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Warner Chappell Music has signed Laufey to a global publishing agreement. The Icelandic-Chinese artist is considered one of the brightest new stars in jazz, re-popularizing the genre for Gen Z. The deal announcement arrives just ahead of her sophomore album Bewitched, arriving Sept. 8 via AWAL, and her upcoming performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Ford Ampitheatre in Los Angeles.
Laufey’s songs have always fared well on TikTok, in part because the singer is active in sharing her work on the app — but in the last month, her May single “From the Start,” began to hit true virality. With a bossa nova-inspired groove and wistful lyrics, fans began creating videos to a sped-up version of the single and that activity has led to real streams on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and other DSPs. U.S. on-demand streams for the week ending July 14, when the song began to take off, went up 50% from the previous week’s total and its streams climbed to 644,000 per day.
Laufey said of the new signing that she is “honored to join the ranks of some of the most iconic songwriters and artists in history at Warner Chappell. Gabz, David, Ryan, Guy, Carianne, and the rest of the team at Warner Chappell have been fervent songwriter advocates for years, and I’m elated to call the company my new publishing partner.”
Gabz Landman, vp of a&r, and David Goldsen, vp and head of a&r of Australia for Warner Chappell Music said in a joint statement: “At Warner Chappell, we pride ourselves on working with the most talented storytellers in the world, so Laufey is the perfect addition to our roster. Laufey’s innate musicality, lyrical ingenuity, deep relationship with her fans, and world class live show are just a few factors that make it no surprise her star is rising. We’re thrilled to be working with such an exceptional, generational talent, and thank Laufey, Max Gredinger, and Harry Roberts for trusting us at this exciting point in her career.”
“Laufey is a gifted songwriter who has a distinct sound that balances classic elements with modern songwriting, and her music has been resonating with audiences all around the world. She’s exposing jazz and classical music to a whole new generation of fans, and we’re incredibly excited to welcome her to the Warner Chappell family,” added Ryan Press, president of North America at Warner Chappell Music.
Lady Gaga is rebooting her Jazz & Piano residency show at the Dolby Live at Park MGM. The singer announced on Monday morning (July 31) that the show will be back for 12 dates between August 31 and Oct. 5. Gaga launched Jazz & Piano in Jan. 2019, playing shows interchangeably with her more elaborate […]
John Coltrane’s Evenings at the Village Gate with Eric Dolphy makes a splash across Billboard’s album chart (dated July 29). The recently rediscovered set – recorded in 1961 – bows at No. 8 on Top Album Sales, No. 1 on Jazz Albums, No. 1 on Traditional Jazz Albums, No. 4 on Tastemaker Albums, No. 7 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 10 on Vinyl Albums. It also launches at No. 156 on the overall Billboard 200 chart.
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Evenings is jazz legend Coltrane’s eighth No. 1 on both Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums, and the first leader for Dolphy. Coltrane and Dolphy died in 1967 and 1964, respectively.
The 80-minute album of previously unreleased music was released by Impulse!/UMe and showcases performances by the quintet of Coltrane, Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman and Elvin Jones recorded in the summer of 1961 at New York’s Village Gate club.
According to Impulse!, the recordings were originally made as a test of the Village Gate’s then-new sound system and discovered at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Further, it was apparently the second time the recordings were found in the Public Library’s archives, after they previously were found, and lost.
Evenings at the Village Gate sold nearly 9,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending July 20, according to Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprise just over 4,000.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums rank the week’s most popular overall jazz and traditional jazz albums, respectively, by equivalent album units. Top Current Album Sales lists the week’s best-selling current (not catalog, or older albums) albums by traditional album sales. Tastemaker Albums ranks the week’s top-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores. Vinyl Albums lists the week’s top-selling vinyl albums.
