May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Lakecia Benjamin
(Photo: Elizabeth Leitzell)We’ve got some crazy streaming opportunities for you this week, including Welcome to the Sands Box featuring Christian Sands chatting with Joel Ross and Immanuel Wilkins courtesy of the Monterey Jazz Festival; a new documentary on the late avant-garde violinist Billy Bang; Lakecia Benjamin live at Club Dizzy’s in New York; Joey DeFrancesco live from Van Gelder Studio, and more. A fee is associated with some of the material listed, and some items have been sourced from WBGO, WDCB and WWOZ. Please support jazz radio.
Available Now: Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner At Home to raise funds for GHESKIO in Haiti (available until May 31)
Available Now: Welcome To The Sands Box with Christian Sands, Joel Ross and Immanuel Wilkins (Monterey Jazz Festival)
May 12: Mark Shim Trio at Bar Bayeux (Brooklyn)
May 12: Angel Bat Dawid/Charles Joseph Smith/Marvin Tate/Johanna Brock at Constellation (Chicago)
May 12: Allyn Johnson, DC Jazz’s We Get To Talk Series (Washington, DC)
May 13: Live From Dizzy’s: Lakecia Benjamin (New York)
May 14: Documentary—Billy Bang, Lucky Man
May 14: Black Diamond at Constellation (Chicago)
May 14: Robert Randolph + G. Love Live from Relix Studio
May 15: 21st Century Orchestra Nu Deco Ensemble with Tank & the Bangas and Cory Henry
May 15: Beau O’Reilly album release at Constellation (Chicago)
May 15–16: Live from Van Gelder Studio: Joey DeFrancesco, Billy Hart, Peter Bernstein with Houston Person
May 16: Richard X Bennett & RXB3, Sacred Music at Columbia
May 17: Lauren Lee, Queen Of Cups album release concert at the Soapbox Gallery (Brooklyn)
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
How best to mark Miles Davis’ centennial? By allowing the stories to flow, and cross-discussions to happen.
May 26, 2026 10:40 AM
Editor’s Note: The iconic trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis would have turned 100 today (May 26, 2026).…
Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.
Jul 16, 2026 1:34 PM
The DownBeat Critics Poll never ceases to amaze! And the 74th Edition offered plenty of accolades for poll veterans and…
Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”
Jun 30, 2026 3:19 PM
Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the NEA Jazz Master from South Africa who helped fuse the folk music of his home country with…
