While jazz's clash with the mainstream was the most intensely debated topic of 2009, it was actually an incredibly fruitful year for the music. The recordings I discuss in the link above were among the best and most exciting; whether or not they ultimately catch commercial fire, their attempts to employ rock and hip-hop aesthetics [...]

By its broadest definition, Nordic Jazz Week encompasses five nights, including a show tonight at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. But Wednesday night at the House of Sweden, in which the big draw was Nils Petter Molvær and Arve Henriksen (pictured above), was treated as a closing night of sorts. The omnipresent threat of rain [...]