Nov 9, 2021 10:54 AM
Growing Up Monk
What’s it like to grow up the child of a famous father, the son of jazz royalty? What’s it like to share the name…
Albert Ayler
Published November 17, 1966
In a restaurant-bar in Greenwich Village, tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler was ruminating on the disparity between renown and income. In his case, anyway. Covers of his albums are…
T.S. Monk at home
Nov 9, 2021 10:54 AM
What’s it like to grow up the child of a famous father, the son of jazz royalty? What’s it like to share the name…
At 25 years old, bassist Esperanza Spalding wasn’t overly concerned with marketability.
Oct 12, 2021 1:55 PM
Esperanza Spalding buoys with moxie-plus, high-octane ebullience, spirited determination and respectful humility in the…
In addition to making significant contributions to the jazz canon’s batch of standards, saxophonist Benny Golson appeared in a pair of films and was photographed in “A Great Day In Harlem.”
Oct 5, 2021 3:27 PM
If you make it to 80 and still are at the top of your game, you’re one lucky guy.
All you have to do is look…
Tomasz Stańko
Sep 13, 2021 2:41 PM
In 1993, four years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, Poland’s most prominent jazz…
Count Basie (1904–1984)
Sep 7, 2021 1:00 PM
The following discussion took place on a Sunday afternoon in Count Basie’s dressing room during the recent Jazz…
Benny Goodman
Aug 3, 2021 2:45 PM
About 27 years have gone by since they danced in the aisles to the music of Benny Goodman and his band at the Paramount…
Lena Horne
May 7, 2021 12:00 PM
Somewhere in the background, by the piano in the living room, Lennie Hayton sat with coffee in hand, filling the air…
Tony Williams
Apr 19, 2021 6:22 PM
Tony Williams erupted onto the jazz scene in 1963 as a 17-year-old prodigy with a full-blown, volcanic style of…
Dexter Gordon (1923–1990)
Jan 27, 2021 10:20 AM
When Dexter Gordon won the Tenor Saxophone category in the 1971 DownBeat Critics Poll, the honor could hardly be…
Claudio Roditi (1946–2020)
Jan 4, 2021 12:32 PM
During a performance you usually see Claudio Roditi adjusting a mic to position one of his brass instruments—the…
