Enters the DownBeat Hall of Fame
By Suzanne Lorge
The composer, pianist and harpist steps out of the shadows of her husband John Coltrane to assume her rightful place in the DownBeat Hall of fame.
By Philip Lutz
That Charles Lloyd is 85 and the oldest-ever DownBeat Critics Poll Artist of the Year, as he is this year, is almost beside the point. Lloyd seems to have transcended chronology; to hear a Lloydian musical phrase unfold is to receive the wisdom of several lifetimes in a single breath — suspending, if not upending, one’s perception of reality as a linear proposition
By Dan Ouellette
This year’s Guitarist of the Year delivered Amaryllis & Belladonna, the Album of the Year!
By Ted Panken & John McDonough
Bauza and Norvo are the well-deserved Veterans Committee selections for the Hall of Fame.
By Bill Milkowski
Wilkins was named Alto Saxophonist of the year as well as Rising Star Composer of the Year. His quartet was named Rising Star Group of the Year.
By Hannah Edgar
The Drummer of the Year also guided her band Social Science to Group of the Year honors.
By Alexa Peters
Samara Joy’s star is rising fast. The fantastic vocalist was named the Rising Star Artist of the Year and the Rising Star Female Vocalist of the Year!
Christian McBride, this year’s Bassist of the Year in the Critics Poll, turned 51 this May 31 and is still pushing far beyond what many might consider conventional career bandwidth. In addition to touring regularly with multiple groups (including a promising new unnamed quintet) and recording on a wide variety of projects, he hosts NPR’s Jazz Night in America and Sirius XM’s The Lowdown, to serve as artistic director for the Newport Jazz Festival and artistic advisor to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and is now spokespersonfor Qobuz, the high-end streaming service. This Blindfold Test was hosted by New York University’s Jazz Studies program, with more than 30 students attending.
