Bohemian Caverns, December 20

Still groggy from last night's monumental Cecil Taylor concert, I arrive to find a smothering stack of notices for jazz gigs all on Sunday, the 14th. A bad day for people who want an easy choice, but a good day for jazz in the District — enough so that four different shows, each of a [...]

It's hard to overstate the importance of McCoy Tyner in the world of jazz and jazz piano over the past 50 years. Working with the John Coltrane Quartet, he helped revolutionize the music, to entrench both modalism and the avant-garde firmly into jazz, and to foster its development as a spiritual conduit. He reharmonized jazz, [...]

Friday

Al Green. DAR Constitution Hall. $70.

Balkan Beat Box, Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew. 9:30 Club. $20.

Mambo Sauce. Strathmore. $10 in advance, $12 at door.

Greg Brown, Justin Wilber. Wolf Trap. $30.

The American Space Cadets, American Speedway, Sin 4 Sin. The Red & The Black. $8. 21+.

Matthew Ryan, Garrison Starr. IOTA Club & Cafe. $15.

RAMZY, The [...]

Friday

State Radio, Big D and the Kids Table. 9:30 Club. $20.

Justin Trawick. Strathmore. $10 in advance, $12 at door.

Christian Tetzlaff Trio. Wolf Trap. $35.

Powder Kegs, The Torches. The Red & The Black. $8.

Juniper Lane, Melodime. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12.

US Royalty, Phil Ade, Poor But Sexy. Rock and Roll Hotel. $12.

Curbfeelers. Bangkok Blues. Call for [...]

For those with the belief that The Blues is nothing more than 3 bars repeated; that The Blues has done nothing for music since the city of Chicago hit its stride; or that there are no Blues like the old Blues, you owe it to yourself to see Corey Harris.
He manages to mix the best elements of classic Blues while giving nods to where it has gone in the world of jazz, and where it has come from via its African roots.
And backed by a tight group that truly belongs in a small jazz club and truly knows how to have fun with the music.
He's still in town folks. Don't let the snow stop you!

The Tiptons Saxophone Quartet—really a sax quartet plus a drummer—brought its eclectic mix of jazz, world music, and the avant-garde to An Die Musik in Baltimore last night. The all-female group named after Billy Tipton, the biologically female saxophonist who spent his career and adult life identifying as male, played two sets of music far [...]

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 [...]

Is jazz doomed?
Since 1982, the median age of jazz listeners has increased from 29 to 46 while diminishing in size by nearly a third, according to a recent National Endowment for the Arts survey. While some argue that those numbers aren't trustworthy, what's clear is that most music listeners consider jazz a relic, a link [...]

Seen live jazz lately? got a twitter account? Put the two together: Tweet about your most recent jazz concert experiences, and include the who, the where, and the hashtag #jazzlives.
Some background:
Two and a half weeks ago, Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout set the jazz world a-buzzin' with an op-ed entitled "Can Jazz Be Saved?" [...]