Before I had the language to understand why, I just internally understood that I never quite resonated with January 1st as the “new year.” It always felt a bit forced, and, if I’m honest, a little depressing. “Auld Lang Syne” aka “Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot” might be one of the most unceremonious songs in history, and in terms of tradition, standing in the freezing cold to watch the ball drop in one of the least inspiring parts of New York City (as a native New Yorker, I can say that!) never appealed to me. Aside from the original Dick Clark specials, and the fact that my beloved grandmother’s birthday fell the day after New Year’s Day, I just couldn’t muster much excitement for any of it.
Then there’s the resolutions. Or as I call them, set-ups to fail. But before you call me pessimistic, there’s data to back me up. According to a study conducted by The Harris Poll, by the end of February, most people may have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. By the end of the year, 70% of Americans who had set a New Year's resolution abandoned it altogether. This number jumps to 89% for Gen Z (ages 18‒28) and 74% for millennials (ages 29‒44).
This makes sense to me, especially for those of us who live in parts of the globe where we experience all four seasons. There’s not much inspiring about going to the gym when you likely have to shovel a foot of snow to get to your car (or adventurously schlep to the train station if you’re a New Yorker). Winter slows us down ― cold temperatures, less daylight. Intuitively, it’s less a time to initiate, and more a time to reflect.
If you’ve ever struggled to connect with January 1st as a symbol of renewal, you’re not alone. Many believe ― and I agree ― that if there were a moment that truly marks the beginning of a new year in a way that aligns with the rhythms of the Earth and reverberates ancestral wisdom, it would be the Spring Equinox. The word “equinox” literally means “equality of night and day.” At this moment, the sun sits directly above the equator, and both hemispheres receive equal light, creating a perfect balance between day and night. It’s a natural reset of sorts.
Even in jazz, this cosmic timing has been honored. John Coltrane famously composed a piece for the autumnal equinox, a song that I believe he wrote in celebration of his own birthday, which falls almost exactly on the equinox. In fact, Coltrane wrote quite a few songs about the cosmos, and the rhythms of nature. Trane, as always, ahead of the curve.
The arrival of spring also ushers in Aries season, the first sign of the zodiac. Aries is a cardinal sign, associated with initiation, momentum, and new beginnings. It mirrors what we see in nature: the first buds on trees, the return of color, and the natural world’s invitation to us that says just as the Earth begins again, so can we.
For me, this feels like a far more embodied start to the year than anything marked on a calendar page.
After one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record, I couldn’t be more excited to welcome the new season. In celebration of the Spring Equinox ― and the beginning of Jazz Appreciation Month ― here are eleven spring-inspired selections, handpicked by me and a few brilliant jazz musicians.
GREG OSBY (SAXOPHONIST, COMPOSER, EDUCATOR)
Duke Ellington Orchestra“Passion Flower”Blue Rose (1956, Columbia Records)
For many years, one of my favorite compositions that I’ve enjoyed specifically in the springtime has been Duke Ellington’s appropriately titled “Passion Flower.” Johnny Hodges’s many masterful treatments of this piece are peerless, and each of his excursions are sterling examples of accomplished phrasing and interpretation. He played it each time as if it would be his last, and the song has identified itself as one of his timeless signatures ― to the degree that few dare to attempt to perform it.
To my ears, the initial theme feels and sounds like a plant readying itself to be available for pollination by a bee. The arc of the Hodges’s solo represents repeated beeline visits, and the steady crescendo and apex signify the eventual blossoming of the mature and majestic flower. Many of Ellington’s well-crafted pieces successfully evoke a similarly stunning visual imagery.
TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON (GRAMMY®-WINNING MUSICIAN, EDUCATOR, NEA JAZZ MASTER)
Nina Simone“Here Comes the Sun”Here Comes the Sun (1971, RCA Records)
Spring is my favorite season because it is the season of renewal. I am a “serial optimist,” so the opportunity for a new beginning and to see life blossoming really speaks to me. I find joy and hope easier, and more quickly attained in the springtime. The sun and its power to bring things to life has a lot to do with that. A song that makes me feel the power of the sun and the promise of spring is the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” written by George Harrison, and released on their Abbey Road album. While the original version is great, it is the Nina Simone version that strikes a deep emotional chord in me. It feels like hope after a long, cold lonely winter, or a long difficult period. She brilliantly accompanies herself on the piano, with her voice becoming extremely fragile just at the right moments.