As for the rest of the top 10 on the new Top Album Sales chart, Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) retains the No. 1 slot for a second week (47,000; down 91%), Stray Kids’ chart-topping 5-STAR is steady at No. 2 (19,000; down 32%) and RM’s Indigo re-enters at No. 3 (14,000; up 1,772% after its vinyl release). Three former No. 1s from Swift follow, as Midnights falls 3-4 (12,000; down 29%), Folklore rises 6-5 (11,000; down 12%) and Lover bumps 7-6 (9,000; down 21%). Aespa’s chart-topping MY WORLD descends 4-7 (9,000; down 31%), Colter Wall’s Little Songs debuts at No. 9 (8,000) and ENHYPEN’s Dark Blood climbs 13-10 (8,000; up 2%).
In the week ending July 20, there were 1.753 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 17.8% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.428 million (down 17.4%) and digital albums comprised 325,000 (down 19.2%).
There were 572,000 CD albums sold in the week ending July 20 (down 18.8% week-over-week) and 846,000 vinyl albums sold (down 16.2%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 19.456 million (up 3.4% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 26.218 million (up 21.2%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 56.264 million (up 7.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 45.976 million (up 12.9%) and digital album sales total 10.288 million (down 10.7%).
Continuing its mission to honor “jazz and blues … one musician at a time,” the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) celebrated the legacies of longtime industry executive Clarence Avant, tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd and pianist-producer-composer Dave Grusin at its annual fundraiser on June 25. The combination dinner, live auction and concert was held at Los Angeles club Vibrato Grill Jazz.
JFA board member Dr. Daveed Frazier kicked off the evening, welcoming an audience that included Bill Withers’ widow Marcia Withers, veteran label executive/manager Phil Quartaro, music supervisor Joel Sill, film composer Richard Baskin, music producer Gregg Field, singer-songwriter Eric Benét and Vibrato Grill Jazz manager Eden Alpert, daughter of its founder and music legend Herb Alpert. After the dinner service, JFA executive director Joe Petrucelli opened the live auction, which saw guests bidding on items such as original art by artist/architect Jim Watt. His pieces were painted in real time in tandem with live music performed by jazz artists the Antoine Drye Quartet and Bill Frisell. The collaboration — launched as a means to benefit jazz musicians during the pandemic — is depicted in the 2021 film project 1000W.
Eden Alpert and Jimmy Jam at Vibrato Grill Jazz on June 25, 2023 in Los Angeles.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for JFA
Then it was time to salute JFA’s 2023 lifetime achievement honorees. As Petrucelli noted before the video and live music tributes got underway, “We’re celebrating three singular forces in music. Their collective influence extends across the entire music industry and cultural landscape.”
Avant, aka The Black Godfather, was lauded in his video clip for being a ‘genius at connecting people and forging deals.” Among those deals: Avant signing a yet-unknown Bill Withers to his label, Sussex Records. Kori Withers, the late singer-songwriters daughter delivered an elegant take on two of her father’s classics — “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Grandma’s Hands” — accompanied by a band that included Ray Parker Jr., Dean Parks, Patrice Rushen, Steve Jordan and Alex Al. Accepting the award on Avant’s behalf was Jimmy Jam, one-half of the Grammy-winning songwriting-production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
Said Jam of his and Lewis’ longtime relationship with Avant, “He’s truly been a mentor and godfather; there would be no Jam & Lewis if it wasn’t for Clarence. To this day, he continues to teach us.” Jam then brought Marcia Withers onstage. “I’m a cheerleader for Clarence, who deserves every accolade,” she said. “He recognized my husband’s talent when other record labels had turned him down.”
Ray Parker Jr. and Kori Withers at Vibrato Grill Jazz on June 25, 2023 in Los Angeles.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for JFA
In paying tribute to Lloyd’s unparalleled versatility, John Densmore noted that the tenor sax guru had recorded with Densmore’s group The Doors. Densmore then brought acclaimed saxophonist/composer Joshua Redmond onstage. With accompaniment from Rushen, Jordan and Al, Redmond delivered a riveting performance of Lloyd’s “Sax/Drums Duet” and “Forest Flower” followed by “Defiant,” which also featured musicians Dean Parks and Greg Leisz.
