Sep 19, 2023 1:52 PM
Operatic Re-invention with Some Jazz DNA
On the list of ambitious and paradigm-shifting jazz or jazz-related projects this season, Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri’s…
Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri bring jazz exploration to Enescu’s opera Oedipe Rex.
Sep 19, 2023 1:52 PM
On the list of ambitious and paradigm-shifting jazz or jazz-related projects this season, Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri’s…
“I love working with fully developed artists, getting into their world and learning from them,” says Ben Wendel.
Aug 29, 2023 12:12 PM
For many musicians who found themselves under a veritable house arrest during the COVID lockdown of 2020–’21, the…
Branford Marsalis’ crack quartet was among the stronger arena fare on the menu at Umbria.
Jul 25, 2023 2:32 PM
In a sense, the Umbria Jazz Festival has been such a formidable and evolving part of the international jazz festival…
“I’ve known these songs all my life, but I saw that there wasn’t enough attention on the older music,” Mahal says.
Jun 27, 2023 1:20 PM
It may come as a surprise to find that the artist known as Taj Mahal — born Henry Fredericks Jr. — has officially…
“When I picked up the accordion, my musical world expanded instantly,” says Rosenblum.
Jun 13, 2023 3:46 PM
Composer, pianist, accordionist and bandleader Ben Rosenblum’s musical purview is, by nature, a worldly one. Although…
Outgoing FIMAV founding director Michel Levasseur speaks during a press conference at this year’s festival.
May 30, 2023 1:31 PM
For nearly four decades, seekers of full-service avant-garde festivals in North America have been drawn to the…
At 65, Branker feels he is just coming into his own as a composer.
May 16, 2023 3:37 PM
While the trajectory of a jazz musician’s career often follows a somewhat logical arc, others take more complex and…
A beautiful night and delighted crowd at Arena San Giuliana in Perugia, Italy.
Apr 27, 2023 11:31 AM
Jazz festival culture remains a relatively young, by most accounts birthed by promoter George Wein with the Newport…
Lloyd performed an 85th birthday concert at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre on March 10.
Mar 14, 2023 12:06 PM
Beyond the musical merits and depths unfolded, Charles Lloyd’s latest concert at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre…
“One of our main goals is to invite people into the music who may not have known they liked jazz,” says Cohen.
Jan 24, 2023 12:18 PM
A pressing question is routinely faced by musicians deprived of live music outlets during COVID times: “What did you…
“I enjoyed exploring different techniques with this music,” Yeager says.
Jan 17, 2023 2:24 PM
Kurt Vonnegut, the late, great American novelist and iconoclast, was many things: satirist, science fictional…
Herbie Hancock’s Sept. 28 set at the Hollywood Bowl fell in line with his smartly crafted concert menus of recent years.
Oct 4, 2022 2:13 PM
Musicians of a certain age and public visibility can lay claim to homecoming rites at special, sentimental venues,…
“I am an ambassador of Brazilian music,” guitarist Diego Figueiredo proudly proclaims.
Sep 27, 2022 2:35 PM
When Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo took the stage of Hollywood’s Catalina Bar and Grill this summer, it…
Vocalist Stacey Kent performs at the Ystad Jazz Festival.
Sep 7, 2022 12:56 PM
Internationally, the jazz festival scene has been simultaneously enjoying and struggling through the processes of…
“The power of unison is super,” Turner said. “It’s 10,000 years old, or more.”
Jun 29, 2022 10:25 AM
Mark Turner is sitting in a coffeehouse bakery in Westwood, California, talking in circles. Concentric, full circles,…
The guitar quartet Dither commanded attention with their tight-yet-flexible teamwork at this year’s FIMAV.
Jun 29, 2022 10:34 AM
Festival International Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) in Quebec boldly explores and extolls music of the…
The big band cause was in-house at jazzahead! this year, including impressive work by the Dutch leader/composer/pianist Kathrine Windfeld.
May 10, 2022 2:52 PM
When it comes to major, all-purpose jazz conference/festivals across the Atlantic, all roads have led to Bremen for the…
Mats Gustafsson is scheduled to perform at the Festival du Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, which is set to resume operations May 18–22 in an almost back-to-normal fashion.
