My annual New Year’s Eve watch is ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ and I don’t care that it’s totally on-the-nose; it made me laugh out loud like a dozen times tonight, which is some kind of miracle. Happy New Year, y’all!

Better year I can feel it

In case you need a killer soundtrack this New Year’s Eve lnk.to/cookers

Live music: reliably the best thing about 2025

Roscoe Mitchell’s advice to his younger self. (From a Mellon Foundation website documenting a recent NYC gathering of 16 Jazz Legacies Fellows) www.mellon.org/grant-story/...

One Battle After Another will probably win an armload of Oscars — but if it were to only win one, it should be for Best Original Score. (Yes, saw it again tonight.) #jonnygreenwood

We have a situation #MerryChristmas

Nothing better late on Christmas Eve

Here is the revered Swiss saxophonist Marcus Weiss on baritone, playing Bach and Kurtág in 2016. When you say “Bari Weiss,” this is my preferred mental image.

In SCROOGED (1988), the cab driven by the Ghost of Christmas Past heads first to Christmas Eve, 1955 — which means that Frank Cross time-travels to a point less than seven weeks after Marty McFly in BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985). Even the cab meter feels like a nod to the DeLorean dash.

Several years ago I put together a Christmas jazz thread that went modestly viral on Twitter. I’ve reconstructed it at The Gig — find it here, along with my thoughts about a worthy new addition to the canon. 🎄

Allow me to make the case for the Jeremy Pelt holiday EP. (And OK, fine, I’ll also blurb Boney James and Stella Cole.) 🎷☃️

Rewatched DIE HARD tonight. Even better than I remembered it. Also 150% a Christmas Movie. Anybody who says otherwise can’t be trusted.

So if Brooks had actually written an Epstein column, would it just have been this? (sub in “teenage sex trafficking” for “gambling,” obvs)

Went deep on an under-appreciated Christmas album. I think we could all use this energy right now.

Whew, this piece by @aadowd.bsky.social. 🔥 Highly recommend. (H/T @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social) prospect.org/2025/12/11/s...

The editorial director of WRTI in Philadelphia shares his favorite albums of the year, including a "thinking person's thrill ride" of a jazz guitar album. n.pr/4pqHTCQ

NPR Music’s Best Albums of 2025 list is live! Each capsule features a link to hear the music on any streaming service. TYSM to @npr.org critics @annkpowers.bsky.social, @idislikestephen.bsky.social, @natechinen.bsky.social, @totalvibration.bsky.social, @robinpr.bsky.social. Follow them!

Here's video from The Year in Jazz, a panel discussion with some smart folks who've been paying close attention

Tonight at 7pm ET, I'll be visited by three spirits: Ayana Contreras, Martin Johnson, and Peter Margasak. We'll talk all about THE YEAR IN JAZZ — and you're invited!

Tonight at 7 PM EST (and 1 AM in Berlin!) I’m part of a roundtable hosted by Nate Chinen with Ayana Contreras and Martin Johnson. It’s the annual Year in Jazz discussion that Nate has long organized. It’s free but you need to register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...?

There have certainly been more gut-wrenching Eagles losses, but right now I’m hard-pressed to think of one

This will be fun. Join us!!

Last night I dreamed of a marvelous solo clinic and concert by Jack DeJohnette. I actually saw one in 1997 — he improvised continuously for over an hour, on drums and piano, expanding the known universe. Then he picked up a microphone, paused briefly, and said: “Any questions?”

“You’ll be visited by three spirits.” The three spirits

Two of the best music books of 2025 concern *how* we listen. I reviewed them together, drawing out some connections.

Sometimes for a laugh I remember the time my wife, who grew up around Houston, TX, first learned of the existence of the wonderful tenor saxophonist Houston Person. She could hardly believe it was a real name. Like, a guy named Area Man.

*looks directly at camera*

Here it is: the Best Jazz Albums of 2025 🎧

Every commercial for Gemini and ChatGPT delivers the same pitch: “Heyyy you’re a lazy idiot, right? We can cheat faster for you.” Actually pretty accurate product assessment and market analysis. Anyway, maybe don’t be a lazy idiot? Unless that’s your thing.

This shot of Santa leaving the Linc is such a dagger to the heart. (And not a snowball in sight…)

The Jazz Barn is a brisk, enlightening book about a place in time, and how it altered the perception and practice of an art form. Here’s a review; my first byline in the WSJ.

Mark your calendar for The Year in Jazz, peruse a Holiday Gift Guide, and take advantage of a Black Friday Special at The Gig. 🙏🏼

If you’re watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and happen to notice how funky Guaraldi got with the music, this post is for you

"In a Venn diagram of people deeply concerned about Michelin ratings and people deeply concerned about cheesesteaks, the overlap is not large," writes Julia Moskin. Umm I know a lot of Philadelphians who'd take issue with that assessment. (We are large, we contain multitudes, etc.) #GoBirds

Who reviews live jazz gigs in 2025? Uh, this guy. Here's my take on a Tim Berne gig in Philly, with the bright young pianist Tyler Bullock and a killer drummer, Timothy Angulo.

NPR’s awesome Books We Love package is out today: Such bounty! There goes my nightstand! Here is my blurb for Jeff Chang’s magisterial cultural biography of Bruce Lee.

Psyched to dive into Billy Hart's new live album this weekend and @natechinen.bsky.social (who wrote the liner notes) has an excellent rundown: thegig.substack.com/p/drums-unli...

Two absolute gems, from a pair of master drummers and a murder’s row of Gen X standard-bearers. (I wrote liners for both.) Some insights herein.

‘How I Got Found Out, Part 1’ ^ quick edit to your hed, just added a clarifying word to make it relatable to a lot of people in powerful circles. Also: reconsider “Part 1,” unless we’re committed to updating this weekly.

I can’t believe how stupid everything is

What's from Chicago, hates Illinois Nazis, and is holy as fuck? It's the Pope in 1982.

All this Epstein talk today. Just watch, tomorrow The White House will announce that the Lincoln Memorial is being bulldozed to clear space for the Vince McMahon Patriot Dome. Also, a declaration of war with Luxembourg.

" @maryhalvorson.bsky.social released what will soon officially be one of the most acclaimed jazz albums of 2025." — @natechinen.bsky.social in The Gig, on Halvorson, her sextet Amaryllis, and their latest album, 'About Ghosts' substack.com/home/post/p-...

Mary Halvorson's Amaryllis is the bomb. Herein, a new podcast episode, a Jazzfest Berlin review, and some additional thoughts.

That Saquon run followed by that Davonte TD catch, this is the stuff

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