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John Fordham

Headshot of John Fordham

John Fordham is the Guardian's main jazz critic. He has written several books on the subject, reported on it for publications including Time Out, Sounds, Wire and Word, and contributed to documentaries for radio and TV. He is a former editor of Time Out, City Limits and Jazz UK, and regularly contributes to BBC Radio 3's Jazz on 3

May 2026

  • Sonny Rollins performing in 1965.

    Magic, mastery and magisterial power: 10 of Sonny Rollins’ greatest recordings

    After his death aged 95, we look back at a remarkable catalogue of work that stretches from vivacious mid-50s sets to his evocative performance after 9/11
  • Photo of Sonny ROLLINSUNSPECIFIED - JANUARY 01: Photo of Sonny ROLLINS (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)

    Sonny Rollins obituary

    One of the great American jazz saxophonists regarded as an improvising genius by fans all over the world
  • A black and white photo of the musicians Miles Davis and Marcel Romano and film director Louis Malle standing by a door

    Jazz album of the month
    Miles Davis: Ascenseur pour l’Échafaud review – harmonic openness for Louis Malle’s haunting noir thriller

    The trumpeter’s improvised soundtrack for the new wave director’s 1957 film still glows with sensuality, tension and nocturnal beauty in this lavish reissue

April 2026

  • The musician Walter Smith III wearing a white shirt, black suit jacket and holding a saxophone against a brown backdrop

    Jazz album of the month
    Walter Smith III: Twio Vol 2 review – classic jazz is vividly alive in the hands of this incisive saxophonist

    The redoubtable musician and guests including Branford Marsalis and Ron Carter make standard song-shapes sparkle with focus and rugged phrasing

March 2026

  • A black and white photo of Miroslav Vitous playing the double bass

    Jazz album of the month
    Miroslav Vitous: Mountain Call review – double bass duets balance muscularity with mellowness

    Jack DeJohnette and Michel Portal – both of whom died recently – are phenomenal foils for the Weather Report alumnus’s classical-influenced jazz

February 2026

  • Tomeka Reid wearing a blue striped top with her black cello

    Jazz album of the month
    Tomeka Reid: Dance! Skip! Hop! review – an early contender for jazz album of the year

  • Towner performing in Rome during the 2019 Roma Jazz Festival 2019.

    Ralph Towner obituary

January 2026

  • Julie Campiche with harp.

    Jazz album of the month
    Julie Campiche: Unspoken review – a harpist’s tender, quietly radical hymn to women who endure

  • Iain Ballamy.

    Jazz album of the month
    Iain Ballamy: Riversphere Vol 1 review – an exquisite flow of genre, harmony and improv

December 2025

  • Cécile McLorin Salvant Press publicity portrait

    Best music of 2025
    The 10 best jazz albums of 2025

  • Christmas spirit … Lena Horne.

    ‘It became a running joke how much my brothers and I hated it’: the sound of Christmas to me

November 2025

  • أحمد [Ahmed], featuring (l-r) Antonin Gerbal, Seymour Wright, Pat Thomas and Joel Grip.

    Jazz album of the month
    أحمد [Ahmed]: Sama’a (Audition) review – a wild, world-spanning act of musical devotion

  • Jack DeJohnette, Hawth, Crawley West Sussex, 1989. Artist: Brian O'Connor.. Image shot 1989. Exact date unknown.HT1XBA Jack DeJohnette, Hawth, Crawley West Sussex, 1989. Artist: Brian O'Connor.. Image shot 1989. Exact date unknown.

    Jack DeJohnette obituary

October 2025

  • Unpredictable … Sebastian Rochford.

    Jazz album of the month
    Sebastian Rochford: Finding Ways review – Polar Bear drummer’s strikingly varied quest into the aftermath of grief

  • Hermeto Pascoal during his show at the Rio Montreux jazz festival in Rio de Janeiro, 2019.

    Hermeto Pascoal obituary

September 2025

  • Cécile McLorin Salvant.

    Jazz album of the month
    Cécile McLorin Salvant: Oh Snap review – a jazz artist of rare gifts and fearless variety

  • Our guide to Hermeto Pascoal in clips

August 2025

  • Tyshawn Sorey, Linda May Han Oh and Ambrose Akinmusire.

    Jazz album of the month
    Linda May Han Oh: Strange Heavens review – ideas and invention burst from a great jazz trio

    Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey join the bassist-composer on originals and covers that are rhapsodic, rhythmic and tonally warm

July 2025

  • ITV Archive<br>Editorial Use Only / No Merchandising Mandatory Credit: Photo by ITV / Rex Features ( 993719hb ) 'The Les Dawson Show' TV Picture shows - Johnny John Dankworth and Cleo Laine ITV Archive

    Dame Cleo Laine obituary

  • From left: Anthony Braxton, Mark Dresser, Marilyn Crispell and Gerry Hemingway.

    Jazz album of the month
    Anthony Braxton: Quartet (England) 1985 review – recovered cassettes capture foursome in fantastic flux

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