon-string acoustic guitar, turning down high-profile opportunities that were unsuited to the sound and techniques that he used with that instrument.
Sep 1, 2026 11:06 AM
Gene Bertoncini, an esteemed jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and educator, died Aug. 29 at the Lillian Booth Actors…
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of…
