Monk, Mozart, Meditations
By Stephanie Jones
The pianist hits with not one, not two, but three new, beautiful solo piano albums: Monk Movements, Monk Meditations and Black Mozart. He has much to say about all of them.
By Ammar Kalia
The guitarist as recording executive, concert promoter, guitarist and very independent artist!
By John Pizzarelli, Larry Fuller, Champian Fulton, Antonio Hart, Frank Vignola, Willard Jenkins and Amber Weekes
With so many centennial celebrations this year (outside our cover features earlier on Miles and Coltrane), we asked people who know these eight centenarians well to offer their memories.
By Phil Freeman, Michael Jackson, Gary Fukushima and Terry Perkins
The 2026 class of the DownBeat Honors for professionals in the fields of recording, presenting and education.
Patricia Brennan was glowing. The evening before the first day of the 2026 North Sea Jazz Festival she had received word of the triple honor bestowed on her by DownBeat’s critic poll: Album of the Year (for the second year in a row), Vibraphonist of the Year (another repeat win), and Rising Star Group of the Year, for the septet she would be leading that evening at the festival. This was her second Blindfold Test. She could not have been in a brighter mood.
