May 6, 2019 9:00 AM
Mahalia Jackson Finds Her Way
“Mahalia, she was a girl in the slave days. She was dreaming of jubilee all the time. Of better days to come. My…
Mahalia Jackson (1911–1972)
May 6, 2019 9:00 AM
“Mahalia, she was a girl in the slave days. She was dreaming of jubilee all the time. Of better days to come. My…
Ornette Coleman (1930–2015)
Apr 1, 2019 2:35 PM
Ekkehard Jost’s description of Ornette Coleman’s music—despite being a little too academic for such a soulful and…
“Doing shows and festivals under your own name, it’s a surprisingly big difference compared to playing with someone else,” saxophonist Kamasi Washington said, discussing the attention he’s received since the release of The Epic (Brainfeeder). “There is a lot of responsibility.”
Mar 1, 2019 9:00 AM
Considering Kamasi Washington’s bold, dramatic ascendancy on the international jazz scene during the past year, it…
Galt MacDermot (1928–2018)
Jan 31, 2019 2:01 PM
Long before he wrote the scores for Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona, Galt MacDermot had made his mark in popular…
Nancy Wilson (1937-2018)
Dec 14, 2018 9:29 AM
Grammy-winning jazz and r&b vocalist Nancy Wilson has died, according to a statement from her manager. Devra Hall Levy…
Kenny Werner
Nov 27, 2018 11:25 AM
On a warm June evening, a small crowd of clean-cut young adults stood in front of the Manhattan jazz club Iridium…
Pianist Teddy Wilson (1912–1986)
Oct 26, 2018 9:00 AM
Hundreds of pianists have tried to create something new and worthwhile in jazz piano improvisation, but only a handful…
Pianist and bandleader Lynne Arriale once told a journalist: “Jazz should not be only for jazz lovers.”
Oct 1, 2018 9:00 AM
A few years ago, in conversation with a reporter from London’s The Sunday Times, Lynne Arriale made the quietly…
Randy Weston at The New School in New York
Sep 12, 2018 3:14 PM
When DownBeat last spoke to Randy Weston in the summer of 2014, the master pianist-composer, then 88, was planning to…
Eric Dolphy (1928–1964)
Aug 22, 2018 9:35 AM
The great promise residing in at least two of the “miscellaneous” woodwinds was best represented in the work of…
