Search Results for “playlists”

“Two Famous Johns” – a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

The writer remembers an evening in New York’s Half Note in 1964 when he witnessed a John Coltrane performance that was also attended by the pop singer Johnny Mathis

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“Spring is Here!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

With perhaps Lorenz Hart’s most sardonic lyric — which is saying something! — this song remains one of the greats, and has been interpreted in many ways, from the plaintive and melancholy to the upbeat and hard swinging, such as John Coltrane’s version. Check out this bouquet of ten tracks to celebrate this great season!

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“Empire State of GRIME” – a poem by Camille R.E.

The author’s free-verse poem is written as an informal letter to tourists from a native New Yorker, (and sparing no bitter opinion).

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“Darn! All These Dreams!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition, the jazz aficionado Bob Hecht’s 13-song playlist centers on one tune, the great Jimmy Van Heusen/Eddie DeLange standard, “Darn That Dream,” with the first song being a solo musician recording and each successive version adding an instrument.

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“A Perfect 10” – a playlist of tentets by Bob Hecht

Bob adds another instrument to his progressive playlist feature, and shares what a variety of arrangers have been able to accomplish writing for a tentet.

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A sampling of jazz recordings by artists nominated for 2026 Grammy Awards – a playlist by Martin Mueller

A playlist of 14 songs by the likes of Samara Joy, Brad Mehldau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Branford Marsalis, the Yellowjackets and other Grammy Award nominees, assembled by Martin Mueller, the former Dean of the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.

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“Look Ma, No Net!” – a playlist of nonets, by Bob Hecht

In this episode of our progressive instrumentation playlists, we add a ninth instrument to the mix to form a Nonet!

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“Odes & Invocations: An Evening with Artemis” – by david eugene everard

A review of a Victoria, B.C. standing room only performance by Artemis – the all-women jazz ensemble that Downbeat readers have cited as the Best Jazz Group for the last two years – that “felt like an ode to mother nature.”

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“Two Jazz Survivors” – a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

A remembrance of a personal friendship with the late Sheila Jordan, one of the most unique vocalists in jazz history.

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“J.A. Rogers’ ‘Jazz at Home’: A Centennial Reflection on Jazz Representation Through the Lens of Stormy Weather and Everyday Life – an essay by Jasmine M. Taylor

The writer opines that jazz continues to survive – 100 years after J.A. Rogers’ own essay that highlighted the artistic freedom of jazz – and has “become a fundamental core in American culture and modern Americanism; not solely because of its artistic craftsmanship, but because of the spirit that jazz music embodies.”

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“Eight is Great!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

The cover of the 1959 album The Greatest Trumpet of Them All by the Dizzy Gillespie Octet. A song from the album, “Just by Myself,” is featured on Bob Hecht’s new 28-song playlist – this one devoted to octets.

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“Septets—Seven’s Heaven.” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

Bob Hecht’s 26 song playlist features septets, and includes the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Rowles, Charles Mingus, Chick Corea, Art Farmer, and Cannonball Adderley.

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“Sextets: The Joy of Six” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

The cover of the 1960 debut album by the Jazztet, co-founded by the trumpeter Art Farmer and the tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, and which always featured a trombonist and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. Golson wrote much of the music, but “Hi-Fly” – a tune featured on Bob Hecht’s playlist devoted to sextets – was written by pianist Randy Weston, and appears on the 1960 album Big City Sounds.

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“Quintets – Gimme Five!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, on the cover of their 1960 Riverside Records album Live at the Lighthouse. The ensemble – including Cannonball’s brother Nat on cornet, Victor Feldman on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – is a classic hard bop band, and their performance of “Blue Daniel” is part of the 22-song playlist consisting of memorable quintet performances assembled by jazz scholar Bob Hecht.

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“What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?” Readers respond…

What are your hopes, anxieties, expectations for 2025? How do you see it playing out? 50 readers respond to the question, What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?

