Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Emmet Cohen is set to issue his first album on Mack Avenue, Future Stride, Jan. 29.
(Photo: Taili Song Roth)Emmet Cohen’s latest album, Future Stride, works to encompass the bounty of recorded jazz history.
Cohen, who in 2019 won the American Pianists Association Competition, taps bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole for a take of “Dardanella”—a song popularized by bandleader Ben Selvin in a 1919 recording—which premieres below.
“Our version of ‘Dardanella’ is a modern take on the 20th-century gem, pioneered by the stride masters, such as Art Tatum and Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith,” Cohen said in a press release. “The form and organization here display a natural and free progression; an exploration of possibilities which exist when three people think, breathe and feel as a single unit.”
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana and trumpeter Marquis Hill also appear on Future Stride, which is set for release Jan. 29 on the Mack Avenue imprint. DB
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.
May 21, 2024 12:58 PM
Players got to play. It’s long been a part of jazz history: When there’s a venue vacuum, when there are fewer…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…