In addressing why he, a singer-songwriter, was presenting Lloyd’s award, rock icon Jackson Browne said, “I’m of a generation that grew up with jazz being performed at clubs like the Fillmore and at festivals … It’s been an honor and great gift to hear your music for all of these years.” Calling the award “a very touching and great honor,” Lloyd noted to audience laughter, “I never got good enough to quit. But I love music so much; it can change the world. And I believe in that.”
Dave Grusin and Alan Bergman perform at Vibrato Grill Jazz on June 25, 2023 in Los Angeles.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for JFA
Rushen, Michael Bearden, David Paich and Jeff Babko were the featured keyboardists who performed a medley saluting Oscar- and 10-time Grammy winner Dave Grusin’s expansive career that includes scoring for film (The Graduate, On Golden Pond, Tootsie) and TV (The Wild Wild West, Good Times) in addition to recording solo albums and co-founding legendary label GRP Records. Guitarist Lee Ritenour, a frequent Grusin collaborator, also performed music from another Grusin-scored film, Three Days of the Condor, with musicians John Beasley, Tom Scott, Melvin Lee Davis and Wesley Ritenour.
Capping the Grusin tribute was a surprise performance by the man himself. Calling the evening “such a gas” for getting the chance to see “old friends from all the years of trying to do this stuff,” a spry and humorous Grusin (“I better do this now before I totally drop off to sleep”) sat at the piano and beautifully played two of his songs, including the Oscar-nominated hit from the Tootsie soundtrack “It Might Be You,” whose lyrics were co-written by Alan Bergman and his late wife Marilyn. Bergman was also on hand to present Grusin’s award.
In his emotional remarks about his friend and collaborator, Bergman said, “There are some people in life who transcend the friend category and become family. Not only is Dave an inspiring melody writer, he’s an intelligent and discerning [writing] partner; a unique man. The moment he puts his hands on the keys, you know it’s Grusin.”
Dianne Reeves, Marcus Miller, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Christian McBride will be among the artists performing in celebration of International Jazz Day on April 30. This year’s annual flagship event, the All-Star Global Concert, will be livestreamed from 13 global cities and is being billed as “A Jazz Journey Around the World.”
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The concert lineup also includes Sergio Mendes (Brazil), Cyrille Aimée (France), Somi (Rwanda) and Antonio Sánchez (Mexico). Further showcasing jazz’s diversity will be acts performing from Beirut, Lebanon; Casablanca, Morocco; Marondera, Zimbabwe; Beijing, China; and Vienna, Austria, as well as Honolulu, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
In announcing International Jazz Day’s 2023 program, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stated, “On this International Jazz Day, musicians around the world are once again answering, in great numbers, the resounding call for peace through music. Born out of struggles for justice, jazz inspires us to build a future that reflects its spirit – united in the celebration of diversity. Join us on this ‘Jazz Journey around the World’ and witness the power of music.”
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and concert host Herbie Hancock added, “As the world’s largest, most inclusive celebration of jazz music, International Jazz Day unites people across the globe. Jazz has always been about expanding boundaries – inspiring musicians toward the future and its infinite possibilities. This year, we are thrilled that the All-Star Global Concert will reflect this expansive identity in a new way, by sharing with our audience a rich palette of sounds on more than a dozen stages in every corner of the planet.”
The All-Star Global Concert will be webcast worldwide on April 30 (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT) on jazzday.com, unesco.org, hancockinstitute.org and the International Jazz Day YouTube and Facebook pages. Prior to the concert, free educational programs and other offerings will be presented via the same outlets. For more information, visit jazzday.com/events.
In the walkup to International Jazz Day weekend, PBS will present International Jazz Day From the United Nations. Highlighting performances from the 2022 All-Star Global Concert by Hancock, David Sanborn, Shemekia Copeland, Gregory Porter, Terri Lyne Carringinton and more, the special will air on April 28 (10 p.m. ET; check local listings).
