Jazz Chronicles

Perhaps I was too enraptured by his so-called American Quartet or too much in love with his rapturous solo inventions of the 1970s, but I ...

When a standalone restaurant closes, it's usually a highly local story. But, when that restaurant doubles as the headquarters of a city...

There are few things as thrilling in music as when musicians whose work you love form a new group and the results define the cliché of the w...

The main stage structure in Ottawa's Confederation Park—home base for the TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival—has only just been disma...

On the eve of summer, and the attendant launch of jazz festival season across Canada and the United States, one of my favourite festivals—th...

In the dead of winter, especially in the dead of a winter in Eastern Ontario, it can seem like a long time between jazz festivals. But, now,...

I met Gregg Allman in 1978 on a steamy day in Macon, Georgia, at an event that he mentions briefly in his new autobiography, My Cross To Bea...

So much has been written and said about Levon Helm in the days since his health took its final turn that there's not much to add. But ...

Michelle Mercer and me at AWP I'm just back from an extended trip to Chicago, which included a speaking engagement at the annual co...

If you're interested in speculative fiction in addition to music, check out my new piece on Canadian bassist Chris Tarry, who has been ...

My friend Peter Hum has a blog post  decrying the absence of jazz musicians on the televised portion of the Grammy Awards, but really, do we...

As it continues to revamp its music offerings on its traditional FM frequencies and on SiriusXM satellite radio, the Canadian Broadcasting C...

Fellow jazz critic Larry Appelbaum posted a Facebook link to John McLaughlin's album Extrapolations today, which caused me to post that...

Each year, veteran music critic Francis Davis polls dozens of jazz critics for their picks of the best music they heard during the previous ...

Francis Davis tells me that rhapsody.com will publish the full results of the extensive poll of jazz journalists he conducts this Wednesday...

I took some time over the holidays to enjoy Will Hermes' new book  Love Goes To Buildings On Fire , which chronicles the New York City ...

What a brutal few weeks for the shrinking cadre of elderly masters of improvised music: first Paul Motian, then Bob Brookmeyer, and this wee...

My full top 10-plus will appear this year as usual at New Year's as part of the annual compendium of critics' lists that Francis Dav...

It may be a month early for a review of the year in jazz 2011, but it's clear that the dominant topic—at least during the summer festiva...

I can't begin to count the number of recordings I have that feature drummer Paul Motian, who died today at age 80, and I can't thi...