JAZZIZ Conversations

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JAZZIZ Travel: Min Xiao-Fen Jun 10, 2021

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Min Xiao-Fen is one of the most innovative interpreters of the pipa, one of the key instruments in Chinese music with a rich and storied history stretching back nearly two thousand years. Upon moving to the United States in the mid-'90s, she began to forge a new path for the pipa in modern jazz, free improvisation and contemporary music via collaborations with many creative music greats and through her own fascinating projects, including her work with her Blue Pipa Trio and her 2017 release, Mao, Monk and Me.

Her forthcoming album, White Lotus, is a collaboration with guitarist Rez Abbasi and an original score she wrote for the 1934 Chinese silent film, The Goddess. The album is out on June 25 and ahead of its release, we decided to chat with Min Xiao-Fen about it. We also explored moments of her own artistic journey and the link between jazz and the Chinese music tradition.

JAZZIZ Travel: Nnenna Freelon May 27, 2021

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Multi-GRAMMY nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon released her first album in more than a decade on May 11. With its classic standards, jazz-infused re-imaginings of '70s soul hits and original compositions, Time Traveler compiles an intimate expression of love for her late husband, preeminent architect Philip Freelon, who passed away from ALS in 2019, and a universal love letter to all those who've lost someone dear.

Freelon believes that music has a time-traveling quality. This allows us to expand on the central theme of our podcast. In our conversation, we also discuss the themes of grief and loss that are at the heart of her new record. "Singing from the heart of grief gave my voice a new shape and allowed a kind of freedom. I found unexpected gifts of hope and joy in the palms of sorrow," says Freelon.

Listen to our podcast conversation with Nnenna Freelon via the player below. Time Traveler is out now via Origin Records and you can order it here.

Featured photo by Chris Charles.

Crate Digging: 10 Albums You Need to Know for May 2021 May 13, 2021

Show notes

Remember record stores? Remember the thrill of turning your friends on to new music by swapping vinyl and CDs? Yeah, we do too. That’s why we’re rebooting that tradition for the digital age with our “Crate Digging” podcast series, in which we’ll search through crates of our memories to bring you a handful of album recommendations on a given theme. It’s social media in the truest sense of the term: no algorithms, no computer-generated playlist. Just jazz fans sharing records with other jazz fans.

Welcome to the party! For this episode of Crate Digging, we talk about 10 new albums released this month (May 2021) that you need to know about!

Albums mentioned in this episode: Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas - Other Worlds (Greenleaf); Mandy Barnett, Every Star Above (Melody Place/BMG); Noah Haidu - Slowly: Song for Keith Jarrett (Sunnyside); Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band - Soul Conversations (Outside In); Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future (Impulse!); James Francies - Purest Form (Blue Note); Ralph Peterson Jr. - Raise Up Off Me (Onyx); Wadada Leo Smith, Milford Graves, Bill Laswell - Sacred Ceremonies (TUM); Anna Webber, Idiom (Pi); Dave Holland, Another Land (Edition).

JAZZIZ Travel: Habibi Funk founder Jannis Stürtz May 06, 2021

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JAZZIZ Travel is a new podcast series hosted by JAZZIZ online editor Matt Micucci that explores jazz and creative music in all four corners of the globe. In this series, you will hear conversations with artists and people talking about the significance of jazz as an art form, the influence of folk music traditions of different cultures and backgrounds, or simply sharing their thoughts and ideas.

The first episode of the series features a conversation about Habibi Funk Records with its founder Jannis Stürtz. Habibi Funk is a Berlin-based record label dedicated to re-releasing and preserving music from the Arab-speaking world, often written during times of war or exile, and heard by few. This is music made by Arab artists blending local and regional music traditions with musical interests from outside the regions, playing with such styles and genres as funk, soul, rock and more, including jazz.

Habibi Funk's latest release is Fine Anyways, which compiles recordings by Lebanese singer/songwriter Rogér Fakhr and, like the rest of the Habibi Funk catalog, will surely sound to many listeners as a revelation. You can listen to the conversation with Jannis Stürtz via the player below and order Fine Anyways here.

JAZZIZ Not What You Think: Richard Elliot May 03, 2021

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In today's episode JAZZIZ Publisher and Founder Michael Fagien speaks with Saxaphonist Richard Elliot about life, family, the industry and most importantly music.

Crate Digging: 10 Albums You Need To Know for April 2021 Apr 21, 2021

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A sax legend’s first album in eight years; a singer/songwriter’s first-ever full-length live record; the release of a long-lost session by an elusive jazz icon. All this and more in our list of albums released this month that you need to know about.

Gary Bartz, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, Gary Bartz JID 006 (Jazz Is Dead)

Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble, NOW (International Anthem)

The Dave Weckl Band, Live in St. Louis Chesterfield Festival 2019 (Autumn Hill)

Pasquale Grasso, Solo Ballads (Sony Masterworks)

Vijay Iyer Trio, Uneasy (ECM)

Norah Jones, ‘Til We Meet Again (Blue Note)

Dan Wilson, Vessels of Wood and Earth (Brother Mister/Mack Avenue)

Hasaan Ibn Ali, Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (Omnivore)

Michael Wollny, Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre and Christian Lillinger, XXXX (ACT)

Tony Allen, There Is No End (Blue Note)

Crate Digging: Spiritual Jazz Albums Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

You can listen to the podcast version via the player below. Write-ups of individual albums and sample tracks follow. Welcome to the party! For this episode of Crate Digging, we have chosen some of our favorite spiritual jazz albums!

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises (Luaka Bop, 2021)

Alice Coltrane, Journey in Satchidananda (Impulse!, 1971)

John McLaughlin, My Goal’s Beyond (Douglas, 1971)

Lonnie Liston Smith, Astral Traveling (Flying Dutchman, 1973)

Muriel Grossman, Reverence (Dreamland, 2019)

Sun Ra, Space Is the Place (Blue Thumb, 1973)

McCoy Tyner, Asante (Blue Note, 1974)

Tom Scott, The Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse!, 1967)

Maisha, There is a Place (Brownswood, 2019)

Charlie Haden and Hank Jones, Steal Away (Verve, 1995)

Crate Digging with Pedrito Martinez: Life-Changing Albums Mar 03, 2021

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This week on the podcast, we sit down with Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez to discuss the albums that changed his life. Pedrito was a founding member of the group Yerba Buena and has performed and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield and Eric Clapton. He was also featured in Season 3 of the hit Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. His new album, Acertijos (RiddlesI), is due out March 19, 2021.

JAZZIZ Crate Digging: Jazz Meets Hip-Hop Jan 27, 2021

Show notes

Jazz and hip-hop are dialects of the same language. Put them together, and their conversation is sublime. From jazz artists with hip-hop sensibilities to rappers versed in the rhythms of jazz, here are six albums that bridge the gap.

Look out for our Jazz Meets Hip-Hop print issue coming March 2021. Become a subscriber today: https://www.jazziz.com/subscription-options

10 Albums You Need To Know: December 2020 Dec 09, 2020

Show notes

A fabled guitarist’s fully solo debut album; a testament to a jazz great’s continued legacy; unheard outtakes from a legendary session. All this and more in our list of ten albums out this December 2020 that you need to know.

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