Dante Zaballa
Go to the New York Times homepage

What are the five minutes you’d play to make a friend fall in love with jazz?

Scroll to begin
Dante Zaballa
Card 1 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Alice Coltrane

We asked writers, critics and musicians including Meshell Ndegeocello and Angel Bat Dawid to tell us what moves them in Coltrane’s spiritual jazz.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Alice Coltrane playing the harp with their eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 2 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Avant-Garde Jazz

This challenging subgenre, including the subset of free jazz, is driven by the fire of spontaneity, and its rules are still being written. Eleven writers, critics and musicians share their favorites.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a person playing saxophone and rolling around on the floor.
Dante Zaballa
Card 3 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Bass

Writers, scholars, radio hosts and musicians, including the bassist Ron Carter, share songs that shine a light on an instrument that lays the foundation of jazz.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Charles Mingus playing the bass.
Dante Zaballa
Card 4 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Bebop

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell: They altered the course of American music and raised the bar for improvisation. Listen to 10 experts’ favorites.

Background Image: An animated illustration with child-like charm and color of four musicians playing the saxophone, percussion, upright bass and trumpet.
Dante Zaballa
Card 5 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Don Cherry

Listen to favorite songs by an adventurous musician who pushed the boundaries of jazz, selected by writers and musicians including Nailah Hunter, Kieran Hebden and the artist’s son Eagle-Eye Cherry.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Don Cherry playing the cornet.
A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Duke Ellington playing the piano.
Dante Zaballa
Card 6 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Duke Ellington

We asked jazz musicians, writers and others to tell us what moves them. Listen to their choices.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Duke Ellington playing the piano.
Dante Zaballa
Card 7 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Flute

The flute is one of the more overlooked instruments in jazz, but it’s been making an impact on improvised music for more than 50 years. Let 10 experts take you on a guided tour.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Hubert Laws playing the flute.
Dante Zaballa
Card 8 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Herbie Hancock

We asked musicians and experts, including Thundercat, Patrice Rushen and Nicole Sweeney, which Hancock song they would play for a friend.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Herbie Hancock playing a keytar.
Dante Zaballa
Card 9 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love John Coltrane

Coltrane changed the game in American music a few times over. Here’s a guided tour to his career, courtesy of 15 musicians, scholars, poets, writers and other experts.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician playing the saxophone with his eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 10 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Mary Lou Williams

We asked a dozen musicians, scholars and critics to help take us on a tour of the music and mind of a pianist whose decades-long career made her a Mount Rushmore figure in jazz.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a singer with a loose resemblance to Mary Lou Williams playing the piano.
Dante Zaballa
Card 11 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach

The drummer helped pioneer bebop in the 1940s and delivered a message of resistance and liberation from the 1960s on. Listen to 13 selections from musicians, writers and critics.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Max Roach playing the drums.
Dante Zaballa
Card 12 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Miles Davis’s Electric Period

Navigate the trumpeter’s snaky, endless grooves with picks from Flying Lotus, Cindy Blackman Santana and Terence Blanchard, among other musicians, writers and critics.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Miles Davis wearing shield sunglasses and playing the trumpet.
Dante Zaballa
Card 13 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love New Orleans Jazz

Many cities have rich jazz histories, but none goes back as far as New Orleans. We asked Wendell Pierce, Courtney Bryan and others what song they would play to get a friend to join the party.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a marching band performing on the street.
A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Ornette Coleman playing the trumpet with their eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 14 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Ornette Coleman

We asked writers, critics and musicians including Kamasi Washington, Nubya Garcia and Shabaka Hutchings to tell us how they connect with Coleman’s fearless artistry.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Ornette Coleman playing the trumpet with their eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 15 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Piano

We asked Samara Joy, Hanif Abdurraqib, Vijay Iyer and others to share their favorite tracks showcasing what might be the most nuanced instrument in jazz.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a pair of hands playing the piano, with the cuffs of a jacket visible.
Dante Zaballa
Card 16 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Sarah Vaughan

All it might take is a second and a half of hearing her sing to make your spine tingle or your heart drop. Opera singers, jazz vocalists, writers and Vaughan’s biographer share their favorites.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a performer with a loose resemblance to Sarah Vaughan singing with her eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 17 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Shirley Horn

The pianist and vocalist was at once magnetically powerful and laid-back, glamorous and understated. A mix of musicians, writers and radio personalities share their favorites.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a performer with a loose resemblance to Shirley Horn playing the piano with her eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 18 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love South African Jazz

The country has a rich, original relationship to jazz, with American techniques layered into regional traditions and rhythms. Explore 50 years of recordings picked by musicians, poets and writers.

Background Image: A colorful animation in pink, purple and blue, depicting a man playing the trumpet.
Dante Zaballa
Card 19 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Strata-East Records

This label founded in 1971 gave Afrocentric and psychedelic jazz a home, and found a breakout hit with Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson. Take a guided tour through its deep catalog.

Background Image: A colorful animated depiction of the artist Gil Scott Heron.
A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Sun Ra playing a keyboard with one hand raised and their eyes closed. Planets float in the background.
Dante Zaballa
Card 20 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Sun Ra

Questlove, Dawn Richard and a range of other musicians, writers and critics share their favorites from the experimental pianist, organist and bandleader’s wide-ranging catalog.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Sun Ra playing a keyboard with one hand raised and their eyes closed. Planets float in the background.
Dante Zaballa
Card 21 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Thelonious Monk

We asked Jon Batiste, Arooj Aftab, Mary Halvorson and others to share their favorites.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a musician with a loose resemblance to Thelonious Monk playing the piano with his eyes closed.
A colorful animated illustration of a singer with a loose resemblance to Billie Holiday singing at a microphone with their eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 22 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Jazz Vocals

Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong were A-list celebrities at the top of their art form. Today’s jazz singers are finding new paths. Listen to these 11 favorites.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a singer with a loose resemblance to Billie Holiday singing at a microphone with their eyes closed.
Dante Zaballa
Card 23 of 23

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love 21st-Century Jazz

We’ve done a lot of listening back. So where is jazz today? Writers and musicians including Sonny Rollins, Melanie Charles and Terri Lyne Carrington share their favorites from this millennium.

Background Image: A colorful animated illustration of a person standing at a turntable and swaying with the music.
The New York Times Logo

Discover more

Five Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music.

Back To Beginning