January 2021

Volume 88, Number 1

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Cover

Chris Potter

‘Room of Mirrors’

By Dave Cantor

Potter, who topped the Tenor Saxophone category in the 2020 DownBeat Readers Poll, describes the “one-man band” approach he took for his latest Edition album, There Is A Tide. Potter plays more than a dozen instruments on the album, which he recorded during the pandemic.

Features

Sonny Rollins
When ‘Newk’ Went Dutch
By Ed Enright

Lately, the saxophonist has been revisiting the past, giving his blessing to the release of Rollins In Holland, a collection of live and studio recordings documenting a 1967 Netherlands tour.
Top-Rated Albums Of 2020
The Year In Review
By DownBeat writers

All the five-star masterpieces, 4½- and 4-star albums that were reviewed during the past year

Blindfold Test

Ryan Keberle was tested on the following tracks for the “Blindfold Test”:

Al Grey and the Basie Wing: “Open Wider, Please” from The Last Of The Big Plungers (Argo)
Alan Ferber: “Magnolia” from Chamber Songs: Music For Nonet And Strings (Sunnyside)
Urbie Green: “How About You?” from East Coast Jazz Series No. 6 (Bethlehem)
Michael Dease: “Mirror Image” from Never More Here (Posi-Tone)
The Pugh-Taylor Project: “747” from The Pugh-Taylor Project (DMP)
Jon Hatamiya: “The Little Island (Dreamscape #2)” from More Than Anything (Orenda)
Wayne Coniglio/Scott Whitfield: “2nd Avenue Stroll” from Fast Friends (Summit)