Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
Hyde Park Jazz Fest on Chicago’s South Side to Present 20th Edition
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
Ahmad Jamal’s Emerald City Nights took top honors in the Historical Album category, as it did in the 2023 Critics Poll, too!
Ahmad Jamal, Emerald City Nights: Live At The Penthouse (JAZZ DETECTIVE) … 2,376
Winner of the DownBeat Critics Poll also gets the nod from the Readers!
Bill Evans, Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings From Denmark (1965–1969) (ELEMENTAL) … 2,167
A collection of previously unissued performances demonstrate the genius of Bill Evans.
Miles Davis, What Happened 1982–1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (LEGACY) … 1,738
Unreleased material from Star People, Decoy and You’re Under Arrest.
Keith Jarrett, Bordeaux Concert (ECM) … 1,441
The final Jarrett live performance with elegance, angst, taste and storytelling.
Sonny Rollins, Go West! (CRAFT) … 1,397
Rollins’ classic West Coast adventure.
Oscar Peterson Trio, On A Clear Day: The Oscar Peterson Trio–Live In Zurich, 1971 (TWO LIONS/MACK AVENUE) … 1,232
Captures the stunning musicality of Peterson.
Charles Mingus, Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Recordings (RHINO) … 1,221
Captures Mingus at the end of his musical run between 1973 and his passing in 1979.
Charle Mingus, The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s (RESONANCE) … 1,045
Two Mingus historical records in one poll truly divided the votes, but this is a beauty, too. The project was shelved when the label literally dropped its entire jazz roster except for Miles Davis.
Chet Baker, Blue Room, The 1979 Vara Studio Sessions In Holland (JAZZ DETECTIVE/ELEMENTAL) … 968
Beautifully recorded, lovingly packaged, capturing the chill nuance of Baker’s art.
Jimi Hendrix Experience, Los Angeles Forum, April 26, 1969 (SONY LEGACY) … 858
Sony/Legacy has been releasing a host of great, live Jimi Hendrix recordings. DB
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of Saint…
Kurt Elling, Katherine Russell and Emmet Cohen (host on the 2027 Jazz Cruise) share a laugh at sea.
Sep 8, 2026 11:52 AM
It began in 2001. A travel agent named Anita E. Berry had been booking clients on “partial” jazz cruises that took…
Sep 17, 2026 11:00 AM
The 2027 DownBeat College Guide is an invaluable resource for music students, especially jazz students, to find a school…