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“Quartets – Four and No More” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

A 25-song playlist that focuses on quartets, featuring legends like Miles, MJQ, Monk, Brubeck, and Sonny, but also those led by the likes of Freddie Redd, David Murray, Frank Strozier, and Pepper Adams.

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Notes on Bob Hecht’s book, Stolen Moments: A Photographer’s Personal Journey

Some thoughts on a new book of photography by frequent Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht

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“‘Different’ Trios” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this 27-song playlist, Bob Hecht focuses on non-traditional trio recordings.

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“Trios – Three’s Not a Crowd” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In the history of jazz there have been many variations of instrumentation within the trio format (think of Benny Goodman’s trio or Jimmy Giuffre’s) but on this playlist, Bob Hecht concentrates on a handful of the classic trio configurations—either piano, bass and drums, or in a few instances, piano, guitar and bass……

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“Duos – Two of a Mind” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition of extensive jazz playlists, the award-winning jazz producer and scholar Bob Hecht presents a 31-song playlist of historic and contemporary duo performances that exemplify the essence of jazz as a conversation between individuals, an open exchange between equal partners.

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“Alone at the Piano” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition of extensive jazz playlists, the award-winning jazz producer and scholar Bob Hecht focuses his attention on solo piano performances, including those by artists such as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, Bill Evans, Jaki Byard, Keith Jarrett.

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“The Naked Jazz Musician” – A playlist by Bob Hecht

As Sonny Rollins has said, “Jazz is about taking risks, pushing boundaries, and challenging the status quo.” Could there be anything riskier—or more boundary-pushing—than to stand naked and perform with nowhere to hide? Bob’s extensive playlist is comprised of such perilous undertakings by an array of notable woodwind and brass masters who have had the confidence and courage (some might say even the exhibitionism) to expose themselves so completely by playing….alone.

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“The Pianoless Tradition in Modern Jazz” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

An extensive playlist built around examples of prominent pianoless modern jazz.

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Interview with Tad Richards, author of Jazz With a Beat: Small Group Swing, 1940 – 1960

While small group swing was shunned by the jazz critical establishment for being too flamboyant and too close a cousin to the emerging (and despised) rock and roll, Richards makes the case that small group swing players like Illinois Jacquet, Louis Jordan, Big Jay McNeely, Joe Liggins, Red Prysock, T-Bone Walker and Ray Charles played a legitimate jazz that was a more pleasing listening experience to the Black community than the bebop of Parker, Dizzy, Bud Powell and Monk. It is a fascinating era, filled with major figures and events, and centered on a rigorous debate that continues to this day – is small group swing “real jazz?”

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“Latin Tinges in Modern Jazz” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

A nine-hour long Spotify playlist featuring songs by the likes of Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Ahmad Jamal, and Dizzy Gillespie that demonstrates how the Latin music influence on jazz has been present since the music’s beginnings.

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Interview with Gary Carner, author of Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer

The author speaks with Bob Hecht about his book and his decades-long dedication to the genius of Pepper Adams, the stellar baritone saxophonist whose hard-swinging bebop style inspired many of the top-tier modern baritone players.

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“Autumn Comes and Goes” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

A 28-song Spotify playlist devoted to Autumn, featuring great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

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The Sunday Poem: “I Hear Music in the Kitchen” by Sandra Rivers-Gill

Naturally, his lyrics are cued a cappella./“I’m home” slips from his lips,/sizzles like the taste of what I’m baking in the oven,/as he unwinds his day.

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Interview with Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950’s Quartets

In this May, 2023 interview, Shipton and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht talk about Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

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“What Is This Thing Called Something Else?” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

Contrafacts, as such reworkings are called, are the product of writing a new melodic line over an existing set of chord changes, thereby disguising or sometimes completely obscuring the identity of the original piece.

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Don Thompson – a playlist by Bob Hecht

An 18 song playlist to demonstrate some of the genius and versatility of the Canadian jazz musician Don Thompson

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Hard boppers dig the standards — a playlist by Bob Hecht

A Spotify playlist featuring standard tunes from the Great American Songbook as performed by hard bop musicians.

