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…
This year’s Syracuse Jazz Festival, which will be held from June 23 to 25 at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., will salute three American cities.
On Friday, June 23, the festival will start with a “Salute To Detroit,” with headliners David “Fathead” Newman’s Tribute To Ray Charles (featuring Howard Johnson and Detroit’s Marcus Belgrave) and The Funk Brothers of Motown Records fame. Saturday’s concerts will pay tribute to New Orleans with C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, Marcia Ball and Dr. John. Cornell Dupree and Les McCann will close out the festival on Sunday with an homage to Memphis.
“By creating dedicated theme nights at the 2006 festival that celebrate and salute three of America’s most renowned musical hubs, we were able to put together a diverse musical lineup that doubles as a history lesson in American popular culture,” said Syracuse Jazz Fest founder and artistic director Frank Malfitano.
For more information go to
“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…
In other news... DownBeat's Most Read Stories
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
In Memoriam: Al Foster, 1943–2025
Francis Davis, Esteemed Jazz Critic, Dies at 78
Branford Marsalis Explores Keith Jarrett
Sasha Berliner: A Prodigy Fulfilled
