Will Layman

Jazz critic Will Layman of PopMatters.com joins us for a look at his favorite releases of 2010.

2009 and 2010 have been big anniversary years for Miles Davis fans. But only one album can reign supreme. Today, Soundcheck's weekly Smackdown series pits the iconic Kind of Blue (1959) against the genre-bending Bitches Brew (1970). May the best riffs win!

Meet composer Emily Howell: she’s crafting original works of classical music that sound sharp and lively, if a little derivative. Some say her pieces sound like Bach or Liszt. The issue: Emily Howell is a computer-based algorithm, designed by composer David Cope. He joins us to talk about Emily Howell’s latest album, From Darkness, Light.

The drum kit has its fair share of esteemed idols: Neil Peart of Rush, Dave Grohl of Nirvana, ?uestlove of the Roots and many more. Yet drummers have always had a reputation for being unreliable and misanthropic. On today’s Soundcheck Smackdown, we debate whether the skin-bashers of the world deserve ...

We continue our Critics' Week coverage of the decade in music with a look at the best of world music and jazz. Siddhartha Mitter, world music critic for the Boston Globe, and Will Layman, jazz critic for PopMatters.com, give us their picks for the decade that was.

Having sold 140 million albums and won an armful of Grammys, Barbra Streisand has just released her first ¬full-length studio session in four years. Featuring her trademark romantic-ballad treatment on 13 well-known standards, it opened at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. While fans say Babs sings like buttah ...

Since its emergence in the late 60’s, jazz-rock fusion has been controversial. Jazz purists decry its use of rock styles, electronic instruments, and what they feel are its commercial pretensions. Yet fans consider it visionary and experimental. As fusion makes a comeback with new albums and tours (not to mention ...

One means John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and is nicknamed the Devil’s Horn. The other is tied to Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, and also with black masculinity. We’ll debate which instrument had the greater impact in jazz with saxophonist Branford Marsalis and jazz critic Will Layman.

Since its emergence in the late 60’s, jazz-rock fusion has been controversial. Jazz purists decry its use of rock styles, electronic instruments, and what they feel are its commercial pretensions. Yet fans consider it visionary and experimental. As fusion makes a comeback with new albums and tours (not to mention ...

Music writer Will Layman joins us for a Critics Week recap of jazz highlights from 2008. Cast your vote for jazz album of the year in our listener poll.

View Will Layman's list of the best jazz albums of 2008.

In another edition of Soundcheck Smackdown, we debate the role of alcohol in live music. Some venues are allowing audience members to bring glasses of wine into once-dry concert halls. But Van Morrison has banned alcohol consumption from his concerts in England. Joining us to weigh in is Limor Tomer, ...

Some say the vanguard of jazz, America's quintessential music, is now coming out of Europe. Today, a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on whether European jazz is threatening the dominance of the US as the cradle of the art form. Joining us is Will Layman, a jazz critic who writes for Popmatters.com, ...