Jazz
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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.
Wayne Shorter, one of the most admired and singular American jazz composers and saxophonists of the modern era has died at 89. At press time no information was available about the cause of death, but a spokesperson for label Blue Note Records confirmed to Billboard that the 12-time Grammy winner had passed in Los Angeles on Thursday (March 2).
After brief runs with the Horace Silver Quintet and the Maynard Ferguson big band, Shorter’s career began in earnest in 1959 when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, a four-year tenure that found him graduating to musical director for the group while blossoming into a multi-faceted composer and master of the driving, hard bop sound.
“Visionary composer, saxophonist, visual artist, devout Buddhist, devoted husband, father and grandfather Wayne Shorter has embarked on a new journey as part of his extraordinary life – departing the earth as we know it in search of an abundance of new challenges and creative possibilities,” read a statement from a spokesperson for Shorter. “Always inquisitive and constantly exploring – ever the fearless and passionate innovator – Shorter was 89 years young and had just won his 13th Grammy Award in February.”
“Shorter was surrounded by his loving family at the time of his transition and is survived by his devoted wife Carolina, daughters Miyako and Mariana, and newly-born grandson, Max. Most recently Wayne had been contemplating his next project, a Jazz ballet,” it continued.
He then moved on to a fruitful six-year run with jazz icon Miles Davis, first in his Quintet, where Shorter was able to stretch his musical wings and add layers to his already formidable talents, including on Davis’ landmark 1969 jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.
A master on the tenor saxophone, by the time Shorter left the Davis orbit he had moved on to playing soprano sax in the 1970s and 80s with keyboardist Joe Zawinul, bassist Miroslav Vitous, percussionist Airto Moreira and drummer Alphonse Mouzon in the fusion supergroup Weather Report; other members of the group of the years included genre-defining jazz bassist Jaco Pastorious, beloved session drummers Steve Gadd and Omar Hakim and Sly and the Family Stone drummer Greg Errico.
Born on August 25, 1933 in Newark, N.J., Shorter studied music at New York University in the mid-1950s, developing a style influenced by such jazz pioneers as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. In addition to helping to pioneer the fusion movement — which encouraged improvisation and the folding in of rock, funk and R&B styles and the addition of electric guitars and keyboards — the deeply intellectual Shorter also released a series of beloved solo albums during his tenure with Davis.
Among those albums are Juju — which featured members of Coltrane’s quartet — and Speak No Evil — with some of his Davis bandmates — the latter considered by many jazz critics to be one of the finest examples of both Shorter’s compositional brilliance and a foundational text for students and lovers of the post-1950s jazz era.
In addition to his stints in those bands, Shorter also collaborated with folk icon Joni Mitchell on 10 albums, Brazilian composer/singer Milton Nascimento, fellow former Davis bandmember Carlos Santana (on 1980’s The Swing of Delight) and, in perhaps his most high-profile non-jazz collab, he played the extended solo on the title track to Steely Dan’s 1977 Aja album.
Shorter continued to record and perform into the 2000s, forming his “Footprints” acoustic quartet in 2000 with drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci and pianist Danilo Perez, with whom he released four live albums, including the 2006 Grammy-winning album Beyond the Sound Barrier. He also toured with the supergroup Mega Nova in 2016, which featured Santana and Hancock, as well as bassist Marcus Miller and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana.
In the statement, Shorter’s friend of six decades Hancock said, “Wayne Shorter, my best friend, left us with courage in his heart, love and compassion for all, and a seeking spirit for the eternal future. He was ready for his rebirth. As it is with every human being, he is irreplaceable and was able to reach the pinnacle of excellence as a saxophonist, composer, orchestrator, and recently, composer of the masterful opera ‘…Iphigenia’. I miss being around him and his special Wayne-isms but I carry his spirit within my heart always.”
After more than half a century on the road and in the studio, Shorter retired from performing in 2018 due to health issues. Over the course of his career, in addition to the dozen Grammy awards, Shorter received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016, the Polar Music Prize in 2017 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
Over his 70-year career, Shorter’s works were performed by a long list of orchestras and performers, including: the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Lyon Symphony, National Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as ensembles including soprano Renée Fleming and the Imani Winds; he also received commissions from the National, St. Louis and Nashville symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the La Jolla Music Society.
Shorter released his final album, Emanon, in 2018.
Listen to Shorter’s “Footprints” below.
Reservoir Media said Wednesday it acquired the publishing and recorded rights to the catalog of jazz living legend Sonny Rollins — aka “The Saxophone Colossus.”
A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Grammys, Rollins is perhaps best known for his 1956 album Saxophone Colossus and its track, “St. Thomas,” which has been deemed “culturally, historically…significant” by the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
A regular collaborator of other jazz giants Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, Rollins continued to release music, including his 2001 Grammy-winning album This is What I Do and 2006 Grammy-winning solo “Why Was I Born?”
