“He would always call me his grandson,” Whitaker says of the late Dr. Lonnie Smith. Smith’s personal assistant sent Whitaker one of the master’s B-3s after he died in 2021.

Saxophonist Greg Ward, left, gets a lesson in how to wear the blindfold before journalist Michael Jackson administers the test.

​Béla Fleck will perform in a trio with Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sanchez at New York’s Blue Note in September.

“You gotta go out on a limb and book people who you know people need to see, need to experience,” says Christian McBride of curating the Newport Jazz Festival.

Benny Green gave a breathtaking solo performance at this year’s San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.

“We do have a lot of differences, but we are much more similar than different,” says Lee. “I really truly believe that my very personal story can reach out to and appeal to a lot of people.”

“Given a good support system, each artist has the potential to be more than just a performer, but an ambassador of hope,” says Louis Marks, left, ropeadope CEO, with Fabian Brown, president.

“It locked together 20 years of all that I’ve been looking for,” Ryan Truesdell says of his compositional contribution to Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions.

A concert of duets featuring trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and bassist Dave Holland was cerebral and unhurried at this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival.

​Trombonist Ryan Porter with members of the collective West Coast Get Down at the Los Angeles premiere of Resilience, a new documentary about his life.