With blues icon Bobby Rush, ‘what you see is what you get’
Over the course of a 70-year career, Bobby Rush has made his mark on America’s legacy of blues music. He’s been inducted into...
Katie Ditschun seizes the day with debut record Spare Skirt
Katie Ditschun is a singer-songwriter living in Alexandria, Ont. She attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied jazz...
New album by bassist Leon Lee Dorsey is final recording of Harold Mabern
Bassist and producer Leon Lee Dorsey celebrates the late, great jazz luminary Harold Mabern with his latest album. Released on Jan. 20,...
Junior Mance, jazz pianist and educator, dies at 92
Jazz pianist Junior Mance, who recorded more than 50 albums as a leader and many more as a sideman, has died at...
Sammy Nestico, prolific composer and arranger for Count Basie, dies at 96
Sammy Nestico, the composer and arranger best known for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra, has died. He was 96. Along...
New documentary How It Feels to Be Free highlights Black women in jazz
A new documentary film tells the story of how Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln, Lena Horne and other trailblazing performers changed popular culture...
New book traces Canadian songwriter Ruth Lowe’s musical legacy
Canadian songwriter Ruth Lowe was a trailblazer. Back in the early 1940s, Lowe took on the male-dominated music business and composed two...
Four iconic Chet Baker records reissued on vinyl
Four of Chet Baker’s most beloved albums from the late ’50s are being reissued on vinyl this year. Craft Recordings is repressing...
Alex Pangman premieres music video for Louis Armstrong tune
Toronto-based jazz vocalist Alex Pangman and her quintet have premiered a music video for If We Never Meet Again, a song by Louis Armstrong...
Watch the first trailer for new Billie Holiday film
A new film directed by Lee Daniels will portray the “complicated, irrepressible life” of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday. Starring Grammy-nominated R&B...
Alberta jazz quartet Bones From Underground talks debut album
Formed in 2019, Bones From Underground are an Alberta-based quartet that combines smoky bass, lush and explosive horns, and exuberant piano. Their sound is...
Canadian jazz vocalist Caity Gyorgy to release debut album No Bounds
Toronto-based jazz vocalist Caity Gyorgy has announced her debut full-length album will be released Jan. 22. The record is called No Bounds and features some...
George Koller on lockdown, tai chi, Edmonton and being a musical ‘chameleon’
This article was originally published by FYIMusicNews. George Koller’s resumé reads like a map of the last few decades of a forward-thinking...
Fundraiser launched to save New York’s iconic Birdland jazz club
Supporters of live jazz are being urged to chip in to save Birdland, one of the world’s most well-known jazz clubs, from...
Grammy Awards postponed due to COVID-19 concerns
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards have been postponed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles. According to multiple reports,...
Jazz vocalist Fuat Tuaç talks upcoming album The Immigrant
Fuat Tuaç is a vocalist who began his jazz journey by singing in his hometown of Istanbul, Turkey. In 2011, he moved...
Randy Bachman is jazzing up the classics
One of the most iconic musicians in Canadian history, Randy Bachman is the founding member of both The Guess Who and Bachman...
Heather Bambrick and Diane Leah’s new Christmas song is an ‘emotional’ ode to hope
Heather Bambrick is a Juno-nominated vocalist — and if you’ve ever seen her perform, you’ll know how much fun her shows are....
Amanda Tosoff brings poetry to life with Earth Voices
Pianist and composer Amanda Tosoff continues to take creative and stylistic leaps with her latest album Earth Voices. Coming in January, the new...
The rich history of music that made Papa Mali
What do you get when you blend blues, psychedelic rock, funk and the many other sounds of New Orleans, bring it all...
Toronto film producer raises money for Dr. Lonnie Smith documentary
A pair of filmmakers want to tell the story of Dr. Lonnie Smith and his journey from a childhood doo-wop singer to...
Jamie Cullum on the magic of the holidays, and clinging to the familiar
Jamie Cullum has been keeping busy this year, despite the many challenges we’ve all had to face. Having sold 11 million records...
Meet säje, the vocal supergroup thriving on female empowerment
Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick and Erin Bentlage came together this year to form the already acclaimed vocal supergroup called säje. While...