“I view the [jazz] tradition as being like the roots of a tree,” the bassist Christian McBride told JT writer Nate Chinen in 2013. “But you can’t just have the roots. Something’s got to grow out of that: different branches, leaves, the tree’s going to get taller.” That’s a familiar set of metaphors that are also…Read More
There’s a very true cliché that jazz musicians, producers, promoters and other industry folks like to deploy in case of emergency, when something that had been carefully planned goes awry. It goes something like: Jazz musicians can improvise, so this unexpected logistical hiccup is really just another opportunity for inspired spontaneity. It came in handy…Read More
There’s a story, an angle to the Newport Jazz Festival this year, other than the long-running narrative about it being an enduring institution of jazz and, by extension, a pearl of American culture. Twenty-seventeen marks the first edition under the artistic directorship of bassist, composer and broadcaster Christian McBride, alongside the festival’s feted co-founder George…Read More
Some things about the Umbria Jazz Festival never change, and you wouldn’t want them to. Perugia is not only one of Italy’s most beautiful hill towns, it is one of the largest, which means you can wander farther in its twisting cobblestone lanes. You can take a wrong turn and come upon a piazza you…Read More
Just over two years since the groundbreaking saxophonist’s passing, Ornette Coleman was the subject of a series of tribute concerts in July as part of the annual Lincoln Center Festival in New York. The four-part event, subtitled “Tomorrow Is the Question,” fell almost exactly 20 years after the career-spanning “? Civilization: A Harmolodic Celebration,” a…Read More
Running from June 28 to July 8, with over two-thirds of its 500-plus concerts taking place on several outdoor stages and free to the public, the 38th edition of Festival International de Jazz de Montréal was loaded with high-voltage star power and creative energy, presenting jazz in all its forms (and everything else from pop…Read More
Dee Dee Bridgewater didn’t exactly say that a diva can sing any damn thing she pleases. But she came close. Kicking off the Wells Fargo Jazz concerts at this year’s Spoleto Festival USA, Bridgewater told the crowd at Cistern Yard that it was tough luck if we didn’t get the memo: now that she has…Read More
Los Angeles’ Playboy Jazz Festival is often a mélange of R&B, pop, funk and smooth jazz, which leaves mainstream jazz and blues marginalized. However, for the event’s 39th edition there was a noticeable shift, resulting in one of the strongest lineups in recent years, with strong crowd reactions affirming the fest’s choices. June 10 Highlights…Read More
Jazz is always prominent when the Savannah Music Festival cranks up its eclectic assortment, with diehard jazz fans dropping anchor during Jazz Week, culminating in the epic Swing Central Finale concert at Lucas Theatre of the Arts. Three high-school big bands perform, finalists of the Swing Central workshops and competition, followed by a concert where the mentoring musicians…Read More
The interjection “Not to get political, but…” became a leitmotif in writer Gary Giddins’ speech honoring fellow critic Ira Gitler at the 2017 Jazz Masters tribute concert (held for a second year at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.). Not getting political was a difficult undertaking at the 35th anniversary of the National Endowment for the…Read More
