April 2023

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Cover

Brad Mehldau

Tells His Story—Once and for All!

With a beautiful new album of Beatles tunes, Your Mother Should Know, and a heart-on-the-sleeve, deeply introspective autobiography, Formation: Building A Personal Canon, Part 1, pianist Brad Mehldau demonstrates again why he is one of the brightest lights in jazz.

Features
  • Vince Mendoza

    The Orchestral Jazz Musings of Vince Mendoza

    Mendoza and the Metropole Orkest have reunited in a grand retrospective of their relationship together with Olympians [Modern, 2023], featuring selected works Mendoza wrote and performed with the group over the years.

  • Sharel Cassity

    Finds Comfort

    There’s a zen-like drive to alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity that’s undeniable — über calm on the exterior, but burning inside, as she demonstrates in this live interview from the Midwest Clinic last December.

  • We Love Vinyl!

    New Wax for 2023

    Record Store Day Hits April 22, so we deliver a glimpse at some of the vinyl dropping in and around that blessed holiday of wax. Here’s a glimpse into some of the new releases and reissues the DownBeat staff is looking forward to (or already digging into) right now!

Blindfold Test
  • Walt Dickerson-Sun Ra: “Utopia” from Visions (Steeplechase, 1978)
  • Warren Wolf: “Cell Phone” from Convergence (Mack Avenue, 2016)
  • Yuhan Su: “Feet Music” from City Animals (Sunnyside, 2018)
  • John Zorn: “Atarah” from The Testament Of Solomon (Tzadik, 2014)
  • Chris Dingman: “Refracted Light” from Journeys Vol.1 (Independent Release, 2022)
Also in this Issue
THE BEAT
  • The Baylor Project
  • Jim Snidero
  • Justin Kauflin
  • Fresh Sounds at 40
  • Anthnony Branker
THE HOT BOX
  • Chris Potter
  • Billy Valentine
  • Sara Caswell
  • Jean-Michel Pilc
INDIE LIFE
  • Simon Moullier
  • Simona Premazzi
  • Leonardo Pavkovic
WOODSHED
  • Master Class: Uncovering Simplicity by Stéphane Wrembel
  • Solo: Terje Rypdal transcribed by Jimi Durso
  • Toolshed: Casio PX-S7000 Digital Piano


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