All posts by “Paul”

Jazz Summer 2026

Jazz June, July, August 2026

As the summer went by, the June 2026 new jazz selection has to become the new jazz selection for June, July, and August 2026. And although I am sorry for the delay, it somehow helped me make a heartfelt selection for two main reasons I would like to share.

First, for the first time in years, I have spent more time listening to my record collection than forthcoming releases. I listened to some albums I was wondering whether to discard — as it helps me keep a tight collection — but mostly to all my favorites, from 1959 to 2025. It made my summer such a wonderful, laid-back moment, filled with music I love. So I must admit that, while I know I am running this blog primarily to help discover the next albums that will be part of my/your best-ever list, the rush of trying to achieve it makes me miss a key goal: enjoying the ones I already have. I will definitely reclaim this goal, as it helps keep the outcome alive (listening to outstanding music we want to return to) and sets the bar.

Secondly, I had a lot more time to spend with these summer releases, and could easily notice the ones I was going back to naturally or not. By ‘naturally’, I mean the ones that I would instinctively select again, by pure hedonism, and by ‘ not ‘, I mean the ones that I was deciding to listen to again to make sure I was not missing something, or give it a fair number of spins before making a decision: the following list only features the natural ones.

So, after quite a long introduction just to say ‘sorry’, here is our jazz summer 2026 selection!

New Jazz Releases June July August 2026

June, July, and August 2026 – New Jazz Releases Selection

The albums are ordered by release dates.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Exit Knarr Fly

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr

Fly
(Sauajazz)

Typically, this one album got extra attention during the summer break, emerging as one that truly stood out, with a proper identity of its own, fully anchored in the forefront of today’s jazz, yet somehow feeling like something that was missing from the world. There is such personality in its unique combination of powerful, free-jazz execution, its sounds, and those all-and-none-at-once interactions that it feels almost impossible not to fall for it. There is chaos here, certainly, but even at its most explosive, the combination of masterful collective freedom, raw energy, and an almost instinctive sense of direction makes Fly feel immediately accessible and alive.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: double bass; Amalie Dahl: alto, baritone saxophone; Karl Hjalmar Nyberg: tenor saxophone, electronics; Marta Warelis: piano; Jonathan F. Horne: guitar; Olaf Olsen: drums
Released June 5, 2026

Lakecia Benjamin We Dream - Jazz June, July, August 2026

Lakecia Benjamin

We Dream
(Artwork)

After Pursuance and Phoenix, perhaps We Dream is the logical next step: searching, surviving, and now imagining what could come next. And Lakecia Benjamin certainly doesn’t intend to dream alone.

The impressive cast could almost distract from what makes the album work. Terence Blanchard, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Chris Potter, Hiromi, Bilal, Kassa Overall, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, and others become different voices within Benjamin’s larger idea, through Jazz, R&B, hip-hop, spoken word, groove, and improvisation without much concern for where one is supposed to end and another begin. And perhaps that’s the most convincing thing about We Dream: if we are to dream of something better, we might as well dream big and together.

Lakecia Benjamin: alto saxophone, vocals; Elias Bailey: bass, tuba; Oscar Perez: piano, electric piano; Miki Hayama: synthesizer, organ; Jonathan Barber: drums; Jerome Jennings: drums; Richie Goods: bass; Jahmal Nichols: bass; Chris Rob: piano, organ, synthesizer; Nêgah Santos: percussion; Terence Blanchard: trumpet; Sean Jones: trumpet, flugelhorn; Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah: trumpet; Lessie Vonner: trumpet; Chris Potter: tenor saxophone; Hiromi: piano; Tarriona “Tank” Ball: vocals; Bilal: vocals; Kassa Overall: rap
Released June 21, 2026

SML Spontaneous Music Live

SML

Spontaneous Music Live
(International Anthem)

What exactly is spontaneous here? The playing, certainly—but perhaps also our way of hearing it. SML seems to ignore the distinction between improvisation and construction until it hardly seems relevant anymore. Grooves appear as if they had been carefully designed, sounds collide as if by accident, and repetition becomes a way of moving forward. Spontaneous Music Live feels like music discovering, through these artists and in real time, what it wants to become.

