News

Myra Melford Wins Alpert Award

Pianist/composer Myra Melford (pictured above) is the winner of the 2012 Alpert Award in the Arts for Music presented by The Herb Alpert Foundation and California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). The Berkeley-based musician and educator officially received the honor, and its $75,000 prize, at a brunch ceremony on May [...]

Tab Benoit Wins Big in Memphis

Guitarist and singer Tab Benoit walked away from the 33rd Blues Music Awards recently with three awards in hand. The Louisiana bluesman and environmental conservationist won in the “Contemporary Male Artist” category, he was named “B.B. King Entertainer of the Year” and his 2011 release Medicine took top honors in [...]

Jack DeJohnette’s 70th Birthday Tour

Jack DeJohnette commenced his “70th Birthday Tour” in Eugene, Oregon, on May 9, with the debut of a trio that includes Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. That same group headlines upcoming stands at Jazz Alley in Seattle (May 10-13) and Catalina’s in Los Angeles (May 15-20). The trio will return [...]

Where Jazz Meets Pop

At Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room on the evenings of June 5th and 6th—then again on the afternoon of Sunday, June 10th—Michael Feinstein (pictured above) will be joined by Tony Award-nominated actress Jessie Mueller and pianist Loston Harris for the second annual presentation of Sweet & Low Down: How [...]

Coming Soon: Rit on Blu-Ray

On June 19, guitarist extraordinaire Lee Ritenour will be available for the first time on Blu-Ray. That’s the day Eagle Rock Entertainment will be releasing Overtime, a disc that runs to almost three hours in length and that features an all-star supporting cast. Recorded over two days in a Burbank, [...]

Unearthed Armstrong

On April 24, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released one of Louis Armstrong’s last performances. Titled Satchmo at the National Press Club: Red Beans and Ricely Yours, the recording was made in 1971 during an award ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington D. C. Armstrong died five months later. Joined [...]

Ted Drozdowski’s Big Shoes

JAZZIZ readers may know Ted Drozdowski as a sharp-eyed critic who periodically writes about blues music for this magazine and dozens of other publications. But what they might not know is that Drozdowski is himself an accomplished blues guitarist and singer with a special fondness for the raucous juke blues [...]

Newark’s James Mood Festival

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM have announced the inaugural James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival, a weeklong celebration of jazz and the musical legacy of longtime Newark resident James Moody (pictured above). Bassist and composer Christian McBride serves as the artistic adviser of [...]

Introducing International Jazz Day

UNESCO—short for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization—and its Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock (pictured above) have announced the imminent arrival of the first annual International Jazz Day, which, beginning this year, will be held every year on April 30. Created in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, [...]

Terence Blanchard Joins the DSO

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard has been named the Fred A. & Barbara M. Erb Jazz Creative Chair by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO). The announcement arrives as the DSO embarks on an ambitious season for its Paradise Jazz Series—a collection of one-night-only appearances by top-flight jazz talent. “We are [...]