The Jazz Session

Remy Le Boeuf is a Grammy-nominated composer and saxophonist whose music is rooted in the jazz tradition while drawing on various influences, ranging from contemporary classical sounds to indie rock energy. His jazz orchestra “Assembly of Shadows” is a dazzling vehicle both for Remy’s compositions and arrangements, and his voice as a saxophonist. The 20-piece ensemble releases its second album “Ar...

Maria Schneider is a multiple Grammy Award winner and a recent Pulitzer Prize finalist in Music for her 2020 double album “Data Lords.” She was last a guest on The Jazz Session a decade ago and to think that she hadn’t yet released her 2013 collaborative album with soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, “Winter Morning Walks”, OR her shimmering, somewhat biographical record   20...

Mandisi Dyantyis is a South African trumpeter and vocalist hailing from Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape. I should be impartial and journalistic in my description of all my guests but I’ve never been one to favour professionalism over enthusiasm. Mandisi is one of my favourite South African musicians and composers. A self-proclaimed “choir boy”, he finally released his debut...

Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz are partners both in life and music. The musical result of such a kinship is incredibly rich and rare and spans many albums. Their latest record, “What To Wear In The Dark”, was ten years in the making and delicately chronicles world events from the past several years, including the US presidential election to the Sandy Hook tragedy and more. During a stretch of life wh...

Lydia Liebman is the founder and president of Lydia Liebman Promotions, a leading PR agency based in NYC, with additional operations in London. Her current roster includes artists like the Baylor Project, Somi, Ted Nash and Glenn Close (yes, THAT Glenn Close), and labels like Dot Time Records and Whirlwind Recordings. Lydia regularly lectures about PR and other music industry-related topics and ha...

Lars Danielsson is a stalwart of the Swedish jazz scene, capturing the very best of Nordic jazz and beyond in his compositions. The double bassist and cellist-he’s equally prodigious on both instruments-has released albums for the European label ACT music for over a decade and his latest offering “Cloudland” transported me beyond the confines of, well my home. Thank you, COVID. The calibre of his...

Grammy-nominated composer, Miho Hazama is one of the most promising and talented composers/arrangers of her generation. Miho developed her signature jazz chamber orchestra “m_unit” while still a graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music. In fact, that is where I first met Miho when we overlapped, navigating jazz studies and all New York has to offer. Watching her career go from strength to...

Terence Blanchard is one of jazz’s most esteemed trumpeters and defies expectations by creating a spectrum of artistic pursuits. He’s a twice-Oscar nominated film composers, and a two-time opera composer whose most recent opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” opens New York’s Metropolitan Opera season on 27 September 2021. A month ago, on the 27th August, Terence released   his new album Absence on Blu...

Gretchen Parlato burst onto the scene in 2004, when she won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Voice Competition. Since then, she’s been nominated for a Grammy, released five albums, performed with Wayne Shorter, Kamasi Washington, Becca Stevens and more, and massively influenced several generations of jazz vocalists. After 8 years spent exploring and enjoying motherhood, sh...

Saxophonis t and NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman was last on The Jazz Session in 2010 so we were due for a catch up, e specially because he has a new album “Selflessness: The Music of John Coltrane” out on Dot Time Records on 3 September, a day before his 75th birthday. We chat about Trane (of course!), Dave’s time playing with Miles Davis, and the timelessness of Rodger and Hammerstein’s...

Here’s the big announcement!

That’s a dramatic headline, but I think the news in this mini episode is worth it.

Vocalist Gian Slater ‘s most recent album is Grey is Ground . In this interview, Slater talks about the five years of work to create the album; the tension between rhythm and melody so artfully displayed on the recording; navigating the genre question; and much more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz Session since 2007. I’m now living in a va...

Trumpeter and vocalist Sarah Wilson has a new album coming out in July 2021 called Kaleidoscope . In this interview, Wilson talks about the mentors to whom the music is dedicated; how she went from anthropology to puppet theater to the world of improvised music; incorporating vocals into her skill set; and more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz Session...

Saxophonist and flute player Anna Webber has a new double album called Idiom (Pi Recordings). In this interview, Webber talks about how she took inspiration for the compositions on the album from extended instrumental techniques; her recent residency in Germany; her plans for after the pandemic; and her work with … Bruce Springsteen? Sure, why not. CONCERT NOTE: The CD release party for Idio...

Pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs was once the only professional female jazz musician in Iceland. In this interview, she talks about the work she’s done to change that fact; her recent recording and performing projects; life during the pandemic; and much more. (Note: Sunna was on The Jazz Session back in 2010. You can listen to that interview here .) / / / I’ve been recording conversations with...

Vocalist Nnenna Freelon ‘s new album, her first in a decade, is called Time Traveler . In this interview, Freelon talks about the loss of her husband, Phil, and how she used music to process grief; the importance of the relationships between the band members on the album; her upcoming podcast series; and much more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz...

Pianist and vocalist Lauren Lee ‘s intimate new solo album is called The Queen Of Cups . In this interview, Lee talks about her unexpected (for her) decision to release a solo recording; the benefits of intuition; the stigma around scat singing; and much more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz Session since 2007. I’m now living in a van and t...

Cellist Helen Gillet has a new album with woodwind player Jeff Coffin ( interview ) called Let It Shine . In this interview, Gillet talks about how the pair came together at her series in New Orleans; the process of creating the music for the recording; how parameters can lead to increased freedom; the idea of a lifelong teacher; and a lot more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with j...

We dive into the vault this week for episode #47 from October 2008. Here’s what I wrote at the time:   Jason Crane interviews pianist and composer Satoko Fujii. Fujii has released four new recordings in 2008, her 50th birthday year. These records find her with her New York trio; on accordion in the avant-folk-jazz group of her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura; in a quartet with some of...

Violinist Sana Nagano ‘s new album is Smashing Humans . In this interview, Nagano talks about her fabulous band; how she went from giving up violin completely to playing it professionally; her journey from Tokyo to Oregon to Memphis to Boston to New York; and much more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz Session since 2007. I’m now living in a...

Argentinian vocalist Roxana Amed just released Ontology . In this interview, Amed talks about moving to Miami and finding her place; writing new lyrics to existing tunes; searching for meaning as both a musician and a person; and much more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz Session since 2007. I’m now living in a van and traveling the country, so I...

Saxophonist and flute player Alexa Tarantino has a new album on Posi-Tone Records called Firefly . In this interview, Tarantino talks about recording an album during the pandemic; starting a jazz camp in Rockport, MA; focusing her energies on educating others as well as performing; and much more. / / / I’ve been recording conversations with jazz musicians on The Jazz Session since 2007. I&#8...

I’m in Auburn, Alabama this week and we’re stepping into the TJS Time Machine to listen to an archival interview with organist Barbara Dennerlein from 2009. Here’s what I wrote about it at the time: Jason Crane interviews organist Barbara Dennerlein about her pipe organ recording Spiritual Movement No. 2 (Bebab Records, 2008). The album was recorded at one of Germany’s most famou...

This week on The Jazz Session , take a trip back into the archives for this 2009 interview with pianist Marilyn Crispell, recorded at her home in Woodstock, NY. Here’s what I wrote about it at the time: Jason Crane interviews pianist Marilyn Crispell about her album of solo piano pieces, Vignettes (ECM, 2008). Crispell made an early name for herself with Anthony Braxton, and she’s since amas...