Despite rain that was at times heavy, the 2017 edition of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival came off as planned. The festival is a one-day event that takes place on three stages set up on Columbus Avenue off Massachusetts Avenue, not far from the Berklee campus, in the Roxbury neighborhood. Among the performers appearing at…Read More
There’s a point of near-madness that occurs when I undertake one of our articles, like this month’s cover story, based on a comprehensive poll of musicians and JT contributors. It usually occurs on a sunny Sunday afternoon, when I’m holed up inside counting votes for “Ko Ko,” then I realize that some voters have spelled…Read More
Since its first edition, organized by UNESCO and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in 2012, International Jazz Day has presented and encouraged performances and jazz-education initiatives around the globe. Each year, IJD visits a host city with a grip of the world’s best musicians, to give master classes and perform in an all-star gala…Read More
For its fifth edition, held this past Sunday, the New York Hot Jazz Festival found a splendid new home at the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea. A 12-hour program, including many of the best acts of New York’s current trad-jazz and swing revival, occupied three spaces: the lost-in-time club atmosphere of the Heath Stage; a stage…Read More
Sometimes even the most charismatic artists find themselves in a situation where winning over the audience is far more difficult than anticipated. Such was the case at the 2012 Playboy Jazz Festival, when Christian McBride’s big band was scheduled for a set between Sharon Jones and Sheila E. “The female James Brown goes out there…Read More
A scholarship at Berklee College of Music was created in the name of longtime Boston concert producer Fred Taylor. On September 12, a benefit concert featuring Kurt Elling, Danilo Perez, Terri Lyne Carrington, Catherine Russell, Kat Edmonson, John Patitucci and Grace Kelly was held at the Berklee Performance Center. Kelly, along with her parents Bob…Read More
Produced by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and programmed by the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Jazz Festival has been a vital part of the Windy City’s cultural landscape since its formation in 1979. A free 4-day event held over Labor Day weekend, the festival moved from its longstanding location in…Read More
On the occasions when I’ve solicited feedback in this space, I’ve been consistently impressed with the thoughtfulness and depth of feeling in those responses. But none of my queries have inspired such obviously heartfelt messages as my request, in the March 2014 column, for readers to send me their “Mahavishnu moments”—their fondest memories and bolts…Read More
What a bummer: Inclement weather prevented the second half of the final day of the 2017 Detroit Jazz Festival from taking place. Sets including the Vijay Iyer Sextet, Stanley Clarke (his second weather-related cancellation at the Detroit fest in recent years), a tribute to Elvin Jones featuring Dave Liebman, Karriem Riggins with Esperanza Spalding, and…Read More
The 2017 Detroit Jazz Festival is underway in downtown Motor City, and continues admission-free through Monday evening. Enjoy this photo gallery, by Marek Lazarski, of the action thus far, including opening-night sets by this year’s artist-in-residence, Wayne Shorter, and his quartet, and Herbie Hancock.…Read More
