Kevin Whitehead

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.

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 Yesterdays explodes with creative energy.

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."

Terell Stafford and his quintet bring a warm and hefty tone to a tribute album honoring the late Philadelphia horn player Lee Morgan. Kevin Whitehead says the new album is risky — but successful.

In the 1970s guitarist Bill Frisell was a student of jazz composer and arranger Michael Gibbs at Boston's Berklee College of Music. This is the album some Frisell fans have been wishing for.

Bassist Gary Peacock, pianist Marc Copland and drummer Joey Baron bring an airy, elastic swing to their new album, Now This. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the players pull the melodies together well.

Despite its clarity and cohesion, Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the new album from Cuban pianist Ramon Valle and his trio is half knock-out, half schmaltzy.

Fifty years ago in a Washington, DC nightclub, the Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded "The In Crowd," a rare jazz single that landed on the pop charts. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the fans were half the show.

Triangles and Circles, the new album from Dafnis Prieto, blends Afro-Cuban beats, blues feeling and spontaneous rhythmic variations. Critic Kevin Whitehead says that drums are at the album's heart.

In honor of Billie Holiday's 100th birthday this month, several artists are releasing out Holiday tribute albums. Fresh Air jazz critic Kevin Whitehead looks at a couple of these by other singers. One he rather likes; the other, not so much.