The Blog

The New York Jazz Workshop Blog

Listening guides, music theory, practice advice and conversations with working musicians. 289 articles and counting.

Latest

A Guide to Your First Jam Session

Everything You Need to Know to Swing Like a Pro Your first jazz jam experience can be a joyful one if you pick a beginner-friendly session, know some standards, keep solos short, and stay to support…

Ryan Engelbert

Learn

Theory & practice

Notation, harmony and improvisation, plus what classes, ensembles and jam sessions are really like.

Listen

Essential Jazz Listening

The records and players that shaped the music, era by era: what to listen to, and what to listen for.

All 135 guides

Listening guides

Why Does Kind of Blue Endure?

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis is arguably the most famous jazz album of all time, and for non jazz lovers, or…

Shizuka Shearn

Listening guides

Music For Black Pigeons

Filmed over the course of 14 years in various locations such as North America, Europe, and Japan, Black Pigeons captures intimate, improvised…

Marco Chelo

Listening guides

Jazz and Latin Music

The rhythmic traditions brought to the Americas by the African diaspora have had an immeasurable impact on the music of the region.…

Marco Chelo

Podcast

In Conversation

Interviews with jazz icons and up-and-coming talent.

All 32 episodes

Also on this site

Jazz for Piano, by David Sharp

Detailed analyses of compositions and solos by Monk, Parker, Coltrane, Mingus, Bill Evans and many more. The examples use piano voicings; the approach applies to any instrument.

Explore Jazz for Piano

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