Jazz Reviews
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Keith Jarrett - At the Deer Head Inn
21st Oct 2026
In advance of Keith Jarrett's new album Roma being released next month, we take a look back at one of his previous live albums. At the Deer Head from 1992 features Jarrett alongside Gary Peacock and Paul Motion to perform a selection of standards at the Pennsylvania club.
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Village Vanguard - Landmark Albums
14th Oct 2026
An historic setting for jazz fans across the world, the Village Vanguard lives up to its name. Located in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of New York, this club has stood at the forefront of development in jazz for nearly 70 years and this article takes a look at an album recorded in each of the 8 decades since jazz found a home in the Village Vanguard.
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John Coltrane - Blue Train
29th Sep 2026
Marking John Coltrane’s centenary, this review revisits Blue Train, the 1957 hard-bop landmark recorded as he emerged from personal crisis and found renewed artistic focus. Joined by Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller and a formidable rhythm section, Coltrane pushes familiar blues and bebop structures towards the harmonic breakthroughs soon to follow.
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Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue
23rd Sep 2026
Bobby Hutcherson’s first released album as leader places the young vibraphonist alongside Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, Richard Davis and Joe Chambers. Moving between hard bop and the avant-garde, Dialogue combines angular rhythms, shadowed blues and collective improvisation in a remarkably assured statement from Blue Note’s exploratory mid-1960s period.
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Anita O'Day - Anita Sings the Most
10th Sep 2026
Anita O’Day’s 1957 meeting with Oscar Peterson produced one of her finest albums: a fast-moving set displaying her extraordinary rhythmic control, quicksilver phrasing and improvisational daring. We revisit this classic album, alongside her celebrated Newport appearance, which confirmed O’Day as one of jazz’s most distinctive singers.
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Lennie Tristano - Lennie Tristano & The New Tristano
26th Aug 2026
Lennie Tristano remains one of jazz’s most fascinating modernists. This Classic Recording feature pairs his two landmark Atlantic albums: the fiercely chromatic, technologically adventurous Lennie Tristano and the subtler solo-piano set The New Tristano. Together, they reveal an uncompromising improviser whose influence extends far beyond his relatively small recorded legacy.
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Sonny Rollins - Way Out West
19th Aug 2026
Sonny Rollins strips away the piano to cultivate a hard-bop piece of brilliance. Backed by West Coast legends Ray Brown and Shelly Manne, his playfulness and thematic brilliance shine through on every track.
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Kenny Burrell Celebrates 95th Birthday - Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
29th Jul 2026
This 1958 hard bop classic brilliantly pairs Kenny Burrell’s bluesy guitar approach with John Coltrane and his unmistakable style. Backed by an all-star rhythm section, this remains as an essential album to keep on rotation.
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Misterioso - Thelonious Monk
4th Jul 2026
Misterioso captures the Thelonious Monk Quartet at the absolute peak of their radical, live powers during a legendary August 1958 residency at the Five Spot Café.
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The Sidewinder – Lee Morgan
20th May 2026
Lee Morgan's 1963 masterpiece, The Sidewinder, revitalised Blue Note Records with its infectious title track. Blending hard bop with soul-jazz and boogaloo rhythms, it remains a definitive, high-energy jazz classic.
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Duke Ellington - The Nutcracker Suite
24th Dec 2025
Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite turns Tchaikovsky’s beloved holiday classic into a swinging jazz celebration. Lush orchestration meets the playfulness of a big band, resulting in a festive classic.
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Dexter Gordon - Our Man In Paris
19th Nov 2025
Dexter Gordon’s 1963 bebop classic Our Man In Paris showcases Gordon and his associates at their finest. Recorded in Paris with Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke and Pierre Michelot, the album features Gordon’s unmistakably robust tenor saxophone alongside the ensemble.
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Freddie Hubbard & Woody Shaw - The Eternal Triangle
7th Aug 2025
A high-octane Blue Note release showcases the masterful playing of trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw, supported by a dynamic rhythm section.
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Ahmad Jamal At The Pershing: But Not For Me
18th Jun 2025
Recorded at Chicago’s Pershing Lounge in 1958 with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier, the album features eight tracks selected from forty-three recorded that night and showcases Jamal’s minimalist style and dynamic trio interplay.
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Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Shack
28th May 2025
Back at the Chicken Shack is a landmark 1963 soul jazz album, showcasing the virtuosic Hammond organ talents of Jimmy Smith. Performing alongside Stanley Turrentine and Kenny Burrell, this album is full of bluesy grooves, soulful melodies, and impeccable quartet chemistry.
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Miles Davis All Stars - Walkin'
30th Apr 2025
More than sixty years old, Walkin’ remains a landmark album in jazz history. Recorded in 1954, it features Miles Davis leading top musicians in both quintet and sextet formats and played a crucial role in shaping the hard bop genre that Davis helped to define.
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Dave Holland Quintet - Extended Play (Live At Birdland)
27th Mar 2025
A stellar lineup of musicians recorded over the course of four days at New York's iconic Birdland jazz club, becoming one of Dave Holland’s essential recordings to have.
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Ella Fitzgerald - The Moment Of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum
13th Mar 2025
Ella does it again in the latest addition to her outstanding catalogue: The Moment Of Truth: Ella At The Coliseum. Performing alongside the Duke Ellington Orchestra, this previously undiscovered concert from 1967 emerges from the vaults of Verve founder Norman Granz and instantly becomes a classic.
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Roy Hargrove - Earfood
27th Feb 2025
Serving up a delicious blend of tradition and modernity, Earfood proves that hard bop can still be a feast for the ears in the 21st century.
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Chick Corea - Children's Songs
3rd Feb 2025
In a moment of mid-career lucidity, the jazz fusion pioneer issued this unaccompanied statement of sweeping but deceptive simplicity.
