by Don Berryman Bassist and composer Steve Swallow has released a finely crafted new album, Winter Songs, on ECM records with a seasoned sextet that includes Chris Cheek on tenor saxophone, Mike Rodriguez on trumpet, Steve Cardenas on guitar, Gil Goldstein on piano, and Adam Nussbaum on drums. It is Steve Swallow’s first release as […]
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Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) is one of the biggest music festivals in the world, with so much music art, souvenirs, and food, that it often spills out beyond the official Festival itself. Here are two events that took place during FIJM that show just how widespread the creative influence reaches during the […]
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The 2025 Montreal Jazz Festival, officially known as Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM), took place from June 26 to July 5. FIJM is one of the biggest in the world, with a huge program of legendary performers and up-and-coming musicians. Over 350 concerts were presented, and two-thirds of them were free outdoor shows […]
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By Don Berryman The Phoenix Trio is a new all‐star ensemble featuring three of the most creative and accomplished jazz musicians today; tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Marcus Gilmore (who is the grandson of the great Roy Haynes). This trio performing all original music was recorded by Jimmy Katz & James […]
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It’s become a tradition! The Upper Midwest presents three great jazz festivals over three weekends, starting with the Twin Cities Jazz Festival June 19-20; moving south the the Iowa City Jazz Festival July 3-5; and then moving back north to the Northfield Jazz Festival July 10-12. And these jazzy weekends, featuring an exciting assortment of […]
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By Don Berryman Steven Bernstein of Sexmob fame released a pair of albums – one being the seed of the other. He is known for his prowess on the slide trumpet (a.k.a. the soprano trombone) in the group Sexmob that formed in 1996 and is still going strong 30 years later. For this new project […]
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As a kickoff event on May 27, the Blue Note Jazz Festival (BNJF), in cooperation with Linda Moody, Ina Dittke, James’ longtime agent, and producer Danny Kapilian, presented the James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall in New York City, since 2025 would have been Moody’s centennial year. Revered saxophonist/flautist James Moody, born in […]
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by Don Berryman One of my favorite saxophonists of all time and a giant of jazz, Sonny Rollins, died at his home in Woodstock, NY, on May 25th, at the age of 95. If there was a Mount Rushmore of tenor saxophonists, Sonny Rollins would certainly be on it. In the 1950s, Rollins began by […]
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by Don Berrymqn The Thelonious Monk Estate has launched a new series of authorized albums of recorded material, some of which has been circulated for years as bootlegs of varying quality. The initial release, Monk Live in Paris, 1967 Volume One, showcases Monk’s longstanding quartet with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales on bass, and […]
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Following is an announcement from Jazz Central Studios Managing Director Mac Santiago: After 16 years in the lower level we have decided to “level-up” to a space right upstairs from our current location. This move is an out-growth of our education partnership with North Star Jazz Workshops whose phenomenal growth over the past two years […]
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