Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year

We arrive at that magical moment between watching an iconic year unfold and preparing to celebrate the new one ahead. As we prepare these articles in December, just before the holiday break, I'm struck by how quickly the year sprinted by. What great times we've witnessed. This year brought changes to our family. Two of our writing staff said goodbye, with one transitioning completely from the jazz world. They were both missed immediately, their voices leaving spaces we're still learning to fill. We honor Raúl da Gama in these pages with one of his poems—and of course, it became a conversation piece, just as his writing always was. Our year in review reveals an industry in remarkably good shape. New artists are making waves while masters continue to live and work well into their 100s, still appreciated and celebrated by our community. We honor 101-year-old Marshall Allen, a testament to jazz's life-giving force.

Looking ahead, 2026 will bring an unprecedented number of centennials. There must have been pixie dust in the air in 1925-26, as the jazz icon centennial list reads like a roster of the greatest names in our music's history: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Max Roach, Gigi Gryce, and many more. It's a year that will demand our full attention and celebration. We pay tribute to two remarkable artists: Melba Liston and Sammy Davis Jr., each of whom broke barriers and expanded jazz's possibilities. Our Premium Edition spotlights the up-and-coming artists to watch in 2026—the next generation carrying our music forward.

I hope you enjoy reading what we've created as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Here's to the music that keeps us young, the artists who inspire us, and the community that sustains us all.

Happy New Year!

Chrys R