Anna Butterss: electric bass; Jeremiah Chiu: synthesizers, live-sampling, percussion; Josh Johnson: saxophone, electronics; Booker Stardrum: drums, percussion; Gregory Uhlmann: guitar, effects
Released June 26, 2026

Nduduzo Makhathini The Myth We Choose

Nduduzo Makhathini

The Myth We Choose
(Blue Note)

The Myth We Choose is simply a thing of beauty. There is such warmth, positivity, and generosity flowing through this music that listening to it feels almost naturally restorative. It seems to rebalance energy, gently putting things back where they belong and making the world feel a little more harmonious simply by being played. Beautiful.

Nduduzo Makhathini: piano, keyboards, synthesizer, vocals, vocoder, programming, handclaps; Dalisu Ndlazi: double bass, handclaps; Lukmil Pérez: drums, handclaps; Ayanda Sikade: drums; Robin Fassie-Kock: trumpet; Shabaka Hutchings: flute; Keenan Ahrends: guitar; Black Coffee: drum programming; Omagugu: vocals; Thando Zide: vocals; Muneyi: vocals
Released June 26, 2026

David Maranha Rodrigo Amado Desolation Row

David Maranha, Rodrigo Amado

Desolation Row
(Comets Coming)

This release made me think of Fernando Pessoa, reflecting on a quote by his heteronym Alberto Caeiro:

Because I am the size of what I see
And not the size of my own stature

These fellow Portuguese, David Maranha and Rodrigo Amado, make me feel much the same about what I hear. Thank you!

David Maranha: electric organ; Rodrigo Amado: tenor saxophone
Released August 7, 2026

Mats Gustafsson Kimmo Pohjonen Two Balls Are Enough

Mats Gustafsson, Kimmo Pohjonen

Two Balls Are Enough
(Trost)

Raw energy, extraordinary presence, and an almost reckless openness to experimentation: Two Balls Are Enough feels like the inevitable meeting of two musicians for whom an instrument is never limited to what it is supposed to do. Gustafsson we know well, but Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen may be the revelation: an extraordinary performer who has spent decades pushing the accordion through electronics, effects, voice, improvisation, and sheer physicality into completely unexpected territories. Together, they test how far sound can be pushed. The result is wild, sometimes wonderfully excessive, and bursting with life.

Mats Gustafsson: slide, tenor, baritone, bass sax, Ab clarinet, flute, slide flute, live electronics, harmonica, organ; Kimmo Pohjonen: electro-acoustic accordion, voice
Released August 7, 2026

Henry Threadgill Vijay Iyer Dafnis Prieto Fifteen

Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, Dafnis Prieto

Fifteen
(Nonesuch Records)

Fifteen years. That is how long Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer and Dafnis Prieto played together before making their first recording as a trio. There is something beautiful and poetic about that, especially if, following Kundera, slowness can be tied to the act of remembering, and speed to the act of forgetting.

All three musicians are composers, all three bring very different musical languages, yet none seems required to surrender his own for the trio to make sense. Quite the opposite: as the compositions move from one mind to another, the identity of the music keeps shifting while the identity of the trio somehow grows stronger.

Henry Threadgill: saxophone, flute; Vijay Iyer: piano; Dafnis Prieto: drums
Released August 21, 2026

Angles 4 Angles 4 - Jazz June, July, August 2026

Angles 4

Angles 4
(Relative Pitch Records)

From Angles 3 to Angles 4, having Mattias Ståhl as the +1 is such a treat–“European Boogie” on Injuries (Angles 9, 2014) has such an exceptionally groovy vibraphone introduction. And here, Ståhl also brings similarly inspired moments, as the quartet revisits material previously played by Angles in configurations of three, six, or nine musicians.

“Against the Permanent Revolution” was first heard on Beyond Us (Angles 9, Clean Feed, 2019); “Every Woman Is a Tree” and “The Indispensable Warlords” on Every Woman Is a Tree (Angles, Clean Feed, 2008); and “Satan in Plain Clothes” on Parede (Angles 3, Clean Feed, 2018). Hearing these compositions again, reshaped by this amazing quartet, reminds us how much life and potential there is in Küchen’s compositions as the scale, the players, and the space around them change.

