News, new releases and stories from the world of jazz and its surrounding culture.
Peggy King, the jazz-pop singer who sang with the Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan and Ray Anthony bands before becoming a television star on The George Gobel Show, died Sunday, Oct. 25, at 96.
Chicago drummer and composer Mike Reed's Separatist Party has released its second album, Sing the Color Blue, on Thrill Jockey. The 11-track record reunites Reed with the trio Bitchin Bajas, poet Marvin Tate and Ben LaMar Gay.
Saxophonist, synthesist and producer Josh Johnson has released Animative, his third album under his own name and his first for International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. It is out now on physical formats and download, with streaming to follow on Nov. 10.
Juno Award-winning pianist and composer Florian Hoefner has released Into the Aquasphere on ALMA Records/Universal, his first large-ensemble project, joining a jazz quartet and a 22-piece chamber orchestra under conductor JC Sanford.
Dutch saxophonist and composer Daan Kluwer has won the 2026 Edison Jazz Newcomer award for his debut album, The Life of Billy. The result, announced on Oct. 24, completes this year's six Edison Jazz category winners ahead of the Oct. 25 ceremony.
Blue Note Records China has released Now's The Time: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Jazz, Vol. 1, a six-track compilation co-produced by Blue Note president Don Was, Zhang Yadong and JZ Music founder Ren Yuqing.
Jazz at Lincoln Center has announced the headliners for its fourth Unity Jazz Festival, set for Jan. 15-16, 2027, in New York: Weedie Braimah with guest Stokley, John Medeski and Billy Martin, and a world premiere by Arturo O'Farrill honoring Wynton Marsalis.
German jazz pianist Michael Wollny will receive the 2026 Bavarian Art Prize in the Creative Work category, worth €10,000. The award will be presented on Nov. 12 in Munich, two weeks after his solo album Eine Winterreise is released.
Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa has won the 2026 Edison in the Jazz Global category for Nueva Timba, his second Blue Note album. Dutch broadcaster Concertzender announced the result on Oct. 23, ahead of the final Newcomer announcement and the Oct. 25 ceremony.
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra perform From Cuba to the Crescent City on Oct. 23 and 24 in New York, drawing on three of Marsalis's suites with guests Pedrito Martinez, Weedie Braimah and Shenel Johns.
The Rolling Stones have released "Who You Callin' Crazy," a previously unreleased song featuring British jazz saxophonist Courtney Pine. It previews Foreign Tongues Loose Lips, the deluxe edition of the band's 2026 album, due Nov. 27.
Pianist Kenny Barron's Songbook, which sets 13 of his compositions to lyrics by Janice Jarrett and features eight vocalists, has won the 2026 Edison in the Jazz International Vocal category. Dutch broadcaster Concertzender announced the result on Oct. 22.