Dec 9, 2025 12:28 PM
In Memoriam: Gordon Goodwin, 1954–2025
Gordon Goodwin, an award-winning saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.…
A panel of judges that included Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert, Clark Terry and Terence Blanchard selected Ambrose Akinmusire as the winner of the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition held on Oct. 28 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. As the winner, Akinmusire received a $20,000 scholarship.
Akinmusire was born in Nigeria and grew up in Oakland, Calif. He started playing drums at age 4, drums at age 11 and trumpet at age 12. He studied with Steve Coleman at the Manhattan School of Music and in 2001 began touring and recording with him. Akinmusire has toured with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.
Second-place winner Jean Caze was awarded $10,000 and third-place winner Michael Rodriguez received a $5,000 scholarship. The competition will air nationwide on BET and PBS.
Goodwin was one of the most acclaimed, successful and influential jazz musicians of his generation.
Dec 9, 2025 12:28 PM
Gordon Goodwin, an award-winning saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.…
Belá Fleck during an interview with Fredrika Whitfield on CNN.
Jan 13, 2026 2:09 PM
The fallout from the renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to include President Donald…
The success of Oregon’s first album, 1971’s Music Of Another Present Era, allowed Towner to establish a solo career.
Jan 19, 2026 5:02 PM
Ralph Towner, a guitarist and composer who blended multiple genres, including jazz — and throughout them all remained…
Peplowski first came to prominence in legacy swing bands, including the final iteration of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, before beginning a solo career in the late 1980s.
Feb 3, 2026 12:10 AM
Ken Peplowski, a clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who straddled the worlds of traditional and modern jazz, died Feb. 2…
Rico’s Anti-Microbial Instrument Swab
Jan 19, 2026 2:48 PM
With this year’s NAMM Show right around the corner, we can look forward to plenty of new and innovative instruments…
