Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival continued late into the night on Friday, April 29 with a free improvised set by bassist Cecil McBee and alto player, Gary Bartz. Joined by local composer, Hannibal Lokumbe on trumpet and Adonis Rose on drums, McBee and Bartz rounded out their group with percussionist, Alfred Uganda Roberts, who made his mark recording with Allen Toussaint, Professor Longhair and the Wild Magnolias back in the ‘70s. Playing to a small crowd of locals, McBee combined a New Orleans sense of rhythm and blues with odd times that sounded like they were caught somewhere between funk and free jazz.
At the Fairgrounds yesterday, Jamie Cullum played a new composition he said he wrote over the holidays when he was visiting family, looking at old photos. Using just piano and voice, the ballad, “Ordinary Life,” showcased Cullum’s rich rasp well, but some of his usual energy was lost on the big stage. Still, he managed to win back the baking hot audience with his Coldplay cover, “High And Dry.”
Playing a much funkier brand of piano, Henry Butler heated up the blues tent with a few tunes from his new album, “Homeland,” while the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars brought a little rock to their Klezmer swamp-funk with the help of a large dose of guitar feedback. Nicholas Payton joined the Doc Cheatham Tribute, playing traditional classics like Fats Waller’s “What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue.” While Payton shines among older players, though, he seemed constricted by the formal format of the music and a somewhat predictable order of solos. Payton’s Sonic Trance plays today in the Jazz Tent, where the leader should feel more comfortable letting as loose as he does on the album.
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.
Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
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On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
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Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
“Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.
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Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile…
Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.
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Big Ears has announced the lineup for its 2026 festival, which will take place March 26–29 and include 250…
