At The Improv Café, the essence of live performance is more than just music — it’s a movement. Every song we spin is the real thing: live Jazz, Big Band, Swing, and Vocal Jazz recorded in the moment, with the energy, spontaneity, and soul that only live music can deliver. And right now, the live jazz world is buzzing — from resurgent concert series and inspired new releases to landmark festivals and pressing issues shaping the future of live venues.

Here’s what’s happening across the global stage of live jazz:

🎷 The Return of “Live at Jazz Central” in Syracuse

A true celebration of improvisation is back in motion. The CNY Jazz Arts Foundation is reviving its beloved Live at Jazz Central concert series in Syracuse, New York. The return performance — featuring saxophonist and composer Jeff Lederer on November 14 — is poised to reignite the city’s jazz heart. Known for his creative spirit and adventurous tone, Lederer embodies what live jazz is all about: authenticity, emotion, and unfiltered artistry.

🌍 Festivals Keeping the Groove Alive

Live jazz isn’t just surviving — it’s thriving, on stages big and small across the globe.

• Cambridge Jazz Festival (UK): Now in its 11th year, this British mainstay will fill venues from November 9–23, 2025, celebrating everything from classic swing to boundary-pushing modern improvisation. Expect performances that capture the very essence of live energy — the kind of sound we live for here at The Improv Café.
• PorchFest (Jacksonville, FL): On November 8, neighborhood porches transform into intimate concert stages for more than 20 acts, including standout local jazz groups. The event blends community and creativity, where the line between performer and audience blurs in the best way possible.
• TD James Moody Jazz Festival (Newark, NJ): This year’s lineup at NJPAC includes the debut of internationally renowned pianist and composer Omar Sosa, bringing his Afro-Cuban brilliance to Newark. The city’s jazz roots run deep — and this festival keeps that heritage alive in pure live form.
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Tour: Led by the legendary Wynton Marsalis, the orchestra continues its global tour through 2025, showcasing jazz’s universal language and live vitality night after night.

🎶 New Music, Recorded Live and Unfiltered

There’s no studio magic here — just musicians in their element.

• Russ Macklem Detroit Quintet – Introducing: The Russ Macklem Detroit Quintet: This new release captures the raw electricity of a live-off-the-floor recording session. Every horn line, every rhythm shift, every breath is real and immediate — a perfect match for our “only live” spirit at The Improv Café.
• GoGo Penguin: The British trio continues to break molds, blending funk, jazz, Afrobeats, and R&B into an innovative sound that feels alive with movement and pulse.
• Becca Stevens – Maple to Paper: Stevens’ 2024 solo album dives deep into emotion, her voice weaving through heartfelt lyrics with the intimacy of a live set in a small jazz club.

🎺 Industry Notes: Live Venues Under Pressure

The live music experience — the foundation of everything we stand for — faces ongoing challenges in cities across America.

In Dallas, several restaurants that feature live jazz and other performances are pushing back against a city code that restricts them from charging cover fees. Artists and owners argue that the rule threatens the sustainability of live performance spaces and the livelihood of working musicians. Similarly, in New York City, rising rents and the closure of iconic venues are making it harder for jazz musicians to find stages — sparking an urgent conversation on how to preserve the city’s once-vibrant live scene.

At The Improv Café, we stand with those venues and artists fighting to keep live jazz alive — because nothing replaces the sound of real musicians performing in real time.

🕯 In Memoriam: Remembering the Greats

The jazz world also paused recently to honor two remarkable artists whose live performances defined eras:

• Nancy King (1939–2024): The Portland jazz vocalist, admired for her deep, soulful phrasing and decades of devotion to the craft, passed away at 85.
• Hermeto Pascoal (1936–2025): Known affectionately as “The Sorcerer,” the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and composer’s imaginative spirit inspired generations. Miles Davis once called him “one of the most important musicians on the planet,” and rightfully so.

Their legacy lives on — through recordings, memories, and the spirit of live improvisation they helped shape.

🗃 Archiving the Past, Inspiring the Future

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts recently acquired the Wayne Shorter Archives, preserving the legendary saxophonist’s compositions, personal notes, and artwork. It’s a treasure trove of history, creativity, and innovation — and a reminder that live jazz’s story is still being written every night.

🌎 Looking Ahead: International Jazz Day & Beyond

UNESCO has officially opened the call for the 2027 International Jazz Day Host City, with Chicago set to hold the global celebration in 2026. As the world prepares to honor jazz’s living legacy, one truth remains constant: live performance is the heartbeat of the genre.

🎵 Where Live Jazz Never Stops

At The Improv Café, every note we play — every broadcast, every set — is live. No studio edits. No synthetic tracks. Just the energy of musicians caught in the moment, the pulse of real performance, and the joy of pure, unfiltered jazz.