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“So What!…or, Where were you when you first heard Kind of Blue?” — a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

Bob Hecht recalls his experience of first hearing “Kind of Blue,” the 1959 jazz album by trumpeter Miles Davis

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Interview with Joe La Barbera, co-author of Times Remembered: The Final Years of the Bill Evans Trio

Drummer Joe La Barbera talks about his book, and the significance of his experience working in Bill Evans’ last trio

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Poems, by Patricia Carragon and Michael L. Newell

do you hear the wind?
see that scarlet leaf
dance on concrete?

I am that wind
I am that leaf
I am that dance

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A Black History Month Profile: Louis Armstrong

In a November 16, 2020 interview with Jerry Jazz Musician, Ricky Riccardi, author of Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong, discusses his vital book and Armstrong’s enormous and underappreciated achievements during the era he led his big band.

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“The Compositional Genius of Bill Evans — A Brief Overview & Playlist,” by Bob Hecht

Contributing writer Bob Hecht discusses Bill Evans’ enduring compositional genius, and has assembled an extensive Spotify playlist that includes many of his tunes.

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Playlist: “Jazz Tributes” — compositions and performances by jazz musicians, for jazz musicians

Bob Hecht has created an extensive Spotify playlist he calls “Jazz Tributes” that also serves as a kind of “Thanksgiving” greeting – compositions and performances by jazz musicians, for jazz musicians.

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Playlist: “Miles Plays Wayne”

Bob Hecht, a frequent contributor to Jerry Jazz Musician, writes about a current fascination – the compositions of Wayne Shorter, and his contributions to the Miles Davis groups he played in during his time with the trumpeter, 1964 – 1970. Bob has assembled a 20 song Spotify playlist featuring many of the recordings…

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Playlist: Compositions of Ornette Coleman

Contributing writer Bob Hecht’s 40-song playlist features 20 compositions by Ornette Coleman that alternates a cover version of an Ornette composition – often by a pianist or other harmonically-based instrument – followed by Ornette’s original version. It provides a nice perspective on the beauty of his music, even for those who may not particularly be fans.

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Interview with Ricky Riccardi, author of Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong

In a November 16, 2020 interview with Jerry Jazz Musician, Riccardi discusses his vital book and Armstrong’s enormous and underappreciated achievements during the era he led his big band.

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Book Excerpt: Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong, by Ricky Riccardi

In the book’s prologue, “Bigger Than Jazz”– a portion of which is published here with the consent of the publisher, Oxford University Press – Riccardi writes about Armstrong’s Apollo Theater performances of 1935 (marking his comeback from an 18 month stay in Europe), his final big band performance of 1947, and subsequent appearances there with his integrated small group, the All Stars.

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“Sinatra and Me” — a true jazz story by Paul Brophy

Frank Sinatra floated through the air in my boyhood home and Philadelphia neighborhood. My mother and two of her older sisters, Henrietta and Marge, had seen young Frankie in person at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier in the late 1930s, the thrill that wed these young Italian-Americans to Frank for life. “It’s Always You” reached them. He was part of our Staffieri family — their fantasy husband.

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Reminiscing in Tempo: “Life during the time of isolation and social distancing”

Prominent artists and educators reflect on the pandemic and how they are spending their time during isolation and social distancing

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Jazz History, Culture, Community

IN THIS ISSUEFeature Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 28: “Little Samba” Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. This edition is based largely on a documentary – They Shot the Piano Player – about Tenório Junior, a Latin jazz musician who only produced one album (1964) … Continue reading...

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Submit Your Work Jerry Jazz Musician regularly publishes jazz-loving creatives, and encourages you to consider submitting your own work. When published, you will join a growing community of writers, poets, artists, photographers, podcast producers and filmmakers who share a passion for the inspiring culture found on this website. The following addresses general questions about … Continue reading...