Influential jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal has died at age 92. The New York Times reported that Jamal died at his home in Ashley Falls, MA on Sunday April 16) due to prostate cancer.
A beloved piano player and composer, Jamal’s unique sound influenced fellow jazz greats Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner, as well as a generation of crate-digging hip-hop lyricists and producers who sampled his music, including J Dilla (who snagged Jamal’s 1974 tune “Swahililand” for De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High”), Nas (“The World is Yours”) and DJ Premiere (for Gang Starr’s “Soliloquy of Chaos”) among many others.
Renowned for a light touch that favored lyricism over a barrage of notes — in contrast to the heady, sometimes hectic sound of bebop that ruled when he began playing as a teen in the 1940s — Jamal sought to create more space with a style that has been credited as one of the most admired in the genre’s history.
After getting his start performing as Fritz Jones in the late 1940s, Jamal began to develop what the Times described as a “laid-back, accessible style, with its dense chords, its wide dynamic range and above all its judicious use of silence,” which led to some dismissive, negative reviews from the jazz press early on, including writer Martin Williams describing his sound as “chic and shallow.”
That criticism would not stick, however, as more and more jazz greats began to cite Jamal as an inspiration, including Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Legendary trumpeter Davis — who became a friend and who later recorded Jamal’s songs — once said “all my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal,” the paper noted.
Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, PA on July 2, 1930 and began playing piano at an early age, going pro at 14 and hitting on the road in 1948 with George Hudson’s Orchestra after graduating from high school. A move to Chicago in 1950 brought more work, as well as a conversion to Islam that birthed Jones’ new stage name. His piano-guitar-bass trio, the Three Strings, caught the ear of legendary producer/talent scout John Hammond, who signed them to Okeh record label, which launched a long and fruitful recording career for more than a dozen labels.
Jamal first full-length album, Ahmad Jamal Plays, was released on the Parrot label in 1955 — and later rereleased on Chess Records under a different name — and featured the original track “New Rhumba” and covers of such jazz standards as George and Ira Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and Cole Porter’s “All of You.”
It was 1958’s live album, At the Pershing: But Not for Me, which was recorded at the famed Chicago nightclub, however, that introduced the world to Jamal’s sound. The record spent more than two years on the Billboard 200 album chart, a rare feat for a jazz album. The album collection featured the pianist’s best-known track, his energetic take on the standard “Poinciana.”
Over the course of his career Jamal would release more than 60 albums and earn a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, as well as lifetime achievement honor from the Grammy Awards and a Living Jazz Legend designation from the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
Jamal continued to perform and record well into his 80s, releasing his final album, the mostly solo piano collection Ballades, in 2019, which included a solo version of “Poinciana” that served as a poignant bookend to a prodigious, acclaimed career that also included the founding of several record labels and the short-lived Alhambra jazz club in Chicago. Two double-disc compilations of previously unreleased live recordings in Seattle, Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (1963-1964) and the sequel, (1965-66), were released last year.
Listen to the Jamal Trio perform “But Not For Me” and “Poinciana” below.
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Ahmad Jamal, a legendary Jazz pianist who released a bevy of songs heavily sampled in the Hip-Hop sphere, has died after combating prostate cancer according to reports. Ahmad Jamal remained an active and curious musician well into his 80s, including a Kennedy Center set he expertly performed two years ago.
Ahmad Jamal (formerly Frederick Russell Jones) was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pa. According to biographical accounts, Jamal began playing piano at the age of 3 and became a professional player at 14. Shortly after high school, Jamal’s touring career began and his travels led him to Islam, thus changing his name to Ahmad Jamal and keeping with the Muslim traditions of prayer.
