June 2020

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Norah Jones

Creativity Begins At Home

Norah Jones says the jazz and pop worlds don’t know what to make of her. So, DownBeat caught up with the singer- songwriter in Brooklyn for a conversation about her latest Blue Note album, Pick Me Up Off The Floor, her collaborative spirit and her work with the group Puss N Boots—as well as her decision to abandon the traditional model for releasing and promoting new recordings.

Features
  • Avishai Cohen

    Quest For Tranquility

    As the coronavirus moved across Europe in mid-March, trumpeter Avishai Cohen sat in his Tel Aviv home, contemplating the growing probability that his monthslong tour in support of Big Vicious, his band’s new ECM album, would be wiped out.

  • Andy Milne

    Sonic Architect

    Pianist Andy Milne uses building metaphors to talk about music. Construction is “about how you bind two things together—and that’s how I think about composition,” he explained during a March interview in the Harlem apartment that he shares with his wife, singer La Tanya Hall.

Blindfold Test

Walter Smith III was tested on the following tracks for the “Blindfold Test”:

  • Emmet Cohen: “On Green Dolphin Street” from Masters Legacy Series, Vol. 4: Emmet Cohen Featuring George Coleman (Self Release)
  • Saxophone Summit: “Carousel” from Street Talk (Enja/Yellowbird)
  • Joey DeFrancesco: “Soul Perspective” from In The Key Of The Universe (Mack Avenue)
  • Dayna Stephens Trio: “Faith Leap” from Liberty (Contagious Music)
  • Chris Speed Trio: “Yard Moon” from Respect For Your Toughness (Intakt)
  • Kamasi Washington: “Hub-Tones” from Heaven And Earth (Brainfeeder)
  • Jacques Schwarz-Bart: “Oseh Shalom” from Hazzan (Enja/Yellowbird)
  • Quinsin Nachsoff: “Clairvoyant Jest” from Quinsin Nachsoff’s Ethereal Trio (Whirlwind)
  • David Kikoski: “Lazy Bird” from Phoenix Rising (HighNote)
Also in this Issue
43rd Annual DownBeat Student Music Awards
  • A list of student-winners and features on notable music programs.
Indie Life
  • Eldar Djangirov
  • RareNoise
Plus
  • Master Class by Raul Midón
  • Transcription of an Anouar Brahem oud solo
  • Toolshed


PLUS: Dozens of album reviews, product reviews and much more!