Month: May 2026

(Miles at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island on 5 July 1969, photo credit Cynthia Connolly)

This Tuesday, May 26, 2026, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Miles Davis. The magnitude of the occasion deserves deep insights into the genius of a musician who has changed music again and again. That illumination far beyond what I can do here, but I certainly wanted to join what I hope will be a chorus of fans and music people marking the occasion. 

Here are some of the enlightened takes that have caught my attention and that I want to share with you, and if you keep on reading, I have a few thoughts about my current obsession – Miles’ last electric band, which toured relentlessly from 1973-1975, but recorded very little in the studio.

First check these articles out:

Trombonist Jacob Garchick has been doing a series of posts on Miles. While there’s technical discussion about chords and time from the perspective of a musician, anybody can read and learn something valuable. So check his posts out:

• • On Miles’ use of harmony, where I learned that Miles uses major chords the same way Stravinsky does.

• • Garchick does a deep dive comparing 10 Miles Davis solos on “Oleo,” which is a great view into how a jazz soloist uses (and reuses) their language when they play

Nate Chinen published a series of insightful pieces on Miles:

• • I agree with Chinen the 60s were the ultimate (despite my adoration for the last electric band, see below).

• • Chinen examines an iconic photo of Miles and considers his magnetism in front of the camera

Also check out Syd Swartz discusses celebrating the Miles centennial, and how the second great quintet reinvented music by getting rid of the harmonic roadmap.

You can’t consider Miles with his inimitable style, and The New York Times just did a “visual dictionary”of Miles 

There are quite a few places to listen to Miles for the centennial so tune in:

• • At WKCR, the OG home of marathon jazz celebrations, you can hear Miles for a 72-hour (three-day!) celebration from noon Tuesday, 5/26, through midnight Thursday, 5/28. 

• • WRTI has Miles playing all day Tuesday. Check out the annotations of selected tracks and the station provides a handy schedule for the marathon.

• • Also on WKCR, this Monday from 6-9 P.M., don’t miss Mitch Goldman’s Deep Focus, where he discusses the post-Bitches Brew “lost quintet” with Michael Veal, author of Living Space: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Free Jazz. The Deep Focus show, which periodically airs at WKCR on Mondays, has been an important source of inspiration and knowledge for me, and if you look at the archived podcasts, you’ll find lots of Miles Davis shows.

• • Here’s my own radio show at Vassar College radio, WVKR, which aired this Sunday, 05/24/2026. I usually don’t post my shows, but here I play all unreleased recordings so here’s no licensing issues, so give it a listen!

I you enjoy those links! For my own celebration of the genius of Miles, I’ve been listening to my current favorite Miles band, the electric septet documented in performances from June 29th, 1973, to July 1st, 1975. An important part of Miles’ genius is the way he created his bands, each with an utterly distinct identity where each member contributes to the sound in unique ways. The two-year gestation of his last electric band is no exception, something worth contemplating as we consider Miles’ genius.

The roots of this group, like with prior Miles groups, are in its rhythm section. Rhythm is always at the core of Miles’ music, but by the early 1970s, rhythm was the defining aesthetic. The revolution started with bassist Michael Henderson replacing Dave Holland in 1970, bringing a new, lean urgency to the constantly touring working band. James Mtume Forman (son of Miles’ friend Jimmy Heath) joined on hand percussion in 1971. In videos of the 1973-1975 band, Mtume is playing his congas right next to Miles; listen carefully, and you hear him trading creative ideas (rather than simple patterns) with the trumpet player, while everybody else is pursuing the groove. Mtume’s importance here can’t be overstated: Miles told him, “You’re my new Tony Williams.” (1) For the drum chair once occupied by Williams, its role was recreated with a sizzling groove in the hands of Al Foster, filling the shoes of the departing Jack DeJohnette in 1972. You could mistakenly think Foster came out of rock the way he lays down drum fills and keeps an intense beat, but Foster is a jazz cat in wolf’s clothing, bringing finesse along with tireless energy. (2) Ironically like Count Basie’s band, guitar was the fourth rhythm member, and Reggie Lucas augmented the beat along with Foster, Henderson, and Mtume. But Lucas is no Freddy Green, and his playing is so intensely percussive that in the liner notes to Pangaea, Kevin Whitehead (quoting Eugene Chadbourne) likens his wah-wah lines to a “log drum.”  The alchemy of these players produced rhythmic lines that are direct but always exciting and on the move.

