Jazzmeia Horn takes jazz singing seriously. As a winner of the 2013 Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition, followed by a victory lap at the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, Ms. Horn announced her arrival in a big way. Her career saw the kind of ignition young artists dream about. Honoring her Texas gospel…Read More
The Newport Jazz Festival, which was founded in 1954 by George Wein, took place on August 4-6, 2017 on the rustic grounds of Fort Adams State Park, as well as at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island. Among the headliners at the festival were Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Rhiannon Giddens,…Read More
Despite its reputation for wallowing in nostalgia, jazz always tends to mirror its time. The manic optimism of America in the 1920s yielded hot jazz; the conservatism of the Reagan era bolstered the history-minded Young Lions; today, globalization has granted the music an international aesthetic few could have imagined in the ’50s. In the 1960s…Read More
The 42nd edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival was held July 7–9 at Ahoy Rotterdam convention center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The three-day festival hosted 150 concerts across 15 stages with performances by Ambrose Akinmusire, Anat Cohen, Jacob Collier, Chick Corea, Béla Fleck, Herbie Hancock, Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Miles Mosley &…Read More
One tune that Jimmy Greene always plays for his sax students is the title track to Sonny Rollins’ 1956 classic Tenor Madness—the famous tenor battle between Newk and Trane. “Coltrane plays the first solo,” Greene recounts, obviously hearing the thrilling virtuosity in his head. “He’s doing the things that he was working on at the…Read More
The TD Ottawa Jazz Festival ran from June 22 through July 2 in downtown Ottawa, ON, across multiple stages and venues. Now in its 37th year, the fest covers a wide swath of the music spectrum, with a focus on jazz but also including blues, jam band and other genres. Enjoy this photo essay by…Read More
In publishing, marketing makes us do funny things. For example, the edition of JT you’re holding now is the annual saxophone issue. A jazz rag running with a sax theme is a bit like Forbes doing a We Like Money annual or Playboy boasting about a Special Sex Issue, but whatever works. Somehow, themes tend…Read More
The 2017 DC Jazz Festival ran June 9 – 18 at various venues in our nation’s capital, and included DC JazzFest at the Yards, an evening and two full days of music along the Anacostia River waterfront. JT contributing photographer Jati Lindsay was everywhere during the fest, documenting the gigs as well as the artists hanging with each…Read More
“So you’re really into jazz?” says the man, aghast. The man, and the context, are interchangeable. Old or young, at a party or the Newport Jazz Festival, it’s the same. A positive response to this patronizing question is never evidence enough; I will be vetted for my bona fides—regardless of his credentials—until the man realizes…Read More
The Vision Festival, whose 22nd edition ran May 28 through June 3 in Manhattan, at its home base of Judson Memorial Church, is an enduring institution with a well-defined aesthetic and a loyal community. Organized by artistic director Patricia Nicholson Parker, this year’s fest included a lifetime achievement celebration for multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore, and a cathartic…Read More
