Ashley Kahn
Ashley Kahn (b. 1960) is an American music historian, journalist, and producer.
Biography
He was born in the Bronx, New York, and was raised in Cincinnati. Kahn graduated from Columbia University in 1983. While attending Columbia, he hosted a jazz and blues radio show on WKCR, and was known on the air as "The Cincinnati Kid."
In 2014, Kahn co-authored the autobiography of Carlos Santana, titled The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story To Light.
In 2015, Kahn was awarded a Grammy for his album notes to the John Coltrane release Offering: Live at Temple University.
In 2026, Kahn won a Grammy for his album notes for Miles ’55: The Prestige Recordings by Miles Davis.
To date, his best books have been on two jazz albums, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. He pens articles, interviews and other features on music and is a liner note writer for a variety of music labels for which he has earned three ASCAP/Deems Taylor awards, and three Grammy nominations.
He currently teaches at New York University Tisch School of the Arts's Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music.
Bibliography
- Rolling Stone: The Seventies, with Rolling Stone, Holly George-Warren, Shawn Dahl, 1998 for the first edition, Little Brown & Co, USA, ISBN 0-316-75914-7
- The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide with John Swenson, 1999 for the first edition, Random House, ISBN 0-679-76873-4
- Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, foreword by Jimmy Cobb, 2001, Da Capo Press, USA, ISBN 0-306-81067-0
- A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album, foreword by Elvin Jones, 2002 for the first edition, Viking Penguin, USA, ISBN 0-670-03136-4
- The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. (2006) W. W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-05879-4
- The Color of Jazz: Album Cover Photographs by Pete Turner. (2006) Rizzoli International, ISBN 0-8478-5798-0
- The Blue Note Years: The Photographs of Francis Wolff & Jimmy Katz. (2009) Jazzprezzo, ISBN 3-9810250-8-3
- The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story To Light — Carlos Santana's autobiography (2014) Little, Brown, ISBN 0316244929
- Days of miracle and wonder: Paul Simon and the trials and triumphs of Graceland. New York: Atria Books. 2026. ISBN 978-1-6682-0675-1. OCLC 1569640536.
References
- ↑ Heatwole, Anne-Ryan (Spring 2016). "Ashley Kahn '83 Brings Music to Life". Columbia College Today. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ↑ "Grammys 2015". Los Angeles Times. February 8, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ↑ "57th Annual GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees: Best Album Notes". The Recording Academy. 2004. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Grammy 2026 Winners". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
- ↑ Christopher Porter (December 2000). "Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece". JazzTimes. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ↑ Ascap Deems Taylor 2003 Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Ascap/Deems Taylor 2004 Archived August 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Ascap Deems Taylor 2010
- ↑ "Complete List Of 2004 Grammy Nominations: 86.: Album Notes". music-slam.com. December 4, 2003. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Complete List of 2011 Grammy Nominations - 89.: Album Notes". Music-Slam.com. December 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Ashley Kahn". New York University. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
- ↑ Braude, Mark (August 15, 2026). "The Album That Sparked a Thousand Debates Is About to Turn 40". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 14, 2026.
- ↑ Sidran, Leo. "Ashley Kahn on the Miracles and Wonder of Paul Simon's Graceland". WBGO Jazz. Retrieved October 14, 2026.
- ↑ Raftery, Mike (July 27, 2026). "Days of Miracle and Wonder by Ashley Kahn". Open Letters Review. Retrieved October 14, 2026.
Further reading
- New York Times, 2006
- The Guardian, 2006
- Entertainment Weekly, 2006
- Stereophile, 2002
- Village Voice, 2002
- Time, 2000
- Detroit MetroTimes, 2000
- JazzTimes, 2000
- Interview on the Kind of Blue book
- Official website of the A Love Supreme book
- Interview on A Love Supreme book
- Biography at National Public Radio
- Writing about music. A talk with Ashley Kahn
