Dec 11, 2020 8:49 AM
George Benson Innovates, Crafts Pop Hits
As an 8-year-old busker, George Benson boasted a big voice and a broken-down ukulele that he wielded with prodigious…
George Benson’s latest album was recorded live at Ronnie Scott’s in London.
Dec 11, 2020 8:49 AM
As an 8-year-old busker, George Benson boasted a big voice and a broken-down ukulele that he wielded with prodigious…
Camila Meza is among the 25 artists DownBeat thinks will help shape jazz in the decades to come.
Nov 3, 2020 2:51 PM
Singer and guitarist Camila Meza was slightly anxious when, as a 19-year-old jazz novice, she took the stage for her…
Joel Ross is among the 25 artists DownBeat thinks will help shape jazz in the decades to come.
Nov 13, 2020 8:56 AM
Four years after moving to New York to study music, Joel Ross—already a veteran sideman—released his leader…
Melissa Aldana (left), Pablo Menares and Kush Abadey perform Oct. 3 in Central Park as a part of the Walk With The Wind performance series.
Oct 19, 2020 10:48 AM
Still in the throes of the pandemic, the world’s been starved for jazz in 3D, something to distract us from the…
Terri Lyne Carrington, seen here in New York at Power Station at BerkleeNYC, is the first female instrumentalist to top the Jazz Artist category in the DownBeat Critics Poll.
Aug 31, 2020 11:39 AM
The global protests following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis might yet herald important social…
During the past 18 years, Norah Jones has collaborated with musicians from a range of different genres.
Jun 19, 2020 9:09 AM
“I’m not going to explain my lyrics.”
With those words, coolly conveyed on a brilliant March afternoon at the…
“I express my emotions better musically than socially most of the time,” Marcus Printup said.
Jun 17, 2020 11:42 AM
Marcus Printup swung around New York’s Columbus Circle behind the wheel of his black Cadillac SUV, stopping briefly…
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member Chris Crenshaw conducts during a performance of Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown And Beige.
May 11, 2020 11:10 AM
Since it was founded in 2015, Blue Engine Records has been documenting the work of the Jazz at Lincoln Center…
Saxophonist Ada Rovatti composed all of the songs on a recent album that features her husband, trumpeter Randy Brecker.
Mar 6, 2020 8:02 AM
When saxophonist Michael Brecker died from a rare blood disorder in early 2007, trumpeter Randy Brecker lost both a…
Bria Skonberg adventures beyond her trad-jazz roots on Nothing Never Happens.
Feb 27, 2020 9:15 AM
Peering out the window of her practice room high above the East River in New York, Bria Skonberg felt the spirit move…
Trombonist and educator Nick Finzer runs the media company Outside in Music.
Feb 20, 2020 4:50 PM
Trombonist Nick Finzer, 31, has a thriving career as a leader, accompanist and acclaimed educator at the University of…
Claudio Roditi (1946–2020)
Mar 17, 2020 8:57 AM
Claudio Roditi played trumpet like he was riding the waves that endlessly lapped Ipanema Beach—gliding effortlessly…
Hiromi’s diverse discography includes collaborations with pianist Chick Corea and harpist Edmar Castaneda.
Dec 5, 2019 9:24 AM
“Kaleidoscope,” the opening track on Hiromi Uehara’s new solo album, Spectrum, features the dazzling displays of…
NYU Steinhardt has numerous bands of various sizes.
Oct 28, 2019 2:43 PM
If jazz has an epicenter, New York is it. And in New York, Greenwich Village—longtime home of iconic clubs like the…
Joe Lovano’s new ensemble, Universal Jazz Ensemble, premiered in the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Oct. 18.
Oct 22, 2019 3:39 PM
On hearing about Joe Lovano’s new septet, Universal Jazz Ensemble, his legion of longtime fans were struck by a sense…
Harold Mabern (1936–2019)
Feb 24, 2020 10:16 AM
In July 1975, 39-year-old Harold Mabern took the stage at Carnegie Hall during a solo piano night at the New York City…
Caroline Davis initially developed the music on Alula with drummer Greg Saunier during Brooklyn performances.
Apr 2, 2020 10:34 AM
Caroline Davis’ latest trio album, Alula (New Amsterdam), mines the anatomical world—the title referring to an…
Playing with European guitarists indebted to Django Reinhardt stuck with saxophonist James Carter.
