May 16, 2023 3:15 PM
The Liberation of Eric Reed
As a piano-playing prodigy, Philadelphia native Eric Reed performed gospel music in his father’s church at age 5. By…
“When I first emerged on the scene, I was dealing with working with a certain trumpet player who shall remain nameless,” Reed said. “It was very much an indoctrinating, dogmatic point of view, but it was all I knew.”
May 16, 2023 3:15 PM
As a piano-playing prodigy, Philadelphia native Eric Reed performed gospel music in his father’s church at age 5. By…
“Remember to be a warrior, not a worrier,” Shorter said, 10 days prior to his passing on March 2.
May 9, 2023 12:02 PM
Sadly, the formative giants of jazz are passing the torch and joining the ancestors. But such cliché and dwelling on…
“I got chills,” Patricia Brennan said while listening to the music of Chris Dingman.
May 9, 2023 11:48 AM
Having established herself as a master practitioner of extended techniques and electronic effects on vibraphone and…
“There’s so much mystery in his own writing,” Dianne Reeves (left) said of Vince Mendoza (right).
May 2, 2023 3:00 PM
Sunset Boulevard begins its 21-mile journey at Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, curving northward as it skirts…
“I knew Dizzy’s music inside and out,” Cassidy said about playing in the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. “That’s what I grew up chasing.”
Apr 25, 2023 12:26 PM
There’s a zen-like drive to alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity that’s undeniable — über calm on the exterior, but…
“Perhaps that’s a key to what makes me tick — a very strong curiosity, which makes me a perpetual fanboy of whatever I’m discovering,” Mehldau says.
Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
“The more I thought about that connection, the more it made sense,”James said of comparing Erika Badu and Alice Coltrane from a musical and spiritual standpoint.
Mar 28, 2023 12:49 PM
It’s early December and José James is in the Yuletide spirit. He’s on stage in front of packed audience at Dakota,…
“There was a time I decided I was not a composer, only an improvisor, and I find that very difficult to do with one hand,” Jarrett says. “Jumping off a cliff takes two hands and two feet.”
Mar 21, 2023 12:24 PM
Keith Jarrett can do more with his right hand than most pianists can with two. As he pulls the protective cloth from…
“A lot of trombone players play a lot of notes,” says Delfeayo Marsalis. “I play real laid-back.”
Mar 14, 2023 11:56 AM
The most famous brothers in jazz are scattered. Wynton lives in Manhattan. Branford settled in North Carolina. Jason…
“I don’t do projects that don’t have a story or motivation,” Benjamin says.
Mar 7, 2023 12:48 PM
When DownBeat caught up with Lakecia Benjamin in November via Zoom, the saxophonist and composer was clad in a cherry…
