'Speakeasies to Symphonies' and 'Cosmic Music' chronicle 2 jazz greats

NPR | By Kevin Whitehead

Published April 13, 2026 at 11:51 AM EDT

Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews biographies of two musicians who transcended jazz, and to whom recognition was slow in coming: James P. Johnson, born in 1894, and Alice Coltrane, born in 1937.

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