Dec 9, 2025 12:28 PM
In Memoriam: Gordon Goodwin, 1954–2025
Gordon Goodwin, an award-winning saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.…
Terri Lyne Carrington, Artist of the Year
(Photo: Mark Sheldon)The Jazz Journalists Association announced its 2021 winners for its JJA Jazz Awards with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington being named its Artist of the Year and bassist Ron Carter receiving the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Maria Schneider received three awards for Record of the Year with Data Lords, as well as Composer and Arranger of the Year honors. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto, on Resonance Records, was named Historical Record of the Year. Resonance was also named Record Label of the Year. Pianist Emmet Cohen was named Up & Coming Musician of the Year.
The organization also delivers awards for achievement in jazz journalism with Kevin Whitehead, author and jazz critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and a contributor to DownBeat, receiving the Lifetime Achievement In Jazz Award. Ted Panken, another DownBeat contributor, received the Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing for 2020. WBGO DJ Gary Walker received the Marian McPartland-Willis Conover Award for Career Achievement in Broadcasting and Billie, directed by James Erskine, was named Documentary of the Year.
We are proud to note that DownBeat was named Publication of the Year.
For a complete list of honorees, click HERE. DB
Goodwin was one of the most acclaimed, successful and influential jazz musicians of his generation.
Dec 9, 2025 12:28 PM
Gordon Goodwin, an award-winning saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.…
Belá Fleck during an interview with Fredrika Whitfield on CNN.
Jan 13, 2026 2:09 PM
The fallout from the renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to include President Donald…
The success of Oregon’s first album, 1971’s Music Of Another Present Era, allowed Towner to establish a solo career.
Jan 19, 2026 5:02 PM
Ralph Towner, a guitarist and composer who blended multiple genres, including jazz — and throughout them all remained…
Flea has returned to his first instrument — the trumpet — and assembled a dream band of jazz musicians to record a new album.
Dec 2, 2025 2:01 AM
After a nearly five-decade career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, Flea has returned to his first…
Rico’s Anti-Microbial Instrument Swab
Jan 19, 2026 2:48 PM
With this year’s NAMM Show right around the corner, we can look forward to plenty of new and innovative instruments…