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Roy Haynes, the prolific and proficient jazz drummer who recorded alongside Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, and Sonny Rollins, has died at the age of 99.

Haynes’ daughter Leslie Haynes-Gilmore confirmed her father’s death Tuesday to the Guardian, adding he died following a short illness.

A cutting-edge pioneer in the genre — equally adept at swing and bebop, avant-garde, and fusion — Haynes appeared on countless jazz classics over a career that began in the early 1940s and didn’t wind down until the drummer was in his mid-nineties.

The Boston-born...

12 January 2023 – Blue Note Records has announced the upcoming 2023 line-up for the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. The acclaimed series is produced by the “Tone Poet” Joe Harley and features all-analog, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues that are mastered from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio. Tone Poet vinyl is manufactured at Rti in Camarillo, California, and packaged in deluxe gatefold tip-on jackets. The titles were once again handpicked by Harley and include acknowledged treasures of the Blue Note catalog as well as underrated classics, modern era standouts, and albums from other labels under the Blue Note umbrella including Pacific Jazz.

Newly announced titles begin March 3 with the release of two under-recognized albums that are available for pre-order now on the Blue Note Store. Pianist Andrew Hill’s excellent 1968 session Dance With Death featured his singular compositions performed by a versatile quintet with trumpeter Charles Tolliver, saxophonist Joe Farrell,...

The childhood home of Jackie McLean, frontwoman for indie rock duo Roan Yellowthorn, is nestled on a hilltop surrounded by woods. A nearly mile-long winding driveway separates the abode from a road that leads to the small coastal town of Camden, Maine, which it overlooks. From the outside, the idyllic setting may appear to be an enchanting, peaceful locale. But inside, McLean claims to Rolling Stone, the imposing fortress holds painful secrets of abuse that have festered for decades.

She says she was terrified of her father, musician Don McLean,...

Roy Hargrove, a Grammy-winning trumpeter and jazz musician that worked alongside artists like D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Common and Sonny Rollins, died Friday at the age of 49.

Hargrove’s longtime manager confirmed the trumpeter’s death to NPR, adding that the cause of death was cardiac arrest; earlier in the week, Hargrove was admitted into a New York City hospital with kidney issues.

On Instagram, the Roots’ Questove paid tribute to the jazz musician. “The Great Roy Hargrove. He is literally the one man horn section I hear in my...

If you’re going by the bare facts alone, Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden is strictly for Charles Mingus completists. Unlike, say, John Coltrane’s recently unearthed Lost Album, Jazz in Detroit doesn’t date from a pivotal period in the leader’s career, feature an iconic lineup or introduce a wealth of unfamiliar repertoire.

But what looks marginal on paper turns out to be sheer joy coming out of the speakers, thanks in large part to Mingus’ lesser-known yet enormously gifted sidemen: tenor saxophonist John Stubblefield, trumpeter Joe Gardner,...

Alto saxophonist Darius Jones recently curated a week at The Stone and I caught the first set that Thursday night. He was playing with his Big Gurl trio, a collaboration with bassist Adam Lane and drummer Jason Nazary. His opening remarks include the observation "I haven't played any of this music in a long time," noting that this was one of his first trios after coming to New York.

It is probably his most traditional jazz group, at least on record, that record being the 2011 Aum Fidelity release Big Gurl (Smell My Dream), which I had trouble enjoying because at that time Jones still had a tendency to play pretty consistently on the high side of the pitch. In jazz, it's possible to have a long and respected career doing this, as shown by Jackie McLean; critics tended to describe his slightly sharp tone with words such as "acidic." But it bugged me.

Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron was born on August 16, 1925 in New York City. His father worked for the Long Island Rail Road. Mal started taking classical piano lessons at age seven and, inspired by his love of jazz, also learned alto saxophone. He earned a B.A. in Music from Queens College, with the G.I. Bill (he'd been drafted in 1943 and served for two years, fortunately not seeing combat) paying for his tuition. He worked in jazz, blues, and R&B contexts and made his first recording in 1952 as a member of Ike Quebec's band. In '54-56 he was part of Charles Mingus's Jazz Workshop and recorded with Mingus. Waldron went out on his own as a leader at the end of 1956 with the album Mal/1 on Prestige and quickly became one of the prolific label's house pianists. The following year he added to his workload the position of Billie Holiday's accompanist,...

The Hartt School presents the Music of Stephen Michael Gryc: An Anniversary Celebration

The Adaskin String Trio, along with Hartt faculty and students, perform music of Professor Stephen Michael Gryc on Sunday, November 1, at 3:00 Pm in Berkman RecitAl Hall. In celebration of Gryc's sixtieth birthday and thirteenth year of teaching at The Hartt School, the concert will include works composed during each of the past four decades, from the Five Preludes for Flute Alone of 1979 to the String Quartet of 2005. Admission is free. Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for more information.

The Hartt School presents An Evening with Guitar

The Hartt School presents An Evening with Guitar on Thursday, November 5, at 7:30 Pm in Berkman RecitAl Hall on the University of Hartford's West Hartford campus. This performance features the students of Richard Provost. Admission is free. Please call the University...