Especially after attending for nearly two decades, this author has a deep admiration and respect for the Newport Jazz Festival. Our site extensively covers the history of the legendary festival from before its formation to the present. Under normal circumstances, our site would feature coverage from Fort Adams of the 2022 Festival. However, due to […]
Especially after attending for nearly two decades, this author has a deep admiration and respect for the Newport Jazz Festival. Our site extensively covers the history of the legendary festival from before its formation to the present. Under normal circumstances, our site would feature coverage from Fort Adams of the 2022 Festival. However, due to […]
In many ways, this summer’s edition of the Newport Jazz Festival is similar to years past. It will be held at Fort Adams, the event’s home since 1981. Newport will still serve as a barometer of the state of improvised music, whether by living legends, emerging talent, or those in between. But things are also […]
Did any artist have a better 2021 than Tyshawn Sorey? The 2017 MacArthur Fellow was the subject of a New York Times Magazine profile, premiered recordings of two large ensemble compositions, and received acclaim for albums with saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh, DJ/producer King Britt. Not to mention his role in the powerful trio with pianist Vijay […]
In some ways, 2021 can be seen as a return of music. In reality, through live-stream and various recordings, music continued to be created the year before. But 2021 felt like- to steal a subtitle of one of the albums on my top ten list- a freeing out of our constrictions. Certainly, live music returned. […]
[Editor’s Note: We are excited to have Anthony Dean-Harris join us again for our year-end lists to share his 25 favorite “jazz” albums and 10 “other” albums of 2021. Anthony is a skilled writer whose credits include being a contributor to Downbeat and serving as the former Editor-in-Chief of Nextbop. He is also an accomplished […]
Immediately following the year that artificially paused many releases, in 2021, the floodgates broke loose. It was nearly impossible to keep track of all recordings released between this Thanksgiving and the prior one. And, even ignoring this, the quality and volume made it especially difficult to rank even the ones you did notice. Consider even […]
Our conversation with the legendary Wadada Leo Smith continues with a further discussion on the business side of music, including his own label, Kabell. We go into a deeper dive on his recent duet with Jack DeJohnette and Vijay Iyer, A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM, 2021), and his latest solo release, Trumpet (TUM, […]
Many people, as they get older, tend to slow down and reduce their workload. Some even step aside and retire entirely. Wadada Leo Smith takes the opposite approach. Over the past year, Smith has been perhaps more productive than ever. 2021 has found him behind a 3 CD solo trumpet box set (Trumpet (TUM, 2021)), […]
For most music festivals, the loss of a longtime sponsor could be a death knell. After all, organizers killed the Newport Rhythm and Blues Festival due to its inability to maintain a steady sponsor. The death of the company hosting the event on top of it would be – for most – a certain end. […]
