March 2026

Features

• Joel ross

  Follows the Word

  By Phillip Lutz

• Latin Jazz

  Con Gusto, Dos

  By Frank Alkyer

• Jazz Camp Guide

  Learn and Have Fun!

  By DB Staff

Blindfold Test

Raconteur, bon vivant and popular television host Stefano Bollani is also one of Italy’s best-known pianists, a rare jazz performer with a foothold in mainstream media, using his high profile to boost awareness and appreciation for music. Now in its fourth season,Via dei Matti n.0 is the name of his weekly program on channel RAI 3 where he meets and plays with various performers. Bollani joined two other notable pianists — Dado Moroni and Danilo Rea — in a rare three-piano concert to open the Umbria Jazz Winter festival in Orvieto on Dec. 30. The next morning, on the same stage in Teatro Mancinelli, he participated in his second DownBeat Blindfold Test in front of a full house.

• Oscar Peterson: “Sweet George Brown” from Oscar Peterson and the Bassists Montreux ’77 (Pablo, 1977)
• Emmet Cohen : “Henei Ma Tov” from Vibe Provider (Mack Avenue, 2024)
• Luca Flores: “How Far Can You Fly? (Ladder)” from For Those I Never Knew (Splasc(h), 1995)
• Rita Marcotulli: “Us and Them” from The Light Side of the Moon (Foné Jazz, 2017)
• Tigran Himasayan: “The Curse (Blood of an Innocent Is Spilled)” from The Bird of a Thousand Voices (Naive, 2021)
• Emahoy Tsegué-Mariam Guèbru: “Song of Abayi” from Ethiopiques 21: Piano Solo (Buda Musique, 1983)
• Jason Moran: “You’ve Got To Be Modernistic” from Modernistic (Blue Note, 2002)

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