May 3, 2022 2:59 PM
Like virtually every other jazz festival in the world, the venerable, adventure-leaning FIMAV festival in…
Charles Lloyd leads his quartet at the Lobero Theater. From left, Gerald Clayton, Lloyd, Reuben Rogers and Justin Brown.
Oct 26, 2021 1:00 PM
Charles Lloyd belongs to an ever-narrowing elite club of influential jazz veterans who have managed to carry their…
Brian Bromberg
Sep 7, 2021 3:10 PM
Brian Bromberg, Arizona-born but long California-based, has often resided in smooth jazz circles. But the bassist, now…
Multi-instrumentalist Anna Webber blurs the lines between jazz and new music.
Jul 14, 2021 11:48 AM
Little epiphanies and discoveries can await the eager jazz festival-goer, even in the midst of a richly stocked…
The time Steve Cardenas has spent performing alongside Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux has come to bear on his approach to guitar.
Jul 27, 2020 5:12 PM
This summer, Steve Cardenas should be gigging, touring in others’ ensembles and putting energy into promoting his own…
Robert Cray recorded his latest album, That’s What I Heard, at the Capitol Records building in Hollywood.
May 11, 2020 3:58 PM
When it comes to the long, storied career of Robert Cray, time and musical fashion have been slippery slopes of the…
“People talk about music therapy, and I find myself thinking, ‘Wow, that’s what I’m doing, in a lot of ways,’” Porter said.
Apr 24, 2020 4:23 PM
When considering the artistic legacy of Bakersfield, California, many people think of country music legends Merle…
A stately, sagely status hums beneath the surface of a celebratory March 15, 2018, concert by saxophonist Charles Lloyd.
Jan 23, 2020 8:23 PM
On the occasion of his 80th birthday, saxophonist Charles Lloyd staged a concert of homecoming proportions. The show on…
Koma Saxo performs a Dec. 5 set at G Livelab during the We Jazz Festival in Helsinki.
Dec 10, 2019 1:59 PM
Unlike many festivals, Helsinki’s venturesome We Jazz Festival, which ran Dec. 1-8, is an inherently restless…
John Scofield performs with the Danish Radio Big Band on Oct. 24 during the Umeå Jazzfestival, which ran Oct. 23-27 in Umeå, Sweden.
Nov 3, 2019 4:24 PM
Perched about 400 miles above Stockholm, the cultured university town of Umeå hosted its namesake festival, curated by…
Fifty years ago, Manfred Eicher co-founded Edition of Contemporary Music, better known as ECM, and has issued more than 1,600 titles spanning jazz and classical sounds.
Oct 29, 2019 9:36 AM
A search for the heart of the ECM Records operation leads to a small, quiet space located on the second floor of a…
Abacaxi, a guitar trio that includes Julien Desprez in its ranks, performs at the venue Nexus on Aug. 22 during Austria’s Jazzfestival Saalfelden.
Sep 5, 2019 11:26 AM
Jazzfestival Saalfelden celebrated its milestone 40th anniversary Aug. 22 with a prefestival night at The Ranch, a…
Evan Parker (left) and Matthew Wright collaborate on Crepuscule In Nickelsdorf, one of two new albums Parker’s contributed to.
Sep 11, 2019 9:35 AM
Among the ranks of free-jazz artists, British saxophonist Evan Parker is one of the scene’s most vital players—and…
Elliott Sharp (left) and Lukas König perform at Saalfelden.
Aug 1, 2019 4:47 PM
When it comes to jazz festivals of an adventurous bent, blessed with an idyllic setting, Austria’s International…
Pianist Bobo Stenson performs at the Church of the Gesù during the recent International Festival de Jazz de Montreal.
Jul 16, 2019 11:01 AM
Among the many allures of the recent International Festival de Jazz de Montreal was a mini-focus on ECM artists, the…
Frode Haltli performs at the 2018 Nattjazz festival in Bergen, Norway.
May 14, 2019 9:49 AM
This year at Bremen, Germany’s jazzahead! festival and trade fair, Norwegian acts were featured during an…
Craig Tabor (left) and Vijay Iyer pay tribute to artists and pianists who recently have passed on Transitory Poems.
