A touch of jazz?

January 10, 2006 1:42 PM

What are some good resources for finding out about new and interesting jazz?

I am very interested in jazz, but I don't really know where to look to find out what's innovative and exciting. Most of what I've heard of, I've read about in the indie rock press (Pitchfork, Dusted, etc.) or heard on KEXP's Jazz Theatre broadcast - stuff like Dave Douglas, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Bad Plus, and John Zorn's various releases. I'd like to find out if there are publications or blogs where I can find out about contemporary jazz - especially mp3 blogs like Said The Gramophone, Stereogum, Ear Fuzz, Soul Sides, etc., except with more of a jazz focus. Or something like Down Beat, but hipper. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

posted by box to media & arts (20 comments total)

As far as just recommending stuff there are good recommendations here, which in turn has links to other AskMe threads. not sure about blogs dedicated to it tho, I assumed you googled.
posted by edgeways at 1:48 PM on January 10, 2006

er, sorry the link didn't translate for some reason..

here
posted by edgeways at 1:48 PM on January 10, 2006

This question is a collaboration by box and matildaben. A jam session, almost. Thanks for anything you can contribute.
posted by matildaben at 1:50 PM on January 10, 2006

The Wire covers experimental jazz at length on a regular basis, though that's not its primary focus.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:54 PM on January 10, 2006

Jazzwise is excellent, and covers lots of good exciting forward-thinking stuff as well as more traditional things.

Also, check the ResonanceFM listings for relevant shows. They have good jazz from time to time.
posted by nylon at 2:02 PM on January 10, 2006

I'm very curious about the answer to this question, too. When the end-of-year jazz lists came out, apart from the hohum obvious stuff (Monk + Coltrane, Albert Ayler), I recognised very very little - and had no easy way to sample! I don't know of any mp3blog specialising in contemporary jazz, although there are (obv) tons that do classic jazz sides.
posted by Marquis at 2:03 PM on January 10, 2006

Self-link.

Or, click to the main page. You'll see "Jazz Links" on the right.
posted by cribcage at 2:06 PM on January 10, 2006

Also, my Amazon Reviews are mostly jazz. Ditto for this guy, who's written a lot more than I have.
posted by cribcage at 2:10 PM on January 10, 2006

Try the very cool, very free pandora.com
posted by JamesMessick at 2:27 PM on January 10, 2006

I made a post about this.
posted by languagehat at 2:39 PM on January 10, 2006

cribcage! Tsk tsk. You forgot to put Steve Reid Ensemble's Spirit Walk at number 1.
posted by nylon at 3:03 PM on January 10, 2006

Lots of top ten of 2005 lists at the Jazz Journalists Association website. You could find some critics you agree with and look for more of their writing.
posted by hydrophonic at 3:48 PM on January 10, 2006

There's a smart and active community on ILX. See, for example, the thread top 05 jazz albums.
posted by caek at 4:25 PM on January 10, 2006

JazzTimes is pretty good, and comes with a fair number of mp3s, especially in the Before and After section.
posted by Wolof at 4:31 PM on January 10, 2006

I'd suggest giving Giles Peterson a listen on BBC radio (you should be able to get the most recent show on the BBC player)

He plays a real eclectic mix of music (jazz, beats, funk, soul) but a lot of it has origins in jazz. Check it out
posted by cgfoz at 6:15 AM on January 11, 2006

Cribcage's jazz blog is good, but conservative. What kind of jazz are you interested in ("contemporary" can mean so much)?
posted by klangklangston at 3:56 PM on January 11, 2006

Not conservative. Stuff that's innovative, maybe even overlap with hip hop and electronica somewhat, but still jazz focused. See some of the artists I mentioned in the original post. That is, equivalent to the difference between indie and mainstream in the rock world.
posted by matildaben at 3:13 PM on January 12, 2006

The artists in your original post define the mainstream. No one in jazz, save maybe Diana Krall, gets the kind of exposure and sales that Bad Plus enjoys; Jason Moran is simply one of the latest crop of "young lions"; Dave Douglas gets license to record damn near whatever he pleases and has often been criticized for slanting the "white" audience; and John Zorn is the token black sheep.

Having said that: If you're interested in hip-hop overlay, check out some samples from Modern Day Jazz Stories by Courtney Pine and Animation/Imagination by Tim Hagans. I'm particularly fond of the former; Pine is a great player (although I don't recommend his recent records), and DJ Pogo drops a couple of Dhalsim samples from Street Fighter II.

Check out labels like Hatology and Cryptogramophone. Listen to some samples. If that's what you're looking for, I'd heartily recommend, for example, Mark Dresser's Aquifer, or David Liebman's Colors, or the Claudia Quintet. You should visit the Downtown Music Gallery and sign up for their newsletter, which includes lots of reviews. That's probably the best suggestion, in terms of learning to fish for yourself.
posted by cribcage at 9:12 AM on January 13, 2006

Ooh, I just got served.
posted by matildaben at 7:04 PM on January 16, 2006

The best thing about jazz is that people have been innovative and exciting with it for close to 100 years, and much of it still sounds fresh today. While you can find some awesome music out there right now (check out David Ullmann, by the way) there's so much to be had from the past. There are no rules to listening to jazz, but do make sure you're enjoying yourself.

There are some decent sites out there. I like allaboutjazz.com, it's a mine of information and has a free mp3 to download every day. The Daily Jazz is a blog about classic jazz albums that also has music to listen to most days. Record label sites often give you sample mp3's too. If you live near a jazz record store, go and pester them until they play you the good stuff hiding under the counter. Get out and see some gigs - especially performers you've never heard of, some of the best musical discoveries are made that way.
posted by minty95 at 2:35 PM on April 26, 2006