Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Art Blakey (1919–1990)
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)
Charlie Parker (1920–1955)
(Photo: William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress)
Dave Brubeck (1920–2012)
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)
Clark Terry (1920–2015)
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)
Drummer Shelly Manne’s work as a leader and sideperson exhibits his refusal to be pigeonholed.
(Photo: Dave Pell/DownBeat Archives)
Yusef Lateef (1920–2013)
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)The musical similarities among all the folks below might be in short supply, but each of these performers irrevocably changed jazz. Whether it was through Art Blakey’s (he was actually born in 1919, but that’s pretty close) tutelage and encouragement of the best jazz composers ever to record or Dave Brubeck’s chart success, the music is better—and dramatically different—than it would have been otherwise.
Below, DownBeat salutes six iconic artists who were born 100 years ago. DB
Art Blakey, the Mightiest Mentor
The Sound and Myth of Charlie Parker at 100
Dave Brubeck’s Legacy Enters a New Era
Clark Terry Fostered Generations of Performers
Shelly Manne Cultivated a Unique Brand from Behind the Kit
Yusef Lateef, The ‘Evolutionist’
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
Jan 21, 2025 7:38 PM
Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
Feb 25, 2025 10:49 AM
Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
