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Kevin Whitehead Kevin Whitehead is the jazz critic on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
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Kevin Whitehead

Kevin Whitehead

Jazz Critic, Fresh Air

Kevin Whitehead is the jazz critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Currently he reviews for The Audio Beat and Point of Departure.

Whitehead's articles on jazz and improvised music have appeared in such publications as Point of Departure, the Chicago Sun-Times, Village Voice, Down Beat, and the Dutch daily de Volkskrant.

He is the author of Play the Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film (2020), Why Jazz: A Concise Guide (2010), New Dutch Swing (1998), and (with photographer Ton Mijs) Instant Composers Pool Orchestra: You Have to See It (2011).

His essays have appeared in numerous anthologies including Da Capo Best Music Writing 2006, Discover Jazz and Traveling the Spaceways: Sun Ra, the Astro-Black and Other Solar Myths.

Whitehead has taught at Towson University, the University of Kansas and Goucher College. He lives near Baltimore.

Story Archive

Wednesday

Review

Music Reviews

Composer Angelica Sanchez takes inspiration from the sound of the woods at night

Fresh Air

Sanchez's latest album, Night Creatures, features music for nine instruments that variously contrast, blend or clash — channeling the open-air feeling of the pitch-dark woods at night.

Composer Angelica Sanchez takes inspiration from the sound of the woods at night

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Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

Argue's Secret Society produces 'Maximum Tension' on a lively new album

Fresh Air

Composer Darcy James Argue runs a jazz big band — but imagines its sound as if big bands had stayed current rather than faded away. The music's clarity, contrasts and rhythms are all impressive.

Argue's Secret Society produces 'Maximum Tension' on a lively new album

Listen · 7:30
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Monday

Review

Music Reviews

An appreciation of Von Freeman, the patron saint of Chicago jazz musicians

Fresh Air

The tenor saxophonist, who died in 2012, would have been 100 on Oct. 3. Freeman's weekly jam session at the New Apartment Lounge on Chicago's South Side became an international pilgrimage site.

An appreciation of Von Freeman, the patron saint of Chicago jazz musicians

Listen · 9:18
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Monday

Review

Music Reviews

Celebrating jazz great Sam Rivers, on what would have been his 100th birthday

Fresh Air

The composer and multi-instrumentalist from El Reno, Okla., played blues, bebop, big-band music and free jazz — and sometimes a mix of everything. Rivers also gave other musicians a place to play.

Celebrating jazz great Sam Rivers, on what would have been his 100th birthday

Listen · 9:05
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Wednesday

Review

Music Reviews

Jazz pianist Sonny Clark gets first-class treatment on a new box set collection

Fresh Air

Clark recorded nine sessions with the prestigious Blue Note label between 1957 and '61. A new set featuring his work as band leader for the label showcases his crisp, tuneful creativity.

Jazz pianist Sonny Clark gets first-class treatment on a new box set collection

Listen · 8:43
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Wednesday

Review

Music Reviews

Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album

Fresh Air

The tenor sax player came up in Chicago and toured in the '60s with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Randy Weston. Jordan's forgotten album, Drink Plenty Water, mixes singers with a small ensemble.

Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album

Listen · 7:32
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Monday

Review

Music Reviews

Mingus' 'Changes' is a mixed bag: Some brilliant music, then a hero's tragic fate

Fresh Air

In 1973, composer and bass virtuoso Charles Mingus signed his last recording contract with Atlantic; he'd stay with the label till his death in 1979. A new box set collects his music from that era.

Mingus' 'Changes' is a mixed bag: Some brilliant music, then a hero's tragic fate

Listen · 8:22
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Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

Composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill has a new album and a new book

Fresh Air

Threadgill's autobiography, written with Brent Hayes Edwards is called Easily Slip into Another World. His album, The Other One, is a three-movement composition written for a 12-piece ensemble.

Composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill has a new album and a new book

Listen · 7:55
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Thursday

Music Interviews

Arturo O'Farrill puts piano in the foreground on 'Legacies'

Fresh Air

Three generations of O'Farrills are represented on this new album, reminding us what tradition is at heart: our ongoing conversation with those who came before us, and those who come after.

Arturo O'Farrill puts piano in the foreground on 'Legacies'

Listen · 7:48
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Wednesday

Music News

Remembering pianist and NEA Jazz Master Ahmad Jamal

Fresh Air

Jamal was born in Pittsburgh, broke through with his small group music in Chicago in the 1950s, and recorded scores of records through 2016 — a 65-year recording career. He died April 16.

Remembering pianist and NEA Jazz Master Ahmad Jamal

Listen · 9:04
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Friday

Review

Music Reviews

Walter Smith III sounds right at home on 'return to casual'

Fresh Air

Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised.