And, almost inadvertently, this little journey through Angles’ past also reminds us how much Clean Feed contributed to the music we love and how deeply we will miss them (even if they have now released a posthumous album).

Martin Küchen: saxophones; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: double bass; Mattias Ståhl: vibraphone; Kjell Nordeson: drums
Released August 21, 2026

Punkt Vrt Plastik Kompress

Punkt.Vrt.Plastik

Kompress
(Intakt)

A clear favorite of the summer. Their first two releases were impressive. Their 2022 live album was outstanding. And this new studio album might be even better, as it carries the same intensive, avant-gardiste, one-of-a-kind sound, while their sound mutates through the 11 tracks to something that strongly enriches the whole experience, all the way down to the “Mera Punkt”, which is definitely less than more, just to rebound bebop and half-close with “VRT”, in such a hard cut. We are now missing the “Plastik” to finish the band name; maybe their next release?

Kaja Draksler: piano; Petter Eldh: bass; Christian Lillinger: drums
Released August 28, 2026

Sullivan Fortner Leave That In There

Sullivan Fortner

Leave That In There
(Artwork Records)

There is a lot to coexist here: piano trio, Hammond B3, synthesizers, marimba and Bàtá drums, with references stretching from Thelonious Monk to George Duke. But perhaps that is what makes this one such a personal record: Fortner is showing us that moving forward doesn’t necessarily require leaving anything behind.

Sullivan Fortner: piano; Tyrone Allen II: bass; Kayvon Gordon: drums
Released August 28, 2026

Playlist

Listen to these tracks on our Spotify playlist.

New Jazz Releases June, July, and August 2026

And that is it for this June, July, and August jazz selection.

There will always be more new music than any of us can properly hear, let alone absorb, and perhaps the records that matter most are not necessarily the ones we immediately decide are important, innovative, or worthy of a list. They may simply be the ones we find ourselves wanting to hear again.

That was ultimately the filter behind this selection: the desire to return. And spending part of the summer with old favorites was a useful reminder of what these new releases are really competing with: not the other records released this month, but all the music we already love enough to keep playing years, or even decades, later.

Which of these summer 2026 albums will still belong there? I obviously don’t know yet. But these are the ones that, for now, keep asking me to come back. What about you?

The Golden Age of Jazz

The Golden Age of Jazz

The “Golden Age of Jazz” usually refers to the Swing Era of the 1930s and 1940s, when jazz became America’s most popular music and big bands filled dance halls across the country, leading up to the transition to early bebop. While the expression itself remains open to debate, this period still stands as one of the defining moments in jazz history.

It was a time when jazz moved from clubs and local scenes to radio stations, concert halls, ballrooms, and eventually into everyday American culture. The rise of legendary bandleaders, iconic soloists, and unforgettable vocalists helped shape the future of jazz and the sound of popular music as a whole.

In this article, we will explore:

I – What is the Golden Age of Jazz

The Golden Age of Jazz is commonly associated with the Swing Era, just following the “Jazz Age“. During these decades, jazz became the dominant form of popular music in the United States, reaching an audience far beyond the clubs and local scenes where it had originally developed.

At the center of this era stood the big bands. Large ensembles led by figures such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman filled dance halls across the country with energetic arrangements, strong rhythms, and memorable melodies. Swing music became deeply connected to social life, radio broadcasting, and popular entertainment, helping jazz establish itself as a central part of American culture.

This period also marked the rise of many of the musicians and vocalists who would become permanent references in jazz history. Artists such as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald defined the sound and identity of the era through recordings that continue to influence musicians today.

Musically, the Golden Age of Jazz was characterized by swing rhythms, arranged compositions for larger ensembles, and a growing balance between orchestration and improvisation. At the same time, the period was far from static. Toward the mid-1940s, younger musicians began pushing jazz in more experimental directions, leading to the emergence of bebop through artists like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Although the expression “Golden Age” can suggest that jazz reached its peak during these years, the reality is more complex. Jazz continued to evolve dramatically in the decades that followed. Still, the Swing Era remains one of the most influential and widely celebrated periods in the history of the music.

