Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
In Memoriam: Cassandra Wilson, 1955–2026
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
Trombonist Roswell Rudd had teamed with the Mongolian Buryat Band for an exploration of jazz and Asian Music. Blue Mongol, which is set for an Oct. 11 release on Sunnyside/Soundscape, is a 13-track synthesis of cultures that is an extension of a 2004 concert that features Rudd with musicians from Mongolia.
The Mongolian musicians on Blue Mongol are led by throat singer and multi-instrumentalist Battuvshin Baldantseren, a virtuoso on the bamboo flute, horse-head bass and jaw harp. Joining Rudd and Baldantseren are singer Badma Khanda, Dmitry Ayurov on fiddle, dulcimer player Kermen Lakyaeva and Valentina Mandykova on zither.
Rudd calls their music “art folk, because is combines the sophistication of conservatory, Western training with the indigenous performance style of their long history.
“The Mongolian instruments and the trombone create a sound that is the ideal acoustic realization of these Central Asian flavors,” Rudd said.
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
Bertoncini was a specialist and advocate for the nylon-string acoustic guitar, turning down high-profile opportunities that were unsuited to the sound and techniques that he used with that instrument.
Sep 1, 2026 11:06 AM
Gene Bertoncini, an esteemed jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and educator, died Aug. 29 at the Lillian Booth Actors…
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of…