On top of that foundation, Miles used three lead voices. Dave Leibman joined in early 1973 after leaving Elvin Jones, bringing his excellent tenor and flute playing and especially his searing soprano, that never fails to put the music in overdrive. In 1974, Leibman left Miles, and Sonny Fortune stepped in and brought the same intensity, which you’ll hear on this group’s last recordings. The last step in forming this band, and for many its ultimate X-factor, was the addition in June 1973 of guitarist Pete Cosey. There’s no other musician I’m aware of that played with Muddy Waters and is also an original member of the AACM. Set in dramatic relief by Miles’ cues to stop the band, Cosey’s solos leap wildly into an unpredictable mix of overdriven Hendrix, proto-metal, blues, and what critic Greg Tate calls “harmonic distortion.” In a band that ripped up the rule book, Cozey is an iconoclastic maverick.

Then obviously there’s the leader, and for all the debate about Miles’ chops, I find his trumpet playing through most of the electric period (from In A Silent Way in 1969 onward) to be as commanding as any time in his career, with clearly executed and immensely creative lines. But I also hear the must-discussed decline after a horrific car crash in October 1972, where Miles broke both of his legs and allegedly got addicted to pain killers.  In its wake, Miles clearly leans into his (alas, immensely creative) use of the wah-wah to sculpt and amplify his trumpet, and he often plays in a more textural or rhythmic way. There’s really no diminution of the music though, in part because Miles filled the gap with another unique feature of this band: his organ playing. The shimmering electric keyboards of Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett are the essence of the 1969 and 1970 electric bands, but with this band, Miles assumed the keyboard duties himself, and the sound changed dramatically. With the organ, Miles aggressively interjects blasts of twisted, dark chords to create an unsettling menace. Ironically, Miles approach is the opposite of his minimalist approach to the trumpet. With this new instrumental voice Miles plays dense and harmonically rich slabs of sound that shift the quiet passages of music into the otherworldly. When Miles practiced on Sly Stone’s organ one night, the Sly told Miles “stop playing that voodoo shit.”

So that’s the band I’m currently obsessed with, what Greg Tate called “the world’s first fully improvisational acid-funk band.”  This band has mostly been known from two albums, both recorded from the same concert in Osaka, Japan, on February 1, 1975 – Agharta and Pangaea. I’ve always found it incredible that the only official documentation has been these two records along with another live album (Dark Magus), and some scattered studio tracks. The need to hear more of this band sent me down a rabbit hole, and luckily I found The Heat Warps, a fantastic blog devoted to the appreciation of every live recording of Davis from 1969 to 1975. Each gig has its own webpage with a summary of the music, period photos and paraphernalia, and easily downloadable recordings of all the documented music. I’ve already spent hours having my mind expanded by the curated Miles history and incredible gig tapes. So I recommend you take this dive, there’s so much to listen to and learn! 

So much to check out! I’ll share one discovery that was especially mind-blowing: I don’t know what was in the air on November 1, 1973, but you should absolutely listen to the incendiary recording of this date (and fear not, the audio quality is quite good, I suspect the date was recorded by the band itself with an onstage machine – all the instruments are clearly captured, especially the fierce rhythm  section).

