Buster_Williams_by_Jimmy_Katz_copy.jpg

“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.

(Photo: Jimmy and Deana Katz)

Blindfold Test: Buster Williams

Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first for the legendary, Camden, New Jersey-born bassist was hosted…





https://downbeat.com/images/reviews/JonBatiste_Album_Cover.jpg

Jon Batiste

Big Money
(Verve/Interscope)


Joe Farnsworth
The Big Room
(Smoke Sessions)


Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet
El Muki
(Saponegro Records)


Wild Iris Brass Band
Way Up
(Ear Up)


https://downbeat.com/images/reviews/DB22_10_Miguel_Zenon_Musica_Americas.jpg

Miguel Zenón

Música de Las Américas
(Miel)


Jon Irabagon
Rising Sun
(Irabbagast)


Brian Charette
Jackpot
(Cellar Live)


Harish Raghavan
In Tense
(Whirlwind)


Palmieri_Eddie_001_copy.jpg
(Photo: Joel Meyerowitz)

Eddie Palmieri: Fire on the Clave

Eddie Palmieri is a dynamo at the piano: digging deep into a solo, rolling out the complex pattern of a montuno, and leaping from his keyboard to urge on his jazz-hot Afro-Caribbean orchestra as it tears through hip harmonic motifs set in rock-steady claves to thrill smart listeners and swirling dancers alike. As he has since the ’60s with such bands as La Perfecta and Harlem River Drive — and with successive generations of jazz players from vibist Cal Tjader to the final alumni of Art Blakey’s college of musical knowledge — Palmieri rejects…






On Sale Now
September 2025
Kurt Elling
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad


Special Sections