II – Essential Musicians & Bandleaders of the Golden Age of Jazz

The following musicians remain some of the essential figures of the Golden Age of Jazz.

Louis Armstrong, known as “Satchmo.”

Known as “Satchmo” or “Pops,” Louis Armstrong was one of the foundational figures of jazz. As both a trumpeter and vocalist, Armstrong transformed the role of the soloist in jazz through his rhythmic freedom, melodic inventiveness, and unmistakable tone. His charismatic presence and accessible style also helped bring jazz to a much broader audience.

Armstrong introduced a new sense of swing and spontaneity that would influence generations of musicians. Recordings such as West End Blues and Potato Head Blues remain landmarks in the history of jazz.

Edward Kennedy Ellington, known as “Duke Ellington.”

As a composer, pianist, and bandleader, Duke Ellington became one of the most important artistic voices of the Swing Era. His orchestra was not only one of the greatest big bands of its time, but also a platform for innovation and musical sophistication.

Ellington blurred the boundaries between jazz and orchestral music through refined arrangements and compositions that are now considered classics, including Take the “A” Train, Mood Indigo, and Sophisticated Lady. His music demonstrated that jazz could be both popular entertainment and ambitious art music.

William James Basie, known as “Count Basie.”

Count Basie became one of the defining figures of big band swing through his relaxed piano style and deeply rhythmic orchestra. His music emphasized groove and precision, creating one of the most swinging ensembles of the era.

The Count Basie Orchestra became famous for its tight arrangements, powerful rhythm section, and ability to balance simplicity with irresistible energy. Basie’s approach would influence countless big bands and rhythm sections in the decades that followed.

Benny Goodman, known as the “King of Swing.”

Often referred to as the “King of Swing,” Benny Goodman helped bring jazz into mainstream American culture during the 1930s. His orchestra became one of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era, known for its precision, energy, and strong soloists.

Goodman also played an important social role in jazz history by leading one of the first racially integrated jazz groups during a period of segregation in the United States.

Charlie Parker, known as “Bird.”

Known as “Bird,” Charlie Parker revolutionized jazz during the 1940s through the development of bebop. His virtuosic alto saxophone playing, harmonic innovations, and rapid improvisations changed the direction of jazz almost overnight.

Parker pushed the music away from dance-oriented swing toward a more complex and exploratory form centered on improvisation. Recordings such as Confirmation, Ornithology, and Now’s the Time remain essential listening for understanding modern jazz.

Dizzy Gillespie, known as “the Ambassador of Jazz.”

Together with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie played a central role in the creation of bebop. His trumpet playing combined extraordinary virtuosity with rhythmic complexity and harmonic experimentation, helping redefine modern jazz in the 1940s.

Gillespie was also instrumental in introducing Afro-Cuban influences into jazz, expanding the music’s rhythmic vocabulary. His energetic personality and adventurous spirit made him one of the most recognizable and influential musicians of the era.

III – Essential Vocalists of the Golden Age of Jazz

Their voices remain deeply connected to the sound and spirit of the era.

Billie Holiday, known as “Lady Day.”

Billie Holiday remains one of the most emotionally powerful vocalists in jazz history. Rather than relying on technical virtuosity alone, Holiday transformed songs through phrasing, timing, and an extraordinary ability to convey vulnerability and depth.

Her interpretations often carried a sense of intimacy and emotional tension that changed the relationship between singer and song. Recordings such as Strange Fruit, God Bless the Child, and Lover Man remain among the most important vocal performances in jazz.

Discover next: 10 Best Songs by Billie Holiday

Ella Fitzgerald, known as “the First Lady of Song.”

Ella Fitzgerald became celebrated for her remarkable vocal range, precision, and effortless sense of swing. Her mastery of scat singing and her ability to navigate complex melodies made her one of the most technically accomplished vocalists of the era.

Fitzgerald moved with ease between swing, bebop, and ballads, leaving behind an immense discography that includes A-Tisket, A-Tasket, Summertime, and her legendary Songbook recordings.

Nathaniel Adams Coles, known as “Nat ‘King’ Cole.”

