Ahead of this year's Monterey Jazz Festival, a look back at some early ones starting with 1963, which featured the festival debuts of Miles Davis & Thelonious Monk, a swan song from Jack Teagarden, a Modern Jazz Quartet homage to MLK, & Dizzy Gillespie's presidential campaign. #MontereyJazzFestival

Listening to the latest entry in Jazzman’s outstanding spiritual jazz series, now up to 18 volumes. #spiritualjazz

Duke Ellington on my mind this weekend. The 1943 debut of his Black, Brown and Beige suite at Carnegie Hall includes a beautiful feature for saxophonist Johnny Hodges on “Come Sunday.” To quote the Duke himself, “We, too, sing America.”

Also why I haven’t given up my CDs.

Herb Alpert got his start playing trumpet in L.A.'s public schools. He wants to help make that "magic" possible for students.

This weekend WFIU is re-airing my 2004 documentary about Duke Ellington’s 1941 musical revue Jump For Joy, in celebration of the station’s 75th anniversary. Jump For Joy satirized Hollywood’s treatment of race & drew many famous artists into its orbit. You can listen on demand & read more here.

Happy birthday to one of my greatest heroes, Elvin Jones, b. 9/9/27. Here's Jan Hammer's "Thorn of a White Rose" from one of Elvin's best records as a leader: ELVIN JONES IS ON THE MOUNTAIN (1975). Hammer on keyboards, Gene Perla on bass. www.youtube.com/watch?v=q65x...

Feeling the need for some Coltrane today. This favorite is one of the last studio recordings made by the Classic Quartet. #Coltrane #Love

I’m a jazz DJ & love jazz, but my 1980s college rock roots are still strong. Lately I’ve been revisiting R.E.M.’s IRS catalogue, albums that arrived like new chapters of an indie-rock bible in the making. They were & remain prophetic.

RIP Sheila Jordan, a jazz-vocal giant and an American original. Here is my tribute, on The Gig.

Some prime O.P. as we approach his centennial. #OscarPeterson #solopiano

Here’s to a great one

Goodbye to a giant of Latin jazz.

Congress eliminated public media funding, and the president signed it into law. At a time of deep division, public media brings us together. Help keep it strong. Join our monthly donors today: n.pr/458sOhq

A happy 39th birthday to R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant, recorded here in Bloomington and released on this day in 1986. It is young despite the years, it is concern, it is hope despite the times. #R.E.M.

DownBeat’s obituary for pianist Hal Galper.

Ethan Iverson’s reflections on pianist Hal Galper, who passed away several days ago at the age of 87.

An excellent writeup from Bandcamp on the Strata-East label.

A Night Lights for #BastilleDay, delving into jazz in the post-World War II French cinema, w/special guest & film scholar James Naremore.

A Night Lights for Lalo Schifrin, who passed away yesterday at the age of 93.

Affirmative! Really looking forward to this jazz-themed Joni Mitchell box set.

Happy #Bloomsday all

One for pianist and composer Chick Corea on what would have been his 84th birthday. #ChickCorea #JazzSky

A Night Lights for Memorial Day, featuring jazz elegies by Charles Mingus, Woody Shaw, Miles Davis and others, all recorded in the 1970s and 80s.

"Stars Of Jazz" was a visually innovative 1950s TV show hosted by "Route 66" songwriter Bobby Troup that featured performances by artists such as Art Pepper, Billie Holiday, & the Lighthouse All-Stars, as well as segments that sought to illuminate both jazz history & the modern jazz scene. #JazzSky

Long before it became a center of the psychedelic counterculture and its attendant rock groups, San Francisco was a West Coast haven for the development of jazz. A Night Lights tribute to the mid-20th century San Francisco jazz scene w/music from Dave Brubeck, Vince Guaraldi, John Handy and others:

Andy Bey was a treasure, and it feels right to sing his praises on International Jazz Day, even as we mourn. Read more at The Gig.

A new Night Lights for #DukeEllington on his birthday, diving into the fascinating small-group catalogue of Duke’s own Mercer label. #Jazzsky

I've been enjoying this set a great deal--it's especially valuable if you're a bit of a naif to this era and scene, as I have been. JazzWax's Marc Myers puts his lived perspective on it here. #BritishJazz

“From the jump, our goal was to introduce kids to the wide world of jazz music, and we do that both from an audio and visual perspective,” says “Acoustic Rooster” EP Julius Harper. current.org/2025/04/acou...

I’m generally not a #RecordStoreDay guy, given my preference for CDs. But how could I resist this LP-only comp of Moodsville sides titled “Night Lights”? (I did a couple of shows long ago about Moodsville, but I doubt that was the inspiration for this release.)

An excellent New Yorker profile of Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.

One from the archives for the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a dynamic, hard-swinging all-women big band of the 1940s. #Jazzwomen

Sunday afternoon still-life with cat.

also worth a look - Moody's Oral History interview for the Smithsonian's Jazz Oral History Project. There's a link to a PDF transcript of the whole interview; it's 120 pages long. americanhistory.si.edu/explore/proj...

Sending this 2011 tribute program out today in honor of saxophonist and flutist James Moody's centennial. #JamesMoody #Jazzsky

James Moody was born 100 years ago today on March 26, 1925! The great saxophonist recorded two Blue Note sessions with His Bop Men in 1948. Hear “Moody’s All Frantic” on our “Bebop” playlist: bluenote.lnk.to/bebop

It’s the centennial today of American writer Flannery O’Connor. Check out the Library of America’s tribute, including a piece on her unfinished novel Why Do The Heathen Rage.

Now more than ever.

Oh yeah, Bobby Hutcherson in the 1970s! If you ever see the Mosaic Select around that gathered much of his mid-1970s Blue Note material, jump on it. (Or listen to it on Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/2fArNs...)

Hope despite the times: when R.E.M. came to my college town to record Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986. #R.E.M. #Bloomington #LifesRichPageant #collegerock #1980s

Hope despite the times: when R.E.M. came to my college town to record Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986. #R.E.M. #Bloomington #LifesRichPageant #collegerock #1980s

Sunday rainy-day listening. When it comes to jazz violin, friend & fellow Hoosier Sara Caswell’s my modern-day fave, but Stuff Smith takes historical honors. Nobody swung #jazzviolin more beautifully than #StuffSmith.

Joni Mitchell’s 1970s jazz turn, with a supporting cast of Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and others. #JoniMitchell #WomensHistoryMonth #Jazzsky

Late to the party today, but the great soul-jazz organist Shirley Scott was born on this date (March 14) in 1934. A Night Lights tribute episode: #WomensHistoryMonth #Souljazz #JazzOrgan

Grant Green laying down his brand of spiritual jazz. Feelin’ The Spirit gets overlooked sometimes in the onslaught of outstanding early/mid-1960s Blue Note masterpieces. #GrantGreen

One for the late great drummer #RoyHaynes on the occasion of his centennial.

Among the various things I dig about well-curated & annotated 1990s/2000s jazz CD box sets & anthologies: the wider perspective offered of an artist’s work. Plus it’s Grant Green. Also on Spotify:

Excellent overview of an unsung jazz artist who played with Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and Cecil Taylor.

The celebration of #WomensHistoryMonth continues with "Jazz Women of the 1960s," featuring Alice Coltrane, Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Dorothy Ashby and others. #Jazzsky #Jazzwomen