Jewly Hight for NPR – On her sixth album, Grace, Lizz Wright translates with phenomenal fluency between inner awareness and outward demonstration, individual seeking and conscious communion, ecstasy and empathy. The achievement’s all the more remarkable when you consider that this 10-song…
Giovanni Russonello for THE NEW YORK TIMES – The sensual and the spiritual have always been at play in the vocalist Lizz Wright’s music. On her new album, Grace, she adds to the scrum, mixing the sanctified with the political, the…
Gail Mitchell for BILLBOARD – Grammy and Tony Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater returns home to Memphis for her latest album Memphis … Yes, I’m Ready. The jazz icon exclusively premieres one of the album’s tracks, the Staple Singers’ “Why? (Am I Treated So…
Suzanne Cadgène for ELMORE MAGAZINE – There aren’t many groups that could cut into a precious four-day weekend, but Dustbowl Revival makes the short list. Though there’s only one female member in this octet, nevertheless, our audience had wine,…
Nate Chinen for NPR – Denise Eileen Garrett was only 3 years old when her family moved to Flint, Mich., from Memphis, Tenn. This was long before she became Dee Dee Bridgewater, jazz-vocal superhero — to say nothing of a mother,…
The DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll announced their winners for 2017 and TKA is proud to recognize a number of our artists on their list. Check out our winners below! 65th ANNUAL DOWNBEAT CRITICS POLL WINNERS Jazz Group: Charles Lloyd & The Marvels Tenor Saxophone: Charles…
June 27, 2017 The Recording Academy® will honor its 2017 Special Merit Awards recipients with an awards ceremony and live tribute concert on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award…
Sam D’Arcanegelo for OFF BEAT MAGAZINE – The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) a grant to commission banjoist and composer Béla Fleck to write a composition for the New Orleans tricentennial. The $15,000…
Nate Chinen for 88.3 WBGO – Saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd has led some rather spectacular bands over the years — from his heralded late-1960s quartet to the Marvels, his current group with guitarist Bill Frisell. Passin’ Thru, due out…
Suraya Mohamed for NPR MUSIC – Yes, Ravi Coltrane is the son of the John Coltrane, one of the most famous and important jazz saxophonists and composers of all time. He’s also the son of multi-instrumentalist, composer and spiritual leader…