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…
Roxy Coss’ new album, The Future Is Female, was inspired by the 2016 presidential elections.
(Photo: Desmond White)How do you find the balance between the compositions and the improvisations?
When I compose, sometimes I will hear a specific instrument for a certain part, or sometimes I will want one of the member’s specific personalities for a part. But I always want to make sure each member is contributing to the group sound. I want to make room for everybody to be part of the dialogue and the conversation, for each voice to be expressed.
Do you have a favorite tune on the album?
Every tune for me is like a different friend. They all give me a different way to express myself. It’s always a great surprise to hear them come together in the finished product.
Where do you find inspiration?
Listening to music and from everyday life encounters; noticing something frustrating or seeing someone do something inspirational.
I’ll find a theme evolving when there’s something I’m focusing on in my life—relationships, setting boundaries, or women not getting paid as much as men. I think people can relate to these stories, expressed through the music, when they hear you perform. I like to give the audience an introduction with some background and context when I play a tune. A lot of people aren’t familiar with jazz, especially instrumental jazz, so I think it can help them to understand the emotional content of the music, if they know where I’m coming from as a composer.
What has been your biggest challenge as an artist and composer?
That’s a big question. The biggest challenge is to get out of my own way. Any limits are internal; you can do as much as you can imagine doing and as much as you allow yourself to do. 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.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
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.
Jan 21, 2025 7:38 PM
Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
“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…
“If you don’t keep learning, your mind slows down,” Coleman says. “Use it or lose it.”
Jan 28, 2025 11:38 AM
PolyTropos/Of Many Turns — the title for Steve Coleman’s latest recording on Pi and his 33rd album overall —…
