Jul 28, 2026 1:55 PM
Blindfold Test: Willie Jones III
A month before the June release of Memories Of You, the ninth leader album by Willie Jones III and the 34th release on…
“Jeff knows just what to play, how to construct drum fills around the arrangement,” Willie Jones III says of Jeff Hamilton. “Very musical.”
Jul 28, 2026 1:55 PM
A month before the June release of Memories Of You, the ninth leader album by Willie Jones III and the 34th release on…
Laura Chavez’s My Voice is not a vocal album.
Jul 28, 2026 1:06 PM
Billy Price: Random Madness (Get Hip; ★★★★ 47:32) Though never as widely celebrated as his aptitude merits,…
Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet will record live at New York’s Village Vanguard for ECM records on Aug. 26–27.
Jul 22, 2026 12:46 PM
One of Joe Lovano’s buzz terms is “the moment of now” and with seemingly infinite patience — despite a schedule…
Count Basie’s is the most-represented orchestra on the new Mosaic V-Disc set.
Jul 22, 2026 11:58 AM
The V-Disc program lasted less than six years (1943–’49) but it documented quite a bit of rewarding music. In 1943,…
Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.
Jul 16, 2026 1:34 PM
The DownBeat Critics Poll never ceases to amaze! And the 74th Edition offered plenty of accolades for poll veterans and…
The band from Patricia Brennan’s Album of the Year: from left, John Hollenbeck, Michael Nicolas, Modney, Pala Garcia, Kyle Armbrust, Brennan, Miles Okazaki, Sylvie Courvoisier, Kim Cass and Eli Greenhoe. Not pictured is Arktureye.
Jul 16, 2026 1:21 PM
When last we left Patricia Brennan — just a tad over a year ago, actually — she wasn’t only thinking about the…
Sheila Jordan was one of the first vocalists to fully internalize the language of bebop and transform Charlie Parker’s pioneering musical ideas into a vocal art form all her own.
Jul 16, 2026 1:13 PM
As a singer, Sheila Jordan stood at the vanguard of jazz revolution: She was one of the first to fully internalize the…
Jaki Byard teaching at the Mark Levine Workshop in 1991. “He could crack jokes, but when he sat down, it was serious fun,” says pianist Fred Hersch, a former student.
Jul 16, 2026 12:58 PM
When Jaki Byard played the piano he commanded its entire history through his fingertips. He may not have been not the…
The critics choice for Historical Album of the Year is At The Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings.
Jul 16, 2026 12:54 PM
The first half of the last decade of the last century could be considered “peak Jarrett” to those who became…
“I feel like most of my music is more classical music than jazz,” Adam O’Farrill says. It’s both and more.
Jul 16, 2026 12:51 PM
Adam O’Farrill carries the weight of expectations lightly. The 31-year-old trumpeter, composer and bandleader pays…
