TOP NEWS JAZZ

Turban-wearing American organist who enjoyed popular success playing with some of the US’s jazz greatsFew Hammond organ players induce the bar staff of jazz clubs to stop clinking bottles for fear of puncturing a sonic mood of almost inaudible fragility – the ingenious Hammond B3s having started life in the ... read more

(Lateralize)The singer’s original material and a guest list of top musicians fit like a glove on this follow-up to last year’s Weathering the Storm How many musicians vowed to use the sudden, blank silence of lockdown to plan and prepare the album they had long dreamed of making? And ... read more

(Mushroom Hour Half Hour)A figure in his country’s jazz scene since his early teens, Jiyane’s skill comes to the fore in his anticipated debut as a bandleader, a set full of hope and momentum Ever since Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim formed the Jazz Epistles in the 1950s, South ... read more

Black musicians have often been sidelined in Brazil, but by diving deep into their complex heritage, the likes of Jonathan Ferr and Amaro Freitas are making themselves heard Jonathan Ferr thinks back to his youth. “Jazz was giving me freedom, while rap was showing me my place as a ... read more

From scoring Pixar’s Soul to bandleading on The Late Show, Batiste is a fixture of American pop-culture. Now he wants his ‘social music’ to spark genuine political change In June 2020, the composer and pianist Jon Batiste was on the move. During the week, he was scoring Pixar’s first ... read more

Whether it is a live gig, a new film or a game to play at home, our critics have your plans for this week covered The Addams Family 2Out nowHaving started life as a comic strip, the Addamses have come full circle with their latest incarnation in an animated ... read more

This amateur 1965 recording from a Seattle club shows Coltrane and his ensemble, expanded to include saxist Pharoah Sanders, at a pivotal moment Whether you’re listening to the innermost revelations of a soulmate or a stranger, the nuances of sound can convey as much as words, sometimes a lot ... read more

Discover all our four- and five-star album reviews from the last month, from pop to jazz and classical Continue reading... ... read more

(The Lost Recordings)The American saxophonist’s quartet were on top form here, and proved a perfect backing band for the star Brazilian singer The Stan Getz Quartet of 1964-66 was a particularly sparky little outfit, featuring the young vibraphone virtuoso Gary Burton. By the time of this recording, a close ... read more

Whether it is a live gig, a new film or a game to play at home, our critics have your plans for this week covered No Time to Die Out now Originally due out April 2020, this may be Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007. There is new blood ... read more

American jazz saxophonist, arranger and bandleader who played with James Brown and Van MorrisonIn the summer of 1968, with black America aflame following the assassination of Martin Luther King, the singer James Brown summoned his musical director, the saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. Together they came up with a song called ... read more

Little Freddie King has survived three shootings, stabbings, a near fatal bike accident, a stomach ulcer, an accidental electrocution, Hurricane Katrina, and now a pandemic In a dark, wood-panelled room, thick with humidity and reeking of smoke, the bluesman sits on a battered red couch that droops in the ... read more

Guitarist and singer-songwriter whose fusion of jazz, rock, Indian and ragtime styles made him a cult heroMichael Chapman, who has died of a heart attack aged 80, was a singer-songwriter and guitarist who became a cult hero in the late 1960s and early 70s thanks to his highly original fusion ... read more

(Concord Jazz)The late jazz great’s trio are captured in all their unplugged brilliance in this live recording from 2018 In the whole history of jazz, I can’t think of a piano, bass, drums trio that has played with such whole-hearted togetherness as Chick Corea’s Akoustic Band: Corea on piano ... read more

Shades of Thundercat, D’Angelo, Stevie Wonder and more align in the deep grooves of this American master of all styles If neo-soul is once more having a moment, then MYYKK is its new high priest. His understated tunes are slinky-supple and sound not unlike D’Angelo being strapped to a ... read more