Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter died on March 2nd at the age of 89. Shorter penned some of the most studied and performed jazz standards and created a foundational language for both tenor and soprano saxophones. Shorter started his career as a composer for Art Blakely’s Jazz Messengers in the 1950s.Continue Reading
Nite Bjuti’s “Illustrious Negro Dead” is an urgent request to preserve storied Black legacies and is the second single from their debut album. The trio was inspired by Zora Neale Hurston’s 1945 letter written to preeminent Black intellectual W.E.B. DuBois suggesting he create a cemetery to honor all Negro celebrities.Continue Reading
Candice Hoyes, Val Jeanty and Mimi Jones are Nite Bjuti. They are an Afro-Caribbean Brooklyn-based trio having chosen their name from Haitian folklore called “Night Beauty” about a girl who sings for justice in the afterlife. Their debut in 2018 at Jazz at Lincoln Center to celebrate International Women’s DayContinue Reading
Fletcher Henderson recorded Jelly Roll Morton’s “King Porter Stomp” multiple times with his orchestra starting in 1925. Morton introduced the song with his inaugural 1923 recording but the popularity of Henderson’s version led the way to it becoming a jazz standard. Henderson was a known bandleader who had been pioneeringContinue Reading