Before becoming an international pop star, Nat King Cole first established himself as an exceptional jazz pianist and vocalist. His warm, elegant voice and refined phrasing made him one of the defining vocalists of the period.

Cole brought a sense of calm sophistication to jazz singing, helping bridge the worlds of jazz and popular music. Recordings such as Unforgettable, Route 66, and Mona Lisa remain timeless classics.

Frank Sinatra, known as “Ol’ Blue Eyes.”

Although often associated with traditional pop and the Great American Songbook, Frank Sinatra was deeply influenced by jazz phrasing and swing. His sense of timing, breath control, and conversational approach to singing helped redefine popular vocal performance during the mid-20th century.

Sinatra’s collaborations with arrangers and orchestras, including the Count Basie Orchestra, connected him directly to the jazz tradition. Through recordings such as Fly Me to the Moon, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, and In the Wee Small Hours, Sinatra became one of the most enduring voices of the era and one of the greatest interpreters of American song.

Why the Golden Age of Jazz Still Matters

The Golden Age of Jazz remains one of the most important periods in the history of music, not only for its cultural impact but also for the recordings it produced. The musicians and vocalists of this era helped shape the language of jazz through swing, improvisation, composition, and interpretation, creating foundations that still influence artists today.

Of course, jazz did not stop evolving after the Swing Era. Bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, fusion, and contemporary jazz would all push the music into new territories. But the Golden Age remains a unique moment when jazz stood at the very center of popular culture while simultaneously developing into an increasingly ambitious art form.

May 2026

Jazz May 2026

Where should you begin your next jazz discovery? May delivered a remarkable collection of albums, each proposing its own way of listening. Whether through reinvention, collective exploration, fragmented memories, or deeply human forms of connection, these records remind us that jazz remains one of the most fertile spaces for imagination and surprise.

Here is our New Jazz Releases selection for May 2026, featuring albums genuinely worth your listening time, presented in order of their release dates.

New Jazz Releases May 2026
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Alexander Hawkins No Nation but Imagination

Alexander Hawkins – No Nation but Imagination

No Nation but Imagination is an album by British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins, recorded with a quintet featuring Rhodri Davies on harp, Hamid Drake on drums, Nicole Mitchell on flute, and Matthew Wright on turntables and live sampling. Released May 22, 2026, as Intakt Recording #453, the album was recorded on February 3, 2025, at Fish Factory Studios in London by Ben Lamdin, with additional material recorded live at Café OTO on February 2, 2025, by Billy Steiger.

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Where to Start with Keith Jarrett

Where to Start with Keith Jarrett: A Guide to His Most Essential Recordings

Keith Jarrett is clearly a monument, a cornerstone in jazz. If you have been following him for a while, every new release tends to feel a bit like a gift. Even when it is another full concert of untitled tracks that looks, at first, slightly intimidating, you press play, and very quickly, something happens.

But coming to his music for the first time is something else entirely. It is vast, and it is not always obvious where to begin. Solo concerts, standards, quartets, classical recordings… it can feel like standing in front of something you are not quite sure how to approach.

So the question is simple: where do you start?

I – Start with the obvious… or not?

The Köln Concert is the obvious place to begin. It is the record everyone points to, the one that seems to stand above the rest, the one that, even outside of jazz, has reached something close to iconic status.

And for good reason. There is something immediate about it. The opening notes, simple and almost fragile, pull you in without effort. The music builds slowly, patiently, repeating, expanding, finding its way forward in real time. You don’t need to “understand” anything to stay with it. It just works.

THE KÖLN CONCERT

Keith Jarrett

The Köln Concert
(ECM Records, 1975)

So yes, you can start here.

But at the same time, it might not be the easiest introduction to Keith Jarrett. Because what you hear on The Köln Concert is a very specific side of his music: a long, fully improvised solo performance, without interruption, without titles, without clear landmarks. It asks for time, for attention, and maybe for a certain kind of mood. If you are not used to that format, it can feel a bit disorienting.

