 Esperanza Spalding (Photo: Patrick Gipson/Ravinia Festival)
DownBeat Announces 2012 Readers Poll Results
Spalding, Marsalis and Krall
among winners
The results of the 77th Annual DownBeat Readers Poll are in. Legendary bassist Ron Carter was named as the readers’ choice for the DownBeat Hall of Fame, while bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding was voted DownBeat’s Jazz Artist of the Year, and her critically acclaimed Radio Music Society (Heads Up/Concord) was named Jazz Album of the Year.
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 HEADLINES
A common reaction to singers like Kurt Elling is that they were born a few decades too late. Some might say they missed out on the heyday of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mel Tormé and thus are consigned to be a retro novelty. But Elling has successfully avoided this trap …
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David S. Ware, the saxophonist and bandleader whose quartet was one of the most celebrated and longest-lived jazz ensembles of recent decades, died on Oct. 18 at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. Ware succumbed to complications from a kidney transplant he had received in 2009. He was 62. …
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The Voll-Damm Internacional Festival de Jazz de Barcelona ramps up for its 44th season on Oct. 30–Nov. 30, when it will present a star-studded program of local talent and international festival-circuit favorites …
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To celebrate four decades of presenting jazz, Philadelphia’s Painted Bride Art Center decided not to get nostalgic about its storied past, and instead forecast its future. …
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REVIEWS // EDITORS’ PICKS
 BY FRANK ALKYER
When My Mama Was Living is a beautiful new collection of previously unreleased master tapes by the incomparable Louisiana Red. The folks at Labor Records assembled this stripped-down set of raw, gritty blues after Red passed away in February at the age of 79. And I can’t thank them enough. …
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 BY FRANK ALKYER
Introducing Triveni was one of my favorite records of 2010. It was an introduction to trumpeter Avishai Cohen’s new trio with bassist Omer Avital and drummer Nasheet Waits. So it’s no surprise that Triveni II, recorded during the same two-day recording session in Brooklyn, delivers another powerful set. …
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 BY FRANK ALKYER
Lou Pallo, a longtime member of the Les Paul Trio, is one of those rare, tasteful artists carrying a torch for the golden age of guitar. For those who don’t know Pallo’s music, it’s time to get the introduction, and there’s no better way than to mention the company he keeps on Thank You Les. …
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 BY BOBBY REED
The cover photo for bassist Iris Ornig’s sophomore album, No Restrictions, shows her in the spotlight, but as a silhouette. This image provides an apt metaphor for her role as a leader. Ornig composed eight songs on the album, but she often yields the spotlight to …
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 BY AARON COHEN
In various forms of Latin music (including Latin jazz), the trombone has a strong role, and Papo Vazquez is at the top of this class. Jazz and Latin bandleaders have known about him for decades: His list of colleagues has included Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Palmieri and Willie Colón …
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 BY AARON COHEN
Last fall, saxophonist Bill McHenry performed and recorded at the Village Vanguard to help celebrate his 20th anniversary as a New York-based musician. His stellar group—pianist Orrin Evans, drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Eric Revis—constantly challenged him, and the result of this singular combination is La Peur Du Vide. …
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 BY FRANK ALKYER
Philip Dizack is a terrific trumpeter with a grand vision. He drives a beautiful tone from his instrument, and thoughtfulness is a hallmark of his compositions and arrangements. On his latest album, End Of An Era, Dizack digs deep into the concept of expressing change and loss …
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 BY BOBBY REED
Diana Krall—rocker? Well, not exactly, but lately the singer/pianist has been working with a diverse array of collaborators and exploring new territory. In February, Paul McCartney released the excellent, standards-oriented Kisses On The Bottom (Hear Music/Concord)—an album on which Krall played piano and wrote the rhythm arrangements for 13 of the 14 tracks. …
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BY AARON COHEN
About eight years ago, Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria began collaborating with the Dutch free-improv/punk band The Ex. He had been a hero to the group, and they knew he deserved a bigger reputation, both internationally and in his homeland. …
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BY HILARY BROWN
Saxophonist Jon Irabagon exudes anarchic free-jazz with his longtime ragtag cohort Mostly Other People Do The Killing, plays diligent sideman to guitarist Mary Halvorson in her quintet and champions his heterogeneous Outright! ensemble. He’s definitely an “it” player on the jazz circuit these days. …
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BY BOBBY REED
For the hypnotic album Papillons, Italian clarinet virtuoso Gianluigi Trovesi teamed up with the Germany-based trio Ensemble FisFüz to create a mixture of jazz and world music. To my ears, the key ingredient to this charming album is its unusual instrumentation. …
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JAZZ SCHOOL // TOOLSHED
On-Stage Gear’s LED509 clip-on orchestra light features nine LED light sources that provide wide area coverage and illuminate up to four pages of music. It offers two brightness settings to adapt to ambient light levels. …
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Yamaha’s DTX electronic drumset line now includes the DTX450K (pictured) and DTX400K. Both drum sets come with the DTX400 module, which offers 169 professional-quality drum sounds, 128 instrument voices and 10 customizable kits. …
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Vox’s new amPhones are active headphones with built-in Vox amPlug guitar or bass amplifiers. Each of the four available models (the AC30, Twin, Lead and Bass) uses an analog design to model the circuit responses of the original. …
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The Scarlet 2i4 is the latest addition to Focusrite’s series of USB 2.0 bus-powered interfaces designed for Mac and PC. The Scarlet 2i4 is packaged in a rugged unibody aluminum chassis and features a pair of Focusrite mic preamps with mic, line and high-impedance instrument inputs. …
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Levy’s Leathers’ Freak Show straps feature sublimation-printed “cirque du freak” designs, leather ends and tri-glide adjustment. The 2-inch polyester straps are available in six original designs. …
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