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…
Legendary r&b singer Etta James has canceled a string of tour dates after suffering complications from a mid-June abdominal surgery, Reuters has reported. She remains in stable condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
James, 69, was “extremely disappointed” at having to cancel performances, said Lupe De Leon, her manager. “If it had been left solely up to her, she would have checked herself out of the hospital and started the tour regardless of her delicate health. However, her doctor advised that were she to do so, it would put her at very great risk.”
James was scheduled to join guitarist B.B. King and singer Al Green on a tour that began Tuesday, but her illness forced her to cancel dates up to Aug. 23, when she hopes to begin performing again. Vocalist Chaka Khan will substitute for James on most of the tour, with Susan Tedeschi stepping in at the JVC Jazz Festival-Newport.
James’ illustrious career has included hits “Something’s Got A Hold On Me,” “Trust In Me” and her trademark song, “At Last.” The three-time Grammy Award winner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
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…
