John Murph
John’s Contributions
December 2010 Features
Rhapsody in Rainbow: Jazz and the Queer Aesthetic
A look at how gay jazz musicians have dealt with their identity through their music
December 2010 Albums
CTI Records: The Cool Revolution
Various Artists
John Murph on the box set in celebration of CTI Records' 40th Anniversary
November 2010 Features
Junko Onishi: Time To Reflect
After years out of the spotlight, pianist Junko Onishi returns with a bracing new album and a Mingus-sized band
05/20/10 Features
Tia Fuller: Hustle & Flow
John Murph profiles young saxophonist who balances solo career with role as back-up to Beyonce
04/18/10 Features
Jose James: Two Sides, Same Coin
With a pair of different yet equally dynamic releases, vocalist José James arrives
02/01/10 Features
Dee Dee Bridgewater: Drama Queen
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Billie Holiday share a surprising kinship. But can Bridgewater, a madcap, theatrical vocalist, pay convincing homage to Lady Day, jazz’s most mythologized singer?
December 2009 Features
Uncovered: Album Art in the Digital Age
Can jazz’s rich tradition of eye-catching cover art survive in the MP3 era?
10/06/09 Features
Online Exclusive: Madeleine Peyroux
The chanteuse becomes a full-fledged songwriter on Bare Bones
May 2009 Features
Nat King Cole: Getting Their Kicks
An eclectic group of contemporary artists reinvents Cole classics
December 2008 Features
Roy Hargrove: Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
A mysterious bandleader who leads by example
November 2008 Artist Profiles
Corey Wilkes: Chi-City Swagger
When musicians are as versatile as Corey Wilkes, the sky is the limit when it comes to choosing which direction to take on a debut album. The 29-year-old Chicago native has employed his crackling tone and improvisational swagger to a handful of forward-thinking...
September 2008 Artist Profiles
Bobby Previte: Watch the Music
Without a doubt, there’s a cinematic allure to Bobby Previte’s latest disc, Set the Alarm for Monday (Palmetto). Steering his current ensemble, the New Bump, the veteran drummer/composer invents dreamy soundscapes that sound as if they were lifted from some...
August 2008 Artist Profiles
Nicholas Payton: Musical Middle Ground
Five years ago, soon after the release of Sonic Trance (Warner Bros.), trumpeter Nicholas Payton vowed never to record the same way again. He drew a line in the proverbial sand, marking a break from his critically acclaimed string of acoustic postbop discs...
07/14/08 Concerts
Seun Kuti + Fela’s Egypt 80
Familial comparisons are often inept yet inexorable when it comes to young artists extending the legacies of their predecessors. As for 25-year-old Seun Kuti, he not only has to grapple with being compared to his father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the Nigerian...
07/08/08 Concerts
Hank Jones Invitation Series at Montreal Jazz Festival
If there were to be only one jazz musician to grace the cover of AARP The Magazine, the award-winning monthly lifestyle periodical targeted to people over 50, it would have to be Hank Jones. A consummate pianist, Jones was just a month shy of celebrating...
June 2008 Artist Profiles
Empirical: British Invasion
In January, launched by the concerted efforts of arts councils and media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic, a platoon of more than 100 U.K. jazz musicians swarmed the 2008 conference for the International Association for Jazz Education in Toronto. Among...
E-mail
Share
RSS
ReportAbout John Murph
John Murph is a Washington, D.C.-based music, art and pop culture journalist. His work has been published in JazzTimes, Down Beat, JazzWise and Vibe magazines; in the Washington Post, the Washington Post Express and the Washington City Paper newspapers; and on the NPR, BET Interactive and the Root Web sites. He also hosts a bi-weekly radio show on WPFW-FM (89.3).