“I’m happy that Reservoir will be helping to maintain my musical legacy, which was created in concert with so many great musicians I’m proud to be associated with,” Rollins said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, with Reservoir adding that it includes a “mix of rights across Sonny’s entire catalog.”
Rollins catalog is a body of work spanning more than 70 years of “musical innovation,” Rell Lafargue, Reservoir president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
“I first learned of Sonny through his music, playing ‘St. Thomas’ as a young jazz student, and it’s incredibly meaningful that Reservoir and I can now commit to preserving Sonny’s musical legacy and amplifying his contributions to the artform for audiences old and new,” Lafargue said.
Four months after announcing that she would be curating the lineup for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2023 Spring Music Series Solange revealed the full lineup for the event on Thursday (Feb. 16). The concert and film series dubbed “Eldorado Ballroom” will be co-curated by the singer and her Saint Heron Collective.
The seven events will kick off on March 30 with a concert featuring modern R&B acts Kelela, Res and KeiyaA and also feature performances by jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, jazz singer Linda Sharrock, poet Claudia Rankine and gospel act Twinkie Clark & the Clark Sisters. There will also be a performance of the works of 20th century jazz pianist/composer Mary Lou Williams conducted by Malcolm Merriweather and a night of the orchestral and opera works of classical composer Julia Perry and jazz pianist Patrice Rushen.
The series will also feature two nights of “wordless storytelling” by Autumn Knight and artist Maren Hassenger titled “Type of Guest” and a pair of film showcases titled Unseen Nuyorican Pictures and Coeval Dance Films.
A description of the events on the BAM site nods to the multi-disciplinary, intergenerational nature of the lineup. “[Solange’s] dedication to reverencing and preserving the works of Black practitioners through Saint Heron continues with a lineup that consists of contemporary and historic creative revolutionaries whose artistry and innovation has left a profound mark on music and performance art,” it reads.
“The series is named after Eldorado Ballroom, a Houston historic Black music hall in her native Third Ward neighborhood, where her love for performance started. Each night is programmed to explore artistic territory through investigations surrounding the sonic and performance-based expressions that have shaped the artist’s own practice,” the description continues. “In these seven programs, the multigenerational audiences of Saint Heron’s and BAM’s communities will experience celebratory and tributary performances that honor the blueprints of these themes and genres as they are being reinvented today. “
BAM members, patrons and Saint Heron patrons can get in on the on sale beginning at noon today (Feb. 17), with the general public on sale kicking off on Tuesday (Feb. 21) at noon ET. The singer last worked with BAM nearly a decade ago when she headlined the 2013 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry music festival.
Her creative partnership with BAM follows Solange’s foray into composition in 2022. She wrote the score for Play Time for the New York City Ballet, which premiered at the end of September as part of the celebrated dance troupe’s Fall Fashion Gala.
Check out the event’s poster below.
Two jazz musicians, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah and Somi Kakoma, were among six creators who were named Doris Duke Artists on Monday at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Oscar- and Grammy-winning rapper Common hosted the event.
The Doris Duke Foundation also announced the doubling of the prize money associated with the award. Each recipient is receiving an award of $550,000, up from $275,000, in recognition of their contributions to the fields of contemporary dance, jazz and theater.
This year’s other Doris Duke Artists are director Charlotte Brathwaite and playwright and performer Kristina Wong in the theater category, and choreographers and performers Ayodele Casel and Rosy Simas in the dance category.
“When artists thrive, we all thrive,” Sam Gill, president and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation, said at the event. “Tonight we evolve the Doris Duke Artist Award from an award to a platform—a platform to advocate and fight for the future of artists.”
“What a decade of this award has revealed to us is that if you trust extraordinary artists like the ones here tonight and give them the conditions to thrive, they will go beyond the boundaries and expectations that you or anyone else could set for them,” added Maurine Knighton, chief program officer at the Doris Duke Foundation.
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, 39, is a jazz trumpeter, composer and producer. Has received six Grammy nominations since 2008 – three for best contemporary instrumental album, two for best improvised jazz solo and one for best contemporary jazz album.
“Receiving the Doris Duke Artist Award offers me the ability to dedicate more time and care to what I truly love, which in itself is the most valuable gift a person can receive,” Chief Adjuah said in a statement. “Not only is this tremendously meaningful for myself, it also puts me in the position to create new opportunities throughout my community. Growing up, I often heard elders use the phrase ‘Take my song and pass it along,’ and I look forward to embodying this spirit in passing along this gift to others.”
