CHOTINER: You’ve been outspoken about the idea that jazz is thriving, right now.
ME: Right.
CHOTINER: But you’ve also devoted a lot of energy this year to celebrating John Coltrane and Miles Davis, who were born a century ago.
ME: Ah, Miles and Trane…
CHOTINER: You see the issue.
ME: Um. OK, so
New this week at The Late Set: a deep conversation with tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, low-key genius. (For some people I know, this is a “drop everything you’re doing and listen” bat-signal sort of thing. If that’s not you, maybe listen to find out why.)
cut in Chicago 100 years ago on this date: a wonderful, joyous, swinging record. Armstrong was far from being the first to scat, but he did it masterfully here. Nothing would be the same afterward for Armstrong, for jazz, for US pop music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksmG...
Classic headline from The Onion: Cool Dad Raising Daughter On Media That Will Put Her Entirely Out Of Touch With Her Generation
My daughter, a h.s. sophomore, is taking a journalism class where the teacher started to cue up a doc about “a punk band you guys have definitely never heard of.” He says the name Fugazi, and my daughter goes: “Oh, I know that band.”
(I’m about to play her The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis)
Adam O'Farrill has a killer new album out in a few weeks. You can hear a few excerpts here, along with a great conversation about it. Pretty nice snow day soundtrack, imo 🎺 ❄️
Oh, what I saw this weekend was soooo much worse
After a weekend of popping in and out of vintage boutiques and thrift stores with the fam, I’m here to report that there’s now a requirement: each one must have a single bin of the worst vinyl records imaginable, for $5
Having one of those evenings where I feel like ‘Miles Ahead’ isn’t just one of the best Miles Davis albums, but one of the best albums ever, period
Do you believe what you hear? Join us next week at Kelly Writers House for an in-depth conversation about the notion of truth in audio storytelling, featuring Yowei Shaw, Maori Holmes, and Matt Katz. Hosted by our very own Nate Chinen! Register to attend at writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/...
Flagrant times require flagrant posts!
Bad Bunny has done so much to bring Puerto Rican history and culture to the mainstream. Some of the ideas he’s exploring were also contained in an incredible jazz album from 2000, by saxophonist David Sánchez.
If you applaud the anti-colonialist halftime show, I trust you are also in favor of fucking up the tech syndicates that ran all the commercials. Let’s goooooo
The fact that you can say this as a Jets fan is proof of your mensch-ness
Drake Maye seeing ghosts 👻
OK "god bless america" and then naming every country in the americas from south to north is absolute king shit
Kenny G sighting, in case that was on your bingo card #superbowl
If it clarifies what was lost this week:
Philip Kennicott and Monica Hesse remain as arts critics at The Washington Post
Eliminated:
art critic
arts editor
arts/film editor
classical critic
pop critic
television critic
theater critic
all editors/reporters in Book World including two book critics
The Bad Plus has been a working band, in every sense of the term, for 26 years. This year will be its last. Reid Anderson and Dave King get into why that is, and how far they’ve come, in an unfiltered audio interview at The Gig.
No spoilers, but tonight’s episode of The Pitt notably features the term “necrotizing fasciitis,” and I kept thinking: isn’t that what’s been happening in the Executive Branch?
the fact obviates the need for a take
Ken Peplowski was an incredible musician, and he went out doing what he loved. Here is my obit, with testimonials from two artists who knew him well.
They get into some of the weirdness of the Grammy's here. For your consideration.
Wanna hear me and Josh Jackson break down the Jazz results at the Grammys? Sure you do www.wrti.org/podcast/late...
Nate Chinen's rundown on last night's jazz Grammy winners.
Pretty sure Jack DeJohnette was included in the Grammys In Memoriam montage, but because the camera was focused on Chad Smith, all I saw was the corner of his name 🤨
Some rapid response on jazz at the 2026 Grammys. (More news than commentary, but I snuck a little in.)
Here is Dave King at home in Minnesota. My conversation with him and Reid Anderson — about The Bad Plus reaching the end of the road, after more than 25 years — is coming next week on The Gig.
Congrats, Jaleel!!
