UNIVERSE AT DOC NYC

Shannon is a featured critic in the documentary UNIVERSE, the rediscovered orchestral suite written by Wayne Shorter over 50 years ago for Miles Davis. It was left unrecorded and untouched until now by Davis' protégé, the late trumpeter Wallace Roney.

UNIVERSE made its North American premiere on November 11th as an official selection of DOC NYC.

Learn More

About Shannon

Shannon Ali (Shannon J. Effinger) has been a freelance arts journalist and cultural critic for over a decade. Her writing on all things jazz and music regularly appears in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR Music, Pitchfork, Bandcamp, EBONY, Jazziz, Jazzwise, and Downbeat, among others.

shannon-effinger-headshot_sq-5b262ee773bdb9c9c3f5504f30e96ab002ec2943-s400-c85
0022212378_10

Recent Work

Shannon penned the liner notes for the new album LIVE by Angel Bat Dawid and Tha Brothahood. Recorded mainly at Haus der Berliner Festspiele during JazzFest Berlin in fall 2019, the performance was an impassioned response to the racism both she and her bandmates faced on the first stop of their European tour. This 140-gram vinyl release includes a gatefold cover, featuring a translation of her notes into German, courtesy of journalist Julian Brimmers.

Purchase on Bandcamp

Writing by Shannon

Esperanza Spalding: TRIANGLE

Pitchfork | April 9, 2021

By Shannon J. Effinger

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah was one of the last musicians to perform in a New York club. The resulting album could win him a Grammy.

The Washington Post | March 17, 2021

By Shannon Effinger

Browse Portfolio