Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
Composers Addison Frei (left), Zachary Rich and Steven Feifke
(Photo: Courtesy Ravinia Steans Music Institute)In this pandemic era, getting a second shot has been a very good thing. That sentiment also applies to Ravinia’s Bridges Composition Competition.
The three winners of the 2020 Bridges competition received the David Baker Prize, named after the famed jazz composer and educator, as well as $2,500. But they needed a second chance to premiere their award-winning works after last year’s event was canceled. On June 4, at 7 p.m. CST, composers Steven Feifke, Addison Frei and Zachary Rich will debut pieces written for string quartet and jazz rhythm section at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall in Highland Park, Illinois. The event will be live-streamed for an online-only audience.
Feifke, whose winning piece is titled “The Promised Land,” is a pianist, composer and bandleader. He is a two-time semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and a rising star on New York’s big band scene.
Frei, who will premiere “Comment On War,” is a pianist, composer and producer. A Juilliard School alumnus, Frei has won the Parmigiani Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition.
Rich, presenting “Insomnolence,” is a composer, trombonist and educator in Northern Colorado. He was the winner of the 2021 Herb Alpert Young Composer Award, the 2020 Bill Conti Big Band Composition Award.
In addition, 2019 Bridges competition winner Michael Orenstein will perform his piece “Staircase.” The competition was juried by pianist Billy Childs, bassist Rufus Reid and saxophonist Steve Wilson. The Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, running since 1905. DB
“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.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
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…
“Hamiet was one of the most underrated musicians ever,” says Whitaker of baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett.
Jul 8, 2025 7:30 AM
At 56, Rodney Whitaker, professor of jazz bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, is equally…
