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…
Doug Beavers will release a new album, Art Of The Arrangement, on Aug. 25.
(Photo: Courtesy the artist)Trombonists are the unsung heroes of the jazz world. Though the instrument may not grace as many frontlines as it did in its pre-bop heyday, trombonists are often hard at work behind the scenes, crafting material for ensembles of every size and stylistic stripe. At least, that’s the thesis put forth by Grammy-winning trombonist-composer Doug Beavers on his new album, the exceptional Art Of The Arrangement, due out Aug. 25 on the ArtistShare label.
The idea for the album grew from an astute observation. At the time of the release of his previous CD, the fantastically trombone-centric Titanes Del Trombón, Beavers took note of the fact that many of the great trombonists of the past were also first-rate arrangers. The realization steered him toward the music that now constitutes his latest release, such as the album’s single, “El Truquito,” which Beavers arranged based on the original by Ismael Rivera. You can listen to that track—in all its low-brass splendor—below. Be sure to pay special attention to the leader’s positively roaring trombone solo.
The new collection features a total of 12 tributes to the greatest Latin jazz and salsa arrangers of our time, including Gil Evans, Ray Santos, Jose Madera, Oscar Hernández, Angel Fernandez, Marty Sheller and Gonzalo Grau. Throughout the history of Latin jazz, and jazz in general, it’s the arrangers who have shaped the music, and quite often their contributions have been overlooked, or ignored altogether. Beavers sets out to change that fact on the ambitious Art Of The Arrangement. 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 her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
“If you don’t keep learning, your mind slows down,” Coleman says. “Use it or lose it.”
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PolyTropos/Of Many Turns — the title for Steve Coleman’s latest recording on Pi and his 33rd album overall —…
