Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Theo Croker’s Dream … Manifested!
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
Violinist Christian Howes will release Heartfelt, his debut on Resonance Records, on Sept. 9. The album is a collaboration between Howes and pianist-arranger Roger Kellaway, former musical director for Bobby Darin.
Howes’ musical career was interrupted in 1992 at the age of 20 when he was convicted of selling LSD to an undercover cop. Howes credits his time in prison as influential to his interest in blues and jazz, which have featured in his solo releases.
“Before, I had been pretty strictly into classical music,” said Howes, “But in prison, I was playing in gospel church services and that was the first time that I was really exposed to a kind of energy of soul and swing and blues and these kinds of ideas. That music made such a deep impression on me that it was then that I got this feeling of, ‘I should really be exploring this more on the violin.’”
The collaborations on Heartfelt include an orchestral arrangements of Russ Freeman’s “The Wind” and Eliane Elias’ “That’s All It Was,” as well as a rendition of Bill Evans’ “Walkin Up.”
To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.
Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
“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.”
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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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Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
