Aug 1, 2023 1:00 PM
Bountiful Montreal Jazz Fest Draws Listeners Outside Comfort Zones
One privilege of covering an event scaled as large as the bountiful Montreal Jazz Festival is the opportunity to leave…
Stacey Kent receives the Prix Ella Fitzgerald from Montreal Jazz Festival co-founder Alain Simard on July 1.
Aug 1, 2023 1:00 PM
One privilege of covering an event scaled as large as the bountiful Montreal Jazz Festival is the opportunity to leave…
Claes Brondal (left) with Joe Lovano at the Hamptons Jazz Fest.
Aug 1, 2023 12:26 PM
Eighty miles east of the world’s jazz capital, the tony South Fork Long Island enclave of the Hamptons has long been…
Alice Coltrane enters the Hall of Fame for her groundbreaking contributions to jazz composition and performance, leaving behind an impressive oeuvre of eclectic works and a hallowed legacy.
Jul 27, 2023 2:14 PM
Alice McLeod Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (1937–2007) spent just four years of her life with tenor saxophonist John…
“At this point in my life I’m still looking for the note,” Lloyd says. “But I’m a little nearer.”
Jul 27, 2023 2:06 PM
If, as Charles Lloyd likes to say, “creativity is going to burst at its seams,” then it’s no surprise that the…
“It’s fun to put different people together to play my music,” Halvorson says. “They all take it seriously.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:57 PM
In 2017, Mary Halvorson unpredictably garnered the top guitarist award in DownBeat’s Critics Poll, outpacing…
Thanks to the Emerald City Nights releases, Jamal’s legacy is stronger than ever.
Jul 27, 2023 1:50 PM
When Ahmad Jamal was first approached about releasing some of the recordings made during his many appearances at the…
“I wanted to be like Louis Armstrong,” Bauzá once told DownBeat. “I knew all his solos.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:41 PM
Mario Bauzá (1911–’93) spent much of his distinguished seven-decade career behind the scenes.
Standard jazz…
Welcome in virtually any jazz ensemble, Norvo was a fluent and transcendent product of his own virtuosity, intelligence and integrity.
Jul 27, 2023 1:35 PM
This year the DownBeat Hall of Fame Veterans Committee catches up with the manifold lives of Red Norvo (1908–’99),…
“My work is the intersection between spiritual practice and Black aesthetics,” said Wilkins. “The two symbols I draw from are John Coltrane and the Black church.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:31 PM
It was clear from the opening track of Immanuel Wilkins’ stunning sophomore outing for Blue Note, The 7th Hand, that…
Social Science’s personnel now hinges on a six-person core: Carrington, guitarist Matthew Stevens, pianist Aaron Parks, multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin, and vocalists Carl “Kokayi” Walker and Debo Ray.
Jul 27, 2023 1:21 PM
When she heard her band Social Science was named DownBeat’s Jazz Group of the Year for the second time in the…
