Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Theo Croker’s Dream … Manifested!
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
Kenny Garrett
(Photo: Hollis King)“Joe Hen’s Waltz” is alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett’s contribution to Relief, an album to benefit the Jazz Foundation of America’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund. The cut below is an outtake from Seeds From The Underground, Garrett’s 2012 release on Mack Avenue. The legend pays tributes to one of his heroes, fellow saxophonist Joe Henderson, with the help of bandmates Benito Gonzalez on piano, Nat Reeves on bass and Ronald Bruner on drums. To hear the tune, click here:
In March 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, a consortium of record labels and industry partners assembled to support the launch of the Jazz Foundation of America’s COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund. The mandate was simple and urgent: to provide direct financial assistance for basic living expenses to musicians and families whose livelihoods and security were jeopardized by the collapse of the global performance industry.
Blue Note Records, Concord Music Group, Mack Avenue Music Group, Nonesuch Records, the Verve Label Group and Warner Music Group banded together to raise the funds. It was a first-of-its-kind alliance of the leaders in the jazz industry.
The proceeds of this album benefit that fund. To buy your copy, click HERE. DB
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…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
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You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
Jul 22, 2025 10:58 AM
Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
