Album reviews

Tarus Mateen’s ‘Arising Saints’

Tarus Mateen is best known as a member of Jason Moran’s famous Bandwagon trio, but his bass playing has graced records by a striking array of artists: Outkast, Christina Aguilera, Marc Cary, Betty Carter. Rough and rambunctious, Mateen’s attack on the fretless electric is constantly venturesome, but never sacrifices sturdiness or force. While jazz bassists […]
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Album reviews

CapitalBop’s best D.C. jazz albums of 2016

D.C.’s jazz scene has long been a bastion of straight-ahead tradition, but these days it’s quickly expanding its definitions and its modes of expression. The albums on this list are a testament to that. You’ll find recordings of electrified nonconformity as well as traditionalist rigor. More than one album on here blends the influence of […]
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Announcing...

CapitalBop presents … Kahil El’Zabar Ritual Trio featuring David Murray & Harrison Bankhead, plus a set by Brian Settles

On Saturday, Dec. 3, we’re thrilled to present not one, but three of the true living giants in creative music. For the latest installment of our Traveling Loft series, Kahil El’Zabar brings his Ritual Trio, featuring saxophonist David Murray and bassist Harrison Bankhead, to Tropicalia, in the heart of U Street. Considering Murray’s influence and […]
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Live reviews

Jazz legend Wayne Shorter premiers ‘The Unfolding,’ an orchestral suite that reaches for the stars

Wayne Shorter Kennedy Center Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016 As many have said, “writing about music is a bit like dancing about architecture.” But somehow, somebody just wrote a breathtaking piece of music about the scientific theories explaining the universe’s creation. That someone is Wayne Shorter, among the most respected jazz musicians alive, and it’s hard […]
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Interviews

Zakir Hussain, a tabla trailblazer, still has ‘miles to go’

The last time tabla maestro Zakir Hussain took the stage in D.C., it was International Jazz Day 2016. He performed alongside longtime collaborators and contemporaries like John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea, among others, in an ornate presentation in front of the White House. The lineup performed “Spanish Key,” from Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, […]
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Interviews

‘It’s a service:’ Bass great Stanley Clarke reflects on 40 years of ‘School Days,’ and his new place in the Smithsonian

More and more these days, you’ll find bassists at the center of what’s hip and happening in the jazz world. From revolutionary reinterpretations of the genre – like Thundercat’s contributions to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly and Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead! – to radical reexaminations from within – like Miles Mosley’s work in Kamasi […]
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News

Where to celebrate John Coltrane’s 90th birthday this Friday

This Friday, Sep. 23, marks the 90th anniversary of the day John William Coltrane entered our plane of existence. Over a 22-year career, cut short at age 40 by liver cancer, he blazed bold new paths in harmonic structure, melodic possibility and evocative performance through his pioneering work in both straight-ahead and free jazz. As […]
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Live reviews

Spirits and soliloquies: Caroline Davis gives a sound tour of Chicago

Caroline Davis Twins Jazz Friday, Aug. 19 There’s something about Chicago that makes it an ideal breeding ground for jazz musicians. Geographically and spiritually, it sits comfortably between the big-city vibe of the East Coast and the adventurousness and expanse of the Great Plains. What’s this do for musicians? It allows them a sense of […]
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