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Across the last 40 years, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval has grown to be one of the great trumpet heroes of our time. Sandoval represents the bravura high-pressure, high-intensity, high-note tradition of Dizzy Gillespie—a virtuosic style that’s at its best when fueled by the high level of Sandoval’s creativity. This month you’ll hear him prance and […]

If a Mt. Rushmore existed for Jazz vocalists , who would be enshrined there? Surely the likenesses of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Anita O’Day. Many would also place our April Artist of the Month, Carmen McRae, there among the best and most influential singers that Jazz has ever encountered. Let’s consider why. Carmen McRae […]

If there was a recognizable new face to emerge from the Jazz ranks in the early 2000s, it would be that of one Norah Jones—a legitimate celebrity indeed, and also immediately recognizable just by the sound of her voice in any context. Her superstardom gives us a new perspective on the relationship of Jazz and […]

For many of us, the formative saxophone solos of our early listening years didn’t come from Jazz records. They were played by Clarence Clemons with the Boss’s E Street Band; Phil Woods on a Billy Joel record; Sam Butera with Louis Prima and Keely Smith, or any of thousands of others, on records from the […]

Jack DeJohnette in 2019 is a cornerstone of the versatility of modern Jazz.  Appropriate in any Jazz situation, his drumming signature is managing drum energy more as a flow than a pulse. Since the beginning of his professional career, he has represented a breath of fresh air in percussion. It’s sometimes a wave motion and […]

Bria Skonberg entered our consciousness a few years ago at the highest plane of Jazz exposure, as a trumpeter and vocalist of obvious skill and style. She employs the allure of well-shaped singing, combined with the depth of thoughtful phrasing as an instrumentalist. It’s been a while since we’ve heard a dual-threat who’s as capable […]

There may be no force in Jazz as constant as the impact of Art Blakey—during the seven decades of his life and now, nearly 30 years after his passing. Blakey’s styles of drumming and bandleading are some of the great emblems of Jazz culture, and still, ring powerfully in our ears. His Jazz Messengers did […]

ARTIST OF THE MONTH: STAN KENTON (SEPTEMBER 2019) Stan Kenton’s was the household name in big bands for Baby Boomers. Kenton thrived while other bands faded away, and for a generation of musicians—Jazz players, commercial players, or even just recreational and school band instrumentalists—Kenton’s band was the team that our idols played for. To join […]