Aretha Franklin, an internationally renowned vocalist who was known as “The Queen of Soul” but also explored jazz and Tin Pan Alley standards among other genres during her nearly 60-year career, died at 9:50 a.m. on August 16 at her home in Detroit, Mich., after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 76 years…Read More
The Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City has announced a month-long residency this fall featuring Robert Glasper. Running Oct. 2-28, the 24-night, 48-show residency will pair the keyboardist, composer, and bandleader with groups featuring Bilal, Terrace Martin, Christian McBride, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Nicholas Payton, Chris Dave, Taylor McFerrin, Derrick Hodge, Kendrick Scott,…Read More
Jazz at Lincoln Center will open its 2018-19 season on Sept. 13-15 with concerts in the Rose Theater, the Appel Room, and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, featuring Wynton Marsalis, Brianna Thomas, Roy Haynes, and more. All of the JALC venues are located in Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street in New York City. In…Read More
Seattle’s Earshot Jazz Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary this fall, presenting over 60 events across the city. The festival will launch on Oct. 7 with performances by Regina Carter, Marquis Hill’s Blacktet, and Logan Richardson blues PEOPLE, and will culminate on Nov. 4 with concerts by Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Myra Melford, and 2019…Read More
In between bouts of torrential rain and sticky heat, hundreds of musicians played for tens of thousands of listeners over the course of three days (Aug. 3-5) at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I. Writers and photographers for JazzTimes were there for the entirety of the festival; Jim Macnie shared his top 10…Read More
If you’re a fan of the annual Newport Jazz Festival—the 2018 edition of which will be held this coming weekend—you’ll probably be pleased to learn that it isn’t going away anytime soon. Both the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival will be staying in their present location for the next 25 years, thanks…Read More
Tomasz Stańko, a Polish jazz trumpeter whose plangent (if sometimes chapped) sound and knobbly lyricism made him a leading light in both the Polish and larger European avant garde, died Sunday, July 29, at a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, of lung cancer complicated by pneumonia. He was less than three weeks past his 76th birthday. His…Read More
Blue Note Records has set Aug. 24 as the release date for Emanon, the first new Wayne Shorter album since 2013’s Without A Net. That live album marked Shorter’s return to the label where he began his recording career in 1964. Emanon, in contrast, is a triple album of original music by Shorter performed by…Read More
The 15th annual Winter Jazzfest will take place Jan. 4-12, 2019 in New York City, according to an announcement yesterday by the organizers. In a statement, they wrote, “The response to our 2018 festival was extraordinary, and in our landmark 15th year we will stay the course, offering standalone concerts, a showcase to coincide with…Read More
Type the name Les Lieber into YouTube’s search bar and—as is the case with most musicians—a number of performance clips immediately pop up. The top result dates from 1939 and shows a young musician killing it on penny whistle, an instrument that rarely finds its way into jazz. Just a couple of videos down from…Read More
