Kevin Whitehead

Flute player Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Mike Reed all came up on Chicago's new jazz scene about 20 years ago. Now they revisit their roots on ... and then there's this.

Earlier this year, Kevin Whitehead noted the passing of Chick Corea and Mario Pavone. Now he remembers a few more players who died in 2021, including Milford Graves, Ralph Peterson and Dave Frishberg.

Taborn is one the most inventive and resourceful pianists in improvised music today. He has a new solo album — his first in a decade — and, like the previous one, it's a stunner.

The Cuban piano whiz teams up with American jazz greats Jack DeJohnette and Ron Carter on a new album. Skyline is three masters enjoying each other's company, with us listeners as lucky eavesdroppers.

In 1970, Morgan recorded three shows at the Lighthouse jazz club in Hermosa Beach, Calif. A new box set captures Morgan and his band putting their own spin on Coltrane's trance-like repetitions.

Frahm has a brawny tenor sax sound, strong and consistent from top to bottom. His new trio album shows off his ability to use pacing and momentum to tell a compelling story.

Joy sang some jazz in high school, but didn't get serious about it until later. Her debut album, which she recorded as a college student, could be a public service announcement for jazz education.

J.D. Allen's Queen City and Jon Irabagon's Bird With Streams are two very different new albums by outstanding tenor saxophonists.

Four decades after his death, Evans remains part of the jazz conversation. A new anthology surveys records the jazz pianists made as leader, from 1956 until his death in 1980.

Barnes and Osborne would both be 100 on July 17. Barnes grew up in Chicago and went on to play on Bob Dylan's first single. Osborne turned up on records by Mel Tormé , Wynonie Harris and others.

Vaughan combined an operatic sense of drama and vocal control with an improviser's risk-taking. A newly released 1969 concert recording is an ambitious showcase of her pop and classical sensibilities.

Last winter, knowing his time on earth was growing short, the bassist, who died May 15, resolved to cap 40 years of making his own records with a final statement: two albums, by two quartets.

Bandleader and reed player Hutchings was born in London, but partly raised in Barbados. His new album with Sons of Kemet highlights the criss-crossing trajectories of African musical diasporas.

Herring is an alto saxophonist with a dynamic sound and aggressive attitude. His new album features jazz with a big dollop of swing rhythm and blues feeling.

A CD set from Mosaic, full of singles and albums made between '46 and '66, confirms the variety of Armstrong's studio sides — and shows how much work went into making them sound casual.

Coleman, who died in 2015, had a knack for writing catchy melodies in a distinctive voice. Saxophonist Miguel Zenón loves Coleman's music and put together a quartet to play some.

The jazz pianist only recorded two albums, the second of which was long believed to be lost. Now, the rediscovery of Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Session is cause for renewed celebration.

For Helfer, vintage piano dialects are living traditions, not museum exhibits. The 85-year-old Chicago musician helps keep those traditions alive — and passes that knowledge on — with a new album.

The French pianist is known for inserting pieces of wood between strings to produce new sounds. Delbecq's technique — as showcased on his new album — can make him sound like he has an extra hand.

Hemphill was a founding member and principal composer for the World Saxophone Quartet. The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony features seven discs of newly released music from his archives.