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.…
Clarinetist Alvin Batiste died May 6 of an apparent heart attack. He was 74.
Batiste died only hours before he was scheduled to perform with Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis on the final day of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Marsalis’ record label, Marsalis Music, released Batiste’s latest CD, Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste, just a few weeks ago. Marsalis also plays on the album.
A longtime teacher at Southern University in Baton Rouge, he created the Batiste Jazz Institute—one of the first programs of its kind in the nation—and taught jazz at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
His students included Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Kent Jordan, Michael Ward, Herlin Riley, Charlie Singleton, Woodie Douglas and others.
“He was not only a teacher, he was my father away from home,” Butler said. “He taught us about music, the history of music and the business of music. The ones who had the benefit of learning from him are better musicians and better people today.”
After festival spokesman Matthew Goldman proclaimed that “the show will go on” for its final day, The Times-Picayune reported that the day was filled with tributes from the likes of Bob French, Connick, Marsalis and more. French focused most of his set on the second part of a jazz funeral, when the tempo picks up and the musicians set free the spirit of the departed.
As an all-star jazz jam closed the Jazz Tent later in the evening, nearly two dozen musicians and singers gathered onstage for a joyous “I’ll Fly Away.” Jazz Tent decorum was set aside as people danced in the aisles and stood on chairs.
“Although he’s physically not here, I really believe this is what he would have wanted,” Greg Davis said to The Times-Picayune. “This way, his fans got to share in the tribute.”
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.…
Flea has returned to his first instrument — the trumpet — and assembled a dream band of jazz musicians to record a new album.
Dec 2, 2025 2:01 AM
After a nearly five-decade career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, Flea has returned to his first…
“It’s a pleasure and an honor to interpret the music of Oscar Peterson in his native city,” said Jim Doxas in regard to celebrating the Canadian legend. “He traveled the world, but never forgot Montreal.”
Nov 18, 2025 12:16 PM
In the pantheon of jazz luminaries, few shine as brightly, or swing as hard, as Oscar Peterson. A century ago, a…
Dec 11, 2025 11:00 AM
DownBeat presents a complete list of the 4-, 4½- and 5-star albums from 2025 in one convenient package. It’s a great…
Seth MacFarlane takes a turn from his television and film career to sing arrangements made for Frank Sinatra, but never recorded.
Nov 18, 2025 12:04 PM
“I’m not gonna lie to you — I don’t know why I thought this was about The Naked Gun, but I’m happy it’s…
