Rob Shepherd

Blasting Through the Barriers: DoomCannon and SXSW’s Jazz re:freshed Outernational

The history of jazz presents a melding of different cultural cues which form the core of the music itself. It…

3 years ago

February 2023 Capsule Reviews

For February - just under the wire - we provide capsule reviews of recent works with an eye towards avant-garde…

3 years ago

Interview: A Conversation with an Anonymous Artist

If you are reading this, there is a substantial likelihood you arrived here under false pretenses. Apologies for the deception.…

3 years ago

Harlem Hellfighter: A Conversation with Jason Moran on James Reese Europe (Part Two)

We continue our conversation with Jason Moran by going deeper into the songs on his James Reese Europe inspired album,…

3 years ago

Harlem Hellfighter: A Conversation with Jason Moran on James Reese Europe (Part One)

The passage of time can leave the legacy of important figures underrecognized. For every figure like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker,…

3 years ago

January 2023 Capsule Reviews

With the start of a new year, we also start a new feature on this site. These capsule reviews aim…

3 years ago

Singing Through the Horn: A Conversation with Billy Harper (Part Two)

We continue our conversation with the great Billy Harper by discussing the beginning of his professional career in New York,…

3 years ago

Singing Through the Horn: A Conversation with Billy Harper (Part One)

The lineage of jazz has long drawn upon ideas from gospel music, whether Louis Armstrong’s presentation of spirituals or Duke…

3 years ago

Rob Shepherd’s Favorite Albums of 2022

My annual list is the only time each year I try to get more personal with my writing, speaking in…

3 years ago

Narrative Freedom: A Conversation with Anthony Davis (Part Two)

In the second part of our conversation with composer Anthony Davis, we do a deeper dive into his work, X:…

3 years ago