Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
On May 7, Rounder Records will releaseCorey Harris’ fourth studio album, Downhome Sophisticate. Recorded in Charlottesville, Va., and co-produced by Harris and frequent collaborator Jamal Millner, Downhome Sophisticate marks the blues-influenced singer/songwriter’s Rounder Records debut and first studio recording since 2000’s collaboration with pianist Henry Butler, Vü-Dü Menz.
Drawing on a diverse range of traditional music—from African guitar styles, sounds of the Caribbean, and country blues of the American South—Downhome Sophisticate explores a unique and refreshingly modern approach to roots-based music. Backing Harris on the album is his longtime band - The 5x5 (Vic Brown - bass, Johnny Gilmore - drums, Jamal Millner - vocals, guitar, mandolin).
Harris will also be featured in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming six-part PBS mini series, “The Blues.” Set to air in the winter of 2003, each episode of “The Blues” will be directed by acclaimed filmmakers such as Charles Burnett, Marc Levin, and Wim Wenders (Scorsese himself directs Corey’s episode; the first installment of the series).
For more information, go to www.coreyharrismusic.com.
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
Jan 21, 2025 7:38 PM
Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
“With jazz I thought it must be OK to be Black, for the first time,” says singer Sofia Jernberg.
Jan 2, 2025 10:50 AM
On Musho (Intakt), her recent duo album with pianist Alexander Hawkins, singer Sofia Jernberg interprets traditional…
“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
Jan 16, 2025 2:02 PM
In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
