jazz

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Stewart Copeland, plus wolves

“The wolves are howling with great soul, great passion... it's jazz, the jazz wolf of the Arctic tundra.” Former Police drum legend Stewart Copeland on recording his new album with wolves, hyenas and a black-footed albatross

By Paul Brannigan published

British punks Gallows may have an album titled Orchestra Of Wolves, but Stewart Copeland now has the real thing guesting as 'musicians' on his forthcoming album

Gene Simmons in the studio

If you ever wanted to hear a whiskey-voiced Gene Simmons crooning a jazz standard, now's your chance

By Fraser Lewry published

Gene Simmons' sultry cover of Stormy Weather comes from the soundtrack of the Dennis Quaid movie Reagan

Donner

Donner pay tribute to 80s ECM jazz on new single Grey Skies Over Stridsklev

By Jerry Ewing published

Jacob Holm-Lupo's outfit Donner will release second album The Van Gennep Gap in November

Jazz Sabbath

Jazz Sabbath to release third album The 1968 Tapes

By Jerry Ewing published

Jazz Sabbath have also been added to the 2025 Cruise To The Edge bill

Julie Christmas performing live in 2024

“I had, like, 18 whiskies”: The unhinged story of how jazz karaoke led to post-rock idol Julie Christmas waking up in bed with a tinned ham

By Matt Mills published

The noise/post-rock maverick gives a bizarre anecdote about canned meat in the new issue of Metal Hammer

The Tangent

The Tangent jazz things up with new single The Fine Line

By Jerry Ewing published

UK prog rockers The Tangent will release their brand new album To Follow Polaris in May

Dan Hicks being interviewed at home, 1974

"You probably think it's easy being up here. Singing and everything, and playing. It's not. It's not easy": Acid days and ragtime jazz with Dan Hicks, an American eccentric

By Max Bell published

The unlikely story of psychedelic pioneer and folk swing vaudevillian Dan Hicks

“You get a few people that bring notepads and binoculars, but a lot of people find the fun aspect appealing… It’s not prog because it’s silly, it’s not jazz because it’s loud and it’s not rock because it’s weird”: So what are The Aristocrats?

By Dom Lawson published

Born of a fun jam in 2011, Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Marco Minnemann would rather tell jokes on stage than just take turns playing solos

the 3 Clubmen Ep sleeve

"The whole thing sounds like it was carved out of caramel and boiled in a pot with gunpowder, sunshine and jazz – mad and lovely and addictive": Was The 3 Clubmen EP the best record you missed in 2023?

By Scott Rowley published

XTC's Andy Partridge and friends released an overlooked EP of luminous alt.pop in 2023. But it's not too late to join the club...

Freddie Mercury at a table at Queen's Jazz launch party

"Dwarves with trays of cocaine on their heads? It never happened. Well, I never saw it. Actually, it could have been true...": What really happened at Queen's most outrageous party

By Johnny Black published

In 1978, Queen launched their Jazz album with a huge Halloween party at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans. People are still talking about it

Drummers

"I never realised how funky Dave was!": Watch a jazz professor at elite music school Juilliard try to play Dave Grohl's drum parts on Nirvana classic In Bloom without having ever heard the song

By Paul Brannigan published

Dave Grohl thought that no-one spotted his funk influences on Nevermind, but it turns out he was wrong

Bill Bruford

“I was interested in being on stage with people who are not only comfortable with not knowing what’s going to happen next, but would rather not know”: Bill Bruford’s journey through jazz and prog

By Johnny Sharp published

The groundbreaking drummer’s bid to find a balance between Yes, King Crimson and Genesis on one hand, and his Earthworks project on the other

Steven Wilson

“Rock is the cult music of the 21st century, in the same way that jazz became a cult. Maybe that’s not a bad thing”: Steven Wilson says the days of rock bands selling a million records are over

By Classic Rock published

Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson has a controversial view of rock’s place in the scheme of things in 2023

Soft Machine in 1970 and Whitney Houston in 1986

“The interesting thing is that she copies Robert Wyatt’s phrasing exactly”: the weird connection between Whitney Houston and the 60s UK prog scene

By Dave Everley published

How an obscure 60s prog-jazz cover gave Whitney Houston her big break

Steven Wilson studio portrait

Steven Wilson shares new ten-minute "mash-up of progressive rock, spiritual jazz and electronica" Impossible Tightrope

By Jerry Ewing published

Steven Wilson will release his brand new album The Harmony Codex on September 29

Rod Argent standing in front of a 60s picture of the Zombies

John Lennon wanted to produce them, Pat Metheny said he wouldn’t have played jazz fusion without them, and Rick Wakeman claimed he played the greatest organ solo ever: Rod Argent looks back on his time with the Zombies and Argent

By Rob Hughes published

Rod Argent was the founding member of The Zombies and Argent and collaborated with some of the best-known names in music, including Phil Collins and The Who. And now the Zombies are reanimated and ready for another bite of success…

The Verge

Norwegian jazz rockers The Verge sign to Is It Jazz? Records

By Jerry Ewing published

Prolific Norwegian jazz prog label adds Norwegian jazz rockers The Verge to their roster

Krokofant

Norwegian jazz proggers Krokofant sign to Is It Jazz?

By Jerry Ewing published

Norwegian prog jazz label Is It Jazz? add Krokofant to their burgeoning label roster

Meet Nutty, the LA jazzers tackling the classic rock catalogue

By Fraser Lewry published

They played at Bruce Kulick's wedding. They got Gene Simmons excited. They're the band where rock and jazz collide. And they're called Nutty