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John Fordham

John Fordham is the Guardian's main jazz critic. He has written several books on the subject, reported on it for publications including Time Out, Sounds, Wire and Word, and contributed to documentaries for radio and TV. He is a former editor of Time Out, City Limits and Jazz UK, and regularly contributes to BBC Radio 3's Jazz on 3

April 2025

  • Joe Lovano and the Marcin Wasilewski Trio.

    Jazz album of the month
    Joe Lovano: Homage review – jazz giant and freethinking trio harmoniously intertwine

    Backed by pianist Marcin Wasilewski’s group, the US sax elder plays freely around a song-rooted approach, resulting in sparkling, spontaneous exchanges

March 2025

  • L to r: Tim Lefebvre, Michael Wollny, Eric Schaefer.

    Jazz album of the month
    Michael Wollny Trio: Living Ghosts review – exceptional free-improv seance, with added Nick Cave

    (ACT)
    With bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Eric Schaefer, the German pianist’s unpredictable live album nimbly traverses the genre’s history

February 2025

  • Xhosa Cole

    Jazz album of the month
    Xhosa Cole: On a Modern Genius (Vol 1) review – young sax master unleashes his trunk of Monk

    The Birmingham-born jazz star pays tribute to a master of modern music, with tap-dance rhythms and Heidi Vogel’s vocals adding pep to proceedings

January 2025

  • Wangaratta Festival Of Jazz &amp; Blues 2011 - Day 2<br>WANGARATTA, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 29: Barre Phillips performs on stage at WPAC Theatre during Wangaratta Festival Of Jazz &amp; Blues on October 29, 2011 in Wangaratta, Australia. (Photo by Leon Morris/Redferns)

    Barre Phillips obituary

  • Jakob Bro

    Jazz album of the month
    Jakob Bro: Taking Turns review – lost masterpiece from great Dane’s understated jazz supergroup

December 2024

  • Piano Conclave, Musiksendung, Deutschland 1976, Mitwirkende: französischer Modern Jazz Pianist und Komponist Martial Solal. (Photo by kpa/United Archives via Getty Images)

    Martial Solal obituary

  • Enthralling … Wayne Shorter, Mary Halvorson, Charles Lloyd

    Best music of 2024
    The 10 best jazz albums of 2024

November 2024

  • explore our advent calendar for the ats.

    Let it show: find an event for every day until Christmas with our culture advent calendar

    From The Nutcracker in Glasgow and the Human League in Cardiff to Messiaen in Manchester and Maggie Mistletoe in Farnham, our critics pick the best cultural events in the run-up to Christmas
  • (from left) Verneri Pohjola, John Parricelli and Lars Danielsson Press publicity image to accompany review

    Jazz album of the month
    Lars Danielsson/ Verneri Pohjola/ John Parricelli: Trio review – wine chateau sessions mingle mature sensibilities

    Bassist Danielsson, guitarist Parricelli and trumpeter Pohjola combine folksy melodies, Latin grooves and free-roaming improv on this lustrous album
  • Saxophonist Lou Donaldson of 'The Lou Donaldson Quartet' in concert at 'Blue Note' jazz bar in Aoyama district of Tokyo, Japan.<br>BH4JCA Saxophonist Lou Donaldson of 'The Lou Donaldson Quartet' in concert at 'Blue Note' jazz bar in Aoyama district of Tokyo, Japan.

    Lou Donaldson obituary

    American jazz saxophonist and singer who enjoyed a huge hit with his 1967 anthem Alligator Boogaloo

October 2024

  • Keith Jarrett 1992 Press publicity portrait Credit: Wolfgang M. Weber/ECM Records

    Jazz album of the month
    Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: The Old Country review – a delightful return to a cherished jazz venue

    Full of blistering bebop and entrancing swing, this 1992 recording showcases the pianist’s love of the Deer Head Inn, the clapboard 1840s hotel where he cut his teeth

September 2024

  • Worth the wait – (L-R) Misha Mullov-Abbado, Alice Zawadski and Fred Thomas

    Jazz album of the month
    Alice Zawadzki/Fred Thomas/Misha Mullov-Abbado: Za Górami review – beautiful music and absorbing stories

    Seven years after a supposed one-off gig, the jazz-immersed trio release their debut album full of uniquely conveyed songs drawing from European, Latin and Sephardic Jewish sources

August 2024

  • Autumn Preview Film

    Autumn arts preview 2024
    From Charli XCX and Van Gogh to Gladiator 2: the best culture to go out and see this autumn

  • Orrin Evans standing beside a grand piano.

    Jazz album of the month
    Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk a Mile in My Shoe review – perseverance and Philly pride

  • Irène Schweizer performing in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2013.

    Irène Schweizer obituary

  • A eureka moment … Wayne Shorter.

    Jazz album of the month
    Wayne Shorter: Celebration Volume 1 review – first posthumous LP is a true classic

July 2024

  • Kit Downes and Norma Winstone.

    Jazz album of the month
    Norma Winstone and Kit Downes: Outpost of Dreams review – bonded by jazz tradition

    The esteemed vocalist and prolific pianist weave their sounds together in an album of exquisite songs and extraordinary empathy

June 2024

  • ZARA MCFARLANE - singer - press handout image - KA V 0747 (1) pic credit Kareem Abdul

    Jazz album of the month
    Zara McFarlane: Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan review – terrific tribute to a jazz legend

    The British jazz singer pays homage to Vaughan with earthiness and spontaneity: an animated reinvention of these classics

May 2024

  • Sensitive soulmates … Wadada Leo Smith and Amina Claudine Myers.

    Jazz album of the month
    Wadada Leo Smith and Amina Claudine Myers review – an elegiac homage to New York’s green lung

    In their album Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens the two musical soulmates impressionistically reflect on John Lennon, Albert Ayler and more

April 2024

  • Spontaneous conversation … (L-R) Grégoire Maret and Romain Collin.

    Jazz album of the month
    Grégoire Maret/Romain Collin: Ennio review – emotional, ecstatic Morricone homage

    Harmonica star Maret and pianist/composer Collin pay homage to Ennio Morricone with drifting church-echo and trancelike sounds
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