Apr 19, 2021 6:22 PM
Tony Williams’ Two Decades Of Drum Innovation
Tony Williams erupted onto the jazz scene in 1963 as a 17-year-old prodigy with a full-blown, volcanic style of…
Tony Williams
Apr 19, 2021 6:22 PM
Tony Williams erupted onto the jazz scene in 1963 as a 17-year-old prodigy with a full-blown, volcanic style of…
Dexter Gordon (1923–1990)
Jan 27, 2021 10:20 AM
When Dexter Gordon won the Tenor Saxophone category in the 1971 DownBeat Critics Poll, the honor could hardly be…
Claudio Roditi (1946–2020)
Jan 4, 2021 12:32 PM
During a performance you usually see Claudio Roditi adjusting a mic to position one of his brass instruments—the…
Gil Evans (1912–1988)
Nov 18, 2020 1:07 PM
Among jazzmen, particularly player-writers, Gil Evans is uniquely admired.
“For my taste,” Miles Davis says,…
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982)
Nov 2, 2020 8:53 AM
NEW YORK—I have interviewed Thelonious Sphere Monk.
It’s not like having seen Pinetop spit blood or delivering…
Lennie Tristano (1919-1978)
Sep 25, 2020 12:43 PM
The efforts of such groups as the George Shearing quintet and the Bird-with-strings combo to wean the public to bop by…
Joni Mitchell performs in 1983.
Jul 31, 2020 9:00 AM
The career of vocalist and songwriter Joni Mitchell has, within the past year, developed to emphasize her associations…
Trumpeter Lee Morgan (1938–’72) performs with the Jazz Messengers on Nov. 15, 1959, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Jul 3, 2020 9:42 AM
“The first rock ’n’ roll group I was in—me and Archie Shepp, and Reggie Workman for a while, too—was Carl…
Art Tatum (1909–’56)
Jun 1, 2020 12:12 PM
The scene is The Three Deuces, a popular gathering place for the Chicago music profession. The tables are crowded and…
Lee Konitz (1927–2020)
Apr 27, 2020 11:04 AM
On the afternoon of May 4, when Lee Konitz was informed of his induction into the DownBeat Hall of Fame, he was not at…
