Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
Cellist Tomeka Reid is among the 25 individuals named 2022 MacArthur Fellows.
(Photo: Courtesy Tomeka Reid)Cellist Tomeka Reid and electronic music composer Ikue Mori both have been named 2022 MacArthur Fellows. The annual awards, commonly known as Genius Grants, are given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and have demonstrated the potential to produce even more inspired and innovative work.
The Chicago-based foundation has increased the “no strings attached” award from $625,000 to $800,000 over five years.
Reid draws from a range of musical traditions and expanding the expressive possibilities of the cello in improvised music. Trained in the Western classical tradition, she is also fluent in musical modes rooted in the African diaspora and avant-garde minimalism. Reid employs extended techniques in her practice — attaching pencils or clips to the strings or making use of the percussive qualities of the body of the cello — to produce a rich and textured palette of sounds. The Chicago-based artist is also a composer, bandleader, educator and community builder.
Mori has transformed the use of percussion in improvisation and expanding the boundaries of machine-based music. The New York-based electronic music composer and performer creates rhythmic and ambient soundscapes using digital processing techniques, a laptop computer, and repurposed elements of electronic drumming equipment. Over her five-decade career, Mori has transformed the use of percussion in improvised music and inspired generations of electronic musicians.
“The 2022 MacArthur Fellows are architects of new modes of activism, artistic practice and citizen science,” said Marlies Carruth, director, MacArthur Fellows. “They are excavators uncovering what has been overlooked, undervalued or poorly understood. They are archivists reminding us of what should survive. Their work extends from the molecular level to the land beneath our feet to Earth’s orbital environment — offering new ways for us to understand the communities, systems and social forces that shape our lives around the globe.” DB
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
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You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
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“Hamiet was one of the most underrated musicians ever,” says Whitaker of baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett.
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At 56, Rodney Whitaker, professor of jazz bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, is equally…
