Dec 7, 2020 9:00 AM
Kevin Whitehead Explores Jazz Cinema
In 1991, a panel of jazz musicians faced an audience of fans eager with questions. One fan cited a cluster of movies—…
Kevin Whitehead recently published Play the Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film.
Dec 7, 2020 9:00 AM
In 1991, a panel of jazz musicians faced an audience of fans eager with questions. One fan cited a cluster of movies—…
Warren Wolf gets into the holiday spirit with his album Christmas Vibes.
Dec 7, 2020 9:00 AM
For years, vibraphonist Warren Wolf and 3D Jazz Trio pianist Jackie Warren cared not a whit about Christmas music. But…
Charlie Parker: The Mercury & Clef 10-Inch LP Collection (Verve/UMe) is just one of the releases coinciding with Bird’s centennial.
Dec 7, 2020 9:00 AM
Charlie Parker’s alto saxophone remains one of the most recognizable sounds in the history of recorded jazz, even 65…
Christian McBride was voted Jazz Artist of the Year and topped the Bass category in this year’s DownBeat Readers Poll.
Dec 7, 2020 8:56 AM
Christian McBride has some valuable wisdom to share. He knows how to make jazz more popular with young people and how…
Guitarist Pat Metheny topped two DownBeat Readers Poll categories this year: Guitar and Jazz Album, for his disc From This Place (Nonesuch).
Dec 4, 2020 8:47 AM
A conversation with Pat Metheny is similar to one of his shows: Some parts seem carefully constructed, while others are…
Chien Chien Lu has toured and recorded with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt.
Dec 3, 2020 8:57 AM
Before 2012, Chien Chien Lu had never heard jazz. Having spent her childhood taking piano lessons and playing marimba…
Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa is heading up the Fueling Musicians program, an emergency relief effort he launched during the pandemic.
Dec 2, 2020 8:46 AM
You can’t keep a hard-working bluesman down. Despite the pandemic-related lockdown, blues-rock superstar Joe…
Oberlin vocal instructor La Tanya Hall (foreground) and student Diana Gruber (on monitor) meet in two “real-time” rooms.
Dec 1, 2020 9:00 AM
What Does on-campus instruction look like and feel like during the pandemic? As students across the nation headed back…
Veronica Swift has both a historical connection to the music and a desire to expand its artistic purview.
Nov 27, 2020 9:00 AM
Welcome to our enthusiastic, optimistic look at the future.
Below, DownBeat presents short profiles of two dozen…
Online recording via asynchronous multi-tracking—long regarded as a convenient, cost-saving option for bands and long-distance musical partners—is rapidly becoming a necessity in today’s pandemic-afflicted world.
Nov 26, 2020 9:00 AM
Great recordings require a high level of cooperation from everyone involved. From initial concept through final…