Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Kurt Elling will participate in the Jazz Across Borders conference in Russia.
(Photo: Anna Webber)Jazz Across Borders, the first international jazz forum and festival in Russia, will be held on Nov. 17–18 in St. Petersburg.
The conference will assemble international and Russian jazz community representatives, and it will provide musicians with a unique opportunity to present their music to the leading producers of the jazz world.
Among the confirmed participants is vocalist and DownBeat Critics Poll winner Kurt Elling, pianist and bandleader John Beasley, Simon Cooke (managing director of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London), Jae Jin In (creator and producer of the Jarasum Jazz Festival in South Korea), Peter Gontha (creator and producer of the Java Jazz Festival) and Carlo Pagnotta (creator and producer of the Umbria Jazz Festival).
The event will consist of four elements:
JAB Conference. This will include panel discussions, round-table talks and clinics. The members of the JAB will discuss current problems and trends in the industry, ways to promote foreign jazz artists in Russia, strategies to promote Russian artists abroad, organizing tours in Russia and many other topics.
JAB Showcases. These showcases will give Russian and foreign jazz performers an opportunity to present their music to a wide array of industry professionals (promoters, program directors of festivals, club operators, representatives of labels, journalists and others).
JAB Club Night. Participants can enjoy shows in St. Petersburg.
JAB Gala. This gala concert will feature Elling and the internationally acclaimed big band Igor Butman & The Moscow Jazz Orchestra. The show will take place on the stage of the Main Hall of the State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg.
For more information, visit the conference website. DB
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.
Apr 22, 2025 11:50 AM
Francis Davis, an august jazz and cultural critic who won both awards and esteem in print, film and radio, died April…
“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
May 20, 2025 11:58 AM
Branford Marsalis was on the road again. Coffee cup in hand, the saxophonist — sporting a gray hoodie and a look of…
“What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.
May 13, 2025 12:39 PM
Part of the jazz vibraphone conversation since her late teens, Sasha Berliner has long come across as a fully formed…