From Swing and Big Band to Vocal Jazz and contemporary improvisation, we’re not just keeping jazz alive — we’re keeping it live.

Tune in. Turn it up. Feel the moment. The Improv Café — where every song is a live performance.

Sunset Radio Network, a global broadcast platform specializing in live music programming with a new radio format for Live Music

Source: Sunset Radio Network Expands Global Footprint with Six (6) More Radio Stations that only play Live Music

Sunset Radio Network, a global broadcast platform specializing in live music programming with a new radio format for Live Music

Source: Sunset Radio Network Expands Global Footprint with Six (6) More Radio Stations that only play Live Music

At The Improv Café, where the airwaves are devoted exclusively to live Jazz, Big Band, Swing, and Vocal Jazz, the music never stops breathing. Every track played on the station is the live version—every solo spontaneous, every note improvised, every performance a moment captured in time. The station continues to honor the living spirit of jazz by spotlighting the best of what’s new in the global scene, from fresh album releases to international festivals and moving tributes to the legends who shaped the art form.

New Album Highlights: Keeping Jazz Vibrant and Evolving

This fall has been a particularly rich season for live jazz enthusiasts and new releases. On October 10, Niia unveiled V, an album filled with original jazz compositions that blend her trademark smoky vocals with modern sensibilities—a lush and intimate recording that feels like a late-night set in a candlelit club. Released the same day, Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble dropped Groove In The Face Of Adversity, a deeply soulful project that celebrates Detroit’s enduring jazz, blues, and funk traditions. It’s a testament to the city’s resilience and groove-heavy legacy.

Earlier in the month, on October 3, Ledisi paid tribute to the great Dinah Washington with her album For Dinah, produced by bassist and jazz ambassador Christian McBride. The album swings with reverence and fire, bringing new energy to Washington’s classic catalog while highlighting Ledisi’s powerhouse vocals and dynamic phrasing.

German saxophonist Marubia delivered something altogether different with A Seeker’s Dream, released October 7. Her second album fuses spiritual jazz with ambient textures and a touch of trip-hop, pushing the genre forward while retaining its contemplative essence. Looking ahead, fans can anticipate Andy James’ The Architect Of My Blues on November 14, a collection expected to spotlight her deep, velvety voice and emotional command, and Kayla Waters’ upcoming Anew, due November 7, a piano-driven journey of melodic renewal and reflection.

Festival Season and Global Events

As always, the jazz calendar remains full of gatherings that celebrate the art form’s boundless creativity. BRIC JazzFest 2025, held October 17–18 in Brooklyn, promises a powerhouse lineup including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), and Nubya Garcia—a brilliant mix of legacy and innovation. The virtual Jazz-Con 2025, which took place September 15–16, connected musicians and fans across continents for performances, workshops, and conversations that explored the evolving landscape of jazz.

Closer to home, New Jersey’s own TD James Moody Jazz Festival is set to return from November 8–23 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). It continues to stand as one of the region’s most anticipated events, attracting major headliners and celebrating the state’s vibrant jazz community. For listeners of The Improv Café, where the NJPAC stage performances often echo through the playlists, this festival is a highlight of the season.

On a global scale, International Jazz Day 2025, held April 30, featured a spectacular concert in Abu Dhabi and countless educational events both in-person and online. Next year, the tradition moves to Chicago—a city whose jazz roots run as deep as the Mississippi, promising an unforgettable celebration in 2026.

Tributes, Legacy, and the Eternal Spirit of Live Jazz

The enduring importance of live performance—something The Improv Café captures every hour—is also reflected in several new tributes. A new documentary, Köln 75, commemorates the 50th anniversary of Keith Jarrett’s landmark live recording The Köln Concert. The film hit U.S. theaters in October 2025, offering a cinematic tribute to one of the most transcendent live albums ever made.

Meanwhile, Shakti, the legendary fusion ensemble, released Mind Explosion, a live album recorded during their 50th-anniversary tour in 2023—proof that the energy of live improvisation transcends generations and genres. In another milestone, Wayne Shorter’s archives, including handwritten scores and artwork, were acquired by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, ensuring that his creative genius will remain accessible to future scholars, musicians, and dreamers.

The Improv Café’s Continuing Mission

As the global jazz scene thrives with fresh creativity, The Improv Café continues its mission to keep the essence of live jazz alive and resonant. Every note broadcast on the station is performed in real time before an audience—unfiltered, unrehearsed, and alive with emotion. From Big Band classics that swing with timeless rhythm to Vocal Jazz performances that soar with intimacy and passion, the station stands as a digital stage for jazz’s most authentic moments.

Whether you’re tuning in for a live version of Ella Fitzgerald lighting up a Paris stage or catching the energy of a modern ensemble reinventing the standards, The Improv Café reminds listeners why live jazz remains one of the most powerful and human forms of musical expression.

