52 Weeks of Jazz: Classic & Modern Compositions

A year-long journey through jazz history, pairing essential classic compositions with influential modern works.

Week 1

Classic: "West End Blues" - Louis Armstrong (1928)
Modern: "The Epic" - Kamasi Washington (2015)

Week 2

Classic: "Take the 'A' Train" - Duke Ellington (1941)
Modern: "Whisper Not" - Robert Glasper (2005)

Week 3

Classic: "Ko-Ko" - Charlie Parker (1945)
Modern: "Avishai" - Avishai Cohen (2017)

Week 4

Classic: "Round Midnight" - Thelonious Monk (1944)
Modern: "Optimism" - Ambrose Akinmusire (2014)

Week 5

Classic: "So What" - Miles Davis (1959)
Modern: "The Windup" - Brad Mehldau (2002)

Week 6

Classic: "Giant Steps" - John Coltrane (1960)
Modern: "Bad Kids to the Back" - Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (2012)

Week 7

Classic: "A Love Supreme" - John Coltrane (1965)
Modern: "Ife" - Esperanza Spalding (2008)

Week 8

Classic: "Blue in Green" - Miles Davis (1959)
Modern: "Vulture Prince" - Arooj Aftab (2021)

Week 9

Classic: "Maiden Voyage" - Herbie Hancock (1965)
Modern: "Golden Daysz" - Kamaal Williams (2018)

Week 10

Classic: "Footprints" - Wayne Shorter (1966)
Modern: "Lingus" - Snarky Puppy (2014)

Week 11

Classic: "Lonely Woman" - Ornette Coleman (1959)
Modern: "Powa" - Makaya McCraven (2018)

Week 12

Classic: "Blue Train" - John Coltrane (1957)
Modern: "The Dreamer" - José James (2008)

Week 13

Classic: "Cantaloupe Island" - Herbie Hancock (1964)
Modern: "Integrity" - Terrace Martin (2016)

Week 14

Classic: "Moanin'" - Art Blakey (1958)
Modern: "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" - The Robert Glasper Experiment (2012)

Week 15

Classic: "My Favorite Things" - John Coltrane (1961)
Modern: "Portal" - GoGo Penguin (2017)

Week 16

Classic: "Spain" - Chick Corea (1972)
Modern: "We Move" - Kassa Overall (2020)

Week 17

Classic: "Birdland" - Weather Report (1977)
Modern: "Protection" - Yussef Dayes & Alfa Mist (2020)

Week 18

Classic: "Take Five" - Dave Brubeck (1959)
Modern: "Tiny Galaxies" - Tigran Hamasyan (2013)

Week 19

Classic: "Chameleon" - Herbie Hancock (1973)
Modern: "Les Etoiles" - Melody Gardot (2009)

Week 20

Classic: "A Night in Tunisia" - Dizzy Gillespie (1942)
Modern: "Afro Harping" - Dorothy Ashby (reimagined by Flying Lotus, 2006)

Week 21

Classic: "Walkin'" - Miles Davis (1954)
Modern: "Ferguson" - Terence Blanchard (2015)

Week 22

Classic: "Blue Monk" - Thelonious Monk (1954)
Modern: "Multikulti" - Portico Quartet (2008)

Week 23

Classic: "Naima" - John Coltrane (1959)
Modern: "Acknowledge" - Nubya Garcia (2020)

Week 24

Classic: "Caravan" - Duke Ellington (1936)
Modern: "Black Gold" - Ezra Collective (2023)

Week 25

Classic: "The Sidewinder" - Lee Morgan (1963)
Modern: "Petite Afrique" - Somi (2014)

Week 26

Classic: "Song for My Father" - Horace Silver (1964)
Modern: "Nostalgia in Times Square" - Christian McBride (2014)

Week 27

Classic: "Straight, No Chaser" - Thelonious Monk (1951)
Modern: "Kind Folk" - Nate Smith (2018)

Week 28

Classic: "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - Cannonball Adderley (1966)
Modern: "Lift Every Voice" - Jazzmeia Horn (2017)

Week 29

Classic: "In a Silent Way" - Miles Davis (1969)
Modern: "The Space in Between" - Ambrose Akinmusire (2020)

Week 30

Classic: "Blue 7" - Sonny Rollins (1956)
Modern: "Dynasty" - Ravi Coltrane (2005)

Week 31

Classic: "Freddie Freeloader" - Miles Davis (1959)
Modern: "Rise" - Jason Moran (2007)

Week 32

Classic: "All Blues" - Miles Davis (1959)
Modern: "Reverie" - Ambrose Akinmusire (2018)

Week 33

Classic: "Bitches Brew" - Miles Davis (1970)
Modern: "To Pimp a Butterfly" - Kendrick Lamar/Kamasi Washington (2015)

Week 34

Classic: "Afro Blue" - Mongo Santamaria (1959)
Modern: "Rebirth of Slick" - Digable Planets (2000s influence)

Week 35

Classic: "Free Jazz" - Ornette Coleman (1961)
Modern: "Hometown" - Vijay Iyer (2019)

Week 36

Classic: "Body and Soul" - Coleman Hawkins (1939)
Modern: "Humility" - Ambrose Akinmusire (2014)

Week 37

Classic: "Sing, Sing, Sing" - Benny Goodman (1937)
Modern: "What's New" - Esperanza Spalding (2016)

Week 38

Classic: "Manteca" - Dizzy Gillespie (1947)
Modern: "Américas" - Miguel Zenón (2016)

Week 39

Classic: "It Don't Mean a Thing" - Duke Ellington (1931)
Modern: "Black Nile" - Wayne Shorter (2013)

Week 40

Classic: "Mood Indigo" - Duke Ellington (1930)
Modern: "First Move" - Theo Croker (2016)

Week 41

Classic: "Groovin' High" - Dizzy Gillespie (1945)
Modern: "Destiny" - Lakecia Benjamin (2020)

Week 42

Classic: "One O'Clock Jump" - Count Basie (1937)
Modern: "The Black Market" - Weather Report reimagined by Christian Scott (2014)

Week 43

Classic: "Salt Peanuts" - Dizzy Gillespie (1945)
Modern: "Holding Space" - Kris Davis (2016)

Week 44

Classic: "Anthropology" - Charlie Parker (1945)
Modern: "Prince of Queens" - Christian McBride (2015)

Week 45

Classic: "Black Orpheus" - Luiz Bonfá (1959)
Modern: "Afro-Cuban Messengers" - Ron Carter (2007)

Week 46

Classic: "Autumn Leaves" - Bill Evans (1959)
Modern: "How Insensitive" - Kurt Elling (2009)

Week 47

Classic: "Stella by Starlight" - Miles Davis (1958)
Modern: "Your Queen Is a Reptile" - Sons of Kemet (2018)

Week 48

Classic: "All the Things You Are" - Charlie Parker (1945)
Modern: "Black Superhero" - Robert Glasper (2020)

Week 49

Classic: "King Porter Stomp" - Jelly Roll Morton (1923)
Modern: "Truth" - Kamasi Washington (2018)

Week 50

Classic: "Singin' the Blues" - Bix Beiderbecke (1927)
Modern: "Enoch's Meditation" - Donny McCaslin (2016)

Week 51

Classic: "The Creator Has a Master Plan" - Pharoah Sanders (1969)
Modern: "The Transfiguration" - Makaya McCraven (2020)

Week 52

Classic: "Acknowledgement" - John Coltrane (1965)
Modern: "Terminal One" - Nils Frahm meets jazz (2018)

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A year-long exploration of jazz's evolution, connecting the masters with contemporary innovators.