In 1951, Jamal’s recording career would officially begin, culminating in his touring nationally and around the world behind the success of the At the Pershing: But Not for Me album. Jamal was also known as a prudent investor and used his fortunes to make investments across Africa. In 1962, Jamal stepped away from music for more than two years, returning to recording with the release of three albums in 1965, including the acclaimed Extensions album.
In 1973, Jamal released an instrumental version of the theme song for the 1970 film M*A*S*H*, a song originally known as “Suicide Is Painless” by The Mash and featured on the film’s original soundtrack.
The American Jazz Masters award, National Endowment for the Arts gave Jamal an American Jazz Masters award in 1994. In 2007, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts named Jamal a Living Jazz Legend. In 2017, Jamal was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy.
Jamal’s music was famously sampled by Hip-Hop acts such as De La Soul, Pete Rock, Nas, 9th Wonder, Earl Sweatshirt, and countless others over the past two decades and more. Jamal’s last official recording was 2019’s Ballades album.
According to a report from the Washington Post, Jamal’s daughter, Sumayah Jamal, confirmed the passing of her father.
Ahmad Jamal was 92.
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Photo: MARTIN BUREAU / Getty
As a kid, I dreamed of being a unicorn. Now that I am one, I recognize I’m just one of the herd. When I gaze at festival lineups, skirt cables backstage, log onto Zoom meetings with labels or give the post-COVID elbow bump before settling down for an in-person, women are still scarce. We make up a fraction of the music industry, both in presence and recognition. However, we are here and always have been.
The world of jazz is a microcosm within the industry, but it mirrors the greater whole. While the majority of celebrated titans are men, the smattering of women in the pantheon are often finely coiffed, smiling behind mics and backed by an entirely male band. However, people need to take a closer look. For example, Louis Armstrong wouldn’t be an international icon without wife Lillian ‘Lil’ Hardin Armstrong. She was a celebrated pianist, composer/arranger, bandleader and singer in her own right long before taking Louis under her wing. Yet, few know her name.
There are countless other women in front of and behind the scenes who remain obscured, despite the valuable contributions they’ve made to the music and business. How do we bring the overlooked to center stage and expand the spotlight? Enter Grammy- and Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter-actress Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Woodshed Network.
Bridgewater launched this artists residency in 2019 with me as co-artistic director and program curator. We‘re steadily building community, providing support and educating cohorts of women in jazz. The annual 10-day program (Feb. 27-March 10 this year) is bolstered by a who’s who of women executives, creatives and legends including Sheila E., Lizz Wright, Regina Carter, Maria Schneider and more. Alumnae are busy topping charts (Lakecia Benjamin’s “Phoenix”), releasing albums (Candice Hoyes’ “Nite Bjuti”) and winning Grammys for arrangements and compositions (Marta Sanchez’s “Unchanged” on Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards. Vol. 1).
However, this is just one piece of a very large puzzle. Before you can hold space, you have to create it. The most enduring line from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams can be applied to jazz and the industry more broadly: “If you build it, (s)he will come.” Across the world, various programs are creating spaces for women in all sectors of the industry … and women are joining in droves.
Here are a few tangible examples of those fields plus several accompanying myths that spring to mind. So let’s get down to busting those myths, shall we?
Myth 1: There are no women sound engineers.
Women may make up only 2.1% of engineers, but they’re flipping all the right switches and turning award-winning knobs. Examples: Woodshed mentors Jett Galindoand Grammy winner Jaclyn “Jackie Boom” Sanchez. This dynamic duo has been with the program since its launch, breaking down process, equipment and production in all formats from recording to release. Organizations like Women in Vinyl, SoundGirls and Women’s Audio Mission are also training, supporting and getting gigs for women in sound recording, mixing and mastering.
Myth 2: No women run labels or produce music.
Betty Carter launched BetCar Records in 1970. Dee Dee Bridgewater launched DDB Records in 2006. Jazzmeia Horn launched Empress Legacy Records in 2020. Lizz Wright launched Blues & Greens Records in 2022. All produce and release projects on their own labels with distributors. Some 15% of women in the industry overall run labels, while even fewer produce their own material at 2.6%. Throw in songwriting and they figure into that 12.5%. These are just four examples among countless others.
