(Photo: R. R. Jones, Courtesy Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, California)
In Memoriam: Roy Hargrove
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove died on Nov. 2 in New York City, according to a statement released by his manager, Larry Clothier. The cause was cardiac arrest, related to a longtime fight with kidney disease. He had been hospitalized due to kidney…
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced preliminary plans Oct. 10 for the preservation of John and Alice Coltrane’s home in Dix Hills, New York—a 3.4-acre…
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Pianist Connie Han’s debut, Crime Zone (Mack Avenue), might elicit a combination of praise and intrigue around her defiance of jazz—and classical—stereotypes. Rather than…
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Modern musicians are faced with an interesting dilemma these days, as they struggle to be heard in a world of myriad entertainment options and attention-grabbing digital devices…
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For about 40 years, pianist Anthony Coleman has been proving himself as a composer, interpreter and improvisor who’s more than comfortable with both the ridiculous and the…
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BY Dave Cantor
There’s a woozy feeling emanating from bassist Michael Formanek’s latest leader date.
It’s not anything like staggering intoxication; more like a calm, yet unrestrained, creativity that seems to shift these eight tunes from section to reeling section…
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BY Bobby Reed
Drummer Bernie Dresel’s new album exudes a super-sized aesthetic: Bern Bern Bern offers more, more, more. For this 72-minute program, a 17-person iteration of the Bernin’ Big Band recorded 14 tunes—including two tracks that feature a nine-piece guest…
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BY Bobby Reed
Over the course of 13 years, fans have come to expect exquisite musicianship from the New York Standards Quartet. The band consistently is dazzling. Much of the charm on its impressive seventh album, Heaven Steps To Seven, lies in the quartet’s ability to…
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BY Dave Cantor
With an advanced degree in existential psychotherapy, UK-based saxophonist Josephine Davies pushes her Satori trio toward illumination through the exploration of small-group interplay.
In The Corners Of Clouds, a follow-up to 2017’s Satori (Whirlwind),…
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BY J.D. Considine
Carol Liebowitz is a specialist in one-on-one improvisation.
Of the pianist’s seven albums to date, five have been duo projects, mostly with saxophonists. And we’re not talking about quiet runs through a handful of standards; her duets tend to be…
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BY Dave Cantor
Having worked with both Brian Krock’s Big Heart Machine and Miho Hazama’s m_unit, vibraphonist Yuhan Su collects a quintet for City Animals, a follow-up to 2016’s Virginia Woolf-referencing A Room Of One’s Own (Inner Circle).
Exploring ideas that…
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BY Bobby Reed
For its Nov. 16, 1967, issue, DownBeat put The Beatles on the cover—but the band wasn’t alone. A portrait of the Fab Four appeared in the upper portion of the cover, while a larger concert photo of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley appeared in the lower…
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BY Ed Enright
Trumpeter/flugelhornist Woody Shaw’s second quintet with trombonist Steve Turre, pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Stafford James and drummer Tony Reedus in the early 1980s was one of the great modern jazz ensembles of its time, grounded in the straightahead…
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BY Ed Enright
More than just a celebration of the sliphorn, Bonafide reflects versatile trombonist Michael Dease’s commitment to and love for all things straightahead. His bonafide colleagues here include fellow trombonists Conrad Herwig (on three tracks), Marshall…
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by Tom Scanlan // January/22/1959
Hundreds of pianists have tried to create something new and worthwhile in jazz piano improvisation, but only a handful have succeeded. One who has is Teddy Wilson. Surely, if a responsible list of the half-dozen or so most creative and most influential pianists in jazz history were to be made, Wilson would be included. He is one of the giants of…
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