Apr 18, 2019 10:29 AM
A spirit of camaraderie and collaboration permeated the room when Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn took the stage of…
Trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and drummer Mika Kallio perform during a screening of “Eläimen Kuva” at the We Jazz Festival, which ran Dec. 2-9 in Helsinki, Finland.
Dec 11, 2018 10:43 AM
An important event on the Helsinki jazz scene, now in its sixth year, We Jazz has made a point of staging shows in…
The Art Ensemble of Chicago performs at the Tampere Jazz Happening in Tampere, Finland.
Nov 6, 2018 11:21 AM
Certain salient historical legacies stand out in Tampere: It’s where Lenin and Stalin plotted the Russian Revolution…
Ethan Iverson performs at Umbria Jazz in Perugia, Italy, which ran July 13-22.
Aug 9, 2018 11:02 AM
What keeps Umbria Jazz in the upper echelon of the world’s festival scene is its inspired balance of elements. Its…
May 28, 2018 7:47 AM
There is a comforting ambience and routine awaiting the rush of visitors to Victoriaville, Quebec, for Festival…
LYAMBIKO performs at Jazzfest Bonn.
May 28, 2019 2:44 PM
A serious musical lineage long has been part of the civic bone structure of Bonn, Germany.
Most famously, it is the…
Hardanger fiddler Nils Økland adds a special brand of minimalism to his indigenous Norwegian instrument while improvising as a member of the trio 1982.
Apr 10, 2018 2:54 PM
Versatile Danish drummer Kresten Osgood was getting busy during a solo gig at the Vossa Jazz Festival, deploying his…
Saxophonist Charles Lloyd celebrates his 80th birthday with a show at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California, on March 15. His ensemble included pianist Gerald Clayton and a few other guests.
Mar 20, 2018 11:18 AM
When he was in his 60s, the linguistically limber veteran saxophonist Charles Lloyd likened himself to a “junior…
Antonio Sánchez accompanied the film Birdman at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Feb. 16 with a display of solo drumming that he composed as the movie’s score.
Jan 10, 2019 12:08 PM
The incidence of screening films along with live musical performances—onstage or in an orchestra pit—is nothing…
Tyshawn Sorey (left) leads a “conduction” performance at this year’s Berlin Jazz Festival.
Nov 21, 2017 10:54 AM
The Berlin Jazz Festival handily accomplished a two-fold mission to preserve its prodigious historical legacy while…
Kaja Draksler performs as part of the trio Punk.Vrt.Plastik at the 2017 Berlin Jazz Festival on Nov. 4.
Nov 13, 2017 8:23 PM
Once again, the compass needle for important jazz happenings pointed to Berlin recently, with the daring and impressive…
Walter Becker (1950–2017)
Sep 6, 2017 6:10 PM
Considering his status as co-founder of one of America’s major pop bands of the past half century, Walter Becker was…
Joshua Redman (left), Scott Colley, Brian Blade and Ron Miles perform as Still Dreaming during the Ystad Jazz Festival in Sweden.
Aug 24, 2017 1:09 PM
For nearly 40 years, the densely-packed Copenhagen Jazz Festival has been a bold calendar marker on the European jazz…
Jan Lundgren (left) leads a quartet featuring Dan Berglund, Jukka Pekka and Morton Lund at the Ystad Jazz Festival Aug. 5 in Ystad, Sweden.
Aug 10, 2017 6:26 PM
Analyzing the status and “map” of the European jazz festival circuit is an inexact science and art, but general…
Pat Metheny (left), Gard Nilssen and Arild Andersen perform at the Molde Festival in Norway.
Jul 26, 2018 4:59 PM
Up at the lovely and artistically rewarding Molde Jazz Festival in Norway (boasting status as one of Europe’s oldest…
Alexander von Schlippenbach (left), Rudi Mahall, Uli Jennessen and Axel Dörner perform at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway. (Obscured: bassist Jan Roder)
Jul 28, 2017 11:24 AM
Vijay Iyer has done more than his share in the contemporary cause of musical border-crossing and idiom-fusing in—and…
Vijay Iyer (center) performs with the Brentano String Quartet on June 10.
