Nov 19, 2024 12:57 PM
In Memoriam: Roy Haynes, 1925–2024
Powerhouse jazz drummer and bandleader Roy Haynes died Tuesday in Nassau County, New York. He was 99. One of the few…
Pianist Randy Weston (1926–2018) performs at the 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival.
(Photo: Michael Jackson)In addition to his induction into DownBeat’s Hall of Fame, Weston received other honors, including a Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, and honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory of Music and Brooklyn College.
Above all else, according to Bridgewater, Weston will be remembered for being one of the most gregarious and kind artists in jazz.
“He treated everybody well—even the Gnawa musicians he got to know became family to him. Yesterday at Randy’s funeral, somebody said, ‘I never heard Randy say a bad thing about any musician or anybody,”’ Bridgewater recalled after attending a Sept. 10 service at Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York. “That was his nature. He welcomed everybody.” DB
“I treat every day like it’s Thanksgiving,” said Roy Haynes.
Nov 19, 2024 12:57 PM
Powerhouse jazz drummer and bandleader Roy Haynes died Tuesday in Nassau County, New York. He was 99. One of the few…
“Watching people like Max Roach or Elvin Jones and seeing how they utilize the whole drum kit in a very rhythmic and melodic way and how they stretched time — that was a huge inspiration to me,” Hussain said in DownBeat.
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Tabla master Ustad Zakir Hussain, one of India’s reigning cultural ambassadors and a revered figure worldwide…
“I love doing ballads,” Mike Stern says. “It’s just a part of me, some part of emotionally how I feel sometimes.”
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Stories of major shifts and rebirths among musicians during the past five years are common, from weathering the…
Jazz journalist Michael Jackson, left, dispenses a live Blindfold Test to drum master Billy Cobham.
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Drum king Billy Cobham, who, believe it or not, turned 80 in May, ruled the roost at January’s Panama Jazz Festival.…
Queen Latifah extols Harlem and the Apollo Theater at this year’s Kennedy Center Honors.
Dec 12, 2024 1:58 AM
Cuban-American jazz trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval and Harlem’s Apollo Theater were among the honorees at the 2024…