Somi Kakoma, 41, is singer, songwriter, playwright and actor. In July 2020, Somi released Holy Room – Live at Alte Oper on her own Salon Africana label. The live album, which featured the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, was nominated for a 2021 Grammy for best jazz vocal album. It also won the 2021 NAACP Image Award for outstanding jazz album, vocal.
“As a proud daughter of immigrants, I have never fit neatly into a ‘here’ or ‘there’—nor has my music,” she said in a statement. “Receiving this award is affirmation that this journey has not been in vain. Knowing that it was determined by a panel of my peers is especially meaningful—I feel seen, understood, supported, and so very grateful. This award will allow me to pursue or formalize more of my artistic projects on the African continent in spaces where the local cultural economy doesn’t always have the resources in place to support them.”
The event included performances by six members from the inaugural class of Doris Duke Artists: Vijay Iyer, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Bebe Miller, Nicole Mitchell, Eiko Otake and Basil Twist.
The Doris Duke Artist Awards program supports approximately six performing artists annually with unrestricted individual grants. Recipients may use funds on anything: work space, travel, study, a new home, health care, exploring new collaborations or retirement savings.
The increase to the grant amount from $275,000 to $550,000 per artist reaffirms the Doris Duke Foundation’s commitment to investing in individual artists as the lifeblood of the performing arts. Gill announced the increase to an audience of around 400. He additionally revealed that the foundation has locked in a $30 million commitment to carry the program forward.
Established in 2012, the Doris Duke Artist Award is the largest national prize dedicated exclusively to individual performing artists. Since its inception, 129 Doris Duke Artists have received a total of $35.5 million in Doris Duke Artist Awards. This includes a total of $12.6 million in funding to 44 jazz artists.
The program was originally launched as a five-year program in 2012 as part of a $50 million special initiative but was made a core part of the foundation’s arts funding strategy in 2018. It was, and continues to be, the largest national prize dedicated to individual performing artists. It was also one of the first grant programs to offer a unique matching feature for up to $25,000 of the award to encourage artists to invest in late-career savings given the limited benefits programs available to them.
The Doris Duke Foundation operates five national grantmaking programs—in the performing arts, the environment, medical research, child and family well-being, and mutual understanding between communities—as well as Duke Farms and Shangri La, two centers that serve the public directly.
The Doris Duke Foundation is one of only two foundations to have received the National Medal of the Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts. To learn more, visit www.dorisduke.org.
To learn more about the Doris Duke Artist Awards and the six new Doris Duke Artists, visit: DorisDukeArtistAwards.org.
Samara Joy can now call herself a Grammy-winning artist. During the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 5), past winner Olivia Rodrigo presented the 23-year-old jazz singer with the best new artist award.
“I’ve been singing all of my life. Thank you so much for this honor, thank you to everyone who has listened to me or supported me,” she told the audience in her acceptance speech, as fellow nominees Anitta, Latto, Måneskin and more watched on. “All of you are so inspiring to me, and so to be here because of who I am … all of you have inspired me because of who you are. You express yourself and exactly who you are, authentically. So to be her here by just being myself, by just being who I was born as. I am so thankful.”
In addition to winning the coveted best new artist award, a stiff category that featured nine other nominees across different genres, Joy also won best jazz vocal album for her sophomore album, 2022’s Linger Awhile. It’s quite a feat, considering she began singing jazz just a mere five or six years ago, according to the singer herself.
After taking home two Grammys, Joy thanked not only the Recording Academy for recognizing her talent, but also her fans for cheering her on and lifting her up. “The best night of my life. Thank y’all so much for supporting me,” she wrote via Instagram, along with a red heart emoji.
So who is Samara Joy? Below, Billboard compiled five things you should know about the artist.
Kamasi Washington and Leon Bridges lead the lineup for the 2023 Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, set for June 17-18.
Also confirmed on the bill is West Coast Get Down, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Digable Planets, Poncho Sanchez, Aziza, Soul Rebels with Big Freedia, Samara Joy, Lionel Loueke and Gretchen Parlato, Boukman Eksperyans, Butcher Brown and many others.
The full lineup and single-day tickets will be available from Tuesday, March 14.
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Hosted by Arsenio Hall and presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn., the two-day fest celebrates its 43rd year at the Hollywood Bowl.
Sax virtuoso Kamasi Washington, winner of the inaugural 2016 American Music Prize for his triple-CD odyssey, The Epic, is co-curator of the fest alongside legendary keyboardist Herbie Hancock, the LA Phil’s creative chair for jazz.
“I was thrilled when the LA Phil asked me to co-curate this festival with Kamasi and explore his extraordinary artistic vision,” comments Hancock, a 14-time Grammy Award winner. “Our celebration this year includes so many artists—both emerging and established—at defining moments in their musical journeys.”
