Apr 1, 2025 8:30 AM
Blindfold Test: Gabrielle Cavassa
At the end of last summer, over the Labor Day weekend, vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa took time out from preparing for her…
“In terms of what a singer is capable of making you feel, she is as good as it gets,” Cavassa said of Mahalia Jackson during a live Blindfold Test with DB’s Frank Alkyer.
Apr 1, 2025 8:30 AM
At the end of last summer, over the Labor Day weekend, vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa took time out from preparing for her…
“I love the fact that when some people think about my music they think of it as joyous, but there is darkness inside,” Anat Cohen says. “We are complex humans.”
Mar 25, 2025 12:10 PM
Anat Cohen, in conversation, is disarmingly present and fully invested. One gets the feeling that in most interactions…
“Why, being a classically trained musician, do I have to only play the obvious themes?” asks Kristin Lee.
Mar 25, 2025 11:44 AM
Kristin Lee was just 7 years old and didn’t speak a word of English when her family left Seoul, Korea, emigrating to…
“This music is really about honoring my forebearers and expressing gratitude to my parents and my grandparents,” Kono says about Voyages.
Mar 18, 2025 2:35 PM
Versatile woodwind artist Ben Kono, a third-generation Japanese American, spent many years as a consummate sideman,…
“Not in a million years, man,” said saxophonist Jeff Coffin about imagining if he’d be inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame. He was last year.
Mar 11, 2025 12:42 PM
If the DownBeat Critics Poll had categories for “most eclectic musician” and “working-est man in show biz,”…
Joel Ross says that Warren Wolf has the best mix of instrumental technique and a deep understanding of multiple types of music.
Mar 11, 2025 12:29 PM
Joel Ross was touring Europe last summer with his group Good Vibes in support of his new Blue Note album, Nublues. On…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
“You’ve got to trust that inner child, keep exploring, even though people think it’s wrong,” says Fortner.
Feb 25, 2025 11:20 AM
Every week at the Village Vanguard fosters its own sound. No one really knows how the music might evolve by Sunday, but…
“Our planet is crying, and we have to wake up, and we have to do more,” says T.K. Blue.
Feb 25, 2025 11:01 AM
On pianist Abdullah Ibrahim’s landmark 1977 album The Journey (Chiaroscuro), a then-unknown alto saxophonist and…
“I love the touch, the sound, the harmonic progressions, the groove from beginning to end,” Alfredo Rodríguez said of Hank Jones.
Feb 18, 2025 1:56 PM
“I’ve looked to be global for a long time,” Alfredo Rodríguez told DownBeat in 2020. “I like to explore music…
