Don Heckman
Don’s Contributions
01/10/12 Features
The Tierney Sutton Band
Jazz's most cooperative band is reinventing timeless songs
01/09/12 Before & After
J.D. Souther Takes the Before & After Challenge
Singer, songwriter, actor, jazzer
09/05/11 Overdue Ovation
Gerald Wilson: Composer, Arranger, Choreographer
An Overdue Ovation for a West Coast legend, by Don Heckman
03/21/11 Before & After
Marcus Miller: Beyond Bassics
Marcus Miller appraises fellow bassists in a listening session hosted by Don Heckman
03/09/11 Overdue Ovation
Jack Sheldon: Keeping His Chops Up
Don Heckman catches up with trumpeter, vocalist and bon vivant
10/20/10 Features
Lenny White: Jazz-Rocker
Return to Forever drummer releases Anomaly, his first solo album of original music in over a decade.
January/February 2010 Overdue Ovation
Ed Shaughnessy: One More Thing to Get Right
Despite a shift in priorities, drummer Ed Shaughnessy keeps his chops sharp
April 2009 Features
Jennifer Leitham: Transamerican Music
A transgendered bassist finds that talent trumps prejudice in the jazz world
03/23/09 Concerts
Corea-McLaughlin’s Five Peace Band at UCLA
Neither Return to Forever nor Mahavishnu, but something else all together
January/February 2009 Features
Hank Jones: I Haven’t Done My Best Yet
At 90, the last of the Jones brothers has no plans to retire.
11/05/08 Concerts
Monk Sax Competition & B.B. King Tribute
“Bipolar” was the word that came to mind during the Monk Institute’s International Jazz Saxophone Competition in Los Angeles the weekend of Oct. 25-26. Not in the clinical sense, but in the frequent mood swings—and swinging moods—that took place over the...
August 2008 Features
Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before
Last February, on an unseasonably warm winter night in Los Angeles, something special took place in a large building at the fringe area between Hollywood and Los Feliz. On the second floor, in a studio big enough to house a 60-piece orchestra, four musicians...
June 2008 Features
Bennie Maupin: The Rebirth Of
Bennie Maupin says he’s only learned a few phrases in Polish. But he’s discovered firsthand that the language of jazz can transcend all boundaries. And his new recording, Early Reflections (Cryptogramophone), recorded in Warsaw with a band of Polish musicians...
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ReportAbout Don Heckman
Native Pennsylvanian Don Heckman has been active in the jazz world since the ’60s, playing alto sax in Manhattan’s avant-garde scene, studying music theory and musicology, and writing columns for The Village Voice and The New York Times as well as liner notes for musicians Andrew Hill, Wayne Shorter and Yusef Lateef. Currently, he is the jazz critic at The Los Angeles Times.