“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
“If you don’t keep learning, your mind slows down,” Coleman says. “Use it or lose it.”
Jan 28, 2025 11:38 AM
PolyTropos/Of Many Turns — the title for Steve Coleman’s latest recording on Pi and his 33rd album overall —…
The new Bad Plus, from left, Chris Speed, Reid Anderson, Dave King and Ben Monder.
Jan 21, 2025 7:48 PM
Especially by the fickle standards of jazz band shelf lives, The Bad Plus has enjoyed a very good run. With the release…
“It’s not older music. It’s our music,” says James Inglehart, who plays Louis Armstrong in a new musical on Broadway.
Jan 21, 2025 7:27 PM
Louis Armstrong’s career was long, diverse and full of the unexpected — both on stage and off. DownBeat often…
“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
Jan 16, 2025 2:02 PM
In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
“I’m a composer who needs a deadline and a project — a recording or a gig — to really start actively writing,” says Ryan Keberle.
Jan 16, 2025 1:38 PM
The remarkably productive, restlessly creative trombonist, keyboardist, composer and educator Ryan Keberle recently…
“The hymns are at the core of my musical self,” says pianist Tord Gustavsen. “They are my ‘standards’ as a European ‘jazz’ musician.”
Jan 9, 2025 12:50 PM
ECM Records has long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with Norwegian jazz. The tradition dates back to its early years…
Trombonist Ryan Porter, left, with saxophonist Kamasi Washington at last summer’s Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival.
Jan 2, 2025 10:36 AM
On a warm summer night at the annual Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, where nearly 18,000 people packed onto the benches…
“We as humans are adapting to machinery and technology that we created,” says Prieto, adding that the results are mixed, at best.
Dec 26, 2024 1:14 PM
Back in the prehistoric era of music, before the internet and digital age, roughly from the late 1940s to the late…
“Hope is important, and it always shows up in my music,” Mitchell said.
Dec 17, 2024 9:40 AM
Flutist Nicole Mitchell put new friends through changes for the 2024 album Bamako*Chicago Sound System (FPE), which she…
