Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Saxophonists Samuel Blais (left), Donny McCaslin, David Binney and Dave Liebman make up the Four Visions Saxophone Quartet, a group that can trace its lineage back to jazz and the work of classical saxophonist Marcel Mule.
(Photo: Courtesy Sunnyside)Unlike other ensembles, The Westerlies also spend considerable time workshopping their arrangements before ever performing them at shows, often waiting a year or more to debut new material. During that time, the group will work and rework an idea until they’ve collectively discovered a unique way of expressing a piece of music. “We put our brains together and really crack open each piece and rebuild it in a way that’s interesting,” Clausen said.
In 2016, the ensemble released its second album, The Westerlies (Songlines)—all clean, dynamic originals—and they have two more albums on deck for 2020. In January, the band plans to self-release its most varied album to date, Wherein Lies The Good—a jumble of tunes culled from disparate sources: a solo piano work, a 1930s vocal group and its own democratically vetted original ideas. Later next year, they’ll also unveil a recording of collaborative efforts with vocalist/composer Theo Bleckmann, Songs Of Refuge And Resistance, a dive into protest music past and present.
With these two pending albums, The Westerlies are moving in sync with their stated mission: to “amplify unheard voices, paint new sonic landscapes and cultivate a global community.” It’s a mission that group members take seriously, and one that influences the repertoire they choose, the musicians with whom they collaborate and the gigs they curate.
Sporting this forward-leaning vision, The Westerlies join a decades-long line of wind players who helped shape jazz history, each with a unique brand of genre agnosticism and freedom fighting. WSQ could share The Westerlies’ mission statement.
Liebman, however, takes a more sweeping view of jazz innovation: “That Marcel Mule. He really started something big.” DB
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.
Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
D’Angelo achieved commercial and critical success experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop.
Oct 14, 2025 1:47 PM
D’Angelo, a Grammy-winning R&B and neo-soul singer, guitarist and pianist who exerted a profound influence on 21st…
Kandace Springs channeled Shirley Horn’s deliberate phrasing and sublime self-accompaniment during her set at this year’s Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival.
Sep 30, 2025 12:28 PM
Janis Burley, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival’s founder and artistic director, did not, as might be…
Jim McNeely’s singular body of work had a profound and lasting influence on many of today’s top jazz composers in the U.S. and in Europe.
Oct 7, 2025 3:40 PM
Pianist Jim McNeely, one of the most distinguished large ensemble jazz composers of his generation, died Sept. 26 at…
Drummond was cherished by generations of mainstream jazz listeners and bandleaders for his authoritative tonal presence, a defining quality of his style most apparent when he played his instrument unamplified.
Nov 4, 2025 11:39 AM
Ray Drummond, a first-call bassist who appeared on hundreds of albums as a sideman for some of the top names in jazz…
