Mar 25, 2025 11:51 AM
Violinist Kristin Lee Unveils Her Love for American Music
Kristin Lee was just 7 years old and didn’t speak a word of English when her family left Seoul, Korea, emigrating to…
“Why, being a classically trained musician, do I have to only play the obvious themes?” asks Kristin Lee.
Mar 25, 2025 11:51 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 3:45 PM
Versatile woodwind artist Ben Kono, a third-generation Japanese American, spent many years as a consummate sideman,…
“Einstein was a violinist, Max Planck was also a musician and Stefon Alexander plays saxophone,” says Donald Harrison about the relationship between science and music.
Apr 16, 2024 12:28 PM
“If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.” That sage advice from Charlie Parker became Big Chief…
Davis says, “I wouldn’t call myself a jazz musician; my music is more about crossing boundaries.” Her band Alula, from left: Chris Tordini, Davis, Tyshawn Sorey and Val Jeanty.
Dec 27, 2023 12:56 PM
A rigorous intellectual, Caroline Davis makes intensely visceral music that mines everything from the cardiology of the…
“You want to speak to someone’s heart, not just befuddle their brain,” Brunious says.
Oct 3, 2023 2:26 PM
When you enter Preservation Hall in New Orleans, it’s like stepping back in time. The small no-frills room looks…
Beyond (April Records) continues Strange’s musical journey with meditations on the circle of life.
Oct 3, 2023 2:25 PM
Cecilie Strange, the gifted young Danish saxophonist and composer, first hit DownBeat’s radar with Blue (April…
A new breed of New York-based contemporary jazz composers that includes Erica Seguine (left) and Shon Baker is reinventing orchestral music for the 21st century.
Sep 12, 2023 2:12 PM
Unlike the retro swing revival of the 1990s, the current incarnation emerged from conservatories, not bandstands and…
“We actually had days where we did three songs in one day. It was just pow, pow, pow,” Jones said of the five-day recording session.
Jun 20, 2023 2:50 PM
Rickie Lee Jones has a credo that she’s lived by all her life: shouting her name out while zigzagging through musical…
“The gutbucket blues is really tribulation from stress and hard times,” King says.
Jan 17, 2023 2:25 PM
The elder statesmen of New Orleans blues — Little Freddie King and Guitar “Lightnin” Lee — are both…
Amed’s album Unánime celebrates the work of contemporary and historic Latin composers.
Dec 28, 2022 9:39 AM
How do Latin and jazz combine to produce Latin jazz? To help her decipher the code, the virtuosic Argentinian…
Bill Ortiz’s diverse new album Points Of View is a blend of fusion, Latin bravado and straight-up crazy jazz chops.
Oct 18, 2022 2:12 PM
Bill Ortiz’s diverse new album Points Of View is a blend of fusion, Latin bravado and straight-up crazy jazz chops.…
“I always let the music lead me, and it’s led me to a really rich life,” Hilton said.
Jul 13, 2022 11:46 AM
Pianist and composer Lisa Hilton is living an indie life where life is beautiful. Since 2001, with her debut album…
“I know that tensions are high and emotions are intense right now, but the beauty of music is beyond words,” Arriale said.
Jun 29, 2022 10:34 AM
Lynne Arriale honed her superb technical skills as a pianist and composer from rigorous training she received to become…
The Roxy Coss Quintet proves to be much more than the sum of its Disparate Parts, an aptly named new album on Outside in Music.
May 31, 2022 1:00 PM
Roxy Coss first made her name as a force to be reckoned with on The Future Is Female (Posi-Tone, 2017), her provocative…
DakhaBrakha performs at New Orleans Jazz Fest
May 19, 2022 3:48 PM
“When I was staying down here, people asked me do you want to come here and do a festival like Newport,” George…
Cameron Kimbrough and Damien “Yella P” Pearson are Memphissippi Sounds.
Mar 8, 2022 2:40 PM
The debut release by Cameron Kimbrough and Damion “Yella P” Pearson, Memphissippi Sounds (Little Village),…
New Orleans readies for this year’s return of the Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Feb 11, 2022 9:31 AM
There was a lot riding on the 37th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where tens of thousands of music…
This year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been canceled. It was scheduled to take place in October.
Aug 13, 2021 11:02 AM
New Orleans musicians reacted with distress and disbelief — along with some relief — to the latest COVID…
Helen Gillet performing at the Broadside as part of outdoor programming by SideBar in New Orleans during the pandemic.
Jun 22, 2021 12:26 PM
“Behold! The sky’s a shining shell!”
Gazing out at the socially distanced crowd gathered at the open-air…
Drummer Viola Smith died Oct. 21 at the age of 107 in Costa Mesa, California.
Nov 16, 2020 9:38 AM
Viola Smith, a pioneering big band-era drummer known as the “fastest girl drummer in the world” who wielded…
Copenhagen’s Jazzhus Montmartre received no-strings-attached grant funding from its local city council, enabling the venue to soldier on amid the protracted coronavirus pandemic.
Oct 20, 2020 12:01 PM
Before the pandemic brought live music to a halt in March, Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen was riding high.
…
New Orleans saxophonist Kidd Jordan said he once saw John Cage and Louis Armstrong perform on the same night.
Jun 8, 2020 9:59 AM
Master improvisers can turn on a dime. So, when keyboardist Darrell Lavigne called Kidd Jordan in early March to set up…
Dr. John (1941–2019)
Dec 3, 2019 9:29 AM
DownBeat devised the term “Beyond” to apply to music that defies easy categorization—and no one is a better…
Before she staked her claim on the Central Avenue jazz scene in Los Angeles, trumpeter Clora Bryant was a featured soloist in the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.
Feb 24, 2020 10:16 AM
Clora Bryant, a fiery trumpet player who broke gender barriers with her horn, swung with the Louis Armstrong and Dizzy…
Released in conjunction with a companion video series, Roxy Coss’ Quintet draws from her entire catalog and ranks as the the follow-up to The Future Is Female, the bandleader’s provocative response to the 2016 elections.
Sep 4, 2019 9:58 AM
Though she’s only 33, saxophonist Roxy Coss already has made her mark as a bandleader, while becoming a torchbearer…
Drummer Adonis Rose has big plans for the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s next chapter.
Jun 17, 2019 10:19 AM
Drummer Adonis Rose, a founding member of the Grammy-winning New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, had his work cut out for him…
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