On January 26, singer Lizz Wright embarks on a nationwide tour in support of her recent Verve Forecast release Fellowship. The tour begins in Los Angeles and includes stops in New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston and Chicago. The 12-track gospel-tinged record features a number of traditional songs long held [...]

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Impulse! Records. In April, the label will kick-off its celebration with the release of the four-disc box set First Impulse: The Creed Taylor Collection, which includes the first six albums Creed Taylor produced for the label as well as a disc of rarities. [...]

The latest disc from inveterate traveler Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons will be released on February 1 on Freeman’s own Peak Records. Cote D’Azur amounts to 10 tracks inspired by Freeman’s relatively newfound passion for the French people and the storied region of the French Riviera. All of the songs [...]

Guitar ace Al Di Meola is heading out on a heavy U.S. tour in support of his latest CD, Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody, set for release on March 15 on the Telarc International imprint. The disc features the former Return To Forever standout—on both acoustic and electric guitars—on 15 tracks, [...]

Pretty much everyone in the Marsalis family who plays an instrument, from patriarch Ellis on down, will be honored with a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award on January 11 at the Rose Theater of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Award is given to living legends that have [...]

Dr. Billy Taylor, the tireless and ever-eloquent pianist, composer, educator and jazz ambassador, passed away after suffering a heart attack in New York on Tuesday, December 28. He was 89. The first to call jazz “America’s classical music,” Taylor moved to New York City after graduating from Virginia State College [...]