“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
(Photo: Mark Sheldon)May 20, 2025 11:58 AM
Branford Marsalis was on the road again. Coffee cup in hand, the saxophonist — sporting a gray hoodie and a look of resignation — was waking up to a Zoom screen on a…
“To see him is still an experience,” Andy Bey said of Jimmy Scott. “Life force. Still blues-based, still a lot of soul.”
(Photo: Steven Sussman)Apr 29, 2025 11:24 AM
The soulful, supple, honeyed baritone of singer Andy Bey, placed at the service of a distinctive point of view, is one of the marvelous pleasures of the jazz scene. Evaluating peers and elders for his first “Blindfold Test,” Bey displayed an equally rigorous esthetic.
Nnenna Freelon
“Left Alone” (from Blueprint Of A Lady, Concord, 2005) Freelon, vocals; Brandon McCune, piano; Wayne Batchelor, bass; Kinah Boto, drums.
Nnenna Freelon. She did a whole record on Billie Holiday. Nnenna’s cool, and I liked some of the approaches, but a…
