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…
Nonprofit SFJAZZ is adding four Wayne Shorter tribute concerts to its Fridays at Five streaming series.
(Photo: Robert Ascroft)The Bay Area nonprofit organization SFJAZZ is aiming to lend assistance to Wayne Shorter with a series of livestreaming events.
Offering viewers four Shorter tribute concerts recorded last year at the SFJAZZ Center, the nonprofit aims to raise money to fund the saxophonist’s “ongoing medical needs.” The recordings come as part of the group’s Fridays at Five series, as SFJAZZ has worked to provide music to homebound audiences while the coronavirus pandemic limits possibilities for live performances. It also has created a new revenue stream for the organization.
The first installment of the Wayne Shorter Celebration is set for 5 p.m. PST May 19, and will feature performances by Kamasi Washington, Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade. A second stream, slated for June 26, is set to include Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard and others. Subsequent events are planned for July 31 and Aug. 28 with performances by Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman and others.
Access to the videos requires a $5 digital membership. And for the Shorter series, a digital tip jar has been set up to generate funds that will go directly toward paying the saxophonist’s medical expenses.
Additional information about the series can be found here. DB
Updated June 25
“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.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
Aug 26, 2025 1:31 PM
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.
Sep 3, 2025 12:03 PM
Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
