On this episode of All Songs Considered, we hear new music from (top left, clockwise) Matana Roberts, Slant, Svitlana Niano, MxPx, Liam Grant and Daniel Bachman. Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Jazz Jazz and blues music performances and features from NPR news, NPR cultural programs, and NPR Music stations.
Jazz
Alt.Latino's Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras Mike Morgan/NPR hide caption
The saxophonist Charles Gayle would often perform in clown makeup as Streets, a character who served not only as social commentary but also as a reflection on "things that are in your heart." Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images hide caption
Hiromi performs a Tiny Desk concert. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption
Christian McBride's New Jawn performs a Tiny Desk. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption
Wayne Shorter performs during the Marciac Jazz festival in southern France in 2005. Two recent tribute projects each aim to capture the wandering spirit of the late saxophonist. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Burna Boy's I Told Them... tops our shortlist for the best new albums out on Aug. 25. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Coachella hide caption
Jon Batiste performs at the Newport Folk Festival on Aug. 5. Batiste, a riveting live performer who has led the band at The Late Show and won an album of the year Grammy, just released a studio album, World Music Radio, that feels like an attempt to consolidate his billowing talent into a stable unit, like squeezing a genie back into the bottle. Vincent Alban/The Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption
Jazz Night in America celebrates the centennial of influential pianist Elmo Hope. Hear selections from his rare discography, pictured above. Collage by NPR hide caption
An Elmo Hope centennial celebration: Giving a jazz piano pioneer his due
WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center
Christian McBride Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of Artist hide caption
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At the Newport Folk Festival in 2022, Joni Mitchell gave her first full-length performance in 22 years. The recording, At Newport, is out July 28. Nina Westervelt/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Leny Andrade performs at Birdland in New York in 2008. Andrade died on July 24, 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images hide caption
Tony Bennett poses while signing an autograph in 1988. Bernt Claesson/Pressens Bild/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Review
Music Reviews
Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album
Fresh Air
Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album
Tianna Esperanza Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Finalists of the American Pianists Awards American Pianists Association hide caption
Relive the 2023 American Pianists Awards from Indianapolis
WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center
Prolific drummer Brian Blade leads his enduring Fellowship Band on the newly released Kings Highway. Mimi Chakarova/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Terence Blanchard performs at the International Jazz Day Concert, New Orleans Tricentennial at the Orpheum Theater in 2018. Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images for Thelonioius Mon hide caption
NEA announces 2024 Jazz Masters including Terence Blanchard and Gary Bartz
Regina Bain, executive director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, leads a ribbon-cutting for the brand-new Louis Armstrong Center on June 29 in Queens, New York. Bowery Image Group/Andrew Kelly for Louis Armstrong House Museum hide caption
Brandee Younger performs a Tiny Desk concert in Washington, D.C. Zayrha Rodriguez/Photo: Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption
Peter Brötzmann, photographer in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2010. Marek Lazarski/Wikipedia hide caption