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…
Pianist Herbie Hancock, along with a band comprised of saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and guitarist Lionel Loueke, will release a Joni Mitchell tribute album Sept. 25 on Verve Records.
River: The Joni Letters is a collection of songs, vocal and instrumental, composed by or influential to the singer-songwriter. Produced and arranged by Mitchell’s longtime producer Larry Klein and Hancock, it features guest vocalists Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner, Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and Luciana Souza.
Hancock first worked with Mitchell on the singer-songwriter’s Mingus, an album of collaborations between Mitchell and the great bassist and composer Charles Mingus . Together with Shorter, Hancock was part of a small group with which Mitchell tried to craft a new “conversational” approach to coupling lyrics with instrumental jazz.
River will be released on the same day as Mitchell’s own Shine, which is her debut for Hear Music, the new Starbucks Entertainment/Concord Music label.
“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…
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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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“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
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“What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.
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