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…
Payne was born in New York City on Dec. 14, 1922. He started his musical life singing and playing guitar. After hearing Young on a recording with Count Basie, Payne asked his father, who played tenor, for a horn and received an alto. His father thought the light, airy playing of Young was done on the alto. Payne mastered that as well as the clarinet, which he played in army bands from '43 to '46. In '46 Payne made his debut on baritone sax with a band led by Clarence Briggs, and his last recording on alto on a session led by J.J. Johnson. After a stint with Roy Eldridge, Payne established himself as a bop saxophonist in Dizzy Gillespie's big band. Settled in New York City, he played in bands led by James Moody and Tadd Dameron; freelanced from '49 to '52; toured with Illinois Jacquet from '52 to '54; and made notable recordings with Duke Jordan and Randy Weston. Payne retired from the jazz scene during the late '50s but acted and wrote songs for Jack Gelber's play The Connection in the early '60s.
Payne returned to music as a soloist in Machito's Afro-Cubans and with Lucky Thompson's octet. After touring Europe with Lionel Hampton in '64, he again left the scene, only to return a couple years later to play with Weston, Woody Herman, and Gillespie. After a two-year stint with Basie, Payne formed a quartet which was active well into the '80s. Payne also recorded with Nick Brignola in '79 and formed a trio with Bill Harman and Richard Wyand in '86.
Recently, Payne began playing gigs in New York after six years in seclusion due to blindness. He reunited with friends, Quincy Jones, Ron Carter, Frank Foster, Freddie Hubbard, when he played the annual "Great Night In Harlem" Benefit Concert for the Jazz Foundation at the Apollo. After this, Cecil found time to perform in the local nursing homes in the Somerdale area, entertaining elderly patients for free.
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…
