For much of jazz history, women instrumentalists have existed in plain sight while remaining largely absent from the official story. They toured, recorded, arranged, composed, led bands, and shaped the sound of the music — yet their presence was often treated as peripheral, exceptional, or temporary. The Girls in the Band, a documentary directed by …
Footage from a 1965 concert in Berlin captures has been hailed by many as the greatest piano jazz summit ever documented on film. It captures an extraordinary moment in jazz history: a single stage shared by some of the most influential pianists the music has produced. The concert, often referred to as the Berlin Jazz …
In 1938, British jazz audiences were about to encounter something they weren’t prepared for. Jazz in the UK was still largely understood through big bands, brass sections, and American imports. The idea that a European group built around guitar and violin — with no piano and no drums — could deliver something equally modern wasn’t …
In the late 1950s, Miles Davis recorded the haunting soundtrack to Louis Malle’s film Ascenseur pour l’échafaud — improvised live in Paris as the musicians watched the scenes unfold. As you can hear below, it was a remarkable session which pre-dated Kind of Blue, and forever changed the sound of jazz on film. In December …
Imagine settling down in front of your TV set on Christmas day 1957 and seeing the great Miles Davis appear on your screen. That’s what happened for many French jazz fans, via a short Parisian television performance that was considered lost until just a few years ago… This footage shows Miles at 31 — two …
If you haven’t yet heard Buddy Rich berating his band on the tour bus, stay tuned below for an 11-minute treat..! Jazz history is full of famous recordings. Studio albums. Live broadcasts. Bootlegs captured from the audience. But there is an entirely different kind of recording that has circulated among musicians for more than forty …
Jazz history tends to focus on albums that announce change clearly. Records that sit between eras or styles can be harder to place and easier to overlook. Yusef Lateef’s catalogue contains several such examples. When the career of Yusef Lateef is discussed, attention usually centres on one part of his work: the early-1960s recordings that …
When Black Byrd was released in 1973, it didn’t sound like the Donald Byrd many jazz critics thought they knew. Byrd had built his reputation in the 1950s and 60s as a serious modern jazz trumpeter, recording for Blue Note alongside figures like Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock and Hank Mobley. Albums such as Byrd in …
If you haven’t heard the 1965 live recording of John Coltrane playing A Love Supreme in a Seattle club, you’re in for a treat. Released in 2021, if provides a fascinating perspective on that iconic album—as you can hear below… For more than half a century, A Love Supreme existed in two forms:the 1964 studio …
When A Love Supreme was released in early 1965, it appeared as a complete statement by John Coltrane’s Classic Quartet — a four-part suite recorded in one focused session on 9 December 1964. For most listeners, that was the entire story. But the album’s original liner notes contained a single, unexpected detail. Coltrane thanked tenor …