Feb 25, 2025 11:20 AM
Sullivan Fortner’s Path to Artistry
Every week at the Village Vanguard fosters its own sound. No one really knows how the music might evolve by Sunday, but…
“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…
“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 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…
“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…
“A lot of people now see me walk with a cane, and they think it’s me being hip,” Orrin Evans said. “But it’s a combination of me being hip and needing a cane.”
Dec 12, 2024 2:00 AM
Pianist Orrin Evans wants to have a word. “I’ll be 50 in March, and I have been doing this for 30 years,” he said…
