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…
Chico Freeman will release Spoken Into Existience, his first domestic release in nearly a decade, on May 13 (Photo: Marcel Meier)
(Photo: )After living and working in Europe for the last decade, saxophonist and AACM member Chico Freeman will return to the United States in May. To mark his homecoming, the former Elvin Jones collaborator will celebrate with the domestic release of a new album, Spoken Into Existence, on May 13.
On the album, Freeman is joined by his international quartet, with which he’s worked regularly since 2013 (Italian pianist Antonio Faraò, Swiss bassist Heiri Känzig and American drummer Michael Baker). The program, consisting of mostly originals, spans an array of styles, ranging from hip-hop to funk to bebop and the blues.
Released by the Viennese label Jive Music, the album also features compelling arrangements of Miles Davis’ “Seven Steps To Heaven,” as well as Stanley Turrentine’s “Soft Pedal Blues,” from the 1962 Blue Note recording That’s Where It’s At.
Freeman, who grew up in Chicago (his father was the celebrated hard-bop saxophonist Von Freeman), noted that the criteria for selecting material for his new album were demanding.
“I’ve played standards, but contrary to my father, that’s not the meat on my improvisational plate,” Freeman said. “Standards were my dad’s self-expression; they emerged from his life and environment. The standards I choose to play are ones that touch me, and they’re usually written by jazz musicians with some exceptions. Most of my work is about presenting original material.”
Upon his return to the States, Freeman will also introduce audiences to a new ensemble, The Chico Freeman Plus+tet, featuring pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Nasheet Waits and percussionist Reto Weber. The group will hold its debut performance at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York on May 19.
For more information on the album, visit the Jive Music website. To read a 1974 DownBeat interview with AACM member Lester Bowie, click here.
—Brian Zimmerman
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…
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
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).…
Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.
Jul 16, 2026 1:34 PM
The DownBeat Critics Poll never ceases to amaze! And the 74th Edition offered plenty of accolades for poll veterans and…
Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”
Jun 30, 2026 3:19 PM
Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the NEA Jazz Master from South Africa who helped fuse the folk music of his home country with…
