Jan 12, 2021 8:39 AM
Mariel Bildsten Delivers Sturdy ‘Backbone’
Trombonist Mariel Bildsten began developing ideas for her debut album in 2019, aiming to reflect different dimensions…
Trombonist Mariel Bildsten aims to replicate epic big-band moments in her small ensemble arrangements.
Jan 12, 2021 8:39 AM
Trombonist Mariel Bildsten began developing ideas for her debut album in 2019, aiming to reflect different dimensions…
Pianist Art Hirahara (left) and producer Marc Free work in the Acoustic Recording studio in Brooklyn in 2018. In the background are bassist Joe Martin and saxophonist Melissa Aldana.
Jan 7, 2021 8:44 AM
All musicians have seen their activities dramatically reduced during the coronavirus pandemic, but a core group of…
Karrin Allyson’s most recent album is Shoulder To Shoulder: Centennial Tribute To Women’s Suffrage.
Jan 6, 2021 9:00 AM
When DownBeat caught up with Karrin Allyson, the five-time Grammy-nominated singer and pianist was weeks away from a…
Bob Mintzer (left), Dane Alderson, Russell Ferrante and Will Kennedy collaborate with the WDR Big Band on Jackets XL.
Jan 5, 2021 7:56 AM
For the beloved quartet’s 25th album, Yellowjackets decided to go big—as in, really big. The vibrant, robust …
Han Bennink (left), Sonny Rollins and Ruud Jacobs in concert at the Academie voor Beeldende Kunst in Arnhem, The Netherlands, the evening of May 3, 1967
Dec 25, 2020 9:00 AM
Sonny Rollins lives firmly in the present. The esteemed tenor saxophonist—whose voice as a cutting-edge jazz artist…
Jazz educators John Stafford II (left), Jim Mair and Justin Binek of Kansas City Kansas Community College
Dec 24, 2020 8:38 AM
Being a music educator during the pandemic requires a deep commitment to public health. Teachers who conduct in-person…
Pianist Noah Haidu’s latest album, Doctone, features compositions by the late Kenny Kirkland.
Dec 17, 2020 8:52 AM
Pianist Kenny Kirkland (1955–’98) left us far too soon, succumbing to congestive heart failure. The versatile…
Carla Bley (left), Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard recorded Life Goes On for the ECM label.
Dec 15, 2020 8:57 AM
The list below is a roundup of the 5-, 4.5- and 4-star reviews that ran in the print edition of DownBeat during 2020.…
Lee Konitz (1927–2020) was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2015.
Dec 10, 2020 8:52 AM
A week after his 90th birthday in October 2017, Lee Konitz—who died at 92 on April 15—recorded his final album, Old…
Alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins’ debut album is titled Omega.
Dec 9, 2020 8:56 AM
Immanuel Wilkins’ debut album, Omega (Blue Note), marks the emergence of a talented young instrumentalist, composer…
