Pianist Chick Corea, keyboardist Robert Glasper, guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding were among the winners at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, presented on Feb. 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Corea took home Grammys in the categories Best Instrumental Composition (for “Mozart Goes Dancing,” a track from his Concord Jazz duo [...]
Sax Man Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding Share Long-Standing Creative Connection
January 23, 2013 | Posted by
Not every saxophonist tours in the company of a best new artist Grammy Award winner, but then Joe Lovano isn’t just any saxophonist. At 60, he’s recognized as a defining figure on the contemporary jazz scene, an artist who’s absorbed a vast array of influences and forged a fluid, rhythmically charged, alluringly textured sound. He [...]
Newport Jazz Fest Spotlights Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding
January 17, 2013 | Posted by
The program for the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival, the 59th, has been announced. The festival will be held in Newport, R.I., on August 2 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino and August 3-4 at Fort Adams State Park. Scheduled performances include Wayne Shorter’s 80th Birthday Celebration featuring the Wayne Shorter [...]
Young, Black Jazz Musicians at Forefront of the Genre
December 22, 2012 | Posted by
Had you been watching The Tonight Show with Jay Leno one Monday night last March, you might have seen pianist Robert Glasper leading his Experiment band from the NBC studios in Burbank, Calif. Had you preferred the Late Show with David Letterman, you might have seen bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding front a horn-heavy ensemble [...]
Esperanza Spalding Hitting all the Right Notes
December 4, 2012 | Posted by
Esperanza Spalding, the 28-year-old bassist, composer and vocalist, is shushing her audience – many of whom have paid good money for the privilege. During the middle of her set at Chicago’s City Winery, a trendy restaurant and music venue, she holds the microphone close and admonishes: “Sssshh.” Her virtuoso bass playing and spellbinding vocals had [...]
Esperanza Spalding ‘Jazz Artist of the Year’ in DownBeat Reader’s Poll
November 1, 2012 | Posted by
The results of the 77th Annual DownBeat Readers Poll are in. Legendary bassist Ron Carter was named as the readers’ choice for the DownBeat Hall of Fame, while bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding was voted DownBeat’s Jazz Artist of the Year, and her critically acclaimed Radio Music Society (Heads Up/Concord) was named Jazz Album of the Year. [...]
‘Clearwater Jazz Holiday’ is a Gulf Coast Gift to Yourself
October 15, 2012 | Posted by
jazz and popular music! Now, you can get your sun and your groove on at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday Oct. 18-21, a weekend full of top talent and smooth sounds. It doesn’t get much better than world-class music and art against the backdrop of one of the world’s most beautiful beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. Clearwater Jazz [...]
Beyoncé’s Saxophonist, Tia Fuller Goes Back to Her Straight-Ahead Jazz Roots
October 14, 2012 | Posted by
Though she’s best known for being Beyoncé’s saxophonist, Tia Fuller returned to her roots for an evening of straight-ahead, marvelously improvised jazz Friday at at the UW’s Union South Sett. I caught the first of the evening’s two Isthmus Jazz Series concerts, which proved why this 36-year-old musician is a rising star in the jazz world. Fuller, who specializes [...]
R. Kelly Sets Soul Train Awards Record with 21 Career Nominations
September 20, 2012 | Posted by
R. Kelly and the Soul Train Awards go together like Don Cornelius and polyester suits. It was announced yesterday that Kelly has received two nominations this year for Soul Awards, bringing his career total to 21—a record for the Soul Train Awards. As for the Soul Train Awards 2012, Usher was at the top of [...]
Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea to Headline London Jazz Festival
September 14, 2012 | Posted by
The London Jazz Festival recently announced the lineup for its 20th festival with over 250 shows at over 50 venues across the city. The festival, which runs from 9 to 18 November, will host some of jazz’s biggest stars, including Herbie Hancock playing his first ever UK solo show, the 82-year-old Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea [...]
