An introduction to Jazz in 25 records
The following list offers an excellent starting point for any music enthusiast seeking exploration
jazz
A 1932 Illustrated Map of Harlem's Night Clubs: From the Cotton Club to the Savoy Ballroom
Harlem’s undergoing another Renaissance, and has been for years now. Crime’s down, real estate prices are up, and throngs of pale-faced hipsters are descending to check the area out. Sure, something’s gained, but something’s lost, too.
Check out this chat
Here's a chat someone thought you'd want to see.
The House That Dizzy Built—And the City That Kept It - KOLUMN Magazine
Hidden behind Georgetown storefronts, a candlelit room has spent 60 years turning dinner service into American music history—and fighting to keep the lights on
The 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2025
The top two are both by the same artist.
Backyard Coffee And Jazz In Kyoto, Japan
A "magical" experience, and what we get when we let people pursue their passions
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Ella Fitzgerald
Explore the catalog of “The First Lady of Song” with tracks chosen by Valerie June, Yaya Bey, Imani Perry and 13 more writers and musicians.
The Cleanest Recordings of 1920s Louis Armstrong Songs You Will Ever Hear
On Youtube, jazz enthusiast Jonathan Holmes declares: 'I can guarantee this is the cleanest sounding Louis Armstrong record you'll ever hear! With the original transfer supplied by Nick Dellow, here is the mother record which was shipped by Okeh to Germany for their Odeon…
Blue Note Collegiate Tee - Blue Note Records
This tee is sure to bring those Good Friday Blues. Inspired by vintage campus designs, Return To Casual with this Blue Note Collegiate Tee. 6.1oz Jersey100% Ring-spun cottonRelaxed FitBlue Note Collegiate design printed on front Blue Note goes to college with our new fall…
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Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1956) [WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE?]
I just discovered this guy. Holy smokes. : r/Jazz
Jazz recommendations : r/Jazz
Jazz OTD: Though unreleased for a couple of years after its February 15, 1964 recording, Lee Morgan's "Search for a New Land" is widely…
Jazz OTD: The subtitle of "Friends and Neighbors" is potentially a bit misleading, as the February 14, 1970 performance by Ornette Coleman…
Early start for Jazz OTD: Pianist Freddie Redd composed the soundtrack for and acted in Jack Gelber's play "The Connection," recording the…
Jazz OTD: Trumpeter Johnny Coles penned this tune, recorded as part of pianist Horace Parlan’s sextet (w/Booker Ervin, Grant Green, Butch…
When Louis Armstrong Conquered Chicago
Grammy-winner Ricky Riccardi tells the story of a milestone moment in American music in this extract from his new book
If I wanted to close my eyes and put on a live album that would whisk me away to New Orleans for a live concert of the finest jazz ever put…
I have a pretty killer audio setup that would require Porsche money to improve. I want to be transported to a jazz hall by a live album that is so…
Reply with a 10/10 album
357 votes, 272 comments. 1.1M subscribers in the Jazz community. Reddit's home for all things related to Jazz. Currently private to protest reddit's…
The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding : It's Been a Minute
How do you bring the African Diaspora to the Grammys?Esperanza Spalding and Milton Nascimento's contrasting tones make a perfect team on Milton + esperanza, a collection of covers, duets, and original songs that have earned the pair a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album…
David Leheny (@davidleheny.bsky.social)
Jazz OTD: Two masterpieces for today's Jazz OTD. First, Joe Henderson recorded his landmark septet album "Mode For Joe" on January 27, 1966 with Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, and Joe Chambers. Perfect hard bop leaning ever so slightly…
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Guitar
The instrument hasn’t always been a central player in jazz, but the best guitarists have taken up the challenge of finding their own way. Fourteen musicians and writers share their favorites.
Blue Note 4000 series - jazz album covers
Album cover design and jazz photography on the Blue Note Records. Notes and pictures from the Birka Jazz Archive
American Routes Shortcuts: Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was the first African American superstar, an artist that mingled regal dignity with sensuality. We’ll sample her recorded legacy, talk with critics and hear memories of her contemporaries from the Jazz Age of the 1920s.
Excerpt: James Kaplan's '3 Shades of Blue' Chronicling Miles Davis's Record
Kind of Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time. Here's what it was like inside the studio with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans on the day they laid down one of the record's iconic tracks.
Crime Jazz: How Miles Davis, Count Basie & Duke Ellington Created Soundtrac
When we think of film noir, we tend to think of a mood best set by a look: shadow and light (mostly shadow), grim but visually rich weather, near-depopulated urban streets.
Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kin
The tenor sax player came up in Chicago and toured in the '60s with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Randy Weston. Jordan's forgotten album, Drink Plenty Water, mixes singers with a small ensemble.
The Art of Leadership: Lessons from Art Blakey
Let Your People Shine
In a Baltimore basement, a jazz detective strikes gold
New recordings of old jazz performances at Baltimore's now-closed Famous Ballroom are being released for the first time.
Pianist Robert Glasper and Singer Samara Joy on Making Jazz Now
The musicians discuss their recent Grammy wins and why the true tradition of jazz is all about embracing freedom.
How a jazz legend's resting place was lost and found, 50 years after his tr
Though the trumpeter Lee Morgan was killed in 1972, his legacy was well maintained. At least it seemed so, until one fan discovered last year that Morgan's gravesite seemed to have vanished.
Did jazz forget about Oscar Peterson?
The visionary pianist influenced everyone from Quincy Jones to Billy Joel, while flying under the fame radar himself. A new documentary tells the unsung hero’s story.
Best Jazz Albums of 2021
In a year of continued uncertainty, musicians held their colleagues, and listeners, close.
"A Great Day In Harlem": Remembering the iconic 1958 photo of legendary musicians
58 musicians showed up for a picture that captured the giants of jazz
The Impossibly Cool Album Covers of Blue Note Records: Meet the Creative Te
Blue Note release—whether or not you were a fan of jazz or had heard of the artist or even the label. “If you went to those record stores,” says Estelle Caswell in the Vox Earworm video above, “it probably wasn’t the sound of Blue Note that immediately caught your attention.
Is This the Greatest Photo in Jazz History?
A quiet Sunday night in 1953. The Dodgers had just won the pennant. J.F.K. and Jacqueline Bouvier had just married. And four titans of bebop came together in a dive bar for a rare jam session.
After Six Decades in the Vault, 'Ella at Zardi's' Brings New Shine to Ella
Ella Fitzgerald was a big star on the cusp of something bigger when she began an engagement at Zardi’s Jazzland, in the heart of Hollywood, during the…