The human brain is incredibly powerful. It controls every function of our bodies, allows us to reason, and permits us to both create and appreciate art. To do so, it uses 100 billion neurons, each of which fires around 200 times every second. Given its necessary complexity, it should come as no surprise how frequently the organ malfunctions. According to the US Center for … [Read more...]
Rob Shepherd’s Favorite Jazz Albums of the Decade
Compiling a list of the greatest works of the last ten years is an inherently difficult proposition. The first complication lies in the fact that so many of my musical memories from the last decade are tied to recordings released prior to the period. Some of my best memories include the Charlie Parker song from 1950 that played at my wedding, the New Year’s Eve I first stumbled … [Read more...]
Anthony Dean-Harris’ Favorite Jazz Albums of the Decade
There's a fullness in ten years. A lot of work, if rather relentlessly done, can really make a discernible impact. Ten years ago, folks were making all the talk as rather cyclically that jazz was dead. It was such an exhausting conversation. Folks were around making this music, obviously. It couldn't be that dead. The problem was in the awareness and the tweaking of the … [Read more...]
Nextbop’s Most-Read Blog Posts of 2019
Tomorrow, we publish our Best Jazz Albums of 2019 list. But first, we thought it'd be dope to have a look back at this year's top ten most-read blog posts. Let's just say that when Brad Mehldau shares one of your links on social media, shit goes viral... But in all seriousness, 2019 was a pretty outstanding year for jazz music and we're so proud to have been a part of the … [Read more...]
Stream the ECM Records 50th Anniversary Concert
ECM Records will be capping its 50 year anniversary celebration tonight with an epic concert live from Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Featuring a who’s who of modern jazz cognoscente including Joe Lovano, Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer, Ravi Coltrane, Bill Frisell, Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier, Ethan Iverson, Fabian Almazan, Dezron Douglas, Shai Maestro, Ziv Ravitz, Nasheet … [Read more...]