John Coltrane

Latest Articles

The articulate melodic eloquence of Bill Frisell

Many of us have embarrassing moments in our past, but when one of the hippest jazz dudes around admits to donning a leisure suit and playing in a show band, you prepare for a wince on the seismic level.
Rolling with the changes
By JIM MACNIE | June 17, 2011

The education of Grace Kelly

Legendary 79-year-old alto-saxophonist Phil Woods laughs indignantly when I ask him how he knew 18-year-old alto-saxophonist Grace Kelly was special. "Come on, when you hear it, you know what it is! I've been doing this for 65 years!" Pressed for partic
Hat tricks
By JON GARELICK | January 21, 2011

Desk job

Phillipe and Jorge believe it was thoughtful during this holiday season for the US government to clue in the Great Unwashed on how to survive a possible nuclear bomb strike. Their message, as reported by the New York Times on December 15: "Do not flee
Duck and cover redux; the best Congress money can buy; the Cabrals to the rescue!
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | December 24, 2010

Chucho, Mike, and Lina

Anyone who has doubts about the musical supremacy of Chucho Valdés — or wants an introduction to it — need only listen to "Danzón," the second track from the new Chucho's Steps.
Havana, Chicago, and a dash of Toronto
By JON GARELICK | October 15, 2010

Sonic DNA: Stanton Moore and Anthony Brown

Music is mystery, maybe, but for some of us that conceit is a provocation for deep-nerdy investigation.
They know where music comes from
By JON GARELICK | September 17, 2010

Poetic chaos

The melodic noise collective known as A Troop of Echoes will unveil their full-length debut Days In Automation next weekend at AS220, hosting their album release party alongside an impressive gathering of local support.
A Troop of Echoes spend Days In Automation
By CHRIS CONTI | May 21, 2010

Slideshow: History of Guru and Gang Starr

Here is our salute – in photo, audio, video, and writing – to a Roxbury legend and the vast Gang Starr legacy he left behind.
A collection of videos, photos, music and more from our archives
By CHRIS FARAONE | May 21, 2010

Covering Lacy

For Josh Sinton, Steve Lacy stood out almost from the beginning.
A jazz master’s legacy finds traction
By JON GARELICK | May 21, 2010

Music for the love of it

Whether driving his Men of Great Courage on a tune about a spooky midnight stroll, or gently declaring a deep camaraderie with “We Shall Always Remain Friends,” Cutler’s concocting a soundtrack to the feelings in the room.
From the Schemers to the Men of Great Courage, Mark Cutler’s songs have always gotten to ‘that special kind of place’
By JIM MACNIE | May 07, 2010

The onliest Sonny

Sonny Rollins has held the unofficial title of world’s greatest living improviser at least since the early ’70s, following the death of John Coltrane and the second of two extended Rollins sabbaticals from public performance.
Rollins looks at 80
By JON GARELICK | April 09, 2010

Into the groove

The 2010 Best Music Poll nominees announcement is fast approaching, but we do know all of the '09 victors will return to defend their titles, including jazz/funk reigning champs Funkatronic, who are looking for a three-peat.
Funkatronic kick out the hybrid-fueled jams
By CHRIS CONTI | March 12, 2010

Rap legend Guru in a coma

"So whassup?" "Moment of truth." "Above the clouds?" "Credit is due." Those were just a few Gang Starr song-title sentiments that fans cried on social networks following the news that hip-hop legend Guru suffered a heart attack in New York City, where he
Shining Starr
By CHRIS FARAONE | March 05, 2010

The Souljazz Orchestra | Rising Sun

We're living in the middle of a veritable renaissance of "Spiritual Jazz."
Strut (2010)
By GUSTAVO TURNER | February 26, 2010

Getting the story

Full-length written histories of jazz can be a slog. Especially since "the story of jazz" (as critic Marshall Stearns titled his 1956 tome) only gets longer and more complicated. Personally, on these prose-narrative trips along the New Orleans–New York
Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux sing jazz's many strains
By JON GARELICK | December 04, 2009

John Coltrane Memorial Concert presents: The Believer

Legends never die. Case in point: more than 40 years after his death, the music of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane still reverberates with significance, the...
By Scott Kearnan | September 21, 2009

The music man

Forty years after a half-million hippies descended on a sprawling dairy farm in upstate New York, Woodstock has become shorthand for an entire epoch.
George Wein, the father of American music festivals, reflects on bringing world-class folk and jazz (and more) to Newport
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | August 07, 2009

Inside out

Charlie Kohlhase's love affair with jazz began with the avant-garde. As a high-school kid in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he found that it was Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago who rocked his world.
Charlie Kohlhase's Explorer's Club, Lee Konitz + Minsarah, and Steve Swallow recanting
By JON GARELICK | July 03, 2009

Various artists | Spiritual Jazz: Esoteric, Modal, and Deep Jazz from the Underground, 1968-1977

Apple-pie Mormon missionaries the Millers travel through Iran to spread the gospel of Joseph Smith among Muslims and Zoroastrians, and their kid discovers the glorious sound of the santur.
Jazzman (2009)
By GUSTAVO TURNER | April 24, 2009

Avanti!

By the time guitarist Garrison Fewell made his first record as a leader, in the early '90s, he was nearly 40 years old, and the sound he displayed on his debut, A Blue Deeper Than Blue , was ripe.
Garrison's Fewell's journey out
By JON GARELICK | February 03, 2009

Year in Jazz: Playing for keeps

By JON GARELICK | December 22, 2008

Medicine men

What if a poem had the power to heal loneliness?
Two Boston poets use their art for the good of the tribe
By BY JAMES PARKER | November 25, 2008

Good fellows

The jazz tide is shifting once again.
Brian Blade and company help blaze jazz’s newest path
By JON GARELICK | October 20, 2008

Getting it live

Noah Preminger — bearded, shaggy-haired, 23 years old — plays tenor saxophone like a man at least twice his age while remaining completely of the moment.
Noah Preminger, Fernando Huergo, the John Coltrane Memorial Concert, and the BeanTown Jazz Festival
By JON GARELICK | September 23, 2008

Popular