This episode of Visions is my third installment of Black History Month celebrations. This time I play a limited selection of classics from the 1950’s-1980’s.

You hear from Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Grant Green, Nancy Wilson, John Lee Hooker, The Quintet (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach), Steve Lacy, Vi Redd, Henry Threadgill, Clifford Jordan, Walter Bishop, Jr., plus Detroit’s Yusef Lateef, Dorothy Ashby, and Barry Harris.

This episode celebrates blues, big band, vocalists, ballads, and jazz standards, all by black jazz musicians. Enjoy the episode!

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Feb. 16, 2026

• “Speak Low” – Grant Green
• “Bouncing with Bud” – Bud Powell
• “Since I Fell For You” – Nancy Wilson
• “Bermuda Blues” – Henry Threadgill
• “Born in Mississippi, Raised Up in Tennessee” – John Lee Hooker
• “John Coltrane” – Clifford Jordan
• “Salty Papa Blues” – Vi Redd
• “Evidence” – Steve Lacy with Don Cherry
• “Airmail Special (Live At The Newport Jazz Festival, 1957)” – Ella Fitzgerald
• “Corner Pocket (Live)” – Count Basie
• “Freedom Suite” – Walter Bishop, Jr.
• “Attica” – The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe & Bill Lee
• “Hot House (Live)” – The Quintet (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach)
• “The Dreamer” – Yusef Lateef*
• “Round Midnight” – Dorothy Ashby*
• “Body and Soul” – Barry Harris*
• “You Don’t Know What Love Is” – John Coltrane

* indicates Detroit artists

This episode of Visions features more celebrations of Black History Month. I span six decades and many subgenres within the broader lens of jazz.

You hear from Mary Lou Williams, McCoy Tyner, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, esperanza spalding, Joel Ross, Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron, Archie Shepp, Max Roach, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, and Lonnie Liston Smith.

This episode highlights rhythm, revolution, resistance, spirituality, the African diaspora, and so much more. Happy listening!

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Feb. 9, 2026

• “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – Gil Scott-Heron
• “Attica Blues” – Archie Shepp
• “All Africa” – Max Roach
• “Solea” – Miles Davis
• “Sister Rosa” – Christian McBride
• “Survival Blues” – McCoy Tyner
• “There Is No Greater Love” – Aretha Franklin*
• “I’m Not So Sure” – Roy Hargrove
• “Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)” – Joel Ross
• “Baby Man” – Mary Lou Williams
• “Sais (Egypt)” – Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes
• “On Jupiter” – Sun Ra
• “The Peacocks” – esperanza spalding
• “The Ankh of Amen-Ra” – Alice Coltrane*

* indicates Detroit artists

This week on Visions, I celebrate Black History Month with the creators, innovators, and current shapers of jazz. Since jazz music is Black music, what better way to start this month than with jazz through the decades? This episode features bebop, spiritual jazz, the avant-garde, modern jazz and hard bop. It touches on themes of slavery, freedom, resistance, political issues of the time, and forward-thinking, afro-futurist art.

I start out in 1947 with one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, Charlie Parker. I move through almost each decade with selections from Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Andrew Hill, Sonny Stitt, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, and Ornette Coleman.

I play more contemporary selections from Cassandra Wilson, Wynton Marsalis, Trio 3 & Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell, and Kamasi Washington. I’ll continue featuring Black artists this month, so stay tuned!

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Feb. 2, 2026

• “Donna Lee” – Charlie Parker
• “Bright Mississippi (Take 1)” – Thelonious Monk
• “What’s Your Story, Morning Glory” – Trio 3 & Geri Allen*
• “Driva’man (feat. Weedie Braimah, Milena Casado, Morgan Guerin, Simon Moullier & Matthew Stevens)” – Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell
• “Strange Fruit” – Cassandra Wilson
• “Original Faubus Fables” – Charles Mingus
• “The Chocolate Nuisance (Live)” – Cannonball Adderley
• “Lift Every Voice and Sing” – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
• “There Is No Greater Love” – Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt
• “Land of Nod” – Andrew Hill
• “Broad Way Blues” – Ornette Coleman
• “The Windmills of Your Mind” – Dorothy Ashby*
• “A Love Supreme, Pt. 2: Resolution” – John Coltrane
• “Chambers Of Tain” – Wynton Marsalis
• “Final Thought” – Kamasi Washington

* indicates Detroit artists

This week on Visions, I decide to take us all over the musical map. I celebrate classics and brand new music.

You hear from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Bobby Hutcherson, Buddy Rich, Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley, and Antônio Carlos Jobim & Frank Sinatra. There’s also a 50th album anniversary from Earl Klugh and Alice Coltrane.

I also play new music from Joel Ross, Tomeka Reid, Craig Taborn, Melissa Aldana, and Walter Smith III, recent releases from Joshua Redman and Sessa, and a new release I’m really excited about by Flea.

Finally, I play a track by Detroit’s Ian Fink to promote a brand new concert series starting here in Detroit. You can hear Ian this Sunday, Feb. 1 at 2:00 p.m., at Fort Street Presbyterian Church.

