Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Wayne Shorter and Don Was discuss uncovered Art Blakey music on First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings.
(Photo: Blue Note)In a surprise interview, composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter sat down with Don Was, president of Blue Note Records, for a conversation about the new release First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.
Shorter was a core member of that band, and as one of the first American acts to go to Japan, Was said the tour experience “was something akin to Beatlemania,” taking on a “mythical quality.”
“It was almost overwhelming,” Shorter said of the tour. “We thought we were cool anyway, and getting off the plane and in the airport, all of a sudden, [there were] all of these lights and photographers and people and presents.”
Shorter said that during interviews with the Japanese press, band members were frequently asked questions like, “What is originality?” and “Why are you here?” He noted that Japan audiences wanted to witness something that was authentic.
The interview with Shorter and Was appears on the latest episode of Blue Note’s First Look video blog and can be viewed HERE.
First Flight To Tokyo was co-produced by Zev Feldman and David Weiss for Blue Note. It’s a two-LP or two-CD set complete with booklets of rare photography, essays and interviews. Catch the story behind the album HERE. DB
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.
Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
“Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.
Sep 9, 2025 1:18 PM
Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile…
Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.
Sep 9, 2025 12:19 PM
Big Ears has announced the lineup for its 2026 festival, which will take place March 26–29 and include 250…
“[That’s] the thing of the beboppers,” Bradford said. “These guys were important for not only playing that wonderful music, but they knew a sort of social stance, you see?”
Sep 9, 2025 1:07 PM
It was a calm, balmy, near-perfect evening in Westwood, California, not far from UCLA, in the expansive courtyard at…
Esperanza Spalding closed an audacious Chicago Jazz Festival set with “Endangered Species.”
Sep 9, 2025 11:50 AM
The 45th Chicago Jazz Festival kicked off its headline events with two erudite individuals, Esperanza Spalding and…
