These 25 Performers Could Shape Jazz For Decades

  I  
Image

Veronica Swift has both a historical connection to the music and a desire to expand its artistic purview.

(Photo: Giancarlo Belfiore/Umbria Jazz)

​Welcome to our enthusiastic, optimistic look at the future.

Below, DownBeat presents short profiles of two dozen musicians who, like Veronica Swift, have the potential to shape the direction of jazz in the decades to come. DB

Yazz Ahmed

Fabian Almazan

Lakecia Benjamin

Theo Croker

Yussef Dayes

James Francies

Nubya Garcia

Morgan Guerin

Jazzmeia Horn

Shabaka Hutchings

Jimmy Macbride

Makaya McCraven

Camila Meza

Hedvig Mollestad

Nduduzo Makhathini

Adam O’Farrill

Junius Paul

Tomeka Reid

Alfredo Rodríguez

Joel Ross

Christian Sands

Veronica Swift

Luke Stewart

Camille Thurman

Kuba Więcek

These stories originally were published in the November 2020 issue of DownBeat. Subscribe here.



  • Ted_Nash_Alexa_Tarantino_by_Gilberto_Tadday_copy.jpg

    As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.

  • Coltrane_John_008_copy_2.jpg

    “This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.

  • 2tx3p_BNJF2025LineupApr11080x1350--1_copy.jpg

    The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.

  • Ethan_Iverson_by_David_Moressi_2024_copy.jpg

    “I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.

  • Isaiah_Collier_by_Michael_Jackson_2025.jpg

    “At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”


On Sale Now
May 2025
Branford Marsalis
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad