MAY 2018 VOLUME 85 / NUMBER 5 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Reviews Editor Dave Cantor Contributing Editor Ed Enright Creative Director Žaneta(cid:3)(cid:206)untová Design Assistant Markus Stuckey Assistant to the Publisher Sue Mahal Bookkeeper Evelyn Hawkins ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Kevin R. Maher 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: Down- Beat (on sale April 17, 2018) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT MAY 2018 MAY 2018 ON THE COVER ATZ Jason Moran & A K 28 DEN 46 & Alicia Hall Moran MY M JI State of the Art BY GREG TATE Jason and Alicia Hall Moran have spent years collaborating with world-renowned choreographers, filmmakers, visual artists, furniture makers, poets, scholars and, yes, fellow musicians. The happily married couple sits down with DownBeat for a lively discussion about their individual careers, their label and the oft-overlooked contributions of Black women to jazz. FEATURES 34 Shabaka Hutchings Jason Palmer will release two live albums this year. Britain’s Best Export Cover photo of Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran shot by Jimmy & Dena Katz in New York. Photos on pages 28–30 shot at The Jazz Gallery in New York on Jan. 29. Info for this venue is at jazzgallery.nyc. BY DAN OUELLETTE 40 Dafnis Prieto N ‘Exploding Imagination’ AEPE BY TED PANKEN N K 46 Jason Palmer OS L. J Learning from Everybody BY FRED BOUCHARD 85 2018 International Summer Festival Guide 55 Sylvie Courvoisier Trio 57 Matthew Shipp 60 François Moutin & 63 Bill Frisell Kavita Shah Duo SPECIAL SECTION DEPARTMENTS 67 Reed School 72 Pro Session 8 First Take Karen Souza BY BRIAN MCCARTHY Nick Fraser 68 Fostering 76 Transcription 10 Chords & Discords Professional Ian McDonald 51 Reviews Relationships Flute Solos 13 The Beat BY JEFF COFFIN 134 Jazz On Campus 78 Toolshed 22 Players 70 Master Class Nubya Garcia 138 Blindfold Test BY CALEB CHAPMAN Greg Spero Aaron Goldberg 6 DOWNBEAT MAY 2018 First Take BY BOBBY REED RS GE O R N H O J Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran discuss her album Here Today at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York on Jan. 15. Sensitive Listening Sessions A GOOD JOURNALIST IS A GREAT LISTENER. The moderated conversation with multiple The primary task of a skillful interviewer is not artists is one of DownBeat’s journalistic hall- only to ask interesting questions but also to marks. In our April issue, the cover story was shut up and listen. Many people, in numerous an enlightening conversation involving two professions, have heard some variation of this of The Bad Plus’ co-founders—bassist Reid expression: “You have two ears and only one Anderson and drummer Dave King—and the mouth, and you should use them proportion- band’s new pianist, Orrin Evans. In our March ally.” Nowadays, a lot of TV journalists fail to issue, we presented a powerful conversation heed that advice. News flash: Viewers are more between Chick Corea and Lionel Loueke. interested in the interviewee’s thoughts than The aforementioned stories involved musi- those of a bloviating, pontificating journalist. cians who are collaborators. But more intrigu- In our cover story, journalist/musician ing is the roundtable discussion involving Greg Tate demonstrates that he knows how to musicians who are peers and/or admirers. Over ask a great question and then gracefully step the years, DownBeat has showcased drum- out of the way. Tate sat down with the vocal- mers’ roundtables for two particularly mem- ist Alicia Hall Moran and the pianist Jason orable cover stories. For the November 2009 Moran—two remarkable musicians, who hap- issue, journalist Ken Micallef sat down with Jeff pen to be married. “Tain” Watts, Lewis Nash and Matt Wilson. A talented, sensitive interviewer creates an Here’s one that was even more impressive: environment in which the interviewee feels The November 1998 cover story was a con- comfortable expressing himself or herself. Tate versation with Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Louie established an environment in which Alicia Bellson and Roy Haynes. (That conversation and Jason could “go deep” and convey import- was moderated by Ed Enright, who is currently ant anecdotes about their lives, their individu- DownBeat’s contributing editor.) al artistry and their collaborative efforts with In the coming months, DownBeat will pub- their label, YES Records. lish a special conversation with two superstars As a reader (and as an editor), whenever I from different genres. For now, we’re not going read a fantastic quote from an artist, I envision to reveal the names of the musicians involved, the setting from