Aug 30, 2019 9:17 AM
On a temperate night in April 2017, James Carter was veering dangerously close to the intemperate. Jamming with other…
Pianist Fred Hersch and bassist John Hébert perform Aug. 25 during the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Manhattan.
Aug 28, 2019 1:16 PM
In the early 1950s, bebop pioneer Charlie Parker lived in a townhouse on Manhattan’s Avenue B, bordering Tompkins…
Sullivan Fortner draws on the history of pianism—from Chopin to Tatum and beyond—while still retaining his own unique voice.
Jul 26, 2019 9:15 AM
In the waning days of June 2017, Sullivan Fortner found himself holed up in Sear Sound, the Manhattan studio, facing…
Anat Cohen’s long musical relationship with Oded Lev-Ari has resulted in “Triple Helix: Concerto For Clarinet And Ensemble,” which premiered in January at Carnegie Hall.
Jun 21, 2019 9:25 AM
Poised at the kitchen counter in her Brooklyn apartment, Anat Cohen assumed the role of solicitous host. Tall, with…
For Wynton Marsalis, developing a strategy to translate mythology into music for the film Bolden required some self-analysis, if not soul-searching.
May 3, 2019 11:13 PM
Shrouded in mystery, Buddy Bolden’s life has proved more than a match for most of its would-be chroniclers.…
Lewis Porter, whose new album is titled Solo Piano, is in a prolific phase of his career.
Apr 4, 2019 9:36 AM
After flirting with a career in psychology, Lewis Porter, the jazz educator and pianist, turned to music full time…
Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martinez perform at New York’s SubCulture during Winter Jazzfest in January.
Mar 28, 2019 9:30 AM
On Jan. 5—four days after the 60th anniversary of the revolution in Cuba—two sons of that island nation, Alfredo…
Ben Sidran’s latest release is a compilation of live recordings made between 1975 and 2015.
Feb 22, 2019 9:35 AM
When Ben Sidran first met McCoy Tyner at the New York club Slugs’ during the late 1960s, Sidran was in awe—and he…
On his new album, In The Moment, organist Pat Bianchi collaborates with numerous jazz heavyweights, including guitarist Pat Martino and vibraphonist Joe Locke.
Feb 20, 2019 9:47 AM
At age 16, Pat Bianchi received a prized Christmas present: organist Joey DeFrancesco’s 1993 album Live At The Five…
Guitarist-composer Oscar Peñas (left) pianist Marta Sánchez and drummer Richie Barshay perform Feb. 8 at Aaron Davis Hall at the City College Center for the Arts in Harlem.
Feb 12, 2019 10:42 AM
Oscar Peñas is a poet. Having tasked himself with writing a suite dedicated to the centuries-old practice of…
Marquis Hill benefited from time spent at the Velvet Lounge, a jazz room on the South Side of Chicago run by saxophonist Fred Anderson (1929–2010).
Feb 8, 2019 9:52 AM
Sipping tea in the Harlem hangout Common Good, Marquis Hill wore a serene smile. The expression was hardly one…
Recordings that make up Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions sat in a Long Island home, untouched, for decades.
Dec 17, 2018 9:39 AM
Whether he was wielding his alto saxophone, flute or bass clarinet, Eric Dolphy was a godsend to the cadre of musicians…
Aubrey Logan performs at Birdland during a celebration of Resonance Records’ 10-year anniversary.
Nov 1, 2018 1:47 PM
Los Angeles-based Resonance Records has built an enviable reputation unearthing and artfully packaging gems by iconic…
Stefon Harris’ latest album, Sonic Creed, includes a number of original compositions, as well as “Now,” a track written by vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson.
Oct 23, 2018 9:46 AM
Quick of mind and compact of body, Stefon Harris moved easily from the vibraphone to the computer to the electric…
Love Is Here To Stay (Verve/Columbia) is the first album-length, one-on-one collaboration that Tony Bennett has recorded with his good friend Diana Krall.
Oct 1, 2018 9:34 AM
Breezing into his art studio on New York’s Central Park South, Tony Bennett hardly seemed fazed by the July heat.…
Pete Shand (left), Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Brian J and Ivan Neville collaborated on the new album Cool Down.
