Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Fresh Sound Records has issues Breathing Room, the debut
recording as a leader by trumpeter David Weiss. Weiss came to the
attention of Fresh Sound Records as the co-leader of the critically
acclaimed New Jazz Composers Octet, who recently collaborated with
trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard for the album New Colors (Hip Bop
Records). In addition, Weiss recently won the Chamber Music America
Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project: Creation and Presentation grant for
his compositions.
For Breathing Room, Weiss called on his New Jazz Composers Octet co-leaders pianist Xavier Davis and bassist Dwayne Burno and introduces a pair of talented and young musicians, tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland and drummer E.J. Strickland. The music has its roots in the ’60s Blue Note sound with the inclusion of a few lesser-known Wayne Shorter compositions and a variation on the classic Joe Henderson composition “The Kicker.” While obviously influenced by Shorter, his compositions for sextet prove he has his own unique and distinct voice.
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.
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Francis Davis, an august jazz and cultural critic who won both awards and esteem in print, film and radio, died April…
“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
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Branford Marsalis was on the road again. Coffee cup in hand, the saxophonist — sporting a gray hoodie and a look of…
“What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.
May 13, 2025 12:39 PM
Part of the jazz vibraphone conversation since her late teens, Sasha Berliner has long come across as a fully formed…
