photo of Walter Smith III by Travis Bailey
SMOKE Jazz Club continues its 25th anniversary season with an exciting line-up in this year’s 12th annual Coltrane Festival. Over the course of four weeks (December 11-January 5), some of today’s top musicians join forces to celebrate the life and musical legacy of the great saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. Coltrane Festival “Countdown 2025” features Ravi Coltrane, in his debut at SMOKE, Eric Scott Reed, Nicholas Payton, Louis Hayes, and more in what has become a seasonal highlight in the world of jazz. It also includes the New Year’s Eve Celebration (Dec 31) with one of the best line-ups yet: Jazzmeia Horn, Vincent Herring, Cyrus Chestnut, Yasushi Nakamura, and Johnathan Blake. For the complete December schedule and most updated calendar, please visit SMOKEjazz.com.
Located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side at the junction of Broadway and 106th Street (aka Duke Ellington Boulevard), Smoke Jazz Club is one of New York City’s premier live music venues. Renowned for offering top-notch programming of accessible, timeless jazz featuring legendary performers, modern masters, and rising stars, Smoke stands apart with its candlelit dining room, stellar acoustics, and classic American cuisine. Founded in 1999, SMOKE also boasts a GRAMMY-nominated label, Smoke Sessions Records, and a celebrated streaming concert series, Smoke Screens. Visit SMOKEjazz.com.
When: Wednesday-Sunday @ 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. and additional 10:30 p.m (Fri and Sat only). Doors open at 5:00 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).
Where: SMOKE Jazz Club, 2751 Broadway (between 105/106th Streets), New York, NY, Train: 1 to 103rd Street.
Tickets: In-Person $25+. Livestream $15.
For more information and to make reservations, please visit SMOKEjazz.com.
Following a successful debut in 2024, The Unity Jazz Festival makes its highly anticipated return to Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 10-11, 2025, featuring an exciting new lineup of over 20 acclaimed acts and emerging artists. This year’s diverse roster of intergenerational and multicultural talent includes the Future of Jazz Orchestra, Pedrito Martinez & Alfredo Rodriguez, and Rachael & Vilray (performing as a duo and with an all-star band) among others to be announced. These dynamic performances take place throughout Frederick P. Rose Hall, known as the House of Swing (located on Broadway at 60th St. in New York City). The two-day Festival kicks off at 6:00 p.m. each night, continuing through the evening.
For tickets and more information, visit jazz.org/unity. For livestreaming information, visit jazzlive.com.
photo by Andrew Hurlbut
Want to go deeper? Looking for a past show you really liked? Maybe you want to binge listen to Jazz After Hours or take us with you on your mobile device during the week. Check out our archive. Every show from 2022 through 2024 is now available to stream and we are currently filling in the archive with shows from prior years! Check back soon.
Are you a jazz musician with a new record you want the world to hear? Jazz After Hours accepts submissions of new jazz for airplay. No record promoter is required to have your music considered. The only requirements: quality, musicianship and originality. Our mission is to support and encourage the creation of fresh new jazz. Your new music could be broadcast and streamed worldwide on the PRX network.
We do not accept physical copies. In the interest of everyone’s health, your budget, and the environment, only digital submissions are accepted. We accept studio quality recordings, in .wav, .mp3, .mp4, or .aiff file formats, delivered by download. Files must be properly named and accompanied by a one-sheet of information about you and your music.
Questions? Contact us through the contact form at the bottom of this page.
We look forward to hearing your new music.
photo of Owen Broder by Adrian H Tillman
On December 19th, the documentary film With Peter Bradley will have its national broadcast premiere on PBS. A one-hour version, edited by the director Alex Rappoport, will be televised as an episode of LOCAL, USA on the WORLD Channel. The full length film will be available for streaming on the PBS digital platform. Check your local station’s schedule for details.
Listen to Jazz After Hours this weekend to hear our exclusive conversation with the film’s director Alex Rappoport and musical director Javon Jackson. We’ll mix it up with music from Javon’s jazz soundtrack to this unique film about an important abstract artist, his dedication to art, and jazz.
Visit withpeterbradley.com to learn more about the film and Peter’s work.
With great affection and all due respect to its storied history and rich tradition, we think jazz music was never meant to be bronzed and put on a shelf. Captured, remembered, studied, even lionized, but not frozen in time. Jazz didn’t stop being great in 1947 or 1955 or 1968 or 1976. It’s pretty great in 2024.
Name a name, anyone in the pantheon of jazz greats. To a person, they once were young, feisty, likely impertinent. They sought to break the mold; dared to make mistakes; challenged the elders and the music that came before. That’s what jazz musicians do.
Each of those jazz musicians once had their first gig. Their first recording session. Their first breakthrough moment and their first bad review. And believe it or not, there was a joyful moment when someone played their music on the radio for the first time. For some hard-working musician, that happens almost every week on Jazz After Hours.
The point being … jazz ain’t over. Not even close.
Record stores come and record stores go. Most of them are long gone. Radio stations do the same. Technology changes, and while it closes some doors it opens many others. The critics and whiners are going to beat their chests and find every possible way to make a buck with a tired story about the death of jazz. People who haven’t bought a jazz record in 40 years are going to try to convince you that was the last great jazz. It wasn’t. Jazz is alive and very entertaining in 2023. We invite you to listen to what we play on Jazz After Hours and judge for yourself.
These are the musicians you’ll be talking about for the next 20 or 30 years. They’re playing music today that is the future of jazz. It’s new, it’s fresh and it’s damn good. Don’t take our word for it. Listen each week on public radio. This is your discovery process.
