Before & After: Dayna Stephens
There’s a tune called “Clouds” on Gratitude—saxophonist Dayna Stephens’ ninth and latest album, from 2017—that captures his personality well. Serene on the surface, it opens … Read More “Before & After: Dayna Stephens”
Ashley Kahn
Ashley Kahn is a Grammy-winning American music historian, journalist, producer, and professor. He teaches at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music, and has written books on two legendary recordings—Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane—as well as one book on a legendary record label: The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. He also co-authored the Carlos Santana autobiography The Universal Tone, and edited Rolling Stone: The Seventies, a 70-essay overview of that pivotal decade.
Ashley Kahn on social media
Before & After: Lewis Porter
Hanging with Lewis Porter brings an exciting promise of discovery—some unknown fact about a jazz hero or some new insight into an historic recording. It … Read More “Before & After: Lewis Porter”
Adam Nussbaum: Groove Waves, Lead Belly, and a Plethora of Puns
One of the most impressive things about Adam Nussbaum is the stylistic range of the music he’s made. He played with James Moody for many … Read More “Adam Nussbaum: Groove Waves, Lead Belly, and a Plethora of Puns”
Ashley Kahn: Meet the Professor
These days, the name for what I teach is either Non-Performance Studies or Emergent Media. When I started teaching, only 15 years ago, it was … Read More “Ashley Kahn: Meet the Professor”
Robin Eubanks: Representing the Trombone Community
Just back from touring summertime Europe with the Mingus Big Band, Robin Eubanks has driven in from his home in northern New Jersey to meet … Read More “Robin Eubanks: Representing the Trombone Community”
A Conversation with Michael League and Terrace Martin
Every now and then at Holland’s annual North Sea Jazz Festival, the Jazz Café—the small room that hosts the festival’s talk events—fills to capacity. People … Read More “A Conversation with Michael League and Terrace Martin”
Johnny O’Neal: Pianist, Singer, Storyteller
If you haven’t caught Johnny O’Neal lately, you really should. The Detroit-born pianist and vocalist, whose fabled history includes a stint as a Jazz Messenger … Read More “Johnny O’Neal: Pianist, Singer, Storyteller”
Mark Guiliana: Searching for a Special Feeling
For audiences, a jazz festival “artist-in-residence” gig offers a special chance to hear a leading musician stretch out in various contexts, over the course of … Read More “Mark Guiliana: Searching for a Special Feeling”
Ahmad Jamal: Walking History
In this extensive interview with jazz piano legend Ahmad Jamal, Ashley Kahn explores his long history in the music and his remarkable ties to legends … Read More “Ahmad Jamal: Walking History”
Review: Oslo Jazz Festival 2017
To the jaundiced American eye, downtown Oslo—particularly along the walking street Karl Johans gate—is refreshingly neat and clean, with a healthy balance of older and … Read More “Review: Oslo Jazz Festival 2017”
Alice Coltrane: “The Gifts God Gave Him”
Twenty-seventeen marks a number of anniversaries of solemn significance for the Coltrane family. It’s been 50 years since John died and 10 since Alice Coltrane … Read More “Alice Coltrane: “The Gifts God Gave Him””
After Hours: New York’s Jazz Joints
Many of the legendary Manhattan nightspots where jazz musicians got their start are long gone but certainly not forgotten. It’s hard to imagine the careers of Duke Ellington, Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie without the Cotton Club, the Royal Roost or the Five Spot. Ashley Kahn makes a decade-by-decade selection of the city’s defining clubs.
Before & After: Andy Bey
A listener, and storyteller, for the ages
Before & After With Snarky Puppy’s Michael League
Lots of insight, on little sleep
Roundtable: Kamasi Washington & Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
On civil rights, and jazz as protest
Listening With Greg Osby
Saxophonist talks Hank Crawford, Steve Coleman and many more
A Conversation on Jazz & Hollywood
Way out West
Before & After with Melissa Aldana
Resolutely modern, with a classic-tenor core
Jamie Cullum and José James on Billie Holiday
Discussing the indelible influence of Lady Day
Before & After with Drummer Kendrick Scott
Listening to Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, the MJQ and more
Before & After With Chucho Valdés
Just beautiful
Review: France’s Nice Jazz Festival
Intimacy, connection and a relaxed energy
Before & After with Gary Bartz
Ears for all eras
Before & After with Tim Lefebvre
Low end, high spirits
Before and After with Ravi Coltrane
A sense of sax history
Review: The 45th Barcelona Voll-Damm International Jazz Festival
A world-class festival that’s bound to its community
Before & After with Dave Douglas
ln praise of Woody, Wynton and more
Before & After with Steve Coleman
Finding value in any style or sound
Before & After with Bob Belden
A saxophonist, composer, arranger and producer, Bob Belden is also a furiously perceptive listener. It seems he has little choice in the matter. He can … Read More “Before & After with Bob Belden”
Review: Barcelona Jazz Festival 2012
Doing it right with a varied, international focus