Nate Chinen
Editorial DirectorNate Chinen has been writing about music for more than 25 years. He spent a dozen of them working as a critic for The New York Times, and helmed a long-running column for JazzTimes. As Editorial Director at WRTI, he oversees a range of classical and jazz coverage, and contributes regularly to NPR.
A 13-time winner of the Helen Dance–Robert Palmer Award for Excellence in Writing, presented by the Jazz Journalists Association, Nate is the author of Playing Changes: Jazz For the New Century, recognized as one of the best books of 2018 by NPR, GQ, Billboard and JazzTimes. He is also coauthor of Myself Among Others: A Life in Music, the award-winning 2003 autobiography of festival impresario and producer George Wein.
Nate maintains a newsletter, The Gig, at Substack. His work also appears in Best Music Writing 2011, Pop When the World Falls Apart: Music in the Shadow of Doubt (Duke University Press, 2012), and Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History (Voyageur Press, 2012).
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nate started his career as a music critic in 1996, at the Philadelphia City Paper. There he covered one of the great jazz cities at ground level, writing a steady stream of reviews and features, along with a biweekly column.
He moved to New York City in 1998, and began writing for a range of publications, including DownBeat, Blender, and Vibe. For several years he was the jazz critic for Weekend America, a syndicated radio program. He covered jazz for the Village Voice from 2003 through 2005, when he became a regular contributor toThe New York Times. Around the same time, he started his monthly JazzTimes column, The Gig, which ran in 125 consecutive installments.
From 2017 until August 2022, Nate was Director of Editorial Content at Newark Public Radio — managing the full spectrum of editorial coverage at wbgo.org, and serving as a consulting producer for Jazz Night in America, a multimedia program hosted by Christian McBride. He also joined radio veteran Greg Bryant there as co-creator and co-host of Jazz United, which won the JJA’s award for Podcast of the Year in each of its two seasons.
Nate lives in Wynnewood, PA with his wife and two daughters.
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As Opera Philadelphia enters its 50th season, acclaimed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will step up as president and general director of the company. -
As WRTI toasts Philadelphia jazz artists during our Spirit of 76 drive, we're proud to feature an interview with pianist Kenny Barron, who grew up in North Philly and still carries a torch for his hometown. -
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This week in Moment's Notice: Dave Douglas leads his Gifts Trio, Jerry Weldon plays at Rite of Swing, and Ruth Naomi Floyd premieres a powerful new multimedia piece. -
In Moment's Notice this week: Steve Turre brings his trombone, his shells and a sextet to South, the Exit Zero Jazz Festival revs up down the shore, and a few hometown heroes get their shine. -
A celebration too honor this year's NEA Jazz Masters award recipients, including Amina Claudine Myers, Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard and Willard Jenkins. Watch live on Sat., April 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET. -
Emily Fredrickson has been the featured trombone soloist in the national tour of 'Hadestown' for the last two years. As the Broadway show reaches the Academy of Music, she talked with WRTI about her pivotal role. -
Moment's Notice packs a lot of firepower this week, with Orquesta Akokán at Penn Live Arts, Lizz Wright at City Winery, and much more. -
An alert, expressive drummer, Albert "Tootie" Heath was also the last of the legendary Heath Brothers. He died on April 3 in Santa Fe, NM, at 88. -
Casey Benjamin, whose saxophone gleam and vocoder-processed singing exerted a deep influence on the last 20 years of jazz-infused hip-hop and R&B, died on March 30 in Maryland. He was 45.
