By Britt Robson, eMusic ContributorAt a time when life feels increasingly unfair for ordinary working folks, the Detroit Jazz Festival is sublime succor, an annual karmic gift of spiritual rejuvenation. A four-day event over Labor Day Weekend in the… more »

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor more »

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor more »

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic ContributorGrowing up in New York City, Sonny Rollins was addicted to cowboy movies. Asked to cut an LP on his first trip to Los Angeles in 1957, he thought, "Let's make a western," picking Ray… more »

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic ContributorGrowing up in New York City, Sonny Rollins was addicted to cowboy movies. Asked to cut an LP on his first trip to Los Angeles in 1957, he thought, "Let's make a western," picking Ray… more »

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic ContributorOnce upon a time, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins — still riding high when The Bridge turned 50 in 2012 — was jazz's most notorious dropout, taking long and much-lamented sabbaticals from the scene. His well-publicized… more »

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic ContributorIn May 1956, when Sonny Rollins and guest John Coltrane locked horns on the friendly throwdown "Tenor Madness," Coltrane was 29, and Rollins four years his junior. But at this point in their careers, Sonny… more »

By John Morthland, eMusic ContributorYou'd think more people would be aware of jump-blues pioneer Louis Jordan as one of the fathers of postwar American music, and particularly of rock & roll. The good-timing "King of the Jukeboxes" has been… more »