Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
Keeping the Flame at Van Gelder Studio
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Bandleader Brandi Disterheft is set to release her fifth album, Surfboard, on Oct. 30.
(Photo: Joanne K)Bassist-vocalist Brandi Disterheft, a frequent rhythm partner of drummer Joe Farnsworth, drifts through originals and standards on her latest full-length, Surfboard. On the album, she proves to be equally engaging behind the microphone as when her ensemble nails instrumentals like the Jobim-penned title track.
For the bassist’s own “Coup De Foudre,” she propels the band through a descending melody while breathlessly relating a timeless love song. Saxophonist George Coleman narrates the whirlwind encounter in a track that premieres below.
“Between the samba dancers improvising to a waltz and George Coleman’s prowess, I’m very pleased to share this video,” Disterheft wrote in an email to DownBeat. “I’ve always enjoyed George’s prolific ability to trail-blaze intense emotion while sounding relaxed. Inspired by a F. Scott Fitzgerald quote translating to bolts of lightening or love at first sight, the story takes an unexpected turn.”
Surfboard, Disterheft’s fifth leader date, is due out Oct. 30 on Justin Time. DB
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…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
Sep 3, 2025 12:03 PM
Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
“Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.
Sep 9, 2025 1:18 PM
Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile…
Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.
Sep 9, 2025 12:19 PM
Big Ears has announced the lineup for its 2026 festival, which will take place March 26–29 and include 250…
Mark Masters, right, with Billy Harper.
Sep 3, 2025 12:00 PM
The Rising Star Category of this publication’s annual Critics Poll was once called Talent Deserving Wider Recognition…
