Ashley Kahn
Ashley Kahn is an American music historian, journalist, and producer, as well as a regular commentator on Morning Edition.
Kahn has had different jobs related to music in his career: from deejay to video producer and freelance writer, from road manager to concert producer and TV music editor for VH1. As a road manager, he has toured with jazz musicians including Henry Threadgill, Cassandra Wilson, and Greg Osby; with African artists including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela, and Lucky Dube; with rock artists including Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel; and with pop stars including Britney Spears.
His most critically acclaimed books have been on two major jazz albums, Kind of Blue from Miles Davis and A Love Supreme from John Coltrane. Apart from his books, his contributions as a journalist have appeared in the New York Times, Downbeat, Jazz Times and Rolling Stone in the USA; Mojo and New Statesman in the UK; GQ in Japan, and many others.
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Long before Louis Armstrong came along, the trumpet and New Orleans were intertwined. For local jazz legend Nicholas Payton, the instrument represents the essence of the Crescent City.
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On Friday morning, New Orleans kicks off its first jazz festival since Hurricane Katrina. This year, the Jazz & Heritage Festival has adopted the motto "Witness the Healing Power of Music." Nowhere will this be more evident than in the festival's Gospel Tent.
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Commentator and music journalist Ashley Kahn talks to members of The Flaming Lips about their music and their latest album, At War with the Mystics. For more than 20 years the band has been a cult favorite. Kahn explains how their new effort maintains a spirit of experimentation, while earning them a shot at mainstream popularity.
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Music journalist Ashley Kahn talks with guitarist and songwriter Al Anderson about his new album, After Hours. Anderson has been in the music business for four decades. He has written a string of country hits for Nashville's biggest stars. Despite his success as a songwriter, Anderson says the urge to perform again has proved too strong to resist.
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Miles Davis is among the new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For most of his career, the great jazz trumpeter played music that had very little to do with rock 'n' roll. But his influence on popular music is still being felt today.
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Last week, legendary jazz keyboardist Chick Corea released a new album titled The Ultimate Adventure. It features a blend of Corea's signature style from the 1970s with some modern twists. The album was inspired in part by the writings of Scientologist L. Ron Hubbard. -
John Fogerty — once lead singer of Credence Clearwater Revival and now a solo artist — has buried the hatchet with his record label. The result is a new greatest hits CD called The Long Road Home.
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Susan Tedeschi is considered one of the best up-and-coming blues singers and guitarists. Her newest CD is called Hope and Desire. Music journalist Ashley Kahn spoke with Tedeschi about her career and her music.
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Neil Innes is a singer and songwriter who also was the guiding musical force behind the comedy team Monty Python. His humorous songs carry that peculiar British blend of absurdity and intelligence. Music journalist Ashley Kahn caught up with Innes on his recent American tour.
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Music journalist Ashley Kahn profiles Alice Coltrane, widow of jazz legend John Coltrane. Alice Coltrane is a musician and bandleader in her own right and has just released her first album in 25 years.
