Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
Brad Mehldau Tells His Story
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is among several jazz world figures to become a 2021 United States Artists Fellow.
(Photo: Jimmy Katz)Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan and cellist Tomeka Reid are among the 2021 United States Artists Fellows, the organization announced Feb. 3.
Sixty individuals from 22 different states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico received the award, which comes along with a $50,000 prize. According to the organization, the fellowship program has dispensed $33 million to more than 700 artists since its founding in 2006.
Architects and designers, textile and interdisciplinary artists, sculptors, dancers, filmmakers and others in media also were awarded the fellowship. Last year, composer Anthony Braxton, flutist Nicole Mitchell and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier were among those who received the honor.
For a full list of recipients, visit the United States Artists website. DB
“Perhaps that’s a key to what makes me tick — a very strong curiosity, which makes me a perpetual fanboy of whatever I’m discovering,” Mehldau says.
Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
Ahmad Jamal (1930–2023) with his trio at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago.
Apr 18, 2023 9:44 AM
Pianist-composer Ahmad Jamal passed away April 16 in his home in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, after battling prostate…
“Remember to be a warrior, not a worrier,” Shorter said, 10 days prior to his passing on March 2.
May 9, 2023 12:02 PM
Sadly, the formative giants of jazz are passing the torch and joining the ancestors. But such cliché and dwelling on…
“When you play blues-type stuff, the material is pretty obvious; it’s how you do a lot with a little,” Liebman said.
May 30, 2023 1:06 PM
At 76, soprano and tenor saxophonist Dave Liebman — an alumnus of bands led by Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, leader of…
“When I first emerged on the scene, I was dealing with working with a certain trumpet player who shall remain nameless,” Reed said. “It was very much an indoctrinating, dogmatic point of view, but it was all I knew.”
May 16, 2023 3:15 PM
As a piano-playing prodigy, Philadelphia native Eric Reed performed gospel music in his father’s church at age 5. By…
