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 to The 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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Do you hear what I hear? That’s right — Christmas jazz is here, and not just on the playlists. -
As a tie-in to the WRTI Holiday Gift Guide, Josh and Nate are rummaging through their stockings to talk about some of the boxed sets and other goodies they're most excited about this year. -
How many ways can music move? There’s no definitive answer to this Zen koan, but you could have a good time conducting research in the coming week. -
December is here, and it’s beginning to look a lot like the holiday season, thanks to trumpeter Josh Lawrence and singers April Varner and Chelsea Reed. But that's not all we've got our eye on in Moment's Notice this week. -
Drummer-composer Johnathan Blake frames protest in personal terms on his latest Blue Note album, 'My Life Matters.' Born and raised in Philly, Blake stopped by our studio for an in-depth conversation about family legacy, musical priorities, and an artist's obligation in trying times. -
The 2026 NEA Jazz Masters are singer Carmen Lundy, keyboardist Patrice Rushen, percussionist Airto Moreira, and broadcaster Rhonda Hamilton. They'll be honored with a concert in April. -
Tune in at 8 p.m. on Nov. 23 to hear a new episode of The Late Set Radio Hour featuring alto saxophonist, NEA Jazz Master, bandleader and composer Gary Bartz. -
This week: mentor Tim Berne with mentee Tyler Bullock, trombonist Mariel Bildstein with an all-star group at TPAC, a Jeff Lorber homecoming, and more. -
About Ghosts is the latest album from Mary Halvorson's Amaryllis, and on our short list for Album of the Year. Before a recent show at Solar Myth, Halvorson sat down with Josh Jackson to talk about her approach to composing for the group, her inspirations, and her fondness for mixology.
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This week's Moment's Notice features two performances with Chad Taylor, a Samara Joy concert on her birthday and more.
