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…
Keiko Matsui’s new album, Euphoria, comes out March 31.
(Photo: Courtesy Shanachie)Pianist and composer Keiko Matsui plans to release her 30th album, called Euphoria (Shanachie), on March 31. DownBeat got an early listen to this star-studded affair, which includes Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Grégoire Maret, John Beasley, Joel Ross, Lalah Hathaway and Kirk Whalum.
Check out the title track, featuring Ross on vibes and arranged by Beasley, by clicking on the image below.
“This album is about the hope that we all carry inside of us,” said Matsui, who has worked with everyone from Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder to Bob James and Hugh Masekela. “I have this dream where we can each cherish our own happiness and learn to accept and care for one another. When I tour around the world and witness how my music cuts through our differences and connects everyone, it makes me feel euphoric.” DB
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.’”
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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.
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Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
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If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
“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…
