Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
The 2022 NEA Jazz Masters
(Photo: Courtesy of NEA)All four of this year’s NEA Jazz Masters honorees — Stanley Clarke, Donald Harrison Jr., Billy Hart and Cassandra Wilson — participated in a lively virtual conversation that was made available online to the public this week.
In advance of the 2022 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert scheduled to take place this Thursday, March 31, at SFJAZZ Center’s Robert N. Miner Auditorium in San Francisco, listeners can log on to the NEA’s YouTube page to hear the Jazz Masters trade thoughts and memories about their lives and careers. The “Meet the NEA Jazz Masters” video discussion, available on demand, is moderated by Randall Kline, founder and executive artistic director of SFJAZZ.
The 2022 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert kicks off a year-long celebration of the fellowship program’s 40th anniversary. The event will feature performances by 2022 honorees Clarke, Hart and Harrison, as well as Jeremiah Collier, Joe Dyson, Ethan Iverson, Dan Kaufman, Salar Nader, Noriatsu Naraoka, Ruslan Sirota, Ben Street, Mark Turner and the SFJAZZ Collective. Held in collaboration with SFJAZZ, the concert is free and open to the public and will be made available through a live webcast and radio broadcasts. Vocalist Dianne Reeves, a 2018 NEA Jazz Master, will host the event.
In-person tickets are available through sfjazz.org. The live webcast will be aired at arts.gov, sfjazz.org and through a variety of social media pages, including DownBeat’s Facebook page, beginning at at 7:30 p.m. Pacific/10:30 p.m. Eastern on March 31. DB
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
Jul 22, 2025 10:58 AM
Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
“Hamiet was one of the most underrated musicians ever,” says Whitaker of baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett.
Jul 8, 2025 7:30 AM
At 56, Rodney Whitaker, professor of jazz bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, is equally…
