January, 2026

The confluence of cultural influences that constitute jazz’s foundations could only have happened in 20th century America…but in the decades since that musical big bang, jazz has become both an enduring American export AND one that’s become a unique showcase for overlapping ethnic, regional, national, and transnational musical aesthetics and traditions.

Sport and athletic competition has evolved in much the same way. The games that became national pastimes have grown to forge global communities. In light of this year’s Winter Olympic Games, we thought we’d celebrate the global nature of the pastime we’re most passionate about — jazz — with just a twist of healthy competition. 

Duke Ellington leads the Symphony of the Air (composed of former members of the NBC Symphony Orchestra) in the world premiere of his work “New World A-Comin,” feat. pianist Don Shirley. At New York City’s Carnegie Hall. March 16, 1955.

If you're listening to jazz radio or you find yourself reading these words on a jazz radio station's website, you probably already know the immutable laws of Duke Ellington’s universe: The A-Train’s the quickest way to Harlem. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. And what exactly that IT is — the thing supposedly rendered meaningless in the absence of swing — well, that’s unknowable.

Martin Luther King Jr. and wife Coretta Scott King (a singer herself), playing piano in their home with two of their children.

By Matt Silver

The 2020s have been nothing if not tumultuous. But it's during tumult that man's mettle is tested — and where the iron of his artistry is sharpened. Martin Luther King Jr. used his instrument of oratory to passionately but civilly call for a redress of grievances and appeal to the concept of the human experience as a shared endeavor, and he knew music to be an almost supernaturally powerful medium through which to reach humanity's sense of justice and fairness via its soul.

By Matt Silver

In recognition of MLK Day 2026, here are five more albums from this decade that stand out as powerful modern musical testaments to MLK's enduring legacy.