 Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck Dies at 91
Dave Brubeck, pianist, composer and bandleader, died Wednesday morning, Dec. 5, at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., one day before his 92nd birthday. Brubeck died on his way to “a regular treatment with his cardiologist,” said longtime manager-producer-conductor Russell Gloyd.
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 HEADLINES
A nor’easter combines the strength of a blizzard with that of a hurricane. Yet even as one of these fearsome storms blew through New York on the evening of Nov. 7, blanketing the city with snow, those inside the Allen Room at Jazz At Lincoln Center barely noticed …
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’Tis the season for great holiday music. But that doesn’t necessarily mean listening to the exact same chestnuts year after year. So whether you’re into vocals, jazz piano trios, big bands, r&b or blues, our annual Holiday Music Roundup includes something that will speak to you. …
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A brief history of the Belgrade Jazz Festival is helpful in understanding its uniqueness, importance and formidable spirit. Founded in 1971 in Yugoslavia—a country whose status as a buffer zone …
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As part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s John Coltrane Festival this fall, McCoy Tyner was a natural choice to tap into “The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane,”…
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The Tampere Jazz Happening was named Festival of the Year by Finland Festivals, and the kudos couldn’t have been better timed. . …
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REVIEWS // EDITORS’ PICKS
 BY FRANK ALKYER
Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is on a spiritual quest. It’s demonstrated through his words, like when he describes Star Of Jupiter, his latest album, as being “given to me as a key to transcend the cycles of form, illusion and fear which exist on this earthly plane of existence.” …
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 BY FRANK ALKYER
There’s a love in the music of the Clayton Brothers that just rises off each recording and embraces you. At the core of this wondrous group, of course, are brothers John and Jeff Clayton. John’s all taste and class on bass; Jeff’s all soul and smiles on alto saxophone. …
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 BY AARON COHEN
Last year, Chicago-based drummer Mike Reed and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz premiered their new compositions and arrangements based on previously unreleased works from Sun Ra. They had a sizable amount of material to consider: …
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 BY BOBBY REED
How do you improve a tremendous piano trio? Add Joe Lovano. For their new album of acoustic, original music, the husband-and-wife team of bassist Marc Johnson and pianist Eliane Elias recruited the agile drummer Joey Baron. …
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 BY BOBBY REED
Some DVDs that contain superlative music aren’t much fun to watch because the artists don’t seem very animated or emotionally invested in the material. That’s certainly not the case with pianist Hiromi’s fourth DVD, which is devoted to a July 2011 concert performed with her trio mates: drummer Simon Phillips and contrabass guitarist Anthony Jackson. …
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 BY FRANK ALKYER
On For The People, Chicago-based trumpeter Pharez Whitted digs into the hard-bop bag and pulls out an 11-song set that’s perfect for a weekend chill or a serious …
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 BY AARON COHEN
Minnie Riperton was blessed with a vocal range of more than five octaves, but it was the way she used this incredible talent that made her so beloved. For her, the voice was always in service to the song and its underlying groove—whether it was a composition …
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 BY BOBBY REED
Many fans think of saxophonist Paul Winter as a trailblazer for raising awareness of environmental issues, an advocate for world music, and the leader of the Paul Winter Consort. But 50 years ago, Winter led a straightahead jazz sextet. …
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BY HILARY BROWN
Percussive tinkering, Eastern-nodding harmonic textures and meditative, Zen-like themes: There’s an inextricable link between producer Steven “Flying Lotus” Ellison’s latest venture, Until The Quiet Comes (Warp), and the repertory of his great aunt, pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane. …
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BY AARON COHEN
Pianist Horace Tapscott’s motto was “Our music is contributive, rather than competitive.” He lived that statement. From the 1960s until the time of his death in 1999, he was not just an incredible musician who commanded the sweep of jazz history within a few phrases. …
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JAZZ SCHOOL // TOOLSHED
Pure Acoustic’s Linnd Laxo violin shoulder rest eliminates splay and offers the player complete stability. The non-slip feet attach outside of the purfling line, placing no load or dampening on the back of the violin. …
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The Nord Electro 4 features the flagship Nord C2D’s B3 tone wheel organ engine. The keyboard includes a redesigned key-click simulation, as well as the rotary-speaker simulation of a vintage 122 Leslie. …
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Line Games (Sher Music) is an organized series of practical studies for the simultaneous development of single-note guitar technique and jazz vocabulary. Author Randy Vincent transcribes examples from recorded solos by guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino …
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Electrix’s Tweaker is a performance controller for Ableton users, Traktor users, and music producers and performers. …
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DigiTech has launched Magic Fingers Vibrato for its iStomp programmable pedal. Magic Fingers takes a guitar signal and modulates its pitch slightly, giving it an animated vocal quality. …
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CURRENT ISSUE
CLASSIC INTERVIEW
by DownBeat Staff // May 30, 1957
A Success As A Pop-Jazz Singer, She Seeks Greater Accomplishment
Sarah Vaughan has cold feet.
She’d like to record an all-piano LP, but she lacks the courage, despite eight years of piano training and experience as vocalist-pianist with the Earl Hines band.
“I’ve thought of playing more piano, but I always get cold feet. It’s always in the back of my mind,” she says. “I dig Tatum so much, and Hank Jones, Jimmy Jones, Garner and Shearing. I practice at home, backstage, when there’s time. You know, I’d like to do the kind of piano LP Nat Cole has done.”
Despite the lucrative, satisfying career she has found, Sarah continues to seek other worlds to conquer, including the world of the spiritual.
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Endless Tweakability
Sleight of Pitch
