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Downbeat

Downbeat

Downbeat is an American monthly magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond".

16 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

John Coltrane: Meditations (Impulse 9110) *

Review by William Russo, Downbeat, 1 December 1966

Personnel: Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophones; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Elvin Jones, Rashied All, drums. ...

Earth, Wind & Fire, Ramsey Lewis: Earth, Wind & Fire: Sonic Elements

Report and Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Downbeat, 19 June 1975

PHILADELPHIA IS a violent town. In the hotel where Earth, Wind and Fire are staying, an enraged woman (who has been given a passkey by ...

The Clash: Revolution Rock

Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Downbeat, December 1982

IT'S AN UGLY voice. Gruff, guttural, uncouth, barbaric at times. Joe Strummer can't sing, not like an Al Jarreau or a Joni Mitchell, anyway. Lyrics ...

Prince: Sign 'O' The Times (Paisley Park 25577-1)

Review by Gene Santoro, Downbeat, July 1987

DESPITE ALL the hyped-up mystery and intrigue that the media machine swirls around him, like smoke around a Gene Kelly dance routine, the fact is ...

Carlos Alomar, David Bowie: Carlos Alomar

Interview by Gene Santoro, Downbeat, November 1987

WE'RE SITTING in Bogie's, a neighborhood bar in Chelsea not far from Carlos Alomar's loft. The bartender is putting together a Long Island iced tea ...

John Zorn: Quick-Change Artist Makes Good

Interview by Gene Santoro, Downbeat, April 1988

"WHAT'S COMING out of this scene down here is definitely hybrid music: it's the result of people growing up through the '60s and '70s, listening ...

Danny Gatton: Of Cars, Bars and Vintage Guitars

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Downbeat, April 1991

IMAGINE THAT you're an English roots-rock guitarist — say, Dave Edmunds or Billy Bremner — and you've spent your whole life trying to look and ...

Freddie Hubbard: When Your Chops Are Shot

Interview by Fred Shuster, Downbeat, October 1995

TRUMPET GREAT Freddie Hubbard greets a visitor to his cozy split-level Hollywood Hills home with a friendly handshake that belies the worry in his eyes. ...

Love: Caught in the Act: Love Reprises Forever Changes

Live Review by Kirk Silsbee, Downbeat, September 2003

Love: Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles ...

James Brown: Caught in The Act: James Brown's Soul on Top

Live Review by Kirk Silsbee, Downbeat, December 2006

WHEN SOUL shouter James Brown released his big band album – Soul on Top – in 1970, it was received as neither fish nor fowl ...

The Bad Plus: Artfully drawn characters

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Downbeat, January 2013

The Bad Plus is often described as a jazz-rock trio, but their recent studio album, Made Possible (eOne), is the first to use electric instruments. ...

Bert Berns: Here Comes The Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm & Blues by Joel Selvin

Book Review by Kirk Silsbee, Downbeat, July 2014

AMERICAN POP MUSIC from the no-man's-land after The Day The Music Died (Buddy Holly's fatal 1959 plane crash) and before the arrival of the Beatles ...

David Sanborn: Sanborn Reimagines Night Music for the 21st Century

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Downbeat, 9 November 2018

WHEN DAVID SANBORN talks to people during tours, they often bring up Night Music (aka Sunday Night), the late-night TV show the alto saxophonist hosted from 1988 to ...

John Medeski: Mad Skillet (Indirecto)

Review by J.D. Considine, Downbeat, March 2019

For John Medeski's Mad Skillet, it's all about the bass — or in this case, the sousaphone. Because in Medeski's New Orleans funk band, it's ...

Charlie Parker: The Sound and Myth of Charlie Parker at 100

Report and Interview by J.D. Considine, Downbeat, 10 January 2020

TO SAY THAT Charlie "Yardbird" Parker was one of the greatest jazz musicians who ever lived is a bit like saying the Mona Lisa is ...

Christian McBride & Inside Straight: Live At The Village Vanguard (Mack Avenue)

Review by J.D. Considine, Downbeat, January 2022

AT THE END of a brightly swinging run through 'Fair Hope Theme,' bassist and bandleader Christian McBride tells the Village Vanguard audience, "This band was ...

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