Jazz Video of the Day

Tu resiliencia es resistencia

Gustavo Cortiñas
Duration: 5:42

Chicago-based drummer and composer Gustavo Cortiñas unveils the video for “Your Resilience Is Resistance,” a stirring piece from his upcoming album The Drum Also Sings / El Tambor También Canta, due June 5 via Desafío Candente Records. Featuring legendary drummers Dave King and Isaiah Spencer alongside Chilean vocalist Paula Herrera, the video transforms themes of memory, resistance, collective struggle, and rebirth into a powerful visual and musical statement. Rooted in South American rhythmic traditions, the piece honors resilience as both survival and defiance while reflecting the album’s broader meditation on healing, ancestry, and community. Across 'The Drum Also Sings', Cortiñas uses rhythm, voice, and collective improvisation to explore how music can carry grief, hope, and renewal simultaneously.

Recommended by Michael Ricci.

Chicago Blues (Live)

Joshua Redman
Duration: 07:28

Joshua Redman is an elite tenor/soprano saxophonist that wrings maximum musicality from each breathy note and turn of phrase. In this performance, Redman reaffirms that his uber-talents extend beyond instrument technique alone, to project concept development, arrangements and choice of personnel. This performance features “Chicago Blues" from his album Where We Are. The project is a placid reflection on cities across the U.S. Some of those cities are lauded in musical fashion for their attractions, while others are mourned for their cultural conflicts. Here on “Chicago Blues,” the arrangement interweaves Sufjean Stevens’ ambient-pop “"Chicago" (from 2005) with Count Basie's big band “Goin’ to Chicago Blues" (1941) to the point at which it's challenging to discern the two sources. The video also highlights the sublime chemistry of the rhythm section, the delicate vocals of award-winning Gabrielle Cavassa; and the climactic solo of the group leader himself (it picks up pace at 2:30). The listening experience is transcendent.

Recommended by Scott Lichtman.

The Scent of Swing: Jazz, Fragrance, and the Invisible Aura of Cool

Andy Wasserman
Duration: 5:38

“The Scent of Swing: Jazz, Fragrance, and the Invisible Aura of Cool” is an evocative, cross-sensory exploration of how jazz—long understood as a sonic art form rooted in rhythm, improvisation, and emotional expression—extends beyond sound into the realm of atmosphere, memory, and even scent. Published on All About Jazz , the story proposes a compelling idea: that the essence of jazz is not confined to what we hear, but also to what we feel, remember, and associate through our other senses, particularly smell.

The narrative weaves together cultural history, personal reflection, and artistic interpretation to examine how fragrance and jazz share a surprising common ground. Both are ephemeral, unfolding over time rather than existing as static entities. Just as a jazz solo evolves phrase by phrase, a fragrance reveals itself in layers—top notes, heart notes, and base notes—each contributing to a larger, cohesive experience. The story draws parallels between these structures, suggesting that a great jazz performance and a finely composed scent both rely on balance, contrast, and the element of surprise.

Central to the piece is the idea of “cool” as an invisible aura—something deeply tied to jazz culture yet difficult to define. The author explores how this aura is not merely visual or auditory, but atmospheric. It lingers in smoky clubs, late-night sessions, and the intimate spaces where jazz thrives. Here, scent becomes a powerful metaphor and a literal presence: the mix of aged wood, brass instruments, worn leather, and human proximity creates a sensory environment that shapes the listener’s experience as much as the music itself.

The story also delves into the historical context of jazz, particularly its roots in African American communities, where style, presentation, and personal expression were integral to the music’s identity. Fragrance, in this sense, becomes part of a broader language of self-definition and artistry. Musicians, like Duke Ellington or Miles Davis, cultivated not only distinctive sounds but also distinctive presences—carefully curated images that included how they dressed, moved, and even how they might have smelled. The article suggests that this attention to detail contributed to the mythology of jazz and its enduring association with sophistication and mystery.

Interspersed throughout the narrative are vivid, almost cinematic descriptions of jazz environments. The reader is transported into dimly lit venues where the air is thick with anticipation and layered with subtle scents. These sensory details are not incidental; they serve to reinforce the idea that jazz is an immersive experience. The author invites readers to consider how memory works in tandem with scent—how a particular fragrance can instantly recall a song, a moment, or a feeling, much like a familiar melody can evoke a specific time and place.

Another key theme is improvisation, not only in music but in life and perception. The story suggests that just as jazz musicians respond to each other in real time, creating something new with every performance, our sensory experiences are constantly shifting and interacting. Fragrance, like jazz, resists permanence; it exists in flux, shaped by context, environment, and individual interpretation. This fluidity is presented as a hallmark of “cool”—an effortless adaptability and openness to change.

Ultimately, “The Scent of Swing” is less about defining jazz or fragrance in concrete terms and more about capturing their shared spirit. It encourages readers to think beyond traditional boundaries and to appreciate the interconnectedness of sensory experiences. By framing jazz as something that can be “smelled” as well as heard, the story expands our understanding of what it means to engage with art.

The piece closes on a reflective note, suggesting that the true essence of jazz—its swing, its soul, its cool—exists in the spaces between senses, in the intangible qualities that cannot be fully articulated but can be deeply felt. In doing so, it leaves readers with a lingering impression, much like a final chord fading into silence or a scent that stays with you long after you’ve left the room.

Recommended by Michael Ricci.

Rules of the Game

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis
Duration: 04:08

The Messthetics are out of this world – truly. They take avant-groove and jazz-punk feels and season them with the musical equivalent of tabasco sauce. Featuring the meaty rhythm section of Brendan Canty and Joe Lally alongside the angular guitar work of Anthony Pirog, the band is joined by tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis on “Rules of the Game.” Here, the Washington, DC band rocks out in the spirit of Medeski, Martin & Wood; Chris Potter; and Jeff Beck (in his Wired period). Add to the full sound the video’s images of driving down the open highway, and you wind up with a satisfying musical experience that you might yearn to recreate in your basement. Read the album review at https://www.allaboutjazz.com/deface-the-currency-the-messthetics-and-james-brandon-lewis-impulse-records .

Recommended by Scott Lichtman.

Atlas Mountain Hop

Club d'Elf
Duration: 4:48

From the album Loon & Thrush (2026, Face Pelt Records). “These studio recordings approximate a logical flow of spontaneous live improvisation at which this ensemble excels." —Doug Collette, All About Jazz

Recommended by Michael Ricci.

Steve Wilson

Steve Wilson
Duration: 4:42

Go behind the scenes of the recording of Steve Wilson's lyrical masterpiece “Enduring Sonance" with interviews of Wilson, Renee Rosnes, Joe Locke, Jay Anderson, and Kendrick Scott.

Recommended by Michael Ricci.

Métamorphose

PAON
Duration: 4:29

'Métamorphose' is the first music video of emerging french avant-garde jazz project PAON. The music is a narrative-driven experience in a distorted imaginary world unfolding in a mix of jazz fusion, opera and electronic experimentations. 'Métamorphose' is a part of PAON's debut EP 'Philosophie du Soi' that released on April 19th. It is a narrative prologue exploring deep solitude, psychosis and the rejection of reality as well as human society through a journey into the depths of the soul. This project is an ode to freedom, a poem of the imagination and of a profoundly anti-materialist romanticism. A battle against spiritual inauthenticity. With inspirations such as Chick Corea, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane or Knower, PAON's universe is meant to create its own spirituality of dreams throughout reality.

Recommended by Michael Ricci.