At The Improv Café, where every song we play is a live recording, the air is always charged with the unmistakable energy of real performance — the crackle of applause, the sweat of the soloist, the unrepeatable magic of the moment. We only play live jazz, big band, swing, and vocal jazz because that’s where the true soul of this music lives — in the improvisation, in the conversation between players, and in the electricity of an audience feeling it all in real time.

And this week, that same timeless spirit is alive again as the jazz world revisits several defining moments from the genre’s golden era — from Duke Ellington’s pioneering Mercer label to the continuing influence of Charles Mingus, the ongoing revival of Swing, and the major news surrounding Miles Davis’ legendary catalog.

Duke Ellington and the Birth of the Mercer Label

In 1950, Mercer Ellington, son of the great Duke Ellington, joined forces with critic and journalist Leonard Feather to launch the Mercer label, an imprint that carried forward the Ellington legacy with artistry, independence, and class. The Mercer label represented a rare bridge between the early swing era and the postwar evolution of modern jazz — a time when the big bands were shrinking, tastes were shifting, and recording independence meant survival.

Recently featured in The Syncopated Times, the Mercer label is once again being recognized for its crucial role in preserving Duke Ellington’s later works and nurturing the careers of rising jazz talents of the 1950s. It captured a snapshot of jazz in transition — moving from the large ensemble swing sound that defined pre-war America to a more intimate, modern approach to arrangement and improvisation.

Here at The Improv Café, we’re proud to honor that transition every day through the live performances we broadcast — recordings where Duke’s orchestra stretched beyond the studio walls and redefined what jazz performance could be.

The Enduring Brilliance of Charles Mingus

No conversation about 20th-century jazz composition can happen without Charles Mingus. His body of work is second only to Duke Ellington in sheer scale and influence, spanning blues, gospel, bebop, avant-garde, and everything in between. Mingus was more than a bassist or composer — he was a force of nature who wrote, led, and performed with an emotional intensity few could match.

Today, his legacy lives on through the Mingus Big Band, a New York-based ensemble that continues to perform his music live, keeping his defiant, expressive spirit alive on stage. From classics like Haitian Fight Song to Better Get It In Your Soul, Mingus’ compositions still challenge musicians and ignite audiences around the world.

At The Improv Café, every time we play a live Mingus performance, it’s more than just a piece of history — it’s a reminder that jazz, at its best, is rebellion with rhythm.

The Swing Era Never Truly Ended

Though the Swing Era officially faded in the mid-20th century — hastened by wartime restrictions, economic shifts, and changing popular tastes — the pulse of big band swing never truly stopped beating. While smaller bebop groups took over the clubs, and electric guitars began reshaping American music, a devoted community of revivalists and collectors worked tirelessly to preserve the sound that made America dance.

Today, groups like the Swing & Big Band Preservation Society continue that mission, rescuing rare recordings, restoring forgotten acetates, and keeping the memory of those horn-driven dance nights alive. Across the country, swing bands still fill dance halls, jazz clubs, and outdoor festivals, where brass sections roar and clarinets still sing.

That same passion fuels every note at The Improv Café, where you’ll only ever hear those big band greats as they were meant to be heard — live, raw, and larger than life.

Miles Davis: The Legacy Evolves

In September 2025, the legacy of Miles Davis entered a new chapter as Reservoir Media acquired the majority of his catalog from the Miles Davis estate. With Davis’ centennial celebration approaching in 2026, the acquisition marks a pivotal moment in jazz preservation and future accessibility.

Miles Davis’ influence extends far beyond jazz — his experimentation, innovation, and relentless reinvention continue to inspire musicians across every genre. From Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain to his electrifying live performances at Montreux and Newport, Miles showed the world that jazz could be both introspective and revolutionary.

As The Improv Café prepares to celebrate the Davis centennial in 2026, we’ll be revisiting his most transcendent live performances — the nights when Miles’ trumpet cut through the air like a blade and the crowd held its breath, waiting for whatever came next.

Keeping Live Jazz Alive at The Improv Café

Every performance we play at The Improv Café — from Ellington’s orchestra to Mingus’ furious ensembles and Miles’ genre-bending quartets — is a reminder of what makes this art form eternal. Jazz is not background music. It’s alive, unpredictable, and endlessly expressive.

While technology changes and the music industry evolves, the heartbeat of jazz still thrives on stage, where musicians push limits, respond to the crowd, and create something unrepeatable. That’s why The Improv Café remains dedicated to one thing: only live jazz, big band, swing, and vocal jazz — every note played, every applause heard, captured from the real moments that made jazz what it is.

From Duke to Mingus to Miles, this is the music that built modern American culture. And every time the horns rise, the drums break, and the audience roars, we’re reminded that live jazz doesn’t age — it just keeps improvising.