Many songs about spring could be interpreted as a song about the season itself or a season of love, like Johnny Nash’s [lyrics] “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind / It’s gonna be a bright, bright / Sun-shiny day.” Or in “Here Comes the Sun”: “Little darlin / I feel that ice is slowly melting / Little darlin’ it seems like years since it’s been clear.” Both are lyrics that leave room for interpretation. And I think many songs about spring can provide a happy, yet melancholy mood, reflective of love desired or love lost. But mostly, I am grateful for spring ― whether the season or a song ― to uplift me and/or deliver me from the dormancy of winter blues.
JEREMY PELT (TRUMPETER, COMPOSER, EDUCATOR)
Billie Holiday“Some Other Spring”Lady Sings the Blues (1956, Clef Records)
I’ve often thought that the saddest songs have the most beautiful melodies, and thus I’ve always been drawn to them rather than the more popular, “happy” American Songbook fare. Billie Holiday not only had a gift for making us feel pathos through her singing, but she was a masterful writer who knew how to penetrate even the coldest heart with her lyrics.
When one thinks of spring, most think of new beginnings and possibilities; however, unrequited love knows no season.
CANDICE HOYES (AWARD-WINNING ARTIST, SONGWRITER, EDUCATOR, ORGANIZER)
Minnie Riperton “Expecting” Come to My Garden (1970, GRT Records)
Come to My Garden reminds me of spring. This entire album is a world-building record for me. The collaboration of the great Minnie Riperton and composer Charles Stepney, who produced it, fills me with a feeling of newness, budding hope, and soft, breezy strength. Charles Stepney was a vibraphonist from the South Side of Chicago who composed works rooted in jazz, soul, psychedelia, and expressing profound messages of social justice, love of humanity, and community care. I feel this same devotion in Minnie Riperton’s tone, phrasing, and transcendent musicality.
I chose the song “Expecting” because Stepney’s arrangement uses jazz harmony, lush strings, and layers of vocals — the sparsely plucked guitar and silken vocals remind me of a spring day that is just starting to warm, that first walk in the woods as the sun returns. That is to say, this song holds the tenderness of spring. Every lyric is set like pure poetry.
I have always loved the garden as a metaphor for harmony, ensemble, and a natural ethos of unity. “Expecting” is one of those songs that bears so many resonances that a new dawn is coming.
JALEEL SHAW (SAXOPHONIST, COMPOSER, EDUCATOR)
Lee Morgan “Rio” The Procrastinator (1967, Blue Note Records)
I would say “Rio” by Wayne Shorter. It’s an amazing, amazing composition from Lee Morgan’s The Procrastinator album. For some reason it makes me think of spring. I think it’s because it just really relaxes me. I like to listen to it with the windows down and with the breeze hitting my face, or when I’m just chilling in the warm weather walking around. It’s something I’m looking forward to playing while hanging with my baby daughter this spring, too, because we’ve been cooped up in the house for the past two months now, and I haven’t been able to take her out. So, I’m excited for the spring and playing her music while we explore outside and stuff like that. And I’m especially gonna be playing her “Rio” and Lee Morgan’s music… a lot of stuff that I grew up listening to.
JASON MARSHALL (SAXOPHONIST, COMPOSER, EDUCATOR)
David “Fathead” Newman “Shana”Lone Star Legend: Still Hard Times / Resurgence! (1997, 32 Jazz)
The song that always makes me feel like spring has arrived is a song called “Shana” by David Fathead Newman. It’s on his album Lone Star Legend: Still Hard Times / Resurgence! It’s a shuffling tune in G minor with stop-time in the melody. It’s the first song that ever made me want to go on a long drive with the windows down. The melody sounds like a long overdue exclamation from someone who’s been diligently hibernating all winter. It’s the sound that you make when the moment you thought would never come finally does. This song makes me wish I owned a convertible.
