The Checkout

New York City’s Winter JazzFest stretches to Brooklyn for the first time this year — arguably offering its best punch of innovative programming, with artists like Kneebody and Daedelus both performing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg as a part of tomorrow’s marathon.

Theo Croker vividly remembers his first lesson with Detroit’s brass hero Marcus Belgrave.

It was an encounter that rattled Croker to his core — leaving him in tears and forcing him to come to grips with his shortcomings and aspirations. Though he was already studying trumpet at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and a grandson of the New Orleans trumpet great Doc Cheatham, that first lesson called everything into question.

The 62nd annual Grammy Awards take place on Sunday, Jan. 26 — and Melissa Aldana will be there, as a nominee in the category of Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

Aldana, a tenor saxophonist originally from Santiago, Chile, earned the nod for her performance on “Elsewhere,” from her critically acclaimed album Visions (Motéma).

One annual Checkout tradition is to pinpoint innovative takes on the holiday canon.

This year we welcomed Martina DaSilva and Dan Chmielinski to deliver a lesser-known take of “Greensleeves,” a gorgeous selection from the Brazilian songbook, and a slick arrangement of the blockbuster hit “Last Christmas,” by Wham!

What makes Black Music the most culturally appropriated music on Earth? Saxophonist David Murray, bassist Rashaan Carter and the rappers Kokayi and Saul Williams have some ideas.

Marta Sánchez — a pianist from Madrid, now based in New York City — is celebrated for her inventive use of counterpoint and rhythm, as displayed on her radiant new album, El Rayo de Luz (Fresh Sound New Talent).

Saxophonist and educator George Garzone may not be well known outside of Boston, but if you ask any woodwind player at the Berklee College of Music, he’s nothing short of a jazz legend.

When I landed in Turkey last summer for the 26th Istanbul Jazz Festival, I knew I was arriving at an ancient crossroads — where East meets West, old meets new, and culture still thrives in dazzling convergence.

What I didn’t expect is how Istanbul constantly reminded me of New York City: the sheer density of the place, its relentless energy, its occupants rushing about the sprawling metropolis.

One thing I’ve noticed over two decades’ worth of interviews with Vijay Iyer, the award-winning pianist and composer, is that he doesn’t instinctively start talking about himself. He’s much more inclined to spread the musical gospel and teachings of the masters before him. 

Vincent Peirani is an accordionist and composer who, earlier this month, won Album of the Year in the prestigious Victoires du Jazz, an annual awards ceremony in France. On this edition of My Music, we’ll join Peirani on a listening tour of his winning album, Living Being II - Night Walker (ACT Music).

We know Justin Stanton as one of the original members of Snarky Puppy, a band that thrives in a state of constant collaboration. But this trumpeter and keyboardist considers it important to find moments for himself, looking inward as a composer — as on his debut album, Secret Place.

As the French multi-instrumentalist known as FKJ boarded a plane early this year, he turned to his manager, Kate Cudbertson, and asked: “Why are we going to Bolivia, again?” The huge risk of filming a remote concert at Salar de Uyuni — the world’s largest salt flat, high in the Andes — was starting to sink in. But they both knew they might be on the verge of making something for the ages. 

Samora Pinderhughes lives in a constant state of metamorphosis. Five years after his Transformation Suite, this brilliant pianist and singer-songwriter is ready to burst out of his latest cocoon with Venus.

Pinderhughes says the name refers not to the planet but rather a line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet — “Venus smiles not in the house of tears” — that sets the bloom of love against the weight of tragedy.

What does our music sound like now?

We mean “now” as in right now — fall of 2019? There’s no simple answer to that question, but The Checkout is here to help. Taking our cue from the WBGO Fall Preview, a rundown of 88 picks for the new season, we’ll explore some of the albums poised to make an impact in the weeks to come.

It’s easy to get excited about Pedro Martins, a young multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter from Brazil.

