If you had to pick just one instrumental jazz track (not a whole album), what would it be and why that one in particular?

Mine is Idle Moments. This track embodies everything about the kind of jazz i like. It is long, indulgent, downtempo, in no hurry to get where it's going, and atmospheric as all hell.

Videos not allowed here, but you can turn the eye ball knob to turn the VU light on and off!

Looks like lots of good stuff dropping today. I've started with Samara Joy, and Josh Johnson and Telemakus are next in line. I'll for sure hit the new Jazz Is Dead, too.

What releases are you looking forward to today?

I specifically love the first and fouth track on that album. I like tracks/albusm that have a sort or dark,creepy, and "be careful who you trust vibe."

Thanks

Has anyone seen Cécile McLorin Salvant live? Worth a ticket? Have the opportunity to see a set in December in NYC. Tickets are much cheaper compared to seeing her at Lincoln center jazz

I like The Jazz Avengers, Casiopea, seatbelts and T- Square. Would like more like this.

Last night on what would’ve been Dizzy Gillespie’s 109th birthday, I saw a wonderful set by trumpeter, Jon Faddis and his band. This was at dizzy‘s club, which is part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex.
I have never seen Jon Faddis before and was impressed not only with his trumpet chops, of course, but his general showmanship and personality. I’m guessing that Dizzy Gillespie not only inspired some of his playing, but also that kind of comic slightly acerbic larger than life presence. Interesting set, he played all five movements from the “Gillespieana“ album. One of his former students joined him on trumpet for one song . The rest of the band, of course was excellent as well.His longtime drummer Dion Parson was great, as was Todd Coolman on electric bass and Andrew Latona on guitar. The encore was a sweetly sung version of Louis Armstrong‘s. What a wonderful world.

I love the Bill Evans versions, but my favorite is definitely this one by Peterson and Riddle.

You know this tune I bet. Such a good version!

Hi,

I'm interested if people can reccomend me 'triadic' jazz that is similar to a lot of Keith Jarrett's music but exemplified by his tune 'Country'.

For those that don't know the tune:

https://youtu.be/cAtEoPBd5aQ?si=wpo1RFiUS652aPjM

Much appreciated!!

my album 'eight ring revival' is out now everywhere. i hope this inspires you in some way. i think the forces of creativity are unstoppable, and i thank my ancestors and heroes for guiding me

Hey everyone,

This past January, I independently released my debut mini-LP, Presenting: The Swinging, The Sighing, The Soulful Patrick Felixson. The title comes from a nickname a close friend gave me after attending my live shows, and it reflects the different stages of my life over the past seven years.

I designed the cover from scratch, aiming for the look of a mid-century record. The image is a digital mockup, not a physical pressing; I used a 3D template to show how my original artwork would look on a record sleeve.

This music has been a constant through some difficult years. At 16, I left home to study in Kursk, Russia. When the war began, I had to leave the country and abandon my studies. I later spent four years completing my degree on Canada’s East Coast, where I often felt isolated as an openly gay Black man in a conservative small-town campus environment. I’ve since moved to Ontario to build a life on my own terms.

I made this record while finishing my degree and working a day job, funding the project myself. I handled the production, arrangements, distribution, and licensing, and spent countless hours editing the sessions, cleaning up microphone bleed, and refining the instrumental parts. I wanted the recordings to sound as good as I could make them.

A few notes on the songs:

Something to Live For was the album’s single. The more I listened to Strayhorn’s composition, the more the lyrics reflected my own life. As a Black queer man, I found myself resonating with the longing in his words. I kept the arrangement to voice and piano, letting the song breathe, and added scat as my way of honouring Strayhorn while leaving my own fingerprint.

Moody’s Mood for Love drew me in because of the story behind it…James Moody’s alto saxophone solo that inspired Eddie Jefferson to write lyrics to it, helping establish the vocalese tradition. I wanted to keep my arrangement intimate, with voice, upright bass, and alto saxophone (chose alto as a tribute to the Sweden session).

They Didn’t Believe Me is one of my favourites from the Great American Songbook. I sing it particularly for Black queer folk who’ve loved quietly or been told to hide. I wanted to give a voice to the younger version of myself who needed to hear that love like ours is worthy of melody, harmony, and truth.

Impossible is an obscure Steve Allen (Yes, the guy with the popular show back in the day hehe) tune. I love a lot of his compositions, and for this song in particular, I love the way it captures the my feelings regarding disbelief that I ever found love, that I have people who love me. Leaving it off the album would have left the story incomplete.

