Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2023 i JazzTimes

It was a star-studded evening at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theatre back in March for JFA’s A Great Night in Harlem Gala. The Jazz Foundation of America, an incredible organization that serves as a lifeline to so many of our senior soldiers—musicians—in later life, honored legendary songwriters Mike Stoller, Benny Golson, The Titans of Jazz Bass, JFA founder Wendy Oxenhorn and Ramsey Lewis (posthumously). The annual event featured special hosts legendary actor and humanitarian Danny Glover, journalist Ann Curry, actor Jeffrey Wright and comedian Mario Cantone to help raise funds for JFA’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund. The fund provides housing assistance, pro bono medical care, disaster relief and emergency financial support, and helps support employment creation opportunities.…

I was on my way to perform at Nnenna Freelon’s beautiful venue, North Star Church of the Arts, in Durham, North Carolina. My husband drove me to the airport to rendezvous with my band. We were on time and happy, when we were alerted that the flights were canceled due to severe winter storms. Nothing was available until the next day. What a blow! I immediately wanted to go home and cry, but my mama and daddy taught me better than that. We parked at the airport, and my husband worked on renting a car while I dealt with the ticket counter. My performance was that evening, so a next-day flight was out of the question. Thanks to my awesome husband and my fabulous band, in an hour, I was…

STORY SYNOPSIS Laken “Lake” Mosely, a 38-year-old jazz musician from Detroit, sits in the green room of a jazz club. He scats and hums to himself while readying for a performance. He is interrupted by his manager Ivan, who tells him that it is almost time to perform. Lake ingests an unidentified pill prior to leaving the room. Lake goes on stage and performs marvelously. After the show, Ivan introduces Lake to a well-known jazz musician, Amiri Robinson, who also happens to be one of Lake’s childhood heroes. Amiri inquires about hiring Lake as a songwriter for his band. Before leaving, Ivan urges Lake to write a new song for Amiri, as this could be his big break. As Lake is leaving the club, he sees a homeless man playing…

A typical day in my life … being a performer would be the last element. My day typically starts with the most important role, that of being a wife and mom! A mom to both human and four-legged children. In our family we have two teenagers, three cats and two dogs. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, typically around 6:45-7:15 a.m., the animals sense that I’m up, and it’s game time. Rub the dogs, let them out to relieve themselves, pet and feed the cats, let the dogs back in and then I get to fix some coffee. Now, it’s time to wake my daughter for school. I then drop her off at the high school, followed by making my way to my office. I have been…

“When I started my career,” Dee Dee Bridgewater says, “thinking about wellness was not a thing.” Don’t get the award-winning vocalist wrong; she has long understood the importance of sleeping properly, drinking plenty of water, eating well and not smoking. But the concept of wellness and its ties to mental and emotional health didn’t become a conscious part of her life until fairly recently—and when it did, there was a dog involved. In 2001, Bridgewater’s stepfather died. She became so depressed that she struggled to get out of bed; it was a condition that could have derailed her professional life. Bridgewater’s mother was also depressed, having lost her husband of 33 years, and she went to a doctor who prescribed her antidepressants. She recommended that her daughter consult a doctor…