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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Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead remembers Mengelberg, who died Friday, as a "musical anarchist" who taught classical counterpoint and wrote dozens of catchy melodies. -
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.
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Halvorson, a prolific jazz guitarist, plays with harmonies and melodies as she leads an eight-piece band on her new album. Critic Kevin Whitehead calls Away With You "richer than ever."
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Five decades after Smith began recording, the trumpeter and composer is having his moment. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews America's National Parks, recorded by Smith's Golden Quintet.
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Proximity highlights the potential of the drums, while The Declaration of Musical Independence emphasizes soundscapes. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Cyrille's albums are a study in contrasts.
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Drummer Jim Black slips rock-ish beats beats under a jazz groove on his trio's new album. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the sound on The Constant has a distinctive edge that "pops out of the speakers."
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Cherry joined with four internationally known jazz improvisers for a playful session at a Swiss festival in 1980. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the music they made still sounds fresh 36 years later.
