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DECEMBER 2015 U.K. £3.50 DOWNBEAT.COM DECEMBER 2015 VOLUME 82 / NUMBER 12 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Associate Editor Brian Zimmerman Contributing Editor Ed Enright Art Director LoriAnne Nelson Contributing Designer ĺDQHWDÎXQWRY£ Circulation Manager Kevin R. Maher Assistant to the Publisher Sue Mahal Bookkeeper Evelyn Oakes Bookkeeper Emeritus Margaret Stevens Editorial Assistant Baxter Barrowcliff 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] Classified Advertising Sales Sam Horn 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. Haven Road, Elmhurst, IL 60126–2970 630-941-2030 / Fax: 630-941-3210 http://downbeat.com [email protected] CUSTOMER SERVICE 877-904-5299 / [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Senior Contributors: Michael Bourne, Aaron Cohen, Howard Mandel, John McDonough Atlanta: Jon Ross; Austin: Kevin Whitehead; Boston: Fred Bouchard, Frank- John Hadley; Chicago: John Corbett, Alain Drouot, Michael Jackson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Mitch Myers, Paul Natkin, Howard Reich; Denver: Norman Provizer; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Iowa: Will Smith; Los Angeles: Earl Gibson, Todd Jenkins, Kirk Silsbee, Chris Walker, Joe Woodard; Michigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Robin James; Nashville: Bob Doerschuk; New Orleans: Erika Goldring, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell; New York: Alan Bergman, Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Ira Gitler, Eugene Gologursky, Norm Harris, D.D. Jackson, Jimmy Katz, Jim Macnie, Ken Micallef, Dan Ouellette, Ted Panken, Richard Seidel, Tom Staudter, Jack Vartoogian, Michael Weintrob; North Carolina: Robin Tolleson; Philadelphia: David Adler, Shaun Brady, Eric Fine; San Francisco: Mars Breslow, Forrest Bryant, Clayton Call, Yoshi Kato; Seattle: Paul de Barros; Tampa Bay: Philip Booth; Washington, D.C.: Willard Jenkins, John Murph, Michael Wilderman; Belgium: Jos Knaepen; Canada: Greg Buium, James Hale, Diane Moon; Denmark: Jan Persson; France: Jean Szlamowicz; Germany: Detlev Schilke, Hyou Vielz; Great Britain: Brian Priestley; Japan: Kiyoshi Koyama; Portugal: Antonio Rubio; Romania: Virgil Mihaiu; Russia: Cyril Moshkow; South Africa: Don Albert. Jack Maher, President 1970-2003 John Maher, President 1950-1969 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Send orders and address changes to: DOWNBEAT, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. Inquiries: U.S.A. and Canada (877) 904-5299; Foreign (651) 251-9682. 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Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale November 17, 2015) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2015 DECEMBER 2015 ON THE COVER 28 Tony Bennett ‘Play for the Moment’ BY MICHAEL BOURNE The 18-time Grammy winner enters the DownBeat Hall of Fame and is named Male Vocalist of the Year in our 80th Annual Readers Poll. FEATURES 28 36 Chick Corea The musicians on DownBeat Hall of Famer Tony Bennett's new album are Kenny Washington (left), Peter Washington, Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes. KELSEY BENNETT Jazz Artist of the Year, Jazz Album of the Year Cover photo of Tony Bennett shot by Jimmy & Dena Katz in New York City BY DAN OUELLETTE 40 Top Jazz Albums 5-Star Review 5-Star Review 42 Top Historical Albums +++++ +++++ 44 Snarky Puppy Jazz Group of the Year BY JOSEF WOODARD 46 Hubert Laws 66 Tony Bennett/Bill Charlap 66 Tom Harrell 70 Chick Corea/Béla Fleck 74 Gary Clark Jr. Flutist of the Year BY TED PANKEN DEPARTMENTS 50 Frank Sinatra The Greatest Singer Ever 8 First Take 63 Reviews 114 Blindfold Test BY JOHN MCDONOUGH Pete Escovedo 10 Chords & Discords 102 Master Class & Sheila E. 56 Complete Readers BY FRANK CARUSO 13 The Beat Sheila E. and Pete Escovedo 104 Transcription Poll Results 22 Players Oz Noy Guitar Solo Liberty Ellman Robin Eubanks 106 Toolshed SPECIAL SECTION Scott Amendola 110 Jazz On Michael Bisio 85 Holiday Gift Guide Campus ©2015 MJF/CRAIG LOVELL 6 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2015 First Take BY BOBBY REED Two Friends United Forever FRANK SINATRA WAS TONY BENNETT'S BEST FRIEND. The two are forever linked. It is a beautiful bit of kismet that this issue, which welcomes Tony Bennett into the DownBeat Hall of Fame, also celebrates the centennial of Francis Albert Sinatra ( born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Dec. 12, 1915). Sinatra was elected into Frank Sinatra at the Chicago Theatre, March 19, 1988 the Hall of Fame via the 1998 DownBeat Readers Poll. He had died earlier that year, on May 14, so he wasn’t around to relish the honor. But that’s not the case for the still youthful, 89-year-old Bennett. He enters the Hall of Fame during a year in which he has wowed audiences on tour and released a brilliant album with Bill Charlap, The Silver Lining, which is the subject of a 5-star review on page 66. Bennett also topped the Male Vocalist category in this year's Readers Poll, a validation that he remains an active, thoughtful musician with plenty to say. The numerous connec- tions between Sinatra and ©PAUL NATKIN/PHOTO RESERVE Bennett are well-known to fans. Both singers mined musical gold from the Great American Songbook. Both remained elite perform- ers for several decades. Both enjoyed late-career commercial success with duet albums recorded with younger, high-profile collaborators. Not coincidentally, the two singers deeply admired each another. In a cover story for the April 23, 1965, issue of Life magazine, Sinatra said, “For my money Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. … [He] gets across what the composer had in mind, and probably a little more.” Bennett has continuously shown his respect to Sinatra, who aided him early in his career (as he tells journalist Michael Bourne in our fascinating cover story). In 1992, Bennett released the Sinatra tribute album Perfectly Frank. In the years since Sinatra passed, