Feb 19, 2021 8:01 AM
Gary Bartz Bridges Generations
Gary Bartz has watched the slow roll of history drag on, first from the vantage point of his childhood home in…
Baltimore native Gary Bartz has remained uniquely engaged both musically and politically throughout his lengthy career.
Feb 19, 2021 8:01 AM
Gary Bartz has watched the slow roll of history drag on, first from the vantage point of his childhood home in…
Percussionist Joe Chambers, 78, had returned to New York to record a Blue Note leader date—but then the pandemic hit the city.
Feb 18, 2021 9:00 AM
Mallet master and composer Joe Chambers found his footing in 1963, when he moved to New York and built a reputation as…
Alonzo Demetrius earned two degrees from Berklee College of Music.
Feb 17, 2021 9:00 AM
Trumpeter Alonzo Demetrius’ thirst for social justice is evident on his leader debut, Live From The Prison Nation.…
NEC educator Ken Schaphorst conducts an ensemble of student musicians, several of whom are wearing face coverings.
Feb 16, 2021 8:44 AM
As a recent issue of DownBeat went to press, the United States was facing frightening trends in terms of COVID-19…
On Flor (Edition), vocalist Gretchen Parlato speaks to the personal transformation that inspired her career hiatus.
Feb 12, 2021 8:35 AM
In 2014, Gretchen Parlato’s album Live In NYC earned her a Grammy nomination—a crowning glory to a decade of career…
Bandleader Adrian Cunningham has a strong relationship with the Florida-based label Arbors Records.
Feb 11, 2021 9:00 AM
For more than 30 years, the independent label Arbors Records has put artistic concerns ahead of budgetary ones. Based…
Yoko Miwa recorded her trio album Songs Of Joy during the pandemic.
Feb 10, 2021 9:00 AM
What Yoko Miwa has gone through during the coronavirus pandemic will sound familiar to a lot of other working…
During the pandemic, prolific saxophonist Ivo Perelman moved from Brooklyn to Brazil.
Feb 9, 2021 9:01 AM
In 2020, soon after the pandemic reached Brooklyn, Ivo Perelman’s base of operation for decades, the tenor…
The music on Monty Alexander’s new live album, Love You Madly, was recorded in 1982.
Feb 5, 2021 9:00 AM
In the early 1980s, pianist Monty Alexander was a huge draw for jazz clubs and festivals. His hard-swinging style,…
Charlie Young conducts the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.
Feb 4, 2021 8:37 AM
“Jazz is a very big word,” composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein assured us when he explained jazz to America in the…
