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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The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer doesn't play on his new jazz album, but critic Kevin Whitehead says Old Locks and Irregular Verbs is nevertheless a perfect introduction to Threadgill's voice.
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Lage mixes jazz, blues and swing on his new trio album with Scott Colley and Kenny Wollesen. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says that Lage really hits his stride in Arclight.
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Pianist Aruán Ortiz grew up in Cuba and lived in Spain a few years before moving to the US in 2002. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Ortiz's new trio music is fully bilingual.
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Music from Thad Jones and Mel Lewis' first and seventh Mondays at the Village Vanguard is out on a new two-CD set. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says All My Yesterdaysexplodes with creative energy.
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Johnson was one of the greatest pianists of his time. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) "paints a portrait of a working virtuoso."
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The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's first recording in Feb. 1917 is often cited as the first jazz record ever, but critic Kevin Whitehead says that the roots of jazz stretch a little further back.
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German producer and musicologist Joachim-Ernst Berendt was an early champion of so-called world music. Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews two cross-cultural rarities Berendt produced in the late 1960s.
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For years, Scott Hamilton toured as a soloist. Recently he recorded a new album with drummer Jeff Hamilton's band. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the record showcases Scott Hamilton's ageless style.
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Barron, an official NEA Jazz Master, shines on his recently reissued 1981 solo album. Critic Kevin Whithead says the album is beguiling "no matter how fast or slow or loud or quiet [Barron] gets."
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Shipp, a mainstay of New York's downtown free jazz scene, likes big blocky chords and loud piano sounds. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the new album by the Matthew Shipp trio is "heavy in a good way."