“Since it is all improvised, every second may contain a hundred choices for me. It’s a course of thought and thought, decision and no decision.”
— Keith Jarrett

And yet, that is also exactly what makes it so compelling. So maybe the right way to approach it is not as the starting point but as a possible entry point. If it clicks, it can open the door to everything else. If it doesn’t—at least not yet—that is perfectly fine. There are other ways in.

What you hear on The Köln Concert is just one moment within a much larger body of solo recordings. Over the years, Keith Jarrett has developed this format extensively, across decades of live performances. If you would like to go further, we have explored this period in more detail here: Keith Jarrett – Piano Solo (1972–1998) and Keith Jarrett – Piano Solo (1998–2017).

II – Start with something familiar: the Standards Trio

If The Köln Concert feels a bit too open, too unstructured, then the Standards Trio is probably the most natural way into Keith Jarrett’s music.

Formed with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums, this trio does something very simple on paper: they play standards. Songs you may already know, or at least forms that feel familiar: clear themes, recognizable structures, a sense of grounding that makes it easier to follow what is happening.

Keith Jarrett Gary Peacock Jack DeJohnette Standards Vol 1

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette

Standards, Vol. 1
(ECM Records, 1983)

What makes these recordings so compelling is the balance between structure and freedom. The melody is there, the harmony is there, but within that framework, everything is alive. The trio listens, reacts, stretches time, and subtly reshapes the material.

It also gives you a different perspective on Jarrett as a pianist. You hear how he interacts, how he leaves space, how he pushes and pulls the music forward with the others.

If you are looking for a clear entry point, Standards, Vol. 1, is the perfect place to begin. You don’t need to overthink it; the familiarity of the material will do the rest, and from there, you can start to hear what makes this trio so special.

Accessible, grounded, great first step

III – Start with space and lyricism: the European Quartet

Another way into Keith Jarrett’s music is through what is often called his European Quartet.

With Jan Garbarek on saxophone, Palle Danielsson on bass, and Jon Christensen on drums, the sound is immediately distinctive. Lighter, more transparent. The compositions are clearly defined, often lyrical, sometimes almost meditative, but always leaving room for the music to expand and move in unexpected directions.

Jan Garbarek Keith Jarrett Palle Danielsson Jon Christensen Belonging

Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen

Belonging
(ECM Records, 1974)

It is also a different kind of listening experience. Less about following a structure you already know, less about being carried by a single improvisation, and more about letting the music come to you.

“You know, when people look at a tree, they look at the leaves; they don’t look at the spaces between the leaves. They’re focused on the tree. I think there’s an awareness of spaces or it wouldn’t look like a tree to them.”
–Keith Jarrett

Belonging is probably the best place to start here: strong themes, open spaces, and a sense of quiet intensity that runs throughout the record.

If you are drawn to something more atmospheric, more reflective, this might be your way in.

IV – Start with intensity: the American Quartet

If what you are looking for is something more direct, more physical, then the American Quartet is another way into Keith Jarrett, and a very different one.

With Dewey Redman on tenor saxophone, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums, the music moves with a kind of urgency that you don’t really hear in the European Quartet. It is denser, more grounded, sometimes rougher around the edges. And at times, it can feel almost overwhelming.

Keith Jarrett The Survivors Suite

Keith Jarrett

The Survivors’ Suite
(ECM Records, 1977)

The compositions are often more extended, more layered, blending written themes with open sections that can suddenly take off. It also reveals another side of Jarrett. Less lyrical, less “floating,” and more anchored in something earthy, almost raw. The energy comes as much from the group as from the piano.

The Survivors’ Suite is a great entry point here. If it clicks, it opens up a whole different dimension of his music. This might not be the easiest place to start, but for some listeners, it is the one that makes the strongest impression right away.

V – Another path: Jarrett as a classical pianist

It is easy to forget, but part of Keith Jarrett’s discography has nothing to do with jazz.

Alongside his improvised concerts and his work in trios or quartets, Jarrett has also recorded a significant number of classical pieces by Bach, Mozart, and Shostakovich, among others. And he approaches them with the same level of attention and commitment.

The Well-Tempered Clavier Book

J. S. Bach, Keith Jarrett

The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I
(ECM Records)

There is no improvisation here, no stretching of form, no interaction with other musicians. The music is written, and demands a different focus. What remains is touch, phrasing, and a very direct relationship to the score.