Aug 31, 2018 9:15 AM
Forget Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Herbie Hancock and the multitude of other artists with whom Bernard “Pretty”…
Nicole Johänntgen recorded her album Henry in New Orleans, while Henry II was recorded in Zurich, Switzerland.
Aug 20, 2018 9:39 AM
When Nicole Johänntgen was growing up in Fischbach, Germany, she routinely was awakened by her father’s New…
Buster Williams’ new album is titled Audacity.
Oct 24, 2020 7:06 PM
On hiatus from his long-running gig with singer Nancy Wilson, bassist Buster Williams, then 25, suddenly got an offer…
Julian Lage’s trio album Modern Lore puts a postmodern twist on Americana.
Jun 21, 2018 2:20 PM
Julian Lage cut a lean and lithe figure, swinging and swaying to the artfully organized tangle of tones—some bent…
Eddie Henderson frequently eschews original compositions on his albums, opting instead for interpretations to create a “collective portrait.”
Jun 12, 2018 9:04 AM
In 1970, When Eddie Henderson joined Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band as a substitute trumpeter, he was the least…
Cécile McLorin Salvant and Aaron Diehl perform June 14, 2017, at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem
Jun 26, 2018 10:21 AM
The packed house at New York’s 92nd Street Y was no pushover. A skeptical lot accustomed to hearing the cream of…
Mayu Saeki, who has a new leader project, previously played in Chico Hamilton’s band.
Jun 4, 2018 2:55 PM
Mayu Saeki moved from her native Japan to New York in 2009, carrying little but her flutes and the fervent hope of…
Sherrie Maricle (middle row, wearing pink T-shirt) poses for a portrait with the members of the DIVA Jazz Orchestra.
Jun 1, 2018 9:45 AM
Buddy Rich used to bill himself as the World’s Greatest Drummer. Sherrie Maricle would not disagree. Chatting in a…
Vibraphonist Roy Ayers performs last year in Pittsburgh.
May 11, 2018 12:06 PM
Pittsburgh’s contributions to the jazz firmament stretch from seminal figures like Roy Eldridge, Kenny Clarke and…
Renee Rosnes (far left) leads her Woman to Woman ensemble during its March 2 New York debut at the 92nd Street Y.
Mar 27, 2018 5:00 PM
Renee Rosnes—the pianist and musical director of the all-female, all-star septet Woman to Woman—consistently has…
At its recent Carnegie Hall show in New York, Snarky Puppy welcomed a number of guests to the stage, including mandolinist Chris Thile (from left), singer Laura Mvula, ’60s icon David Crosby, singer Fatoumata Diawara and singer Michelle Willis.
Feb 6, 2018 3:19 PM
Theme concerts sometimes can lack authenticity. So, a bit of skepticism emerged in some quarters when Carnegie Hall…
The original lineup of The Bad Plus—Reid Anderson (from left), David King and Ethan Iverson—played its final show on Dec. 31 at New York’s Village Vanguard.
Jan 3, 2018 1:04 PM
New Year’s Eve was an end for many things; and so it was for The Bad Plus.
After 17 years, pianist Ethan Iverson was…
The new album by pianist Martial Solal (left) and saxophonist Dave Liebman is Masters In Bordeaux.
Mar 18, 2019 4:42 PM
By the time Dave Liebman first made his mark in the early 1970s, as the saxophonist and flutist in Miles Davis’…
Indo-Pak Coalition band members Rez Abbasi (left) Dan Weiss and Rudresh Mahanthappa perform at the Litchfield Jazz Festival on Aug. 6.
Aug 11, 2017 4:57 PM
A dozen years ago, Rudresh Mahanthappa seemed intent on establishing the kind of musical connection to his Indian…
David Hazeltine (left), Todd Coolman, Eric Wyatt, Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, James Carter, James Brandon Lewis, (not seen, Victor Lewis on drums).
May 5, 2017 10:04 AM
The cutting contest has a long and honorable tradition in jazz. So when six improbably gifted tenor saxophonists…
Kevin Eubanks released the album East West Time Line (Mack Avenue) on April 7.
Apr 19, 2017 2:11 PM
Kevin Eubanks’ brand of celebrity is a rare commodity in the jazz world. Rooted in the peculiar familiarity bred by a…
Apr 5, 2016 11:43 AM
Sarah Vaughan is still packing them in—based, at least, on the crowd drawn to Newark Symphony Hall, where, on March 29…