The series was started by Detroit composer, pianist, and bandleader, Michael Malis and features five of Detroit and southeast Michigan’s most exciting pianists: Ian Fink, Andy Milne, Lisa Sung, Alvin Waddles, and Brendon Davis. Learn more here.

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Jan. 26, 2026

• “Vonetta” – Earl Klugh*
• “Be Patient” – Joel Ross
• “Pensativa” – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
• “Oo long! (feat. Jason Roebke, Mary Halvorson & Tomas Fujiwara)” – Tomeka Reid
• “Before the Lights Go On” – Marcello Melis
• “Montara” – Bobby Hutcherson
• “After Minneapolis (face toward mo[u]rning) [feat. Gabrielle Cavassa]” – Joshua Redman
• “I Love Music” – Ian Fink*
• “Nutville” – Buddy Rich
• “My Ideal” – Walter Smith III
• “La Sentencia” – Melissa Aldana
• “Dindi” – Frank Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim
• “Bicho Lento” – Sessa
• “When Kabuya Dances” – Craig Taborn, Tomeka Reid & Ches Smith
• “Blue Nile” – Alice Coltrane*
• “Never Will I Marry” – Cannonball Adderley & Nancy Wilson
• “Traffic Lights (feat. Thom Yorke)” – Flea
• “Blues Again” – Mulgrew Miller

* Indicates Detroit artists

This episode of Visions celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a collection of liberation music: sounds of grief, struggle, freedom, loss, and joy.

I chose a couple tracks off of Max Roach’s “Freedom Now Suite” to anchor the episode. I also played Terri Lyne Carrington’s rendition of Roach’s suite, “We Insist 2025!” I play music from John Coltrane, Blue Mitchell, Cecil Payne, Nina Simone, Harold McKinney, Irreversible Entanglements, and many more.

I also promote a show coming to the Detroit Institute of Arts Diego Rivera Court this Friday, Jan. 23: George Lewis and the 45th Anniversary of the Creative Arts Collective with PUBLIQuartet. Check out information about the show and purchase tickets here.

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Jan. 19, 2026

• “Soldiers (I Have a Dream)” – Christian McBride
• “Tears For Johannesburg” – Max Roach
• “Mannenberg Revisited” – Abdullah Ibrahim
• “Tears For Johannesburg (feat. Julian Preister, Weedie Braimah, Milena Casado, Morgan Guerin & Matthew Stevens)” – Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell
• “March On Selma” – Blue Mitchell
• “Freedom Jazz Dance” – Harold McKinney*
• “Someday I’ll Find You” – Sonny Rollins
• “Martin Was a Man, A Real Man” – Oliver Nelson
• “Freedom Day” – Max Roach
• “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues (Arr. by PUBLIQuartet for String Quartet)” – PUBLIQuartet
• “Ghost Dancers” – A. Spencer Barefield*
• “Martin Luther King, Jr. I Know Love” – Cecil Payne
• “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)” – Nina Simone
• “Fireworks” – Irreversible Entanglements
• “Alabama (Live At Birdland Jazzclub, New York City, NY, 10/18/1963)” – John Coltrane
• “I Have a Dream” – Herbie Hancock

* indicates Detroit artists

This week on Visions, I dive into the incredible music I heard this weekend in New York City during Winter Jazzfest and beyond.

I had the privilege of hearing Kris Davis, who invited me to her show at the Jazz Gallery, Patricia Brennan, Tomas Fujiwara, Caroline Davis, who played at Birdland with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Larry Grenadier, and Miles Okazaki.

I wanted to check out The Hemphill Stringtet, Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio, James Brandon Lewis, Lex Korten, Lakecia Benjamin, Amir ElSaffar, and Endea Owens during Winter Jazzfest but you can’t be everywhere at once! In lieu of hearing them live, I included them in this episode.

Lastly, I discovered a couple artists during my time in the city. Sasha Berliner played a set during the festival and I’m now a fan. Then I had the privilege of meeting and connecting with Dominique Eade after a set and I immediately listened to her music when I got the chance.

I wish I could transport you to the venues I went to, but hearing these artists on Visions will have to do. Happy listening!

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Jan. 12, 2026

• “Feel Good” – Endea Owens
• “Five Spots to Caravan” – James Brandon Lewis
• “Zenith (feat. David Adewumi, Rico Jones, Jongkuk Kim & Taylor Eigsti)” – Sasha Berliner
• “Mobilize” – Tomas Fujiwara
• “Chain Gang (feat. Daniel Carter & Chad Taylor)” – Luke Stewart & Silt Remembrance Ensemble
• “Brilliant Corners” – Miles Okazaki
• “Bolivia” – Cedar Walton
• “Pettiford” – Larry Grenadier
• “Knotweed (feat. Johnathan Blake & Robert Hurst)” – Kris Davis Trio
• “Basquiat” – Lakecia Benjamin
• “The Blues in E Half-Flat” – Amir ElSaffar
• “Choo Choo” – The Hemphill Stringtet
• “Something Cool” – Dominique Eade
• “City Flora (feat. Nicole Mitchell & Nappy Nina)” – Caroline Davis
• “Antila” – Patricia Brennan
• “A Sunshower Vignette” – Lex Korten

On this episode of Visions, I welcome the new year with a mix of old and new. I play classic cuts that got us here and new music that’s taking us into the new year and beyond.

