“The hymns are at the core of my musical self,” says pianist Tord Gustavsen. “They are my ‘standards’ as a European ‘jazz’ musician.”
(Photo: Sam Harfouche)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 in the 1970s, when ECM put saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist…
The cover image of DownBeat’s Sept. 7, 1978, issue, which featured in-depth coverage of President Jimmy Carter’s jazz picnic party on the White House’s South Lawn. The historic gathering honored and was honored by a history of jazz that embraced everything from ragtime through the avant garde.
(Photo: DownBeat Archives)Jan 2, 2025 1:04 AM
The following speech by President Jimmy Carter kicked off the jazz festivities he and the First Lady hosted on the South Lawn of the White House on June 18:
“You are welcome to the first White House jazz festival. I hope we have some more in the future. This is an honor for me — to walk through this crowd and meet famous jazz musicians and the families of those who are no longer with us, but whose work and whose spirit and whose beautiful music will live forever in our country.
“If there ever was an indigenous art form, one that is special…
