Matana Roberts

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Ugly Beauty

The 20 Best Jazz Albums Of The 2010s

Where jazz is concerned, the 2010s could be divided almost precisely in half: BK (Before Kamasi) and AK (After Kamasi). The burly LA saxophonist's triple…

Phil Freeman | January 9, 2020 - 8:53 am

List

The 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2019

This wasn’t a year of radical transformation in the world of jazz. There was no single breakout star, and no explosion like the sudden realization…

Phil Freeman | December 9, 2019 - 3:00 pm

Credit: Evan Hunter McKnight

Ugly Beauty

Ugly Beauty: The Month In Jazz – October 2019

Let me tell you about an amazing band you’ve probably never heard. Over the past few weeks, I’ve become obsessed with the George Adams/Don Pullen…

Phil Freeman | October 25, 2019 - 1:18 pm

List

The 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2019

This wasn’t a year of radical transformation in the world of jazz. There was no single breakout star, and no explosion like the sudden realization…

Phil Freeman | December 9, 2019 - 3:00 pm

Sounding Board

Defeating The Jazz Zombies: America’s Music Is Alive & Well — These 7 Artists Are Proof

Jazz has a zombie problem. Musicians who’ve been dead for decades continue to stalk the commercial landscape, grabbing listeners new to the genre before they…

Phil Freeman | September 12, 2016 - 11:21 am