Sep 23, 2025 11:12 AM
Joe Farnsworth Plays ‘The Big Room’
When he was 12 years old, the hard-swinging veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth had a fateful encounter with his idol Max…
Always a sharp dresser, Farnsworth wears a pocket square given to him by trumpeter Art Farmer. “You need to look good if you want to hang around me,” Farmer told him.
Sep 23, 2025 11:12 AM
When he was 12 years old, the hard-swinging veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth had a fateful encounter with his idol Max…
“Who I am today is because of my experiences with the AACM,” Amina Claudine Myers said of the artist-led Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Sep 23, 2025 11:04 AM
At 83 years young, pianist, organist, vocalist, composer and NEA Jazz Master Amina Claudine Myers is just as active and…
George Mason Jazz Ensemble, dreamers all!
Sep 18, 2025 11:39 AM
Going to college to study music can be a daunting feat. Where should you go? How do you even think about getting in?…
“Make time and energy to meet people and make friends,” suggests Millie Ahearn, a student at DePaul University.
Sep 18, 2025 11:32 AM
For many students, the transition into a collegiate jazz program can feel overwhelming — new peers, unfamiliar…
Chuck Manning Works for NASA … and plays jazz.
Sep 18, 2025 11:23 AM
Congratulations! After years of study, you’ve earned your degree in jazz performance. But let’s face it: Making a…
“I’ve told students, ‘I don’t mind if you use AI for this or that project,’” says MIT’s Pascal Le Boeuf. “‘But you need to tell me.’”
Sep 18, 2025 11:14 AM
A standard joke when it comes to discussing artificial intelligence, or AI, is that it’s developing so rapidly that…
Sep 18, 2025 10:00 AM
The 2026 DownBeat College Guide is an invaluable resource for music students, especially jazz students, to find a…
Gadabout Season developed over many months of recording sessions in Brandee Younger’s East Harlem living room.
Sep 16, 2025 11:52 AM
When she’s on the road, Brandee Younger enters a hybrid state of action and contemplation. Free of daily distractions…
“People don’t truly understand or know about the contributions of Black artists, Black composers, Black inventors,” said saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, who aims to change that with his new recording, Painter Of The Invisible.
Sep 16, 2025 11:46 AM
Ralph Ellison’s compelling 1952 novel Invisible Man used the notion of invisibility to explore the issues and…
“Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.
Sep 9, 2025 1:18 PM
Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile…
