The 2019 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival in Portland, Ore., which celebrates Black History Month, is scheduled to run Wednesday, Feb. 20 through Sunday, March 3. The two-week event, now in its 16th year, will kick off with a performance by trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. Pianist Ramsey Lewis will make his first appearance at the…Read More

Jerry González, a jazz trumpeter and conguero who was a key figure in the New York Latin music renaissance of the 1970s and beyond, died in the early hours of Monday, Oct. 1, at San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, Spain. He was 69. According to El País and El Mundo, Spain’s two largest newspapers,…Read More

Producer, drummer, and MC G. Craig “Butter” Glanville has announced a crowdfunding campaign through Indiegogo “to make the most in-depth documentary on Dizzy Gillespie that has ever been done.” Glanville, whose résumé includes work with vocalist Lalah Hathaway and saxophonist Najee as well as trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor, is Gillespie’s nephew. He, along with…Read More

Max Bennett, the protean bassist who served as a sparkplug for small bebop units, modern big bands, and contemporary fusion groups alike, died at his home in San Clemente, Calif., on Sept. 14. He was 90. Bennett’s storied career as a member of the so-called “Wrecking Crew” of Los Angeles session musicians included work on dozens…Read More

Eddie Palmieri has announced the forthcoming release of his second album of the year, Mi Luz Mayor, on Dec. 7. The album was recorded in honor of Palmieri’s late wife Iraida, and features new recordings of some of her favorite music. The album will be released via the pianist’s new Ropeadope imprint Uprising Music. Special…Read More

Jazz at Lincoln Center and JazzTimes have announced the initial speakers and panels to be featured at the 2019 Jazz Congress, which will take place Jan. 7-8, 2019 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, in New York City. The two-day conference brings together members of the global jazz community to network, learn,…Read More

Ira Sabin, a jazz drummer, promoter, and record store owner who founded JazzTimes magazine, died Wednesday, Sept. 12, at an assisted living facility in Rockville, Md. He was 90 years old. His death was confirmed by his son, Glenn Sabin, who told The Washington Post that cancer had been the cause of his father’s death. Sabin was…Read More

BBE Music and 180 Proof Records have unearthed what are described in a press release as “long-lost intimate concert tapes” from Charles Mingus. The tracks will be released as Jazz in Detroit/Strata Concert Gallery/46 Selden on Nov. 2. Says the announcement, “Transmitted live by producer and broadcaster Robert ‘Bud’ Spangler for WDET-FM radio, these rare recordings from…Read More

Randy Weston, an NEA Jazz Master pianist, composer, and bandleader who dedicated his career to exposing jazz music’s extensions of African lineage and tradition, passed away in his sleep on Saturday, Sept. 1, at his home in Brooklyn. He was 92 years old. His death was announced by his wife, Fatoumata Mbengue-Weston, and his longtime…Read More

The 27th Annual Jazz Loft Party, presented by the Jazz Foundation of America, will take place at Hudson Studios, 601 West 26th St. in New York City, on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7:00 p.m. Titled “A Night for the Soul,” the event will “honor the legendary Roberta Flack and pay tribute to blues and jazz…Read More