Generally when jazz heads ponder the fruitful nearly three decade relationship between Duke Ellington and pianist, composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn, the evergreens “Lush Life” and the big band signature “Take the A Train” come to mind – so often that they have bee...

Now over 60 years since its release, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is hailed as a masterpiece of not just jazz but all modern music. In addition to being the bestselling jazz album of all time, it ranked #1 on the BBC’s 50 greatest jazz albums poll in 2016 and #12 on Rolli...

In my overwhelmingly positive review of Japanese born vocal interpreter extraordinaire Hiromi Kanda’s 2013 collection Days of Yesterday, I praised her strong supple phrasing, balanced sense of playfulness and emotional intimacy and loving caress of the material.

She bri...

As dynamic and infectious as the hits that made composer, keyboardist and producer Skinny Hightower a force in urban jazz are, the deeply emotional, multi-faceted story behind his extraordinary new album Blue Moon lets us know that the artist himself was destined for b...

As veteran touring and recording musicians, Joe Davidian (piano), Jamie Ousley (bass) and Austin McMahon (drums) have likely played every standard and Great American Songbook selection known to jazzkind.

Now known collectively as The Lost Melody after years performing a...

Guitarist Dave Askren and saxophonist Jeff Benedict may not be household contemporary jazz names, but they should be after two previous dual albums and now Paraphernalia, an inspiringly curated, emotionally wide ranging and lovingly and intricately re-imagined celebrat...

In addition to being a noted recording artist, Joan Watson-Jones, a veteran of the New England Jazz scene, is host and producer of The Jazz Room, an online radio show where she plays music and interviews top names.

The magic of her guests and a wealth of jazz influences...

Listen to any pop song on the radio today, and it’s doubtful it will bear any sonic resemblance to what we were vibing with back in 1995. The truly magical part of the Nouveau Flamenco movement of the last decade of the 20th Century is that its infectious melodies, rou...

Every great songwriter can identify that powerful moment of origin when the creative dam broke and the melodies and lyrical narratives began flowing as if they had always been inside, just waiting for the right moment to emerge. For Alan Rueda, it was a casual conversa...

There’s always been a strong connection between music and poker. This connection remains highly evident in the most popular iteration of the game today: online poker. In 2019, Indian digital gaming platform PokerBaazi collaborated with rapper Shah Rule to produce the s...

The highly detailed press materials on Bridey Murphy, the uniquely titled, deliriously janglin’ and boisterously rockin’ debut EP from self-contained, multi-talented singer/songwriter/producer Jay Tonne (dba Tonne), uses loads of technically on point verbiage to make c...

Whether they’re whipping fans into a funk, soul and romance filled frenzy at their beloved home base of Spaghettini in Seal Beach, CA or bringing the old school heat to the revelers somewhere at sea on countless cruises since the mid-2000s, DW3 has long been contempora...