Kevin Whitehead
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.
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Both Lennie Tristano and Herbie Nichols were active on the New York scene in the 1950s. Though worlds apart stylistically, their music demonstrates how the piano accommodates myriad personalities.
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In 1952, record producer Norman Granz brought six jazz stars into the studio to back a singer from outside their circle: Hollywood song and dance man Fred Astaire.
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Paul Steinbeck's new book chronicles the antics, both on and off stage, of the storied jazz ensemble. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Message to Our Folks celebrates the band's success on their own terms.
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The reissued album features the sound of the South African musician once known as Dollar Brand. Critic Kevin Whitehead says: "When Abdullah got a-rumbling, his piano was like a force of nature."
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Fitzgerald, who died in 1996, had her first hits with Chick Webb's big band before going out on her own in the 1940s. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Fitzgerald at her best is as good as it gets.
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The New-Orleans-born trumpeter salutes the earliest jazz recordings on his new album. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Ruler Rebel showcases Adjuah's "commanding personal voice and ... sense of direction."
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Monk Dreams, Hallucinations and Nightmares, by the Finish-born pianist and composer, is a meditation on Thelonious Monk's "odd but catchy melodies," says jazz critic Kevin Whitehead.
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Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead remembers Mengelberg, who died Friday, as a "musical anarchist" who taught classical counterpoint and wrote dozens of catchy melodies.
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The Puerto Rican jazz musician leads his long-running quartet on his new album. Critic Kevin Whitead says Típico is full of "feverishly intricate music that ... comes from the heart."
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A new sampler features live cuts of Count Basie's band in New York from 1938 to 1940. Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead says Jumpin' at the Woodside is full of "pretty terrific" music.
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Trombonist Ray Anderson, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Gerry Hemingway first played together as a trio in 1977. Critic Kevin Whitehead says their new double album proves they can still deliver.
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Critic Kevin Whitehead remembers the jazz notables who died this year, including vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, singer/pianist Mose Allison, pianist Paul Bley and trumpeter Paul Smoker.