Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
A Love Supreme at 60: Thoughts on Coltrane’s Masterwork
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
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.”
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.
Apr 15, 2025 11:44 AM
Between last Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in…
“At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”
Apr 15, 2025 11:55 AM
DownBeat has a long association with the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, the premiere…
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