ANGÉLIKA BEENER (JOURNALIST, DJ, PRODUCER, HOST OF MILESTONES PODCAST)
Clifford Brown and Max Roach "Joy Spring”Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1954, EmArcy)
This is one of my favorite songs of all time — for any season, reason, or occasion. But most certainly, opening up the windows wide on a bright spring day with this tune fluttering in the air is bliss. Clifford Brown and Max Roach — one of the most essential duos in music history. Although it was a short-lived alliance, tragically truncated by the passing of Clifford Brown in 1956 at just 25 years old, the quintet they co-led and formed with pianist Richie Powell, saxophonist Harold Land, and bassist George Morrow was trailblazing and brilliant. Brown’s masterful “Joy Spring” starts with Land playing a two-handed arpeggio that pretty much reflects the opening melody. The chords that answer this arpeggio stopped me in my tracks when I was a child, and they still do. I notice that when a lot of people teach this tune, they leave that part out; but the call and answer between the unison lines and these dark harmonic responses in the opening really set the tune up, and it’s majestic to the ears. The changes throughout are beautiful, and the use of modulation and Roach’s incredible rhythmic accents heighten and elevate the tune to a space that embodies its title and then some. It is such a buoyant, brilliant, beautiful piece. Brown’s solo from 2:55–3:09 can bring an elated tear.
Freddie Hubbard“Up Jumped Spring”Backlash (1967, Atlantic Records)
I was torn between which version to post about, so I’ll just recommend you listen to both this version of Freddie Hubbard’s “Up Jumped Spring” and the one from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ Three Blind Mice Vol. 1. Although the latter might be my personal favorite for nostalgic reasons, this 1967 version is an absolute gem, especially with the addition of James Spaulding’s flute on the chorus that conjures the image of butterflies fluttering in a garden. Hubbard’s solo is a lot more tempered on this version, but his gorgeous, fluid lines and tone are exquisite. The B section of this song is simply delicious.
Carmen McRae“Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most”Bittersweet (1964, Focus Productions)
“Now a spring romance doesn’t stand a chance… Promised my first dance to winter… All I’ve got to show’s a splinter … for my little flame.” Now, this one is not particularly a frolic through the flowers. It is a bit gut-wrenching, equal parts haunting and splendid, detailing the juxtaposition of the associations of spring and the process of reckoning with heartache. The opening of McRae’s version imbues all the mystique and depth conceivable, and features McRae and the under-celebrated pianist and arranger Norman Simmons. It almost gives a live feeling, with Simmons following McRae’s beautiful timing and phrasing. A weeping bowed bass from Victor Sproles folds into the mix at the bridge, and the light, tasty drums don’t appear until the second verse. For the listener, it is an exercise in patience and the act of savoring. The audio mix of this recording adds to the magic as McRae’s voice sits out front, so untainted and organic that she sounds like she’s singing on your shoulder. It’s one of the most incredible things I’ve ever heard.
Throughout, Simmons plays these beautiful, dark changes underneath her, sprinkling absolutely gorgeous harmonic trills along the path, almost like roses for McRae to walk upon. And she responds with some of the greatest singing you could ever hope to hear. Just when you think you can’t take another moment, the change Simmons plays on the last time Carmen says the word “spring” will just melt you where you stand (provided you’re still standing at almost 6 minutes in!). Incredible.
Teena Marie “You Make Love Like Springtime” Irons in the Fire (1980, Motown)
This album (my personal favorite) is a prime example of Teena Marie’s ability to write huge funk and disco hits. I don’t care where I am — I hear that opening glissando and Marie’s long “Heeeeeee” from “Square Biz,” and it’s an instant dance party wherever I am! Yet, she always had songs in her repertoire that were reflective of the music that influenced her: early Motown, jazz, and Brazilian genres in particular. “You Make Love Like Springtime” from her Irons in the Fire LP is like a sunset on the beach. It has a samba feel with this awesome oscillating major-to-minor groove, and arranged with her signature horn section front and center. Reflective of the merging of Brazilian music, soul, and disco that we saw in the previous decade, but with a Lady T twist. A delectable, seductive, warm spring nighttime jam. The great bassist, Allen McGrier, once again knocks it out of the park.
Sarah Vaughan“Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year”Sarah Vaughan with Percy Faith and His Orchestra (1953, Phillips) The only album I know this song to be on and that would probably be easiest to find is Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi. Subsequently recorded by other greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and Abbey Lincoln, Vaughan first recorded it in 1953 with Canadian orchestrator and arranger Percy Faith. It’s my favorite version: the arrangement is understated and Vaughan’s phrasing enraptures. It doesn’t get much better than this.