Jun 16, 2017 5:29 PM
For several decades, the idyllic small town of Ojai, California, has been the annual site of one of America’s more…
Tom Rainey (left), Scot Colley, Julian Lage and Nels Cline perform as the Nels Cline Four at the FIMAV Festival.
Jun 1, 2017 10:02 PM
Among other new developments at the unique cultural phenomenon that is FIMAV (Festival International Musique Actuelle…
Iiro Rantala (center) performs with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as part of a Finnish showcase during jazzahead! 2017, which ran from April 27–30.
May 5, 2017 3:04 PM
Come April in Bremen, Germany, the ever-expanding ranks of visitors to jazzahead! have come to expect a multi-cultural…
Ingebrigt Håkaer Flaten (left), Mette Rasmussen and Torbjörn Zetterberg perform at the Vossa Jazz Festival in Voss, Norway.
Apr 18, 2017 5:00 PM
My first, and lasting, musical impression of Norway’s Vossa Jazz Festival, a fascinating Nordic-centric event, came…
Matthew Greif (left), Scott Tennant, William Kanengiser and John Dearman are the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
Dec 15, 2016 10:41 AM
For more than 30 years now, the illustrious and versatile Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has earned its bragging rights as…
Lucinda Williams (left) with Charles Lloyd at the Lobero Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 28.
Dec 15, 2016 10:43 AM
Saxophonist Charles Lloyd sometimes talks about his early desire to be a singer, a desire which has transformed his…
Jason Moran gives a lecture to Jazztopad attendees prior to his show at the festival on Nov. 18.
Dec 1, 2016 5:46 PM
The Jazztopad festival in Wroclaw, Poland, is deeply invested in the idea of commissioning new works. That message was…
Wayne Shorter (left) and John Patitucci perform at the Jazztopad Festival in Worclaw, Poland.
Dec 6, 2016 6:05 PM
There may be some poetic justice in the fact that Jazztopad, one of the more innovative and important of the…
Dave Holland (left) and Chris Potter perform at the Tampere Jazz Happening in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 6.
Dec 7, 2016 3:06 PM
The harbingers of a deep winter had arrived in Tampere, Finland, in early November, with diminishing daylight,…
Pascal (left) and Remy Le Boeuf released the album Imaginist on Oct. 14.
Nov 17, 2016 3:24 PM
For the Le Boeuf brothers, the path through and around jazz has been a circuitous and self-redefining one. For the past…
Mantana Roberts (clockwise, from left), Ingrid Laubrock, Eve Risser, Myra Melford, Mary Halvorson and Mette Henriette will appear at the Berlin Jazz Festival.
Oct 18, 2016 2:12 PM
Turning 53 this year, the Berlin Jazz Festival—aka JazzFest Berlin—is one the oldest on the jazz circuit. It continues…
Jacob Collier performs at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California, on Sept. 18.
Oct 10, 2016 4:15 PM
Youth has never been wasted or neglected at the Monterey Jazz Festival—a result, no doubt, of its year-round education…
Pat Metheny plays his Pikasso guitar during a performance at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California, on Sept. 14.
Oct 10, 2016 3:53 PM
Pat Metheny startled many longtime fans by actually taking some time off last year, but the prolific and restlessly…
Top: Wayne Shorter (left) and Herbie Hancock. Bottom: Carlos Santana (left), Marcus Miller and Cindy Blackman Santana.
Sep 8, 2016 3:23 PM
Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter are regular visitors to the Hollywood Bowl, one of the world’s largest venues in…
Ola Kvernberg (left) and Joshua Redman perform at the Molde Jazz Festival in Molde, Norway, on July 20.
Aug 24, 2016 5:21 PM
Part of what makes the Molde Jazz Festival a prize on the global jazz festival circuit is its delicate balancing act in…
Joss Stone performs at the Molde Jazz Festival in Molde, Norway, on July 23.
Aug 23, 2016 10:27 AM
Aside from being one of the world’s oldest jazz gatherings, the Molde Jazz Festival, which turned 56 this year, is…
Brian Blade performs at the Aarhus Jazz Festival in Aarhus, Denmark, on July 12.