So here’s what you’ll hear – after an introduction by English impresario Ronnie Scott, the band launches into set opener “Turnaroundphrase,” with blazing intensity, which gives way to a “Tune In 5” that flails away on the ‘1’s’ like a cross between the JB’s and The Damned. The rhythm section is the star of this tape – Henderson’s constantly shifting baseline is captured close to the recorder, and you can hear the gravitational drift of the pulse as the sounds of Henderson, Lucas, Foster, and Mtume pull apart and then suddenly coalesce. Meanwhile, Cosey’s unorthodox guitar surprises with subterranean shards of noise, before exploding into melting solos. Leibman delivers some of the hottest soprano I’ve heard on the opening track, while the band wails so furiously that the music threatens to unravel. But it doesn’t, and Davis sounds positively energized, soloing often and with poise. I usually try and avoid adjectives, but the music is so great I really can’t help myself! A great set by the legendary band, showing both its startling intensity and deep creativity.

So I hope you’ll use this week to listen to some Miles. If you don’t care for the electric period, well, So What? Miles, the chameleon and the sorcerer, is one of the musicians who showed us that the journey is more important than the destination, which is part of the reason there are so many sides to Miles Davis. You can choose the one(s) for you, and they’re all great. Whichever Miles is on your speakers or in your headphones, happy listening!

FOOTNOTES

Footnote 1  – Watch Adam Rudolph’s talk with Mtume and their discussion about Miles here.

Footnote 2  – Drummer Vinnie Sperrazza recently wrote about Al Foster’s special role supporting Miles. Miles family took a heart from music for 5 year starting in 1975. When he came back, Foster was the only member of the 1975 band who was in the new group, playing new (and very different) music.

Footnote 3 – For a passionate take, check out Phil Freeman’s appreciation of those classics at 50. I remember digging Pangaea long before I was a jazz fan (picking it up at a New Jersey mall Sam Goody in the mid 80’s, likely after reading about Miles in Rolling Stone).

Yvonne Rogers – The Button Jar 

(recorded on September 20, 2025 at Oktaven Audio, releases May 8, 2026; Pyroclastic Records)

Yvonne Rogers – piano  

I first heard of pianist Yvonne Rogers in 2024 from Steve Smith’s great For The Record/Night After Night newsletter (sadly now on hiatus). Smith called Rogers’ pianism “sensational,” and on that recommendation, I checked out saxophonist Alden Hellmuth’s 2024 album, Good Intentions, which has Rogers on piano. What I heard in Rogers’ playing with this dynamic young band was a pianist with a lyrical touch and impressive spontaneity, and I knew to keep an eye out.

2026 seems to be the year when Rogers has arrived. Building on her rapport in small groups, which is readily apparent on her fantastic 2023 debut Seeds (Relative Pitch Records), Rogers appears on two of this year’s most exciting albums: Nicole McCabe’s Color Theory and Adam O’Farrill’s ELEPHANT. In an interview with O’Farrill and Nate Chinen, they talk about Rogers’ distinct approach to the piano, which Chinen likens to minimalism, and O’Farrill praises her ability to add color to melodic lines.

This Friday, 5/8/2026, Rogers releases The Button Jar on Pyroclastic Records, her second album as a leader and her first solo piano record. Rogers’ ideas on this album have had a long gestation, no surprise when you hear what a coherent statement The Button Jar is. Rogers says in the press notes that the titular jar was a place where her mother kept materials for craft projects when she was growing up. You could use odd and ends to make something new, “a balance of whimsical fun and meticulous craftsmanship,” she says. This inspiration took shape in short piano studies that Rogers posted on Instagram. In a wonderful act of mentorship, those posts were heard by pianist/album producer/Pyroclastic Records founder Kris Davis, who encouraged Rogers to develop these pieces, and Davis now presents the fully formed music on her label.

Right out of the gate, the album opener “Luster” is stunning, a Fabergé egg of delicately layered rhythmic and melodic ideas. To my ears, it echoes classical piano literature, and at once reminded me of the opening to The Well-Tempered Clavier and the pearl-like piano voicings of Ravel. (1) Then Rogers abruptly breaks the spell with the exciting title track, where the hands shadow and echo each other with dance-like rhythmic ideas. The album returns to a meditative space with “Cloud Chorale,” which gently builds to a lovely melody contrasted with pensive chords.

