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…
A major theorist and one of jazz’s most profound composers, Russell was a hugely influential, innovative figure in the evolution of modern jazz. His ideas transformed and inspired some of the greatest jazz musicians in history, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan and Dizzy Gillespie. His Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, first published in 1953, is credited with opening the way into modal music. Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Russell continued to work on developing the concept. From 1960, he began leading his own sextets around the New York area and at festivals; he also toured throughout the Midwest and Europe.
In 1969, Russell began teaching at the newly created jazz department at the New England Conservatory, where his old friend, Gunther Schuller, was president. He played Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard, the Newport Jazz Festival, the Smithsonian, Sweet Basil, the U.S. West Coast and Europe with his 14-member orchestra and continued to compose extended works that redefined jazz composition.
During a career marked by numerous awards and honors, Russell received the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
According to a press release, there will be no funeral, but a memorial service will be planned in the future.
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…
