Enters the Hall of Fame
By Phillip Lutz
At 82 years old, John McLaughlin takes his provocation in smaller doses. He insists he has finally quit touring after Shakti traveled the world in celebration of its 50th anniversary last year. If that was truly his last tour, it was a great way to end, thrilling fans around the globe as readers named him the 172nd entrant into the DownBeat Hall of Fame.
By Frank Alkyer
DownBeat readers named Charles Lloyd the Artist of the Year, Tenor Saxophonist of the Year and Flutist of the Year. Oh, and they voted his latest recording, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note), Album of the Year.
By Yoshi Kato
As Russell Malone is voted Guitarist of the Year by DownBeat readers, his friends and fans are pondering his legacy. While the late bandleader and first-call guitarist made twin impacts as a singular instrumentalist and a selfless member of the musical community, his other trademark qualities also cemented his beloved status in the jazz community. Sadly, Mr. Malone passed away on Aug. 23 while on tour in Japan.
By Dan Ouellette
This year’s Male Vocalist of the Year, Kurt Elling also scored the top spot in the Critics Poll back in August. He says he’s thrilled with the honors that have stretched for multiple years beginning in 2000.
“I’m gratified,” he says, while in the midst of yet another round of performances and recordings ranging from singing with big bands to his newly hatched idea of spontaneous duo offerings in his Wildflowers series. “It’s my heart’s desire. I like to keep busy. How’s that for being a kid from Rockford, Illinois, who grew up singing in the church choir? It’s crazy how far I’ve come to fall in love with the jazz sound and culture.”
By Suzanne Lorge
It’s exciting to watch a megawatt talent unfold in real time. When Samara Joy won the Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition in 2019, she was still a student who’d only started scatting a couple of years earlier.
Today she’s an ever-touring headliner with a massive online following and two Grammy wins, and is the readers’ choice for Female Vocalist of the Year!
Fabrizio Bosso is one of Italy’s — make that Europe’s — strongest melodicists, a passionate, lyrical trumpet player who’s tragically unmentioned in the U.S. In Italy, he’s jazz royalty, a prodigy who turned professional at 17. Since 1997, he’s recorded more than 30 albums as leader or co-leader, including tributes to the music of Duke Ellington, Nino Rota, Stevie Wonder and various genres. He’s a top-choice soloist for many large band projects, and for more than 10 years he’s consistently developed his own compact, finely tuned quartet. Bosso agreed to this live Blindfold Test — his first — as part of the 51st Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, which took place on Thursday morning this past July in the city’s historic Sala di Notari, one Perugia’s oldest official chambers.
