As John Coltrane moved to the last phase of his career embracing the adventurous spirit of the New York avant garde, drummer Rashied Ali was there at the heart of his new thinking with his “multi-directional” drumming and non standard approach that altered the course of Coltrane’s music as it reached its great peak on the album Interstellar Space. Since Coltrane’s death Rashied Ali’s career has, like the course of the avant garde itself, seen its peaks and troughs alternating with periods of obscurity and glimpses of revived interest in this unique musician’s approach. Ahead of a run of dates in London this month, Rashied talks to Kevin Le Gendre 03.07.07

Robert Glasper is trying to do what only a few brave souls have tried, to integrate hip hop with jazz. But unlike others who have failed to make the two different musical forms work together, his steady progress in this direction has achieved critical success in the States and beyond. With his new record, In My Element, he takes the most basic of jazz units, the trio, to use as his tool to take the music forward and make it live. Interview: Andy Robson 29.05.07

Robert Wyatt has a unique perspective on jazz. As a lover of the music and a frequent collaborator with some of today’s most interesting performers, Wyatt also represents a quintessentially English tradition of radical dissent both in his songs and in his politics. Formerly a rock drummer with Soft Machine, a band which has remained uniquely influential on subsequent generations of jazz and rock fans alike, he now pursues a distinctive second life as a singer and songwriter, rarely performing but steadily creating a string of critically acclaimed albums. The latest, Comicopera, has just been released. Duncan Heining travels to Robert’s home in Lincolnshire for this special interview and also talks to musicians from Robert’s new album, Annie Whitehead and Gilad Atzmon. 04.10.07