Remembering Roy Haynes, a jazz drummer known for his unfailing good taste Haynes, who died Nov. 12, was a heavy hitter, whose limber beat could lift the bandstand. WHITEHEAD: You can often spy syncopated Afro-Cuban beats in Roy Haynes' music as on a 1959 version of "Caravan" with pianist Phineas Newborn's trio. WHITEHEAD: By the 1990s, Roy Haynes was a …
Walter Smith III sounds right at home on 'return to casual' Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised. KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Walter Smith III on "River Styx" from his album "Return To Casual," his first for …
Remembering Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophonist and visionary composer Shorter, who died March 2, was inspired by film and literature, as much as by sounds. GROSS: Jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter died on March 2 at age 89, more than 60 years since he began recording. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Shorter was an inquisitive innovator inspired by film and …
Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis and Shirley Scott heat things up in their 'Cookbook' sessions Tenor saxophonist Davis and organist Scott had one of the great jazz partnerships in the late 1950s. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and organist Shirley Scott had one of the great jazz partnerships in the late 1950s. KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: "Heat 'N …
