April, 2025

April 30 is International Jazz Day, a Time to Celebrate Jazz as it Exists Today

As a living, adapting, evolving musical language with no trade deficit; it imports as much as it exports...and that's a good thing.

On Wed., April 30, Jazz 88 will celebrate International Jazz Day 2025 by spinning selections illuminating the truly global reach of jazz. Matt Silver got a head start on the April 27 edition of “Breaking Jazz.”

Hello! This is Matt Silver. I host a new jazz release show on Sunday evenings called "Breaking Jazz," where, each week, I bring you the music and musicians of the moment — jazz as it’s being played today. This past Sunday evening, on "Breaking Jazz," I celebrated International Jazz Day 2025. I realize I was three days early to the party, but "Breaking Jazz" is but a humble weekly program; wait 'til next week, and, by then, the ship's way too far out of port.

Tues., May 13: Vibraphonist Chuck Redd to Pay Musical Tribute to the Terry Gibbs Dream Band

A band Mel Lewis considered even greater than his own.

If you’re talking about the greatest jazz big bands ever assembled, the conversation is neither fully credible nor complete without including The Terry Gibbs Dream Band. 

Killer charts by some of the greatest arrangers ever: Bill Holman, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn, Shorty Rogers, Lennie Neihaus, and Marty Paich. Drum-tight ensemble playing. Solos like smart bombs: devastatingly explosive and precisely controlled. And a propulsive yet economical rhythm section. Nothing superfluous. Burning hot, yet ALWAYS cool.