Myth 3: People don’t care about jazz.
Tell that to the Nice Jazz Festival (founded in 1948, France), Monterey Jazz Festival (f. 1957, USA), Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (f. 1959, Canada), Montreux (f. 1967) and New Orleans & Jazz Heritage Festival (f. 1970). They’re all going strong. Globally, jazz is one of the most sought-after genres. Ella Fitzgerald said it best: “Music is the universal language.” Yet, when you turn up to one of these festivals, only 14% of the headliners are women.
Considering that women comprise over 49% of the world’s population, influence more than 80% of purchases and are set to hold 66% of consumer wealth in the coming years, this is not a demographic to ignore.
Something is amiss.
So how do we fix it?
1. Start at the beginning organizationally and include women.
When Woodshed took the Keychange pledge (the global campaign committed to gender equality in the music industry), we realized that we’d already surpassed the goal line. Women make up 90% of our team and 100% of our mentees, mentors and speakers. We have precisely zero problems finding leaders in every category and facet of the music industry who are women. There is so much pent-up desire to mentor and pay it forward that we have a year’s-long list of women who have approached Woodshed to participate on both sides of the table.
2. Make larger tables and bring folding chairs.
When organizations make it central to their mission to include women, not for tokenism, but in acknowledgment of their contributions, experience and expertise, they’re stronger for it. Echo chambers may be good for vocal effects, but they’re terrible for healthy businesses and communities. A quick internet search yields pages of results for women in various fields of the music industry. Let your fingers do the walking and hire more women in all positions. It’s not a capitulation, it’s a sound investment in your organization’s future.
3. Free the unicorns.
Once individuals and organizations take stock of their own houses, they can look outward to the community. The ripple effect is positive in all aspects. By creating, maintaining and ensuring the health of spaces inclusive of and specifically for women, The Woodshed Network is investing in the future. A thriving jazz community fosters dynamic exchanges of ideas and, in its highest form, democracy. Women belong on the bandstand, behind the scenes, and in C-suites. We’re providing support, resources, visibility … and space. What will you do? It’s time to crossfade into the thundering hooves of unicorns.
Tulani Bridgewater-Kowalski is the founder and president of Bridgewater Artists Management and co-artistic director and program curator of The Woodshed Network.
Sources: USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s “Inclusion in the Recording Studio?” by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Hannah Clark, Ariana Case & Marc Choueiti, Jan. 2020. Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship’s “Women in the U.S. Music Industry: Obstacles and Opportunities” by Becky Prior, Erin Barra, Sharon Kramer, Ph.D. “Music Festivals’ Glaring Woman Problem” by Alanna Vagianos, Huffington Post. “Tracking the Gender Balance of This Year’s Music Festival Lineups” by Rob Mitchum and Diego Garcia-Olano, Pitchfork. Keychange PRS Foundation’s “Keychange Manifesto: Recommendations for a gender-balanced music industry”; designed by Ian Robson and Infographics by Jon Stanbrook.
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Wayne Shorter, one of the giants of jazz and a wizard with the saxophone, was part of the genre’s experimental shifts of the 1960s and 1970s, spawning a new direction that honored the roots. Shorter passed away on Thursday, and we briefly look back at his extraordinary life and career.
Wayne Shorter was born on August 25, 1933, in Newark, N.J., and raised in the area through grade school. The New York University graduate and Army veteran joined Art Blakely’s Jazz Messengers in 1959 at the age of 26, later joining Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet. Shorter’s time with Davis was instrumental in him establishing his own sound in the presence of masters and using his formal education to great effect.
In 1971, the emergence of Shorter’s band, Weather Report, expanded the wide universe of jazz fusion and pushed new sounds to the forefront all with Shorter’s guiding hand. Some classic releases from that period include standout albums such as the acclaimed Heavy Weather release from 1977 and its 1978 follow-up, Mr. Gone.
