JazzTimes Magazine September 2022 Back Issue

WHITNEY BALLIETT
A true prose virtuoso, Whitney Balliett covered jazz for The New Yorker for more than 40 years and achieved a literary stature rare among music critics. But he had his limits. Tony Scherman examines Balliett’s life and work through the lenses of then and now, celebrating the master’s achievements while making no bones about his blind spots.

SAM RIVERS
He played with Miles Davis in the ’60s, essentially created the New York loft-jazz scene in the ’70s, and made compelling music for 30 more years. Will new books and archival albums finally give fearless multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers the respect he deserves? Geoffrey Himes looks back at the scope and influence of Rivers’ legacy and hopes so.

JAZZ AND THE MOB
Organized crime and jazz grew up together in New Orleans, Chicago, New York, and elsewhere. And though some believe their relationship petered out after Prohibition, the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. T.J. English contends that the music’s long history of entanglement with the mob isn’t a sidebar; it’s the main story.