Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Vocalist Sheila Jordan Dies at 96
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 22.
(Photo: Adam McCullough)Traditionally taking place over two weekends in late April and early May, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is an occasion for music lovers from around the world to gather in the birthplace of jazz and celebrate the art form’s rich past and promising future.
During the first weekend of this year’s edition, the festival lineup featured an exceptionally broad range of artists and groups. Zydeco artists and brass bands shared the stage with blues guitarists and Latin ensembles, and jazz fixtures like Brian Blade, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter rubbed shoulders with pop acts like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, J. Cole and Nick Jonas.
In the slideshow below, DownBeat presents a selection of photos from the festival’s rousing first half, captured in striking detail by photographer Adam McCullough. We’ll have even more photos and a critical recap later this week.
—Brian Zimmerman
Jordan was a dyed-in-the-wool bebopper whose formative musical experiences were with Charlie Parker.
Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
“I don’t guess I’m going to excite you; I know I’m going to excite you,” Palmieri said in an August 1994 DownBeat feature.
Aug 12, 2025 10:33 AM
Famed Latin jazz composer, bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri passed away in his New Jersey home on Aug. 6. He was…
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
