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…
Pianist Cyrus Chestnut tries his hand at the Elvis Presley songbook with his upcoming Koch release, Cyrus Plays Elvis.
The disc, to be released Oct. 9, includes Chestnut’s renditions of the hit songs “Heartbreak Hotel,” “It’s Now Or Never” and “In The Ghetto.” Joining him on the date are bassist Dezron L. Douglas and drummer Neal Smith, with guest appearances on several tracks by saxophonist Mark Gross.
Chestnut has recorded with Betty Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, and Branford and Wynton Marsalis. He admitted that tackling Presley’s music may be an unusual move for an artist of his stature, but said the project sprung from an uncontrollable urge to explore the rock ‘n’ roll icon’s music.
“Elvis was unique,” he said in a news release. “As a person, he created his own phenomenon. And as a singer, he told his story using music he felt good about.”
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…
“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
Jan 16, 2025 2:02 PM
In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
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…