Mar 28, 2023 12:49 PM
José James Finds His Baduizm
It’s early December and José James is in the Yuletide spirit. He’s on stage in front of packed audience at Dakota,…
“The more I thought about that connection, the more it made sense,”James said of comparing Erika Badu and Alice Coltrane from a musical and spiritual standpoint.
Mar 28, 2023 12:49 PM
It’s early December and José James is in the Yuletide spirit. He’s on stage in front of packed audience at Dakota,…
Willard Jenkins’ new book is titled Ain’t But A Few Of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story.
Mar 28, 2023 12:11 PM
Writing about jazz, music or the arts more broadly requires a sleight of hand. To write about the overarching culture…
The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra opens its 50th anniversary concert season at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium.
Mar 28, 2023 11:49 AM
Mark Harvey is a Boston jazz luminary like no other. He’s long been an important person on the scene as founder and…
“There was a time I decided I was not a composer, only an improvisor, and I find that very difficult to do with one hand,” Jarrett says. “Jumping off a cliff takes two hands and two feet.”
Mar 21, 2023 12:24 PM
Keith Jarrett can do more with his right hand than most pianists can with two. As he pulls the protective cloth from…
Chambers’ latest recording features some serendipitous, international flair.
Mar 21, 2023 12:18 PM
Joe Chambers came to New York this month to record his new Blue Note album. The session yielded nine tracks that, on…
Lee started listening to Chet Baker Sings every day during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mar 21, 2023 11:46 AM
For Amos Lee, the Philadelphia-bred singer-songwriter who first broke as the opening act on Norah Jones’ 2004 tour,…
Author Eugene Marlow at the Great Wall of China
Mar 21, 2023 11:36 AM
According to the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, the musical genre came late to the Far East, and especially to China.…
“A lot of trombone players play a lot of notes,” says Delfeayo Marsalis. “I play real laid-back.”
Mar 14, 2023 11:56 AM
The most famous brothers in jazz are scattered. Wynton lives in Manhattan. Branford settled in North Carolina. Jason…
Xhosa Cole Quartet
Mar 14, 2023 11:10 AM
With the release of his debut album, 2021’s acclaimed K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us (Stoney Lane Records), the…
“I don’t do projects that don’t have a story or motivation,” Benjamin says.
Mar 7, 2023 12:48 PM
When DownBeat caught up with Lakecia Benjamin in November via Zoom, the saxophonist and composer was clad in a cherry…