Walter Smith III sounds right at home on 'return to casual'

Listen · 6:22
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Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

100 years ago today, Louis Armstrong wrapped his first recording session

Fresh Air

The 21-year-old Armstrong, on cornet, was a protégé of New Orleans fellow cornetist and band leader King Joe Oliver. On April 5, 1923, they went into a Richmond, Ind., studio for a two-day session.

100 years ago today, Louis Armstrong wrapped his first recording session

Listen · 8:03
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Tuesday

Review

Music Reviews

Esperanza Spalding teams up with pianist Fred Hersch in this 'Vanguard' recording

Fresh Air

When Hersch invited jazz, pop and opera composer Spalding to perform three nights with him at the Village Vanguard, he thought she'd bring her bass. Instead, Spalding just wanted to use her voice.

Esperanza Spalding teams up with pianist Fred Hersch in this 'Vanguard' recording

Listen · 6:38
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Wednesday

Obituaries

Remembering Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophonist and visionary composer

Fresh Air

Shorter, who died March 2, was inspired by film and literature, as much as by sounds. One of the great musical minds of our time, he had a profound influence on the course of jazz.

Remembering Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophonist and visionary composer

Listen · 8:52
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Wednesday

Obituaries

Remembering Burt Bacharach, master of the melodic hook

Fresh Air

No '60s pop composer wrote more sophisticated songs than Bacharach, who died Feb. 8. Dozens of his best songs endure for all the right reasons; they're inventive, challenging and linger in your ear.

Remembering Burt Bacharach, master of the melodic hook

Listen · 9:18
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Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis and Shirley Scott heat things up in their 'Cookbook' sessions

Fresh Air

Tenor saxophonist Davis and organist Scott had one of the great jazz partnerships in the late 1950s. A new anthology focuses on their Cookbook series of albums.

Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis and Shirley Scott heat things up in their 'Cookbook' sessions

Listen · 8:25
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Monday

Review

Music Reviews

NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron shines playing solo on 'The Source'

Fresh Air

Barron previously recorded most tunes on his album, a few more than once. Now he gives them layers of new meaning and an allusive texture — with occasional hints at Afro-Cuban rhythms and gestures.

NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron shines playing solo on 'The Source'

Listen · 7:31
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Thursday

Obituaries

Remembering cello player Abdul Wadud, and other jazz greats who died in 2022

Fresh Air

Wadud, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, organist Joey DeFrancesco, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, trumpeter Jaimie Branch and saxophonist Ronnie Cuber are among the notable musicians who died in 2022.

Remembering cello player Abdul Wadud, and other jazz greats who died in 2022

Listen · 8:05
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Tuesday

Review

Music Reviews

'Emerald City Nights' revisits jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal in a series from the 1960s

Fresh Air

When Jamal's trios visited Penthouse jazz club in Seattle in the '60s, they came to play. Now 92, the pianist has signed off on the release of a new series of live recordings from back in the day.

'Emerald City Nights' revisits jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal in a series from the 1960s

Listen · 7:25
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Thursday

Pop Culture

'Fresh Air' marks the centennial of Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown

Fresh Air

Schulz, who died in 2000, spoke in 1990 about his iconic Peanuts comic strip. Plus, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead talks about pianist Vince Guaraldi, who created the music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

'Fresh Air' marks the centennial of Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown

Listen · 26:01
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Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

Jazz trio Thumbscrew celebrates 10 years together on 'Multicolored Midnight'

Fresh Air

From the beginning, Thumbscrew has had a thing for off-kilter rhythms and shifting accents. This new album is filled with idiosyncratic tunes — music befitting of the idiosyncratic band.

Jazz trio Thumbscrew celebrates 10 years together on 'Multicolored Midnight'

Listen · 5:50
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Wednesday

Review

Music Reviews

Saxophonist Bobby Watson brings the sparks on 'Back Home in Kansas City'

Fresh Air

After decades in New York, Watson has returned to Kansas City. The core KC jazz values — a swinging beat, a personal style, and an earthy, bluesy sensibility — are firmly in place on this new album.

Saxophonist Bobby Watson brings the sparks on 'Back Home in Kansas City'

Listen · 6:37
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Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

'Searching in Grenoble' showcases the unique style of jazz pianist Mal Waldron

Fresh Air

Nobody sounds like Waldron, a fact proved by a new 2-CD recording the artist made during a 1978 solo concert. Searching in Grenoble is a good introduction to the pianist's compelling sound.

'Searching in Grenoble' showcases the unique style of jazz pianist Mal Waldron

Listen · 7:07
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Friday

Music

Fresh Air remembers jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis

Fresh Air

In 1965, Lewis' trio had a crossover hit with The 'In' Crowd, a jazz recording they made in a Washington, D.C. nightclub, which reached the pop charts. Lewis died Sept. 12.

Fresh Air remembers jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis

Listen · 5:46
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