Those three tracks give a sense of how carefully paced The Button Jar is, and the album continues to impress over 49 minutes with a rewarding balance. Tracks that lean toward searching exploration, like “Avid Risks” (an anagram for mentor Kris Davis), are balanced with satisfying melodies, such as on the appropriately named “Little Dance.” Another study in contrast, in the propulsive “Monkey’s Fist,” Rogers rushes forward to rapid glissandos, while “Puzzle Building” shows off a Hank Jones-like elegance with precise control of the song’s melody. The well-executed variety of sounds is a constant surprise and invites repeat listens.

With any solo piano record, you get a chance to become familiar with the pianist’s sound and ideas.  Rogers’ sound strikes me as being balanced between the percussive and harmony-driven schools of pianists, but she sets herself apart with a personal approach. Adam O’Farrill talks about Rogers’ sound in the interview I linked above, stating her touch is “beautiful, clear but not precious.” I certainly hear the influence of Geri Allen (the track “Linear Gel” is an anagram for Allen), but Rogers’ sound is immediately identifiable as her own, and it’s alive with lyricism and an effortless rhythmic acuity. 

While listening to The Button Jar, I wondered about the mysterious album cover. I’m seeing it as an image viewed through a powerful microscope, revealing a hidden landscape previously out of sight from the ordinary world and now seen anew. This transformation is what Rogers accomplishes on The Button Jar – she transforms well-known materials of pianistic language into an engrossing exploration of inner worlds and found beauty. It’s just the respite we need from the world we’ve found ourselves in.

[Footnote 1] Immediately on hearing the opening track, I thought of one of my favorite albums, Emil Gilels’ legendary At Carnegie Hall (Melodiya/Angel) — SRBO-4110. TNB co-founder Jesse and I have listened in amazement at Gilels’ intoxicating reading of Ravel’s Jeux D’eau. Here’s the whole recital. You should listen to it all, but the Ravel is at 1:00:34.

James Brandon Lewis & Lutosławski Quartet – These Are Soulful Days (released April 18, 2026, previously issued in 2023 as bonus disc to For Mahalia, With Love, TAO Forms)

James Brandon Lewis – tenor saxophone, Roksana Kwaśnikowska – first violin, Marcin Markowicz – second violin, Artur Rozmysłowicz – viola, Maciej Młodawski – cello

I’ve really been enjoying the new album by James Brandon Lewis, which admittedly is a sentence I could have written almost any time in the last five years, and it would have been true. That’s what I thought about For Mahalia, With Love, Lewis’ powerful tribute to the “once in a millennium” gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson. (1) That album, with the unusual quintet of Lewis’s sax with cornet (Kirk Knuffke), two string players (William Parker’s bass and Christopher Hoffman’s cello), and drummer Chad Taylor, felt like Lewis had arrived (it was #1 on the 2023 Francis Davis year-end poll). That year I remember streaming this extraordinary gospel-meets-ecstatic free jazz album a lot, but little did I realize that if I had bought the physical CD of For Mahalia, With Love, I would have gotten – as a bonus disc and the subject of this review, These Are Soulful Days. This April 17th for Record Store Day, These Are Soulful Days got a stand-alone release, on LP (if you can still find a copy), CD, and also on streaming as well. It certainly deserves the attention, and in fact is one of my favorite things James Brandon Lewis has done. 

