The genre-ignoring Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn., now in its 10th year, will take place Mar. 21-24, 2019. The four-day event will feature more than 100 shows—along with films, exhibitions, talks, and interactive experiences like a 12-hour drone concert—in more than 12 venues in and around downtown Knoxville. Jazz performances will include a 50th-anniversary…Read More
The Global Association for Interconnective Arts (GAIA), a new international organization, has been established by five long-respected music programs—the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at the New School, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, and the Siena Jazz Academy—to implement…Read More
Grammy-nominated saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman has donated his personal archive to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. The archive—which contains papers, photographs, audio and video recordings, and a variety of memorabilia covering the years from 1955 to 2017—will now reside in the college’s Stan Getz Library. The Liebman collection presents a comprehensive…Read More
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz will change its name to the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz on January 1. The decision was made, the institute said in a press release announcing the change, by the board of trustees “following a request by representatives of the Monk Estate regarding the continued use of Thelonious Monk’s…Read More
Roy Hargrove, whose virtuoso trumpet playing and rhythmic imagination made him an object of awe and envy in the jazz world for three decades, died Friday, Nov. 2 in New York. He was 49 years old. His death was confirmed by his pianist, Sullivan Fortner, who broke the news on social media, and by his…Read More
The 49th annual Next Generation Jazz Festival, presented by the Monterey Jazz Festival, is now accepting applications for 2019. The festival showcases the country’s most promising soloists and ensembles—both vocal and instrumental—from middle school, high school, and college. They are chosen through recorded auditions reviewed by a panel of jazz educators. Top groups win cash…Read More
The second iteration of Jazz Across Borders will be held on Nov. 16 and 17 in St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum. The two-day event, meant for members of the jazz industry to meet and network with one another, will feature a slate of master classes, performances, and discussions,…Read More
New speakers and panel topics have been announced for the second annual Jazz Congress, co-presented by JazzTimes and Jazz at Lincoln Center, which will take place on Jan. 7 and 8 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in Manhattan. Joining previously announced panelists Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sherrie Maricle, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Maria Schneider, and George Wein are: Camille Bertault…Read More
Sonny Fortune, a saxophonist and flutist with a brawny, intense style who was best known for his long association with Elvin Jones (and brief association with Miles Davis), died Oct. 25 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He was 79. His death was confirmed by National Public Radio. The cause of death was complications…Read More
The seventh annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival at Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center is scheduled for Nov. 4-18. This year’s festival will present a wide variety of musicians, including a number of vocalists; Latin jazz artists like Eddie Palmieri; bassist Marcus Miller with David Sanborn and Lalah Hathaway; and the Legendary Count Basie…Read More
