Hey, heads-up: Kassa Overall played an absolute knockout of an album-release show at Solar Myth two months ago. Tonight at 8pm, WRTI will play selections from that show on Sunday Rotation, hosted by @booker-julian.bsky.social. Tune in locally, or stream it worldwide. More info (+ video!) right here.

Had a great time talking with Khruangbin about their world-beating first decade, their back-to-the-barn new release, and the secret formula behind their rapport. Listen now at The Gig.

Footage of Cuomo heading back upstate

In my suburban Pennsylvania district, I cast ballot No. 538. My wish for you is that this is the only 538-related content that you will see from a Nate today.

@burningambulance.bsky.social, thought you’d want to see this still life from the merch table at Jazzfest Berlin

What does it look like when artists speak out? The other night in Berlin, it looked like Elder Ones.

A few more thoughts about Jack DeJohnette, who left us this week (but is still with us in many ways)

Jack DeJohnette, just one of the deepest musicians ever, and a personal hero. Here is my obituary for NPR Music.

David Breskin has been behind some of the most vital recorded music in recent memory — including four of my No. 1 albums over the last decade. He doesn’t often talk publicly about that work, which is one reason this conversation is special. (There are myriad other reasons.)

In September 1958, Columbia threw a jazz party at the Plaza Hotel. Ralph Ellison wrote afterward to Albert Murray about "poor, evil, lost little Miles Davis" and his band. "These cats have gotten lost, man. They're trying to get hold of something by fucking up the blues." 🤨 youtu.be/_PrJhAERZlQ?...

The View From Nowhere stays pretty appealing when you’ve built an entire resort community touting the view

There’s a new movie that worshipfully takes us behind the scenes of Keith Jarrett’s ‘The Köln Concert.’ Here are some of my problems with it.

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

Scene from a swing state suburb today: NO KINGS 🚫 F*CK ICE 👎🏼 GO BIRDS 🦅 #nokings #nokingsday

For all you nyc photobugs out there, I'm playing a solo piano set in the atrium of Grand Central Station Saturday at 10pm for Brandon Stanton's "Humans of NY" - i might be inaudible amid the throngs but it should be a pretty cool kodak moment nonetheless! www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/10/bran...

“He was a political martyr because he was killed. I like people who weren’t killed.”

For a brief, blessed stretch this spring, I was looking forward to seeing D’Angelo perform Voodoo with The Roots. Here’s what I wrote about the album — an epilogue for the 20th century, a prologue to the 21st — on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

D’Angelo. Hard to even process this one. He was one of a kind, but part of a continuum. That’s at the heart of what made him so special. #RIP

Here are my liner notes for the incredible Stanley Cowell album Musa: Ancestral Streams, with a prefatory big-picture pitch

Last month I returned home to Hawaii for the first time in almost seven years. One aspect of my reconnection came as a pleasant surprise. #vibes

Ravi Coltrane Quartet was stupendous at Solar Myth tonight, playing John Coltrane’s music as a benefit for the Coltrane House in Philly’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. I’ll have more to say about this soon.

Glad that in 12 hours, I will be standing in front of the John Coltrane House with Ravi, Lovett Hines and a bunch of gifted kids — a much-needed Philadelphia healing, after this disastrous day

Drinking heavily on a weeknight because sports

More on Sullivan Fortner last night (and forever) 🏆

THIS MAN 🙌 ⚾️ 🎷 @phillies.com SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL JAZZ STATION x.com/JDumasReport...

Two of my favorite musicians alive — Craig Taborn and Sullivan Fortner — received massive honors today. It’s a hard time to be paying attention in this world, but here’s some unmitigated good news. So happy for them both. 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼

Terence Blanchard is a cultural hero, full stop.

While "Wood" is grabbing all the attention, I'll put it out into the universe: You don't even need a full-on breakup to put your whole heart into an emotional banger titled "Loose Ends"

I like a number of songs on the new TS album, but there’s just no getting around the fact that it’s hilarious to fall deeply in love with Travis Kelce. It couldn’t be funnier if you wrote a set of romantic pop-ballads about Michelangelo the Ninja Turtle.

“It's very possible that Swift is leaning into pettiness and even bad taste as a way of further fleshing out the spotlight-hardened character she's exploring. But to send such messages now is a choice.” Here’s @annkpowers.bsky.social with a characteristically nuanced and generous Showgirl review. ✨

Happy 100 to a real one. I loved this man, and whether you know it or not, you love the musical reality he helped bring into being.

Calder Gardens opens today in Philadelphia, and it’s a big deal for the worlds of art, architecture and design. But when I spent a few hours there last week, it struck me as a musical experience.

her name couldn’t really be WILL OBEY

Not far into the early set at The Village Vanguard on Thursday night, I had a wildly irresponsible thought: at this moment, the Miguel Zenón Quartet might actually be the best band in the world.

"Cancel Culture" — ruling class invokes this phrase like it's a state of being. But when they deploy it, the first word in the phrase isn't a modifier, it's a command.

Hip-hop heads and jazz snobs don’t always find common ground, but they should be able to agree on Kassa Overall. Let’s make the case.

I don’t get complaints about the running joke on the #Emmys broadcast. Smug mid white guy flaunts his wealth, uses a money clock to threaten artists with the deprivation of underprivileged children — what could be more in tune with our cultural moment?

"I just want to say, go birds, fuck ICE and free Palestine," "Hacks" star Hannah Einbinder at the #Emmys

What is the sonic equivalent to “visionary” — aurallary? RIP to one of those, maybe the best of them

Everyone is out of their goddam mind.

It Only Tuesday https://theonion.com/it-only-tuesday-1819569397/

Phew, that game was closer than I would have liked. Anyway, it’s Bandcamp Friday now, and I have some killer recs.

Remember: Wayne Shorter showed us how it can be both

Today is my birthday, and I had one request: Let’s go to a Prince concert 💜

Concert flex? Sure, I could rattle off a bunch of cool memories — but if it’s really a ~flex~ you want, my answer is: some concert next week, and the week after that, until death ends my journey. This is my job, somehow.

Pianist and composer Bokani Dyer grew up among South African exiles in Botswana, and has become a leading jazz artist from the region. I caught his trio the other night in Philly; I reckon this is the only proper review from his North American tour.

I do want Taylor to play the Super Bowl LX halftime show, if only so I can say: “At least there’s ONE Kelce who’ll be in this Super Bowl” #GoBirds

i want everybody who laments the state of crit today to find and boost some that they enjoy

“We apologize for the extreme lateness and the overcrowding. We are in the position of trying to fit four trains’ worth of people into one.” You probably have bigger problems on your mind, but today brought avoidable austerity measures to SEPTA. Credit to the conductors for grace under pressure.