Duke Ellington

Bassist extraodinaire, composer, arranger, educator, curator and administrator, Christian McBride, has been one of the most important and most omnipresent figures in the jazz world for 20 years. Sometimes hard to believe considering this man is not yet 40. Beginning in 1989, this Philadelphia-born bassist moved to New York City …

Calming, gentle, tranquil, and relaxing, are a few words that describe the sound of the soon to be released album titled “Moment to Moment” by Nick Phillips and Cava Menzies. The musical creativity that resonates the collaborative union between these two artists can be heard with the ears, and also …

Pianist Kris Bowers is one of the newest and brightest lights on the jazz landscape. Schooled in jazz and classical music, raised amid the rap and hip-hop of the 1990s, inspired by the cinematic power of the great film composers of recent decades, Bowers’ sound – though rooted in traditional …

Sonny Rollins is a jazz icon. He has played saxophone with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, and more — and performed as leader of his own band on numerous influential recordings. In this recent interview with iRock Jazz, Rollins speaks candidly about his musical influences and training, …

At 25 years old, Jon Batiste has already received a number of accolades including the “Movado Future Legend” award, and the “Steinway Performing Artist” award. His style balances virtuosity and openness and is gaining worldwide acclaim. His band, Stay Human, is creating a unique grassroots movement that encourages accessibility and …

Jon Faddis has had a long and illustrious career. At the tender age of  18, he joined Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra, then was lead trumpet in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra. He also had stints with Charles Mingus. Renowned as a trumpeter with masterful command of an unparalleled range on the …

Wynton Marsalis’ orchestra and choir blew the roof off of Boston Symphony Hall on Sunday night. A stirring ensemble of forty female and thirty male vocalists gave a rousing gospel invocation with “The House of The Lord,” while the orchestra swung back and forth over belting vocals and blaring horn …

Savion Glover honors the art form of tap. This dancer, choreographer, and teacher has had the highest regard for the dancers that have paved the way for him and many other tap dancers. In addition, Glover has had the privilege to work with many great Jazz musicians. Glover’s Broadway debut …

Pianist Michele Rosewoman is considered one of the most versatile players in modern jazz. For over 30 years, Rosewoman made a name for herself as an active exponent of Afro-Cuban music and culture, studying traditional Yoruba rhythms and incorporating them into her personal work.  She worked with the late great …

In the beginning there was jazz. A deviation from the conservative pathway of European musical tropes, jazz was America’s original counterculture. Largely defined by the ingenuity of its artist, it found structure in a lack thereof, improvisation its blueprint. With such an inherent flexibility, jazz engaged many a strange bedfellow, …

Ashley Khan is a journalist, music historian, producer, and adjunct professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to contributions to the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Down Beat, Jazz Times, and Mojo, Khan has authored Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece …

Contemporary jazz keyboard player Alex Bugnon, nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd, grew up going to the Montreux Jazz Festival in his hometown in Switzerland. He attended the Paris Conservatory of Music for two years, then moved to the U.S. and went to the Berklee School of Music, meanwhile performing as …