“Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?” So ends Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Trombonist Samuel Blaser is no longer the invisible man of jazz. This Swiss bandleader is among various low brass players

Ever since The Bad Plus attracted way more attention than most of their contemporaries could ever dream of over a decade ago with their cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the unexpected cover has been the surest way for a jazz act to garner buzz outside of the usual jazz circles. That's proven to be both a blessing and a curse for the genre. While it's introduced new listeners to a form...

Kevin Hayden has a love/hate relationship with jazz. He loves the music, which he’s been listening to since he was a toddler, when his father began teaching him to play drums. Over time, though, he’s learned to hate the culture

 A hand adjustment on a drum kit, a suggestive slow bass-snare groove, a rubbery bottom-strings jive and then the voice—all late-night, hushed and come here, girl—before the sinewy trumpet lines lock it in. So begins the drawers

 Although Stephen Stills sometimes seems overshadowed by his frequent collaborator, Neil Young, the new four-disc career retrospective offers ample reminders that Stills, a gifted and often imaginative songwriter, was integral

 Although not widely recognized today, Alec Wilder’s songs were sung by Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra and performed by Keith Jarrett and Kenny Burrell. His compositions for the concert hall combined jazz with classical

 Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia for eight voices and orchestra

 The pain arose like an assassin at 2 a.m. on Dec. 14, slashing into Gary Christensen’s gut. Making matters worse, he felt desperately alone, in a friend’s cottage in a dark, desolate area outside of tiny Hillsboro, nearly a whole

 The Shorewood High School Orchestra, swinging since 1925, has blown up to amazing proportions. Today, roughly 25% of all students in the district play an instrument. The roster includes 520 musicians (grades

 Tarik Moody doesn’t have much regard for genre boundaries. As a DJ for 88.9 Radio Milwaukee, Moody spins a little bit of everything, and as a principal behind the concert series Unlooped