Sep 30, 2019 10:14 AM
Sun Ra: Orbiting the Sun
Shards of sound scatter across the concert hall. Blips and bleeps, squiggles and snarls spew out from stage right,…
Sun Ra (1914–1993)
Sep 30, 2019 10:14 AM
Shards of sound scatter across the concert hall. Blips and bleeps, squiggles and snarls spew out from stage right,…
Ella Fitzgerald (1917–’96)
Aug 30, 2019 1:14 PM
“We had a request to sing,” Ella began over the applause—and suddenly she stopped. “You know,” she grinned,…
Jelly Roll Morton (1890–1941)
Aug 5, 2019 11:00 AM
Dear Mr. Ripley:
For many years I have been a constant reader of your Believe It or Not cartoon. I have listened to…
Billie Holiday and her dog, Mister, in New York City during February 1947
Jul 1, 2019 11:09 AM
CHICAGO—You sit with Billie Holiday and watch her smoke cigarettes chain fashion. The first thing that strikes you is…
Oscar Peterson (1925–2007)
Jun 3, 2019 9:54 AM
I have long been disturbed about what I’ve seen of the state of mind of the average young jazz musician around the…
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…