Towards the end of his playing career, Shorter released several live recording albums, including the collaborative Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival album with Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, and Leo Genovese which was released in 2022.
Shorter was married three times. He married his first wife, Teruko Nakagami, in 1961, and is the mother of his daughter, Miyako. He married his second wife, Ana Maria Patricio in 1970, and the pair had a daughter, Iska, who passed away in 1985. Shorter then married Carolina Dos Santos in 1999.
Wayne Shorter was 89.
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Photo: Getty
The steady rise of Samara Joy reached a pinnacle on Grammy night 2023 when Olivia Rodrigo — last year’s best new artist winner — announced Joy’s name as the latest recipient of the Big 4 honor. Beating a stacked roster of popular artists, she further cemented herself as one of jazz’s rare mainstream breakouts. Even sweeter, it was the 23-year-old’s second Grammy: she won her first, for best jazz vocal album for sophomore effort Linger Awhile, earlier that night.
With silky vocals that provide refreshing interpretations of oft-recorded standards as well as effervescent originals, Joy’s seemingly overnight success traces its foundation to a Bronx childhood growing as part of a musical family (her grandparents founded the gospel group The Savettes). It wasn’t until she attended college that she got serious about jazz in particular, later inking a deal with Verve Records, a powerhouse label of the genre.
Now, Joy is basking in her burgeoning success, turning in a memorable appearance on The Tonight Show in the midst of what’s become an in-demand global tour. Billboard spoke to her about that triumphant night, her creative process and the fine art of interpretation.
Congratulations on your Grammy wins. Out of the two you won, which one meant the most to you?
I think they both mean a lot, but people have definitely been separating the album win from the big award: best new artist. They’re both incredible but winning the first one was definitely a moment. When I won, it seemed like the culmination of the past six months of touring and recording, and it really just hit me. I sobbed like a baby, which I don’t normally do. So the first one definitely meant a lot because it was related most closely to the music. It was a labor of love that I presented to the world. You hope when you release music that people listen to it and enjoy it and want to share it and come to your shows. But going into the weekend, it felt like I already won because I had so much support and encouragement from musicians and singers and audiences. Also, winning best jazz vocal album was definitely the most special because it was my first win.
When your name was called, it was surprising you won if only because jazz is rarely recognized in the best new artist category. With that in mind, what was that moment like for you?
Number one, the diversity in the category to begin with definitely felt like a step in the right direction as far as highlighting different pockets of the world as far as the genres are concerned. Music is not just pop and hip-hop — it’s diverse. So I thought they did a great job with all of the nominees. But to kind of be an ambassador of the underdog genre in the category, it’s an honor and a step in the right direction for live music and highlighting jazz artists who maybe go unnoticed or under the radar. I hope that it opens people’s ears and eyes. We’ve always been here; it’s not like jazz is being reborn or brought back. But hopefully I can be the voice that illuminates all of the other voices who have been shouting out for so long.
What was your weekend like in general?
Well, I got there four days before the actual Grammys and immediately went into work mode, singing at events and meeting people like Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Brandi Carlile. It was pretty wild because while I guess I’m connected to a few of them through social media, to be connected in person with everybody, to be in the same space, I was like, “I can’t believe all of this is happening.” It was amazing.
I want to talk about your voice. It’s very unique and brings to mind artists like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. How did you perfect your vocal style and when did you realize that you have vocals that stand out?
Well, I definitely have a cassette tape somewhere of my dad recording me singing an Usher song when I was four years old [laughs]. So there’s that, but I started singing in musical theater and chorale concerts when I was in middle and high school. I always knew that I loved it. I think that my voice is still a work-in-progress, but I guess I had my own voice before I came to jazz, like the tone. I developed it in church; I sang there all the time and also listened and imitated many gospel, soul and Motown singers. I came to jazz with a certain style and a certain way of singing. I’m still learning how to perfect my voice so right now I’m listening to classical music, learning about healthy vocal projection and having a strong voice, so that all of those styles can come to the forefront whenever I sing.