The album documents a live performance from November 2021 at the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, where Lewis debuted an extended suite written for his tenor supported by the Poland-based Lutosławski Quartet. One of the things that impresses me is the complexity and ambition of the music. Lewis says in the album notes that the music “is built from, and inspired by, the fabric of a quilted history of African-American music from its folk traditions of blues, spirituals, and jazz. It embodies the sentiment of a joyful past, a determined present, and a resilient future.” The whole work is a little over 50 minutes long, including four multi-part movements, an epilogue and prologue, and an encore (all met to great enthusiasm from the festival audience in Wroclaw, Poland). Those movements are highly structured, and the string writing by Lewis is wonderfully direct and expressive, providing the music with both a narrative arc and drama. Each of the movements has episodic themes, which weave in strong melodic materials drawn not just from gospel but (to my ears) from the blues and themes of American folk traditions. The emotional climax comes in the last movement, which is built around the melody “Even The Sparrow,” a theme that sounds like a century-old hymn, but which Lewis wrote and has recorded at least three other times. (2) 

The Lutosławski Quartet is an ideal choice to support this material. Named after the famous Polish composer, the quartet’s discography largely focuses on modern classical music, but they have an important streak of collaborations with jazz players. On Bandcamp (as a free download), you can hear a 2014 cross-genre collaboration as part of the Eklektik Session festival in Wrocław. More recently, in January, Kris Davis released an astounding collaboration with the Lutosławski Quartet, documenting a 2024 recording of a suite of music inspired by the climate crisis. These Are Soulful Days is an important entry in the discography of this quartet and shows how they support jazz music with precision and passion.

These Are Soulful Days also shows off my favorite thing about Lewis’ playing: his sound. Especially live, that sound is enormous, a palpable force that lights up any music he plays. In interviews, Lewis often talks about how he works on his sound, and it shows. Even after the intricacies of the music fade, you can still hear the vibrations of that tone and its presence reverberating in your mind’s ear. These Are Soulful Days is an ideal way to hear one of the great tenor sounds in music, in a setting that displays memorable writing with beautiful melodies, and thematic heft. You should go and hear Lewis live, but to hear what makes him special, listen to These Are Soulful Days.

FOOTNOTES

(1) Martin Luther King said of Jackson, “A voice like hers comes along once in a millennium.” I recently learned that the most famous portion of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was unscripted, and it was prompted by Jackson (who was within earshot) yelling out to King during the speech, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” Amazing.

(2) Lewis recorded his theme “Sparrow” on For Mahalia, With Love (TAO Forms), Eye Of I (Anti) with his quartet on Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt Records).

Additional Notes

Listen to more of the Lutosławski Quartet on the radio

On my radio show “Where Is Brooklyn,” I’ll be playing both of the recently released jazz albums that feature the Lutosławski Quartet, Lewis’ These Are Soulful Days, and Kris Davis’ . The Solastalgia Suite. Tune into Vassar College radio, wvkr.org this Sunday morning, 5/3 at 2 a.m., or if you’re near Poughkeepsie, New York, listen at 91.3 FM.

New JBL coming out!

Lewis will have a new quartet album out later this year, OMNI (releasing June 26 on Intakt Records). OMNI features his quartet that has been so impressive on Abstraction Is Deliverance (2025), Transfiguration (2024), and Code of Being (2021), Aruán Ortiz (piano), Chad Taylor (drums), and Brad Jones (bass). Mark your calendar!

Follow Lewis for Great Album Picks

For better or worse, Instagram is the place to follow what musicians are doing, and one of the reasons to stay on the platform is to follow @jamesbrandonlewis. I really enjoy how Lewis likes sharing what albums he’s listening to, and recently he has plugged some personal favorites of mine like Bob Berg’s New Birth, Jeanne Lee’s Conspiracy, and Abdul Wadud’s By Myself. Share the love.

Listen to Bill Barron

I know from his interviews that JBL will often mention how important the criminally underrated tenor player (and brother of pianist Kenny Barron) Bill Barron is. Unfortunately, a lot of Barron’s music is out of print online (and I’m still getting hip to it myself). My entry point is the music he made with trumpeter Ted Curson. Curson’s Tears for Dolphy (1964) is on streaming and features two Barron compositions (“East 6th Street” and “7/4 Funny Time”) and powerful tenor playing by the great Barron. This list of key tracks is also a great place to start. Check it out.