Mar 2, 2023 10:46 AM
In Memoriam: Wayne Shorter, 1933-2023
One of the most prodigious composers and singular, harmonically sophisticated improvisers in jazz history, tenor and…
Lakecia Benjamin performs during this year’s Winter Jazzfest, which ran Jan. 8–18 in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
(Photo: Adrien H. Tillmann)Set up in early May, the Jazz Coalition is rallying support for musicians unmoored from their regular incomes during the pandemic with a program that commissions new works through $1,000 grants. The first round of recipients was announced May 21.
Among the 51 musicians and programmers to receive funds are pianists Bertha Hope and Aaron Parks, bassist Ben Williams, and saxophonists James Carter, Lakecia Benjamin, Camille Thurman and Greg Ward. Rio Sakairi, the artistic director at The Jazz Gallery, also was allocated money.
The nonprofit currently is seeking to raise additional funds for another round of grants.
“When public assembly restrictions are lifted, commission recipients will premiere their new works at mutually agreed upon Jazz Coalition member venues, and their works-in-progress will be streamed in advance,” coalition representatives wrote in a press email. “The commissions will become a new canon of music that represents our collective resilience moving us all forward.”
For a full list of grant recipients, visit the organization’s website. DB
Shorter performing at the 2015 Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle.
Mar 2, 2023 10:46 AM
One of the most prodigious composers and singular, harmonically sophisticated improvisers in jazz history, tenor and…
“In the pantheons of guitar players, Jeff was the chosen one,” said Steve Vai of the late Jeff Beck.
Jan 24, 2023 11:48 AM
One of an iconic triumvirate of ’60s rock guitar gods, along with Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck set the…
Burt Bacharach with Carol Bayer Sagar and Miles Davis in 1984.
Feb 14, 2023 11:26 AM
Burt Bacharach, who died in Los Angeles at age 94 on Feb. 8, was among the last of a small, oddly isolated island of…
Samara Joy gives her acceptance speech at the Grammys on Feb. 5.
Feb 7, 2023 12:02 AM
Jazz vocalist Samara Joy was crowned Best New Artist during this year’s Grammy Awards on Feb. 5. The deeply emotive…
“There was a time I decided I was not a composer, only an improvisor, and I find that very difficult to do with one hand,” Jarrett says. “Jumping off a cliff takes two hands and two feet.”
Mar 21, 2023 12:24 PM
Keith Jarrett can do more with his right hand than most pianists can with two. As he pulls the protective cloth from…
