Kevin Whitehead
Kevin Whitehead is the jazz critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Currently he reviews for The Audio Beat and Point of Departure.
Whitehead's articles on jazz and improvised music have appeared in such publications as Point of Departure, the Chicago Sun-Times, Village Voice, Down Beat, and the Dutch daily de Volkskrant.
He is the author of Play the Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film (2020), Why Jazz: A Concise Guide (2010), New Dutch Swing (1998), and (with photographer Ton Mijs) Instant Composers Pool Orchestra: You Have to See It (2011).
His essays have appeared in numerous anthologies including Da Capo Best Music Writing 2006, Discover Jazz and Traveling the Spaceways: Sun Ra, the Astro-Black and Other Solar Myths.
Whitehead has taught at Towson University, the University of Kansas and Goucher College. He lives near Baltimore.
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Three generations of O'Farrills are represented on this new album, reminding us what tradition is at heart: our ongoing conversation with those who came before us, and those who come after.
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Jamal was born in Pittsburgh, broke through with his small group music in Chicago in the 1950s, and recorded scores of records through 2016 — a 65-year recording career. He died April 16.
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Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised.
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The 21-year-old Armstrong, on cornet, was a protégé of New Orleans fellow cornetist and band leader King Joe Oliver. On April 5, 1923, they went into a Richmond, Ind., studio for a two-day session.
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When Hersch invited jazz, pop and opera composer Spalding to perform three nights with him at the Village Vanguard, he thought she'd bring her bass. Instead, Spalding just wanted to use her voice.
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When Hersch invited jazz, pop and opera composer Spalding to perform three nights with him at the Village Vanguard, he thought she'd bring her bass. Instead, Spalding just wanted to use her voice.
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Shorter, who died March 2, was inspired by film and literature, as much as by sounds. One of the great musical minds of our time, he had a profound influence on the course of jazz.
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No '60s pop composer wrote more sophisticated songs than Bacharach, who died Feb. 8. Dozens of his best songs endure for all the right reasons; they're inventive, challenging and linger in your ear.
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Tenor saxophonist Davis and organist Scott had one of the great jazz partnerships in the late 1950s. A new anthology focuses on their Cookbook series of albums.
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Barron previously recorded most tunes on his album, a few more than once. Now he gives them layers of new meaning and an allusive texture — with occasional hints at Afro-Cuban rhythms and gestures.