Can you talk about your art of interpretation? You make songs seem singular and that’s a difficult thing to pull off.
The art of interpretation is definitely a sensitive one. I think about this quote from the great trumpet player Clark Terry, which I believe is: “Imitation, assimilation and then innovation.” I learn the melody of the song first and foremost as it’s written just for the sake of the integrity of the composer. I don’t want to make it something that it isn’t because of my own creative tendencies; I want to have a good foundation of the song and its bare bones. Then, I’ll listen to other versions of the song. Different singers and instrumentalists phrase things in a different way, so I’ll take ideas away from that: what words to emphasize, what harmonic ideas as far as maybe straying away from the melodies. Maybe going higher or lower on certain notes, for example. Then it comes down to what comes out when I sing it once I understand the song, words and the arc of the melody.
How did you go about choosing what to record for Linger Awhile? A song like “Someone To Watch Over Me” is a popular song, but “Guess Who I Saw Today” is more of an obscure cut.
The process really came about over the course of a couple months as I was looking for new material to add to my live shows. I had these gigs on the books and said I wanted to switch up the set so we’re not doing the same thing every night. I was looking for new songs to add into the set and keep things fresh musically and coming up with different arrangements. When it came time to do the second album, I already had songs I was trying out, and chose the ones that would be good to document in the studio with the band I was playing with at the time. It was a simple process, but that’s what I liked about it.
How do you get into the headspace of singing a sad or love song? Or do you just go in there and let it rip?
For Linger Awhile, I got in there and knocked it out. We recorded it in two days. I think we did seven songs the first day, the rest of them the second day and then narrowed them down.
You’re signed to the legendary Verve Records. How did that come together?
I made my first recording and licensed it to an independent label in the U.K. But when it came time to record Linger Awhile, my team and I decided to move onto a major label. I had established my name a little bit. When I pitched my first album, everyone said no, because of the pandemic and there were just no resources to break a new artist at the moment. So for this second album, I paid for it and presented it to different labels; all of the ones you could possibly think of. We met with Verve and I realized that in addition to the rich history of having jazz singers and artists released on Verve, they had a great team being under the umbrella of Universal Music Group. They were all passionate about music and great teams of distribution, and promotion. At first we had to meet over Zoom, which wasn’t as fun, but I’m really glad I partnered up with them.
Let’s talk about your childhood in the Bronx and your father Antonio McLendon’s influence, as I know he is a bassist. What were you listening to at the time and how did your father influence you?
I was listening to everything from Disney Channel soundtracks like The Cheetah Girls to Stevie Wonder, Jill Scott, Lalah Hathaway, Motown and Michael Jackson. I really enjoyed a lot of good music split between my mom and my dad. There was also a family album my dad had a chance to produce along with my uncle-in-law who worked with Donna Summer and Michael Bolton; he was a famous producer back in the day. The family album never got released, but that was my Holy Grail growing up and it still is: just hearing my family sing and hearing their original contemporary gospel compositions. All of that was playing around the house. I’d always watch my dad sing in church and at home where he has a studio, so even now when I’m singing there are certain things that I do that I realize I got from him without even realizing it. He’s definitely been a huge impact on me as far as listening to music, as well as looking out for the electric bass in every song I hear and being open-minded about it all.
You’ve said in the past that when you attended college and started studying jazz, you felt lost. I find that interesting because there are other people who felt the same way early in their creative process, but sometimes feeling like an outsider gives you a different, fresh perspective on things.
I agree wholeheartedly. It wasn’t like starting from zero musically, but in that area as far as music theory and the style of singing jazz. I just did not have any experience with it. But it allowed me to be a sponge and made me really, really take it seriously and immerse myself as opposed to having some preconceived notions as to what it sounded like.