Together, “we hope to create community and connection through the music we make and leave audiences feeling uplifted and inspired.” Hancock won’t perform at the fest; his next LA Phil concert is Sunday, April 2 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Adds Washington said, “Herbie is one of the greatest musicians to ever live and I am so grateful to be working with him on this special show. Herbie and I have been working with the LA Phil team to create a one-of-a-kind experience that we hope will leave the audience with excitement, joy, life, soul and most of all great music.”
Returning package holders can buy tickets now at hollywoodbowl.com. Two-day packages will be available from Feb. 7, with single tickets and groups sales available from March 14.
The 16th annual Jazz in the Gardens Festival will continue its “sweeter level” celebration of Black music and culture this spring in Miami Gardens, Fla. Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Jodeci, Charlie Wilson, Keyshia Cole, Ari Lennox, El DeBarge, Sean Paul, Mike Phillips and the Adam Blackstone Experience lead the stacked lineup of R&B, neo-soul, reggae and gospel artists, which also includes a special soulful Sunday performance by Chandler Moore, Kierra “Kiki” Sheard and Pastor Mike Jr.
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The two-day festival will return to the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, March 11, and Sunday, March 12.
“Over the years, Jazz in the Gardens has evolved on many levels. Now, in our 16th year, the festival continues to showcase some amazing talent and different genres of music for all those who attend to enjoy,” said Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris in a statement. “People come from all over for this unique experience. Jazz is the means by which we celebrate grandly music, food, and culture, together.”
On top of live performances, the 2023 Jazz in the Gardens Festival will feature exotic cuisine and offer exquisite retail buys in the Merchandise Village.
Last year, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul Mary J. Blige and Miami Gardens native Rick Ross performed at the Jazz in the Gardens stage following the festival’s two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Mayor Harris declared March 13 as “Rick Ross Day” during the festival in honor of his global success as an entertainer, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Tickets are currently on sale at Jazz in the Gardens’ official website.
Kim Simmonds, founder of Savoy Brown, died on Tuesday (Dec. 13), according to a statement released by the band. He was 75 years old.
“Kim Simmonds passed away peacefully in the evening of December 13th — may he rest in peace,” the group shared on social media. “Please note one of Kim’s last requests was to thank the fans of Savoy Brown — your support was and shall always be immensely appreciated.”
In August, the blues guitarist announced that he had been fighting stage 4 colon cancer — specifically, a a rare form called signet cell colon cancer –for more than a year. He noted that the chemotherapy he was receiving had made it difficult for him to play his instrument due to the side effect of “peripheral neuropathy which has now deadened the nerves in my fingers and hands (feet too).” At the time, Brown explained that his type of cancer “is rarely found early enough to provide a chance for cure,” and occurs in less than one percent of cases.
While Simmonds initially formed The Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 with singer Brice Portius, bassist Ray Chappell, drummer Leo Mannings, keys player Trevor Jeavons and harmonica player John O’Leary, he remained the sole constant member of the band throughout nearly six decades of lineup changes. Throughout their career, the band released more than 40 studio albums with the two most recent — Ain’t Done Yet and Taking the Blues Back Home: Live in America — arriving in 2020.
Read Savoy Brown’s tribute to Simmonds below.
Robert Glasper had quite the busy October… or should we call it Robtober? From Oct. 4 to Nov. 6, the pianist took over New York’s legendary Blue Note Jazz Club for his fourth annual “Robtoberfest” residency.
Over the course of 26 nights, the Grammy winner performed 52 shows, with special guests including Dave Chappelle, Jill Scott, Andra Day, Lalah Hathaway, Common, Rapsody, Miguel and more. “My approach to Robtober is kind of, like, anything goes,” Glasper says of organizing the residency. “I get to curate my favorite musicians, my favorite artists. Literally, it’s a musical playground, so it’s like all of the thoughts that are in my head, I can actually do those.”
Blue Note’s director of programming Alex Kurland tells Billboard: “This year’s fourth iteration of Robert Glasper’s annual month-long fall residency at Blue Note was another mesmerizing experience. Every night was a feast of unbelievable artistic and culturally iconic moments led by Robert. This residency is more than a series of shows, it’s a playlist of unique happenings and experiences within our intimate jazz club setting with the greatest artists and bands bobbing and weaving in and out of Blue Note, and on and off stage.
“Robert is a legend and embodies what it means to be authentic as an artist and as a person,” he continued. “With this iconic residency, we are literally watching history unfold in real time – led by truly the coolest person alive.”
Glasper’s five-week run of shows also attracted many a famous face to the longstanding Greenwich Village hotspot, from Chris Rock, Lupita Nyong’o and married couple Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost to Questlove, Sway and more.
Below, check out exclusive videos of Glasper performing with Chappelle, Hathaway, Day, Scott and more — plus, see the backstage perspective as A-listers rub elbows before and after the shows. Take a step inside the residency with these clips.