Jun 17, 2025 10:37 AM
Tobias Meinhart’s Jazz Evolution
Tobias Meinhart moved from Germany to Brooklyn, New York, 15 years ago to follow his dreams of being a jazz musician.…
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
(Photo: Eli Sethna)Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958 classic LP of torch songs recorded with a full orchestra — the…
“I’m not sure if everybody wants just angry music,” says Tobia Meinhart. “Maybe we need something more hopeful and inspiring instead.”
Jun 17, 2025 10:37 AM
Tobias Meinhart moved from Germany to Brooklyn, New York, 15 years ago to follow his dreams of being a jazz musician.…
“I had no idea I was gonna be a musician,” says Ayala. “God put music on my plate.”
Jun 17, 2025 10:28 AM
Afro-Puerto Rican Jazz (PMC/Miel) is not just the title of bassist/composer Alex “Apolo” Ayala’s follow-up…
Susie Ibarra’s Pulitzer-winning extended composition Sky Islands is a musical call to action that draws attention to the Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity.
Jun 17, 2025 10:13 AM
Filipinx-American composer, percussionist and sound artist Susie Ibarra has been awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in…
To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.
Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
“I eventually want to keep experimenting with being able to add my own granito de arena, my little thing that I can add to it,” says Lucía about her brand of jazz with a Mexican flavor.
Jun 10, 2025 4:05 PM
In March, when asked about how she first encountered jazz, Mexican vocalist Lucía shared that, at first, “I thought…
“I like to think of composition, especially in jazz, as setting up a system of constraints and finding the freedom within those constraints,” said pianist Dan Tepfer, shown here with saxophonist Ben Wendel.
Jun 10, 2025 3:55 PM
On the night of May 16, Dan Tepfer found himself working on the 68th floor of an apartment tower directly across the…
“Billy was very friendly to me when I was young. One of my greatest inspirations,” said drummer Bill Goodwin about fellow drummer Billy Higgins.
Jun 10, 2025 3:44 PM
Drummer Bill Goodwin, who turned 83 three days after his first Blindfold Test, has played with, known and heard just…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Elena Pinderhughes (left), Paquito D’Rivera, Birsa Chatterjee, Jon Faddis and Terri Lyne Carrington at the James Moody Centennial Celebration.
Jun 3, 2025 11:05 AM
In the spring and summer of 2000, while reporting a DownBeat profile framed around James Moody’s 75th birthday…
Harry Schnipper, owner of Blues Alley, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary on July 21.
Jun 3, 2025 10:46 AM
On a Thursday afternoon in early March, the lights are dimmed inside Blues Alley as employees polish tables and scrub…
