Live Review
Reporting on live jazz from around the globe.
Patricia Brennan Trio at Bar Bayeux

by Paul Reynolds
Patricia Brennan Trio Bar Bayeux New York, NY September 24, 2025 If you've heard of Patricia Brennan, it's likely the awareness is recent. The Mexican vibraphonist isn't new to the scene, having been quietly honing her reputation through high-caliber collaborations in New York and elsewhere since at least the early 2020s. Yet she's traveled a little under the radar, even within the avant circles in which she belongs stylistically. Now, all of a ...
Continue ReadingArturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble at Miner Auditorium

by Steven Roby
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble Miner Auditorium San Francisco, CA September 28, 2025 What you noticed first was the circle. Not a literal one--the chairs sat in standard rows--but a social circle that materialized as soon as Arturo O'Farrill addressed the room. He joked, testified, and conducted--in short bursts of fingers and eyebrows--an octet that behaved like a civic body. Before the opening tune cooled, he framed the night's thesis: urgency yoked ...
Continue ReadingLex Korten At Close Up

by Max Kutner
Lex Korten Close Up Canopy Release Show New York, NY September 19, 2025 Pianist and composer Lex Korten has been an ascendent force in the modern jazz world for several years and his appearance at Close Up represented a milestone moment for the young artist. Korten was celebrating the release his first full-length album of original material, Canopy (Sounderscore Records, 2025). From September 18th- 19th, he, alongside a formidable ensemble of likeminded ...
Continue ReadingPaquito D’Rivera Quintet at Miner Auditorium

by Steven Roby
Paquito D'Rivera Quintet Miner Auditorium San Francisco, CA September 26, 2025 On Friday night at SFJAZZ's Miner Auditorium, Paquito D'Rivera walked out smiling, a clarinet at his side and seven decades of stagecraft in his pocket. The Cuban-born NEA Jazz Master had long argued that the hallway between the conservatory and the clavé was not a border but a corridor of constant traffic. With his longrunning quintet--Alex Brown (piano), Oscar Stagnaro (six-string electric bass), ...
Continue ReadingIron Blossom Festival 2025: Jazzy Enough?

by Konstantin N. Rega
Iron Blossom Festival Midtown Green Richmond, VA September 20-21, 2025 A quick look at Richmond's relatively new Iron Blossom Festival lineup might give some jazz fans pause. With headliners like Vampire Weekend and The Lumineers, the festival looks to be serving up more indie pop-rock selections for younger audiences to consume. Such hasty or dismissive judgment might serve jazz purists just fine, but for those listeners looking for more fusion, sonic flavors and blends, the ...
Continue ReadingReykjavik Jazz Festival 2025

by Nenad Georgievski
Reykjavik Jazz Festival Harpa Concert Hall Reykjavik, IcelandAugust 26-31, 2025 Jazz festivals are rarely just stages and instruments. They are living, breathing ecosystems, a careful weaving together of artists, ideas, and audiences. Each performer brings a unique expression, and each set is curated with an ear for the festival's identity. Financial constraints may exist, but thoughtful curation is what gives a festival its soul. The Reykjavik Jazz Festival is no exception: it's a mosaic of ...
Continue ReadingAaron Parks Little Big in Hong Kong

by Rob Garratt
Aaron Parks Little Big Jazz in the Neighbourhood Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Hong Kong September 22, 2025 A charged, expectant energy filled the room in the moments before Aaron Parks took to the stage. A few hours before the American pianist's debut Hong Kong appearance as leader, it was announced that all schools would be closed for the next two days; barely 12 hours after he left the stage most workplaces and ...
Continue ReadingSarah Hanahan Quartet At Joe Henderson Lab

by Steven Roby
Sarah Hanahan Quartet Joe Henderson Lab / SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA September 20, 2025 A knockout. No hedging, no warmup lap--impact from the first bar and the room knew it. Sold-out first set at the Joe Henderson Lab--Sarah Hanahan's SFJAZZ debut. Outside, faces pressed close to the glass, the Lab was alive with that tight-room voltage you could taste. She walked out in a black-and-white patterned jacket, grinning like someone who came ...
Continue ReadingRon Carter's Foursight Quartet at Miner Auditorium

by Steven Roby
Ron Carter's Foursight Quartet Miner Auditorium / SFJAZZ CenterSan Francisco, CA September 19, 2025 After a 50-minute opener with no introductions, Ron Carter took the microphone, smiled, and deadpanned, Thank you and goodnight." A beat later: I am boss of the microphone." He waved his cuffs toward the band to take a real bow. The joke set the tone. Leadership would not be loud. Time, taste, and the craft of saying exactly what needs to ...
Continue ReadingCindy Blackman Santana Band at Miner Auditorium

by Steven Roby
Cindy Blackman Santana BandMiner AuditoriumSFJAZZ CenterSan Franciso, CASeptember 14, 2025 On the second of two sold-out nights at Miner Auditorium, Cindy Blackman Santana opened with a brief welcome--"Blue Whale"--and nothing more. The band turned toward the center, eyes on her for the first cue, as if to agree that rhythm would set the terms. In a time when talk can crowd the stage, she let intent arrive in time and tone, not explanation. In an era when stage ...
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