Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
The 8th annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, also known as the SASSY awards, is accepting submissions through Sept. 9.
The competition, which is part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival, is open to vocalists 16 years old and up, who are not signed to a major label, according to a press release from the event. To enter, submit three songs to the competition’s website.
Five finalists will be announced on Oct. 15, who then will perform for a panel of judges, which includes Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride, Jane Monheit, Gary Walker and Matt Pierson, on Nov. 24.
The grand-prize winner will take home $5,000.
Past winners of the competition include Cyrille Aimée, Laurin Talese, Jazzmeia Horn, Quina Lynell and Arianna Neikrug. DB
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
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On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
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This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
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The organizers of Lisbon, Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto Festival assume its audience is thoughtful and independent. Over…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
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Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