I play quintessential tracks from Max Roach, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, Aretha Franklin, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, and Lee Morgan.

I also play brand new singles from Joel Ross, Signal Quartet, and Tomeka Reid. Finally, I cover a couple albums that came out last year that I didn’t discover until this year from Gerald Clayton and Phi-Psonics.

Happy new year and happy listening!

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Jan. 5, 2026

• “A Brand New Me” – Aretha Franklin*
• “One by One (Live)” – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
• “Wisdom is Eternal (for Barry Harris)” – Joel Ross
• “More Always” – Gerald Clayton
• “dance! skip! hop!” – Tomeka Reid
• “Sumpin’ Like Dat” – Marion Hayden*
• “Love Theme from Your Life” – Phi-Psonics
• “And Silence” – Myra Melford Trio
• “I’ll Get By (As Long As I Have You)” – John Coltrane
• “The Mercenary” – Lee Morgan
• “Credibility Gap” – Signal Quartet*
• “Absolutions” – Max Roach
• “Prince of Darkness” – Miles Davis
• “Just Give It Some Time” – Bennie Maupin*
• “Binky’s Beam” – John McLaughlin
• “Groove” – William Parker

* Indicates Detroit artists

On this episode of Visions, I celebrate several birthdays, including my own, the solstice, and winter in general.

Dec. 29 just so happened to fall on a Monday for Visions, but that’s also my birthday, Joe Lovano’s birthday and Danilo Perez’s birthday. I play their music and several others who have birthdays in late December and early January.

You’ll hear from Lonnie Liston Smith, Chris Potter, Milt Jackson and Herbie Nichols. I also play Capricorn themed music from Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter.

I play a couple selections having to do with the solstice or winter from Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond, Branford Marsalis, and a beautiful record from Ralph Towner.

Last but not least, I play my own music on Visions for the very first time. You’ll hear two selections from my 2021 album, Placemaking.

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Dec. 29, 2025

• “Lonnie’s Lament (Live)” – Joe Lovano
• “Footprints” – Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes
• “Capricorn” – Miles Davis
• “For Someone I Love” – Milt Jackson
• “Dyad” – Kaleigh Wilder*
• “Wintersong (Take 2)” – Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond
• “Solstice” – Branford Marsalis
• “Panamá 2000” – Danilo Perez
• “It Didn’t Happen” – Herbie Nichols
• “Capricorn 2” – Wayne Shorter
• “The Source (For John Coltrane)” – Chris Potter
• “These Tears I Cry (Alternate Take)” – Kaleigh Wilder
• “Nimbus” – Ralph Towner, Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber & Jon Christensen

*indicates Detroit artists

On this episode of Visions, I share my best releases of 2025, featuring new music from Blue Note’s Artemis, Brandon Woody and and Out Of/Into; Nonesuch Records’ Cecile McLorin Salvant and Mary Halvorson; and International Anthem’s Makaya McCraven and SML. I also play music from here in Detroit by Louis Jones III and Russ Macklem.

I play a couple older tracks that were released in 2025. I was really excited to see Strata-East team up with Mack Avenue to digitally release the Strata-East catalog this year. From their vast catalog, I played Charles Tolliver.

I was also super excited when I saw news of a never-before released live recording from bassist Charlie Haden coming out in the fall of this year.

I’ve got a lot more music in this playlist, too! I had a ton of fun putting this playlist together, so I hope you have as much—if not more—fun listening to it.

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for Dec. 22, 2025

• “FREEDOM JAZZ DANCE” – Kassa Overall
• “I Will Persevere” – Russ Macklem*
• “Imafan” – Makaya McCraven
• “Unconditional Love” – Milena Casado
• “BBL” – Brandee Younger
• “No. 2” – Nicole Glover
• “Spanning (Live)” – Charles Tolliver
• “Ornithology (Live)” – Charlie Haden
• “Go For Broke (feat. Joel Ross, Paul Cornish, Harish Raghavan & Kendrick Scott)” – Gregory Groover Jr.
• “Guéreh” – Noura Mint Seymali
• “Taking out the Trash” – SML
• “Motions” – Louis Jones III*
• “Eureka” – Cecile McLorin Salvant
• “Carved From” – Mary Halvorson
• “Footprints” – Artemis
• “Wisdom; Terrace on St. Paul St.” – Brandon Woody
• “Feed the Fire (feat. esperanza spalding & Karriem Riggins*) [Bonus Track]” – Nicholas Payton
• “Familiar Route (feat. Gerald Clayton, Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, Kendrick Scott & Matt Brewer)” – Out Of/Into

*indicates Detroit artists