On the final day of the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival (Sunday, Aug. 5), sunshine returned—along with tropical temperatures—to Fort Adams State Park. For his third set of the fest, Charles Lloyd turned to his “Friends,” including Lucinda Williams, Jason Moran, Marvin Sewell, Stuart Mathis, Reuben Rogers, and Eric Harland. Particularly righteous sets were put on…Read More
It began with an album cover. A profile shot, slightly blurry around the edges, of a man with a dark, sharp-pointed goatee, wearing a green plaid jacket and black fedora. His right eye (the only one visible) was shut, as if he’d been caught in repose, but that slight blurriness suggested his moment of rest…Read More
The second day of the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival (Saturday, Aug. 4) was both a tough slog and an inspiration. The skies opened, the winds picked up, and the ground flooded, but the music kept playing. While Harold Mabern and Eric Alexander’s quartet dug into some classic bop, Trio 3—Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, and Andrew…Read More
The 2018 Newport Jazz Festival may not be remembered fondly for its weather—a Saturday-afternoon monsoon turned Fort Adams State Park into a giant mud puddle, and Sunday brought high heat and humidity—but its musical high points were many, and JazzTimes photographers Marek Lazarski and Alan Nahigian were there for all three days to capture them (with…Read More
Bobby Broom’s 2009 Thelonious Monk tribute album, Bobby Broom Plays for Monk (Origin), almost didn’t happen. Prior to going into the studio, the Chicago-based guitarist convened his trio to test out the concept. After hitting on a New Orleans-flavored arrangement of “Bemsha Swing” that felt right, bassist Dennis Carroll suggested that the tune sounded like…Read More
In 1907, after the Coney Island impresario George C. Tilyou witnessed the ashy ruins of his Steeplechase Park, he posted a pithy note that begins with two lines I find to be exceptionally beautiful: To enquiring friends – I had troubles yesterday that I have not today. I have troubles today that I had not…Read More
When Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West was released by Contemporary Records in 1957, it got plenty of attention, and not just for its sharply funny cover photo featuring the saxophonist as a mock-cowboy. The album was a departure for Rollins in two major ways: He was teaming with players (bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly…Read More
Institutional support in jazz is now essential to the music’s health, but it can sometimes seem like a satire of charity: a few thousand dollars of grant money to a postgraduate trust-funder, so that he or she might finally finish that chamber-jazz song cycle about whale watching and not get razzed by the family during…Read More
Sitting in the audience of a Catherine Russell concert, one can’t imagine that this charismatic pro was once a shy child who only hoped to reach the heights of her distinguished parents (bassist Carline Ray and pianist Luis Russell). That’s how far she has come. Over the past few years, Russell has been at the…Read More
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, which takes place every year in Healdsburg, Calif., close to the heart of Sonoma County wine country. The 2018 edition of the festival, stretching over 10 days in early June, featured a wide variety of events, including a Bill Frisell/Julian Lage duo set; a…Read More
