TOP NEWS JAZZ

(Blue Note)The style is modern mainstream jazz, a combination of post-bop, modal and Latin elements, of which Kenny Barron is among today’s reigning masters. In fact, he helped invent it, 40-odd years ago, by simply absorbing the sounds in the air at the time. Now, a pianist, composer and bandleader ... read more

Writers and artists reveal their favourite Danish islands, landscapes and seaside villagesKing of Denmark: how to create hygge in a cabin by the seaThis is a tiny fishing village of whitewashed houses in an area of protected dune heath on the west coast of Jutland. Conservation measures have prevented the ... read more

The top spots for gigs – whether it’s the acoustics you care about, or how the venue looksWe once had rather too much live music in our lives, thanks to a neighbour’s penchant for practising the greatest hits of Genesis the other side of walls as thick as tracing paper. ... read more

(Edition)Jazz sometimes gets introduced to mainstream audiences in tones of uneasy reassurance – that it’s not weird all the time, it can whistle a happy tune, and occasionally might even be up for a dance. Regular admirers know that the best jazz – even at its most challenging – needs ... read more

Trumpeter who created a unique jazz alchemy from a mix of artistic genresThe trumpeter and composer Tomasz Stańko, who has died aged 76, was an artist of genre-spanning vision and imagination who was a key figure of Polish jazz in the 1960s, and over the ensuing decades came to occupy ... read more

Ronnie Scott’s, LondonFrom blues licks to Liszt, drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci join the legendary pianist for tight, near-telepathic playingPianist Chick Corea has worked with plenty of great drum/bass pairings over the last 50 years – including Grady Tate and Ron Carter, Roy Haynes and Miroslav Vitouš, Lenny ... read more

Cecil Taylor and Don Cherry collaborator had continued to perform until a recent lung cancer diagnosisPolish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko has died aged 76, following a lung cancer diagnosis earlier this year.Tomasz Tłuczkiewicz, deputy head of Poland’s Jazz Association, confirmed that Stańko died early on Sunday at a Warsaw hospital. ... read more

(Mack Avenue)Looks like this is the season for discovering lost jazz masterpieces. Last month it was a 1963 studio session by John Coltrane; this time it’s a 1964 live concert by Erroll Garner. Of the two, Garner was the more popular during his lifetime, tirelessly touring the world’s major concert ... read more

The acclaimed musician and composer mixes jazz with traditional Arabic rhythms and has worked with Radiohead and These New Puritans, creating a sound that reflects her heritageYazz Ahmed once wrote that the question she was most sick of hearing was: “Are you the singer?” It was the only way many ... read more

After grime won big at last year’s Mercury, the album prize is back to playing it safe, rewarding commercial success rather than creative innovationThe “token jazz album” has been part of the Mercury’s DNA since the prize’s inception in 1992. These brassy outliers – from that year’s Bheki Mseleku to ... read more

Other nominees for the prestigious album award include Lily Allen, Jorja Smith and Wolf Alice, jazz group Sons of Kemet, and experimental acts Nadine Shah, Everything Everything and King KruleComment: Safe Mercury shortlist once again raises questions about prize’s purposeArctic Monkeys’ sixth album, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, has been ... read more

The electronic minimalist composer takes apart the sonic signatures of grime music and reassembles them with clockwork precisionThe writer Albert Goldman once observed that every dance craze – from ragtime to rumba to rave – tends to go through a similar life cycle. Each starts as slightly scandalous underground scene ... read more

(Trio)Jazz and classical idioms live happily side by side in the benign and often surprising world of pianist and composer John Horler. It’s best not to try second-guessing him, just wait and enjoy what emerges. Among these 13 tracks, for instance are five “free pieces” which, if you had the ... read more

(Blue Note)At first sight, jazz legend Charles Lloyd and Americana singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams make an odd couple: the former celebrated for his upbeat tenor sax and lyrical flute playing, the latter for her downcast songwriting and racked vocals. The pair share southern roots, however, while two of Lloyd’s eclectic combo ... read more

Diving into your suggestions, a reader surfaces with Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix all caught in his listHere is this week’s playlist – songs picked by a reader from hundreds of your suggestions last week. Thanks for taking part. Read more about how our weekly series ... read more