4 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2017
DECEMBER 2017VOLUME 84 / NUMBER 12
President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer
Editor Bobby Reed
Managing Editor Brian Zimmerman
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Senior Contributors:Michael Bourne, Aaron Cohen, Howard Mandel, John McDonoughAtlanta: Jon Ross; Austin: Kevin Whitehead; Boston: Fred Bouchard, Frank-John Hadley; Chicago: John Corbett, Alain Drouot, Michael Jackson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Mitch Myers, Paul Natkin, Howard Reich; Denver: Norman Provizer; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Iowa: Will Smith; Los Angeles: Earl Gibson, Todd Jenkins, Kirk Silsbee, Chris Walker, Joe Woodard; Michigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Robin James; Nashville: Bob Doerschuk; New Orleans: Erika Goldring, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell; New York: Alan Bergman, Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Ira Gitler, Eugene Gologursky, Norm Harris, D.D. Jackson, Jimmy Katz, Jim Macnie, Ken Micallef, Dan Ouellette, Ted Panken, Richard Seidel, Tom Staudter, Jack Vartoogian, Michael Weintrob; North Carolina: Robin Tolleson; Philadelphia: David Adler, Shaun Brady, Eric Fine; San Francisco: Mars Breslow, Forrest Bryant, Clayton Call, Yoshi Kato; Seattle: Paul de Barros; Tampa Bay: Philip Booth; Washington, D.C.: Willard Jenkins, John Murph, Michael Wilderman; Canada: Greg Buium, James Hale, Diane Moon; Denmark: Jan Persson; France: Jean Szlamowicz; Germany: Detlev Schilke, Hyou Vielz; Great Britain: Brian Priestley; Japan: Kiyoshi Koyama; Portugal: Antonio Rubio; Romania: Virgil Mihaiu; Russia: Cyril Moshkow; South Africa: Don Albert.
Jack Maher, President 1970-2003John Maher, President 1950-1969
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6 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2017
82 Mitchell & Madhubuti72 Tom Harrell 77 Geof Bradfield68 Solal & Liebman
8 First Take
10 Chords & Discords
13 The Beat
26 Players Django Bates Alex Han
32 Wynton MarsalisBuilding the CathedralBY ALLEN MORRISON
Wynton Marsalis enters the Hall of Fame and tops the Trumpet category in this years Readers Poll. DownBeat sits down with the icon to discuss his music and his work as a composer, educator and arts advocate, as well as his role as the managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
54
FEATURES
ON THE COVER
DEPARTMENTS
Taj Mahal (left, seated) and Keb Mo perform at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, Illinois, on Sept. 7. Their collaborative album, TajMo, topped the Blues Album category in the Readers Poll.
Cover photo of Wynton Marsalis shot by Jimmy & Dena Katz at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan on Sept. 15.
DECEMBER 2017
SPECIAL SECTION
38 Chick CoreaJazz Artist of the Year BY TED PANKEN
40 Top Jazz Albums 42 Top Historical Albums
44 Diana Krall Jazz Album of the Year
Female Vocalist BY J.D. CONSIDINE
46 Snarky Puppy Jazz Group of the Year BY PHILLIP LUTZ
50 Christian McBride Laura Ainsworth Charles Rumback
65 Reviews
102 Master Class BY JOHN VANORE
104 Pro Session BY SARAH PARTRIDGE
106 Transcription Kurt Rosenwinkel
Guitar Solo
108 Toolshed
110 Jazz On Campus
114 Blindfold TestAmbrose Akinmusire
85 Holiday Gift Guide
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Bassist of the Year BY KEN MICALLEF
54 Taj Mahal & Keb Mo Blues Album of the Year BY JEFF JOHNSON 58 Complete Poll Results
82READERS POLL
1934 - 2017
5-Star R
eview
8 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2017
Nurturing Family TiesEVERYONE IN THE JAZZ WORLD KNEW IT would happen one day, and now it has: Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has been inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Wynton, who is the subject of our cover story on page 32. He also topped the Trumpet category in the Readers Poll, add-ing to his extensive list of honors.
He, of course, is not the only famous Marsalis. In 2011, five members of the family were named NEA Jazz Masters: Ellis, a pianist and jazz educator, and his sons Branford (tenor saxophone), Wynton, Delfeayo (trombone) and Jason (drums and vibraphone).
Wynton has become so famous as a cultur-al figure that even people who dont regularly listen to jazz know who he is. And those folks may not realize what a tremendous musician he is. In that regard, his fame makes him some-what similar to Angelina Jolie: Nowadays many people think of her first and foremost as an advocate for humanitarian causes, rather than a supremely gifted, Oscar-winning actor.
Wyntons skills as a trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra are not something Americans should take for granted. There is a danger that the luminosity of his fame could distract people from the magnitude of his talent.
That talent was nurtured in a family of musicians. Had he been born into, say, a fam-ily of farmers or physicians, he might not be an award-winning trumpeter today. But as a young man, the headstrong Wynton was deter-mined to not allow family ties to interfere with the quality of his music.
For DownBeats December 1982 cover story, Branford and Wynton were interviewed by A. James Liska. At the time, Branford was 22 and Wynton was 21, and they were bandmates in the trumpeters quintet.
Liska asked the siblings why they worked so well together. Branford replied, Its simple: Hes the leader.
Wynton responded: Everybody thinks its hard because hes my older brother. If we werent brothersif he was just another catnobodyd think anything of it. People are always going to try to put us together as brothers, and I dont want that. I tell people all the time that the rea-son Branfords in my band is because I cant find anybody that plays better than him.
Nowadays, Wynton and Branford are both revered as bandleadersas are Delfeayo and Jason. (Branfords album Upward Spiral, recorded with his quartet and guest vocalist Kurt Elling, placed No. 2 in the Jazz Album cat-egory in this years Readers Poll. See page 40.)
Thirty-five years after that DownBeat inter-view was published, my guess is that Wynton and Branford probably respect each other more now than they ever have.
There are many kinds of families. Some are united by bloodlines. Others are united by pro-fession. I would be remiss to not mention an important change here in the DownBeat fam-ily. This issue marks the last one for our man-aging editor, Brian Zimmerman. We deep-ly appreciate all the hard work Brian has done since joining our staff in 2014. Well miss him as a staffer, but we hope to see his byline in the magazine for years to come. DB
First Take BY BOBBY REED
Branford Marsalis (left) with his brothers Wynton and Delfeayo at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis on March 29, 2014
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rating, you should include the albums release date. With CD sales down from what they used to be, adding the release date in DownBeat would be a way to help fans purchase the al-bum and therefore support the artist.
GABOR KRISTOF [email protected]
Prime VocalistHarry Prime, one of the best big band sing-
ers, passed away June 15 at age 97. Harry sang with the orchestras of Randy Brooks, Jack Fina, Tommy Dorsey and Ralph Flanagan.
His biggest hit was with the Dorsey band: Until was a million seller, but many record-ings with Flanagan showcased a top-quality voice with impeccable phrasing. Harry belongs right up there with Frank Sinatra,
