
Best Jazz of 2025 (So Far)
Don’t look now, but we’ve reached the midpoint of 2025 — and listened our way through well over a hundred albums, in search of elevated sounds. It feels like the right time for a progress report, so we’re sharing half a

Hosted by WRTI · 🇺🇸 US · EN-US · 35 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Jazz is a conversation — and that’s what The Late Set is all about. Originated by critic Nate Chinen and broadcaster Greg Bryant, the show now convenes Chinen and Josh Jackson twice a month for perceptive variations on a theme, and their related interview with a special guest. Just like a hang at the end of the gig, in the back of the club, it’s direct, unfiltered and illuminating, revealing the music and its culture in a deeper light.
WRTI hosts The Late Set, a music show with 35 episodes published.

Don’t look now, but we’ve reached the midpoint of 2025 — and listened our way through well over a hundred albums, in search of elevated sounds. It feels like the right time for a progress report, so we’re sharing half a

Amaro Freitas was born in Recife, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. He began playing the piano in church, discovering jazz after his first exposure to the music of Chick Corea. What Freitas has done since is a small m

The spiritual and the sensual find common cause in the music of Brandee Younger. As the world’s leading improvising harpist, she carries a torch for Alice Coltrane, whose astral meditations continue to light a path. But

“Out quickly and on the move” — so begins a bracing new book by Ben Ratliff, the brilliant music critic and scholar. It’s titled Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening, and it follows Ratliff’s thoughtful li

Some artists can always be counted on to channel a sense of place. For violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman, it’s the homeward pull of Northern California’s so-called Lost Coast, between the redwood sprawl of Humboldt

Few events embody the act of listening and receiving quite like the Big Ears Festival, which happens every spring in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nate was there this year, conducting artist interviews and taking in as much musi

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and we’re celebrating just as we always do, by chasing down live music and supporting the scene. But we’re also looking ahead to Record Store Day, which falls on April 12. It will bring

Renee Rosnes has traced a momentous musical trajectory over the last 40 years. A pianist and composer of exceptional insight, she’s served apprenticeships with Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter, and earned rare

Endea Owens knew what she meant when she called her 2023 debut Feel Good Music. As a bassist, a bandleader and an organizer, she specializes in the kind of buoyant uplift that just won’t quit. You can see her putting thi

There’s a heartstopping moment in “for sonia,” Aja Monet’s ruminative elegy for the revolutionary poet Sonia Sanchez, when she recalls uttering the word “poetry” at a community organizing meeting, only to be met with flu

What was up with the jazz field at this year’s Grammy Awards? A big win by a legend who died three years ago? Two major awards for a Christmas release? There’s so much to talk about — and that’s before we even get to the

Earlier this month, bassist and bandleader John Clayton flew from Los Angeles to New York to receive a high honor: the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award, at Jazz Congress. On the day of the ceremony, the Eaton wildfire dest

For our first episode of 2025, Nate and Josh Jackson talk through a few fresh New Year’s resolutions related to listening. And we’re sharing one of our favorite interviews in recent memory: a sit-down with Samara Joy, he

We heard so many great albums in 2024, none more imaginative or compelling than Blues Blood, by alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins. This episode features an illuminating conversation that Immanuel had at REC

The jazz vocal tradition is always an evolving proposition, but rarely does that notion feel truer or more affirming than in the output of Michael Mayo. Fly, his sterling second album, captures the forces of energy and c

As Thanksgiving rolls around, it’s a good time to ask: what are we grateful for? Here at The Late Set, our first answer is you, our listener. So we decided to spend this holiday episode answering your questions. In the p

“I’m a jazz musician first, I feel,” says Bilal. Maybe this comes as news to the many admirers who know him as an ethereal singer with a shape-shifting R&B profile, or as one of the original catalysts for neo-soul. On a

“Dreams do come true.” That’s how Greg sums up this episode, as he and Nate talk with master drummer Jack DeJohnette about an incredible recording made in the spring of 1966. Featuring a ferocious quartet co-led by piani

WRTI’s Josh Jackson subs in for Greg, talking with Nate about their rich experience at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. Their guests are saxophonist Chris Coles and trumpeter Sean Jones, who had just performed

Urgency is a currency for Isaiah Collier, an ambitious young saxophonist from the South Side of Chicago. We recently caught up with him at Solar Myth in Philly, where he played music from two new albums — The Almighty an
Brandee Younger
harpist and 2025 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient
1 appearance on this show
Aja Monet
poet, artist, cultural organizer
1 appearance on this show
Nubya Garcia
1 appearance on this show
Esperanza Spalding
Grammy-winning artist
1 appearance on this show
Gregory Porter
Indiana State Representative
1 appearance on this show
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The Late Set is hosted by WRTI. The show is categorised under music (society) and has published 35 episodes.
The Late Set has published 35 episodes.
The Late Set regularly covers music, society, culture. It sits in the music category, with a society focus.
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Episodes of The Late Set average 56 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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