May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
On his new album, Ambrose Akinmusire includes original compositions that pay tribute to Roscoe Mitchell and Roy Hargrove.
(Photo: Ogata)Hearing Ambrose Akinmusire perform brings to mind Louis Armstrong’s description of first hearing cornetist Bix Beiderbecke: “Those pretty notes went right through me.”
Akinmusire’s trumpet style sounds nothing like Beiderbecke’s, but his music does share a penetrating quality with that of the early jazz icon. Confident, technically brilliant and often bravura, his playing exudes an exquisite tenderness.
“It’s pure,” said Justin Brown, the trumpeter’s lifelong friend and longtime drummer. “I don’t think he ever wants to settle. There’s some knowledge that he still wants to gain, and he’s so pure in that pursuit. That’s what I get when I hear Ambrose.”
It’s an opportune time to hear that purity. Akinmusire’s sixth album, On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment (Blue Note), finds him stepping back from the ambitious sonic tapestries of previous recordings. While the program features two (low-key) guest vocalists, there are no string quartets, no auxiliary instruments: just the trumpeter’s quartet—with Brown, pianist Sam Harris and bassist Harish Raghavan—in an unadorned setting, at once intimate and direct.
“This is my shortest album so far,” Akinmusire said from his home in Oakland, California. He explained that downscaling the instrumentation and length of the program might have broadened his expressive palette: “On my other albums, I was dealing with extremes a lot, at either end of the spectrum; on this one, you can feel the middles of things a little bit more.”
Asked about the arc of those developments, however, Akinmusire demurred. “I can sort of talk about it, but I feel like I’m grasping at something I’m not supposed to be grasping at,” he said. “About a year before he passed away, I took the opportunity to ask [vibraphonist] Bobby Hutcherson for advice. He said, ‘Never, ever analyze what you’ve done. Then when you get to be my age, you’ll have nothing but time, and then you’ll look back and you’ll say, Oh! That’s what I was doing, that’s what I was thinking.’ That’s something that really stuck with me.”
Akinmusire, 38, recently has spent a lot of time thinking about the elders who have influenced him. The new album contains direct tributes to two of his heroes. “Mr. Roscoe (Consider The Simultaneous),” with its evocative, tumbling dissonance, is an homage to multi-instrumentalist Roscoe Mitchell, and “Roy” is a beautiful elegy for the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove (1969–2018).
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
“We thought it’s important that Ronin has a new statement,” said Nik Bärtsch of his band’s latest album, Spin. “The sound is differently produced, so it reflects more of who we are.”
Apr 21, 2026 10:00 AM
Nik Bärtsch cuts an imposing figure on stage. He’s unmistakable with his soul patch, shaven head and black attire.…
Dave King (left) and Reid Anderson offer insights into why The Bad Plus’ chemistry was cool, the accomplishments many and its longevity so fruitful.
May 12, 2026 11:42 AM
The scene still sticks with me. I had heard the oddball name of this new group being dropped around town, and…
How best to mark Miles Davis’ centennial? By allowing the stories to flow, and cross-discussions to happen.
May 26, 2026 10:40 AM
Editor’s Note: The iconic trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis would have turned 100 today (May 26, 2026).…
Ava Preston, a 12-time DownBeat Student Music Award winner, is currently pursuing her master’s degree in jazz voice at Juilliard.
May 12, 2026 10:00 AM
Ava Preston, from Cleveland, Ohio, was named the winner of the ninth annual Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition on…
