ON THE COVER

• p 22 : Jacob Collier
  Technicolor World - Boundless Fire
  By Tina Edwards
  Jacob Collier has been described by fans and the press on countless occasions as a “genius” and a “musical prodigy,” and such praise is backed up by his chosen “godfathers” Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock as well as Hans Zimmer and Chris Martin of Coldplay. Such descriptors don’t appear to faze the London-born musician, who is the irst Brit to win a Grammy for each of his first four albums — six Grammys in total.
  Jacob Collier started to build his fanbase back in 2011 when he began sharing intoxicating arrangements to popular songs on YouTube. One of those fans was Quincy Jones, who in 2015 flew to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London to watch Collier’s solo show. Jones began managing him soon afterward. The rest, as they say, is history … but not quite. Just turning 30 — with five studio albums and four world tours under his technicolored belt — the multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and educator is just getting started.

FEATURES

• p 30 : Meshell Ndegeocello
  Preaches the Gospel
  By John Murph
  It was less a matter of “if” and more of “when.” Meshell Ndegeocello’s transfixing new album, No More Water : The Gospel Of James Baldwin (Blue Note), seems an inevitability when one considers her career trajectory.
• p 36 : Cecil Taylor
  The Final Years
  By Philip Freeman
  The Kyoto Prize is not as well-known as the Guggenheim fellowship, or the MacArthur grant, both of which pianist, composer and musical seeker Cecil Taylor received during his lifetime. But it is more exclusive — only three, or, at most, four people in the fields of science, philosophy and the arts receive it each year. What happened when pianist Cecil Taylor received it is a tale of woe.

SPECIAL SECTION :
KEYBOARD SCHOOL

• p 54 : Master Class : Approach to [Jazz] Composition
  By Yelena Eckemoff
• p 56 : Pro Session : Phineas Newborn Jr.’s Left-Hand Technique
  By Kerry Politzer
• p 60 : Transcription : Warren Wolf’s Vibraphone Improvisation Solo on ’For Ma’
  By Jimi Durso
• p 62 : Toolshed
  – Kawai CA901
  – Upright Digital Piano
  By Ed Enright
• p 63 : Gear Box

DEPARTMENTS

• p 8 : First Take
• p 10 : Chords & Discords
• p 13 : The Beat
  • p 13 : Norma Winstone & Kit Downes
  • p 16 : NatJim : Natsuki Tamura & Jim Black
  • p 18 : Meg Okura
  • p 19 : Remembering Jim Rotondi
  • p 20 : Nonesuch Records at 60
• p 41 : Reviews
• p 43 : The Hot Box
  – Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding
  – Orrin Evans Captain Black Big Band
  – Wayne Shorter
  – Michael Dease
• p 46 : Historical
  – The Moody Story : James Moody Septet 1951–1955
  – Louis Moholo
  – Louis Armstrong
• p 48 : Blues
  – Giles Robson
  – Eden Brent
  – Keef Hartley Band
  – True Blues Brothers
  – John Lee Hooker
  – Lightnin’ Hopkins
• p 52 : Drums
  – Nasheet Waits
  – Jeff ’Tain’ Watts
  – Robby Ameen
  – Bob Holz
  – Wolfgang Haffner
• p 65 : Jazz on Campus : UArts Closes Down
• p 66 : Blindfold Test : John Clayton & Rufus Reid, Part II
  By Frank Alkyer
  We ran Part I of this fantastic double Blindfold Test in the July issue. The live test was administered at the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers Symposium held in Nashville back in May, with an interesting twist : Instead of bassist-composers Rufus Reid and John Clayton being “tested” by a journalist, they chose songs for each other — both quite enjoying the opportunity to tease, trick and bend each other’s minds. Before heading into the second half of the “test,” which picks up right where we left off at the end of Part I, Reid told the audience about his work as a mentor for the Bridges Composition Competition at Ravinia in Illinois, which, as an incubator for jazz-classical fusion, gives young composers an opportunity to write for jazz trio and string quartet.
  – Cecil McBee : “Tight Squeeze” from Unspoken (Palmetto, 1997)
  – Quincy Jones : “Hummin’” from Gula Matari (A&M, 1970)
  – Dwike Mitchell/Willie Ruff : “Gypsy In My Soul” from Strayhorn : A Mitchell-Ruff Interpretation (Mainstream ; 50th anniversary reissue/Kepler, 1969)
  – Hubert Laws : “Morning Star” from Morning Star (CTI, 1972)
  – Oliver Jones : “I Love You” from Northern Summit (Justin Time, 1990)
  – Maria Schneider : “Don’t Be Evil” from Data Lords (ArtistShare 2020 )