which the quote emerged. On but rest assured, that story is going to be spec- TV, sometimes it’s a “canned quote” that the tacular. Stay tuned. artist is simply trotting out again, having said it Who would you like to see on the cover of in previous interviews. DownBeat? Tell us about any “dream” conver- But the truly transcendent quotes are sations that you’d like us to moderate. Send unique ones that emerge naturally from a con- an email to [email protected]. When it versation. We feel that’s the case with our cover comes to cool ideas for orchestrating discus- story on Alicia and Jason. sions involving jazz artists, we’re all ears. DB 8 DOWNBEAT MAY 2018 Chords Discords OS OT H P W O R NT O R N/F A GI O O RT A V K C A ©J ARTEMIS bandleader Renee Rosnes (left), Cécile McLorin Salvant, Anat Cohen, Ingrid Jensen, Noriko Ueda, Melissa Aldana and Allison Miller perform at the 92nd Street Y in New York on March 2. To read a review of the concert, visit downbeat.com. This all-star ensemble will perform at the Newport Jazz Festival on Aug. 5. Equality in Jazz jazz today.” Their comments, along with those That workplace harassment and discrimi- of moderator Suzan Jenkins, clarify that more nation against women instrumentalists is wide- effort needs to be made “for change when it spread in jazz is a given. I applaud DownBeat comes to women, equality and jazz.” for publishing the panel discussion “Seeking Gratifyingly, DownBeat has in recent years Equity” and the First Take essay “Bandstand been emphasizing the contributions of women Equality” in the March issue. Both of these piec- instrumentalists. However, the magazine’s ed- es highlight the ongoing and shameful gender itorial masthead remains top-heavy with men. bias against women in both jazz education and Also, in the August 2017 issue, it appears that on the bandstand. among the 155 critics who voted in the Critics The individuals who participated in the Poll, a mere 10 were women. Clearly, DownBeat panel discussion—saxophonist Tia Fuller, trum- needs to get busy recruiting more female jour- peter Ingrid Jensen, pianist Shamie Royston, nalists and critics. bassist Linda May Han Oh and vocalist Sunny W. ROYAL STOKES Sumter—are, indeed, “five of the top artists in ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA Mighty Horn The venue Chan’s, located in Woonsock- In the Chords & Discords section of the et (chanseggrollsandjazz.com), certainly de- April issue, Stephan Braese’s letter points serves to be on your list. Chan’s is just one of out that Jazzmeia Horn’s appearance in Or- many Rhode Island jazz venues. vieto at the Umbria Winter Jazz Festival in JOHN A. MURPHY late December was not her European debut JAMESTOWN, RHODE ISLAND (as was indicated in a review in your March issue). Braese is correct: Jazzmeia performed Corrections elsewhere in Europe prior to Umbria. Down- Beat’s reviewer might have assumed that (cid:31) Trombonist-composer Steve Turre contact- Orvieto marked Horn’s European debut be- ed DownBeat regarding the Transcription cause of information in our festival program article in the April issue’s Woodshed section. and concert notes, which had already been Due to a transposing error, Turre’s trombone printed prior to her short tour in November. solo is written an octave lower than what In any case, due to the importance of was played on the title track to his 1995 al- and crowd size at Umbria Jazz, Horn’s per- bum Rhythm Within. Additionally, the tran- formance in Orvieto could be considered her scription contains some incorrect notes and real “first big gig” in Europe. rhythms. DownBeat will post a corrected I am sure that her incomparable talent version online. will lead her to many other big performances (cid:31) In the Reviews section of our April issue, all over the world in the years to come. the review of Andrew Distel’s It Only Takes ENZO CAPUA, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE OF UMBRIA JAZZ FESTIVAL Time misspelled the name of bassist Carlos NEW YORK CITY Henriquez. On the album’s track “Into Each Life,” the drummer is George Fludas. No Respect? (cid:31) In the print edition of our April issue, the feature on Walter Smith III should have in- We Rhode Islanders know our state is dicated that his new album, Twio, is being small in size, but why must we regularly be distributed by Whirlwind Recordings. left to play the Rodney Dangerfield role? How can a state that for 63 years has hosted DOWNBEAT REGRETS THE ERRORS. the Newport Jazz Festival not have one jazz venue worthy of being mentioned in Down- Have a Chord or Discord? Email us at [email protected] Beat’s 2018 International Jazz Venue Guide? or find us on Facebook & Twitter. 10 DOWNBEAT MAY 2018