Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
Hyde Park Jazz Fest on Chicago’s South Side to Present 20th Edition
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
The album marks the first Bad Plus recording to include a guest vocalist, alt-rock singer Wendy Lewis, as the fourth instrument in its sonic arsenal. In the midst of The Bad Plus' characteristically unconventional approach, Lewis strove to avoid theatrics and let the lyrics and melodies speak for themselves.
"I've really kept it sort of simple and straightforward," Lewis said. "I can do the vocal gymnastics, but for this project, I chose to just sing the songs. We're all improvisers in our own way, but I've always been a fan of Frank Sinatra, because he just sings the song. There's something about that approach to this record that just felt right. I just let the melodies be what they are. I didn't have to mess with them to make them exciting."
The set includes interpretations of pop/rock tracks including Kurt Cobain's "Lithium," Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," Yes' "Long Distance Runaround" and the Bee Gees' "How Deep is Your Love," along with 20th century classical pieces by composers including Györgi Ligeti, Milton Babbitt and Igor Stravinsky.
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of Saint…
Kurt Elling, Katherine Russell and Emmet Cohen (host on the 2027 Jazz Cruise) share a laugh at sea.
Sep 8, 2026 11:52 AM
It began in 2001. A travel agent named Anita E. Berry had been booking clients on “partial” jazz cruises that took…
Sep 17, 2026 11:00 AM
The 2027 DownBeat College Guide is an invaluable resource for music students, especially jazz students, to find a school…