Jul 20, 2016 4:21 PM
First-time visitors to Aarhus, Denmark are well advised to first head up to the panoramic perch of the “Rainbow…
Palle Mikkelborg (left), Joey Baron, Thomas Morgan and Jakob Bro perform in Copenhagen on July 8.
Jul 15, 2019 10:35 AM
As veteran jazz festivals go, Copenhagen’s is more labyrinthine than most. Whereas the Montreal festival centers…
Vocalist Simin Tander brought disarming depth and entrancing spirit to the Vossa Jazz Festival in Voss, Norway, on March 20.
Jul 19, 2016 3:43 PM
A warm bath of synchronicity hit the lakeside town of Voss, Norway, in the heart of the 43rd annual Vossa Jazz…
Lionel Loueke (left), Marcus Strickland and Ambrose Akinmusire perform at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival in this still from a Blue Note Records publicity video. The band played in Montreal on July 1.
Jul 8, 2016 1:19 PM
I first caught the all-star outfit known as the Blue Note 75 group at the Montreal Jazz Festival two years ago, during…
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah onstage at Gesu during the Montreal Jazz Festival on June 30.
Jul 8, 2016 12:43 PM
One of the distinctive features of the annual Montreal Jazz Festival is its famous “Invitational” series, which…
Gregory Porter (left) and Emanuel Harrold perform on June 29, the opening night of the 2016 Montreal Jazz Festival.
Jul 8, 2016 12:22 PM
On Wednesday afternoon, I bumped into Gregory Porter, an unmistakable presence, in the elevator of the Hyatt Regency in…
Ola Kvernberg will serve as artist-in-residence of the 2016 Molde Jazz Festival, which takes place from July 18–23 in Molde, Norway.
Jul 26, 2018 4:57 PM
The crown jewel of Norway’s rich and celebrated jazz festival season, the Molde Jazz Festival—aka Moldejazz—also…
Thurman Barker (left), Eli Fountain, George Lewis, Aiyun Huang and Tyshawn Sorey perform at the 2016 FIMAV in Victoriaville, Canada.
Jun 21, 2016 3:06 PM
Although it is generally categorized as a jazz festival, the phenomena known as FIMAV (Festival International de…
John Medeski (left), Julian Lage, G. Calvin Weston, Craig Taborn, Gyan Riley and David Fiuczynski onstage at the FIMAV Festival in Victoriaville, Canada, on May 21.
May 31, 2016 5:01 PM
Trying to keep tabs on the uniquely prolific and ever-morphing force of culture that is John Zorn can be difficult.…
Saxophonist Christoph Irniger (center) leads his namesake quintet, Christoph Irniger Pilgrim, at the Jazzahead! conference in Bremen, Germany, on April 23.
Jul 11, 2016 12:32 PM
In its 11 years of operation, the biggest jazz “meeting” in Europe has been extending an invitation to musicians,…
Keith Jarrett, seen here in a publicity photo, performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on April 29.
May 18, 2016 11:56 AM
Fifty years after arriving on the international jazz scene, pianist Keith Jarrett remains one of its greatest…
Dave Gisler (left), Florian Egli and Martina Berther of Weird Beard perform at this year’s Jazzahead! conference in Bremen, Germany.
Jul 11, 2016 12:39 PM
Jazz forces from around the globe converged in Bremen, Germany, in late April for Jazzahead!, a conference with…
Christian McBride performs as part of the Mack Avenue SuperBand at the 2015 Detroit Jazz Festival
Apr 18, 2016 4:26 PM
When strong, individually driven jazz players gather under the umbrella of an organizational agenda, such as a road…
David Holland will headline the Vossa Jazz Festival which takes place in Voss, Norway, from March 18–20
Mar 28, 2016 10:31 AM
Norway’s contribution to the conversation and culture of jazz is by now thoroughly entrenched, in terms of…
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“Doing shows and festivals under your own name, it’s a surprisingly big difference compared to playing with someone else,” saxophonist Kamasi Washington said, discussing the attention he’s received since the release of The Epic (Brainfeeder). “There is a lot of responsibility.”
Mar 1, 2019 10:29 AM
Considering Kamasi Washington’s bold, dramatic ascendancy on the international jazz scene during the past year, it…