On this edition of My Music on The Checkout, we’ll get to know Martins, who at 26 has toured with Kurt Rosenwinkel and released his own album on the guitarist’s Heartcore label. It was Rosenwinkel who gave Martins the confidence to step out as a vocalist — featuring him in that capacity on a song called “Kama.”

Luciana Souza has one wish for humanity in a troubled time: “That we all can make a difference in every way that we live.”

Souza is a singer-songwriter originally from São Paolo, Brazil, and her words carry a certain tragic resonance as the world watches the Amazon rainforest burn. But she spoke those sobering words last March, on The Checkout Live at Berklee College of Music, right before paying homage to her country’s all-time greatest songwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim.

The New York Gypsy All-Stars perform a modern strain of gypsy jazz unlike any other. By combining fiery Balkan wedding grooves with ancient Turkish traditions, these conservatory-trained musicians are quick to show off their virtuosity while also creating an intoxicating atmosphere for the dance floor.

There’s nothing fake about David Murray.

Whatever else you call Herbie Hancock — jazz-piano paragon, funk-fusion pioneer, Afro-Futurist, humanitarian, sage — you’d have to agree on “moving target.”

Forward motion is the hallmark of his multifaceted career, which has yielded all manner of accolades, including a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 2016.

Before he made his leap to stardom as the musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jon Batiste already showed signs that he wanted to change the world for the better.

Batiste, 32, will headline a special concert at the Newport Jazz Festival next Friday, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He has a new album releasing on the same day: Anatomy of Angels: Live at the Village Vanguard (Verve), which was recorded during an engagement last fall.

Charlie Haden left us five years ago, but his influence and musical contributions are still being felt today.

Last year, Impulse! Records posthumously released a tranquil recording featuring the double bassist in an intimate duo setting with the pianist Brad Mehldau, titled Long Ago and Far Away. They performed together in 2007 at the Enjoy Jazz Festival in Germany.

The Mexico City-born artist Antonio Sanchez has always been outspoken about immigration, a subject he addresses on his new album, Lines In The Sand.

For Sanchez, a five-time Grammy award-winning drummer and composer, activism came naturally; in a sense, he never had a choice in the matter. His calling as a crusader for human rights is indelibly linked to an immigration story in his family, which took place before he was born.

What’s the opposite of sampling when constructing a great loop? Kassa Overall has some ideas.

On his recent album Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz, the Seattle-born, New York-based artist often lays the groundwork for a great song by capturing a stellar collaborative improvisation, steering the flow from behind the drum kit. Then he digitally modifies those organic performances to create precise hip-hop compositions that feature his own ethereal lyricism.

Pianist-composer Myra Melford isn’t one for dogmas.

Whether she’s checking out the boogie-woogie of James P. Johnson, the fractured concepts of Cecil Taylor or Gnawa trance ceremonies in Morocco, openness guides the way she navigates life and music.

Reza Khota is a guitarist and composer from South Africa — born in Johannesburg, based in Cape Town — and he joins us for another edition of My Music on The Checkout.

By soaking in the sounds of Igor Stravinsky and John McLaughlin, and combining them with his own rich musical Indian upbringing, Khota gives a voice to the subaltern.

Godwin Louis has been on a quest to trace the roots of jazz.

In the last couple of years, the saxophonist has traveled to over 100 countries in study of the African musical diaspora. His findings inspired Global, a far-sweeping and personal debut album, which could also be seen as a manifesto. Louis believes we are all more connected throughout the Americas than we may realize.

Last summer, the Slovenian-born, Amsterdam-based pianist and composer Kaja Draksler was bestowed the Paul Acket Award at The North Sea Jazz Festival — one of the highest honors given to a contemporary jazz artist deserving of wider recognition.

On this edition of The Checkout, Draksler shares new music from her octet of forward-thinking musicians trained in Baroque, new classical, and European free-jazz traditions.

Andrew Bird is mostly known for his tightly crafted and intricately layered pop songs. But this violinist also thrives in extremely loose and often chaotic environments — settings that favor unpredictability and ample space for improvisation — as we learn on this episode of The Checkout.