When clubs shuttered, The Jazz Gallery emerged like a phoenix
"I predicted the pandemic wouldn't change live music," says Rio Sakairi, Artistic Director for the NYC jazz club. "And it hasn't."
Music Features
For the jazz community, 2021 proved that improvisation is a life strategy
WBGO's Nate Chinen reflects on the year in jazz.
Jamael Dean, Immanuel Wilkins invoked jazz's ancestors
Harmony Holiday believes the best jazz of 2021 reclaimed a spiritual genius, after what seems like decades of efforts to anesthetize it.
In 2021, jazz went back in time to see the future
Nostalgia tends to dominate our respective listening habits. This year saw the excavation of various titles from the annals of time.
Jazz night at the opera (and other liberating acts of 2021)
Both Terence Blanchard and Wayne Shorter realized long-held dreams: they both premiered operas. But more than that, they crumbled walls that have long separated musical genres and communities.
Reflecting on the wisdom of our jazz elders
In 2021, Shannon J. Effinger celebrated the giants who embody of Black genius.
Children's artist Jazzy Ash wraps up a busy year with new Christmas songs
Ashli St. Armant plays funky New Orleans-style fare for kids with her band, Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, and spins mysterious tales in her Viva Durant audiobook series.
Delta 5's Julz Sale had complete control
With her ferocious voice and a cutting sense of humor, singer and guitarist Sale — who died in September — helped Delta 5 craft a high-voltage sound that still rings true today.
Fleeing the Gilded Cage
Forget the diva stereotype: Opera careers are tough, and often strict. But as concert halls reopen after months of shutdown, more than a few singers are showing newfound creativity.
How Black women reclaimed country and Americana music in 2021
Black women leveraged the power of streaming platforms and social media to bridge the chasms previously carved by labels, publishers and radio.