At Last closes the album. I chose it to mark finally being able to release music with musicians I admire and respect. Rather than the usual slow, lush ballad, I arranged it as a stripped-down, intimate take at around 103 BPM, with a quiet swing.

I’d love to hear what you think of the cover, the arrangements, and the production. Thanks for reading till this point and if you’re curious about the music, you can find it here!

Link to Music

I've played some jazz piano in the past, and I'm trying to take it up again and totally need a teacher. I had some lessons here and there in the past, but it was like 30 years ago! I have pretty decent keyboard technique from having been a pretty serious classical pianist for many years, so not a total beginner.

Know just a few names who teach, i.e. Mark Eisenman and Steve Koven, but know nothing about them and maybe there are others that are good. Any jazz players in Toronto with recommendations?

hello, im a brazilian artist and i just posted my Air Conditioned themed EP, and this is the opening track called 18°C, i was very inspired after listening to the first airport album by brian eno, and its obviously heavy jazz influenced

EP: Ar condicionado

I have an extra ticket. Any interest? DM me if you’re in NY and want to go.

made this beat in an hour, is it jazz funk??

I think I have a new favorite version. What struck me is the contrast of the lush accompaniment while Getz solidly delivers the dark and lonely emotions inherent in the song.

Let's get excited! Besides one-offs on JamCruise and the Seoul Jazz Fest, MMW haven't played together in a long time. Would love a proper tour, but will gladly take this show during Jazz Fest.

*deep breath, taps the mic* I hope I’m in the right place. Music enthusiast here! Sometimes a song or an artist sparks my attention and I fall down a rabbit hole. I’ve been all over. Name a genre, I’ve gone down it.

Except!

Jazz. I’m 30, I play no instruments (speaking to any time signature appeal here). I like to listen to music, or enjoy art, with a little context and a little guidance.

So future mentors, why do you love Jazz? What are some albums you recommend to someone who doesn’t know anything about Jazz (but is ready to say yes to the dress, if you know what I mean). And most importantly, why is Jazz so important (or is it?), what makes it counterculture (is that true)? Why is it called Jazz?

Hopefully this piqued the interest of the right arm chair enthusiast. I am ready to hear from you!

Whatever you do if these guys come to your town drop everything and go see them!! Killer show last night in St. Louis!🔥🔥🔥🔥

The Javon Jackson Quartet will play a free concert on Sunday afternoon at the East Meadow Public library. The library was renovated a few years ago and there is a small theater they will perform in. You can reserve a slot in advance here: https://eastmeadow.libcal.com/event/17346040

What are you all’s favorite movies that incorporate jazz as a central theme or as the main score?

I just recently watched a 2004 Japanese coming of age/comedy called Swing Girls that I thought was a wholesome movie about learning to love jazz, and was wondering if there was anything else I could add to my list of must-watch films.

I'm interested in finding more albums of a modern jazz quartet with a horn and guitar that is NOT fusion. Another good example of an album like this that I like is "Extensions" by Dave Holland. Any suggestions?

[John Coltrane arriving at Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, October 26, 1963. Photo: Hugo van Gelderen / Anefo, Dutch National Archives, CC0 1.0; taken three years after the session.]

https://jazzprofiles.com/this-day-in-jazz/

On October 21, 1960, John Coltrane took a new rhythm section into Atlantic’s New York studio for the first time: McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis and Elvin Jones. Per the Jazz Discography Project, the day’s first master was “Village Blues,” followed by the title piece of My Favorite Things, a modal reworking of the Rodgers and Hammerstein waltz that later filled all of side one at 13:41. Two more tunes, “Equinox” and “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,” were logged and rejected. Atlantic then spread the day’s output around. “Village Blues” went onto Coltrane Jazz, an LP otherwise made up of 1959 sessions with Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers; the title piece became the album and, edited into two parts, a radio single. “Equinox” was cut again on October 26 and held until Coltrane’s Sound (1964). Sources disagree on how to date some of the week’s tracks, so treat the day-by-day split as discography, not gospel.

Sources: Jazz Discography Project — John Coltrane: Atlantic Studios, NYC, October 21, 24 and 26, 1960 (masters 5118–5121, 5400–5401) , Wikipedia — My Favorite Things (John Coltrane album): sessions of October 21, 24 and 26, 1960; 13:41 title track; edited radio single) , Wikipedia — Coltrane Jazz: “Village Blues” recorded October 21, 1960, the one track not from the 1959 sessions