Among the many tragedies we are experiencing with Covid-19, we recently lost Ellis Marsalis. Ellis was a remarkable jazz pianist that was known for his clever riffs and his passion for teaching. Among his many students that went on to have their own music…

Today’s jazz Friday is me indulging myself having grown up in the ’70s. At the time Chuck Mangione (Wikipedia) did the impossible: He broke into the pop charts playing the Flugelhorn. I remember hearing his most popular tune, Feels so Good (Apple Music) (YouTube),…

I am back with another Jazz Friday reference to Joey Alexander. I’ve written about Joey before. Just a few years ago, he was a child prodigy tearing up the jazz scene with a remarkable amount of skill and heart playing the piano. He’s now…

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, my favorite album, celebrated its 60th anniversary a few weeks ago. Below is a YouTube video explaining what makes Kind of Blue so special. Here’s an older video featuring Herbie Hancock. People disagree on the best track on…

Today for Jazz Friday I want to share a contemporary saxophone player that I enjoy, Ben Wendell. Ben plays the sax and bassoon. He’s been a sideman for many artists in many genres (including Snoop Dogg!), but some of my favorite music from Ben…

I’ve really enjoyed a new website, The 1959 Project, that chronicles the jazz scene in 1959. During that single year some of the great jazz albums, like Kind of Blue and Time Out were recorded. It also was the beginning of the end for…

I think I’ve featured Joey Alexander, the now fourteen-year-old jazz piano prodigy, too often but this week I discovered he’s now released an album, Eclipse (Apple Music) (iTunes) featuring Joshua Redman, one of my favorite saxophonists. Want some great jazz this weekend? Download this album.

I recently received an email from a reader thanking me for these jazz Friday posts. He explained that he loved learning about some of these older musicians that he had never heard of before but then he very politely ended the email, “Do you…

Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you and your family are enjoying a great holiday. This year I shared my Yule jazz playlist, and its got lots of subscribers. I’ve heard from listeners that are using it for everything from cooking Christmas dinner to playing…