Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
In Memoriam: Al Foster, 1943–2025
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Dayna Stephens is set to release his first recording as the leader of a trio, Liberty.
(Photo: Paolo Soriani)It almost doesn’t feel like it, but Dayna Stephens has issued eight albums in just over a 10 years. His ninth, Liberty (Contagious), is due out Feb. 28, and it’s the first time the saxophonist has led a trio date. A video for “Loosy Goosy,” a cut off the upcoming album, premieres below.
The able rhythm tandem—bassist Ben Street and drummer Eric Harland—that joined Stephens on his 2007 leader debut, The Timeless Now, again convenes here, granting the saxophonist a sacrosanct landscape over which he roams, rhapsodizes and blows bottomless lines on a tune he refers to as kind of “squirrelly.” But check out Harland’s snare work.
“Balancing our multiple unique levels of diversity and world views with the awareness that we are all a part of a global community atop a spinning delicate crumb in space,” Stephens begins in a press release while discussing the album’s title, “has proven to be a persistent puzzle for our species that leaves me wondering if ‘Liberty’ is capable of being one of those vast fields of common ground it once seemed to be.”
The saxophonist also has a live quintet recording, Right Now: Live At The Village Vanguard (Contagious), with pianist Aaron Parks, Street and drummer Greg Hutchinson due out April 24.
For additional information about Liberty, visit the bandleader’s website. DB
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Roscoe Mitchell will receive a Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s Vision Festival.
May 27, 2025 6:21 PM
Arts for Art has announced the full lineup for the 2025 Vision Festival, which will run June 2–7 at Roulette…
Benny Benack III and his quartet took the Midwest Jazz Collective’s route for a test run this spring.
Jun 3, 2025 10:31 AM
The time and labor required to tour is, for many musicians, daunting at best and prohibitive at worst. It’s hardly…
To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.
Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
“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…