Jul 27, 2023 1:57 PM
Mary Halvorson: Album of the Year/Guitarist of the Year
In 2017, Mary Halvorson unpredictably garnered the top guitarist award in DownBeat’s Critics Poll, outpacing…
“It’s fun to put different people together to play my music,” Halvorson says. “They all take it seriously.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:57 PM
In 2017, Mary Halvorson unpredictably garnered the top guitarist award in DownBeat’s Critics Poll, outpacing…
Thanks to the Emerald City Nights releases, Jamal’s legacy is stronger than ever.
Jul 27, 2023 1:50 PM
When Ahmad Jamal was first approached about releasing some of the recordings made during his many appearances at the…
“I wanted to be like Louis Armstrong,” Bauzá once told DownBeat. “I knew all his solos.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:41 PM
Mario Bauzá (1911–’93) spent much of his distinguished seven-decade career behind the scenes.
Standard jazz…
Welcome in virtually any jazz ensemble, Norvo was a fluent and transcendent product of his own virtuosity, intelligence and integrity.
Jul 27, 2023 1:35 PM
This year the DownBeat Hall of Fame Veterans Committee catches up with the manifold lives of Red Norvo (1908–’99),…
“My work is the intersection between spiritual practice and Black aesthetics,” said Wilkins. “The two symbols I draw from are John Coltrane and the Black church.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:31 PM
It was clear from the opening track of Immanuel Wilkins’ stunning sophomore outing for Blue Note, The 7th Hand, that…
Social Science’s personnel now hinges on a six-person core: Carrington, guitarist Matthew Stevens, pianist Aaron Parks, multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin, and vocalists Carl “Kokayi” Walker and Debo Ray.
Jul 27, 2023 1:21 PM
When she heard her band Social Science was named DownBeat’s Jazz Group of the Year for the second time in the…
“I don’t want to listen to jazz because I have to save it,” said Joy. “I want to listen to it and play it because I like it.”
Jul 27, 2023 1:12 PM
It would be safe to say that Samara Joy, the 23-year-old vocalist with a spellbinding voice and sophisticated command…
Jul 27, 2023 11:27 AM
To see the complete Critics Poll results, just click on the August 2023 issue cover image below.
With…
Branford Marsalis’ crack quartet was among the stronger arena fare on the menu at Umbria.
Jul 25, 2023 1:41 PM
In a sense, the Umbria Jazz Festival has been such a formidable and evolving part of the international jazz festival…
’You can’t simply book a festival with things that you like,” Christian McBride says of the Newport Jazz Festival. “You have a responsibility to present up-and-coming artists who people don’t know yet. And you have to get people in the seats.”
Jul 25, 2023 1:22 PM
This year’s Newport Jazz Festival, scheduled for Aug. 4–6, will continue George Wein’s strategy of presenting a…