“If I’m not a jazz player all the time, I’ve at least been cued in to what I do by jazz.”
–Keith Jarrett

It might not be the most obvious place to start. And if you are coming to Jarrett through jazz, it can even feel a bit surprising at first.

But for some listeners, it can also be a very natural entry point. Especially if you are already familiar with classical music, or simply curious to hear another side of his playing, more inward, but just as distinctive.

VI – One Last Way In: Keith Jarrett as a sideman

Before becoming the towering figure many listeners associate with solo concerts and long improvisations, Keith Jarrett also appeared as a sideman on several major recordings.

And in some ways, this can be one of the easiest ways to approach his playing.

Because within another musician’s framework, Jarrett reveals different sides of himself. Sometimes more direct, sometimes more restrained, and even in a supporting role, his phrasing, his touch, and his sense of movement through the music stand out almost immediately.

Miles Davis Live-Evil

Miles Davis

Live-Evil
(Columbia)

His work with Miles Davis remains one of the most fascinating entry points. Albums like Live-Evil or The Cellar Door Sessions have Jarrett in a completely different environment: electric, dense, unpredictable, and far removed from the lyrical solo piano recordings many listeners first associate with him.

But there are many other paths as well, whether with Charles Lloyd, whose quartet helped bring Jarrett to wider attention in the late 1960s, or through various collaborations across his early career.

It is another reminder that there is no single version of Keith Jarrett. And sometimes, hearing him through someone else’s music can be the perfect place to begin.

So, where should you start?

In the end, there might not be a single right way to start with Keith Jarrett.

That is probably what makes his music both so fascinating and, at first, a little difficult to approach. Each path leads somewhere different. A solo concert won’t give you the same experience as the trio. The European Quartet doesn’t sound like the American one. And even within each of these, the music keeps evolving.

So rather than trying to find the perfect starting point, it might be better to simply choose one that feels right to you. Something familiar, something more open, something more intense, whatever draws you in.

Because with Jarrett, what matters is not so much where you begin, but how you listen. Taking the time to stay with the music, to come back to it. Some recordings will connect immediately. Others might take longer. And some may only make sense later. That is part of it.

So pick a starting point, press play, and see where it takes you. And if you already have one, an album you keep returning to, or the one that first made it all click, feel free to share it.

History of Jazz

The History of Jazz: A Guide to Its Key Periods

Jazz is often approached through its genres, each of which describes a particular sound, style, or way of playing. But these styles did not appear in isolation. They emerged over time, shaped by musicians, places, and contexts that continuously redefined what jazz could be.

Looking at jazz through its periods offers a different perspective. Instead of focusing only on how the music sounds, it helps us understand when and why it sounds that way. From its early development in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century to its current global and hybrid forms, jazz has evolved through a series of phases, each marked by distinct musical ideas and cultural shifts.

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Best Jazz 2026

Best Jazz Albums of 2026 (So Far)

A few months in, and certain albums have already settled in as records you return to without really thinking about it. This selection of the Best Jazz Albums of 2026 (so far) is simply about choosing what is certainly worth sitting with. Of course, time will tell. But for now, these albums have made a real impression; they have stayed with us, finding their way back onto our stereos again and again.

You will find a mix of directions and styles here. But each of these records, in its own way, is already making 2026 feel like a great year for jazz. We will be adding new releases as the months go by, and will share the final selection, as always, in early December.

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April 2026

Jazz April 2026

Where should you start your next jazz discovery? April brings a rich and varied set of releases, from raw, collective energy and uncompromising free improvisation to intimate solo explorations and finely balanced chamber textures. These are the albums that stood out.

Here is our New Jazz Releases selection for April 2026, featuring records genuinely worth your listening time, presented in order of their release dates.

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Juli Deák Brisk

Juli Deák – Brisk

Brisk is a solo album by Hungarian flutist Juli Deák. It was recorded in single takes, without overdubs, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Budapest, primarily on April 14, 2025, with additional tracks recorded on January 2, 2026, by Ádám Gyöngyösi, and will be released on April 24, 2026, by Thanatosis Produktion.

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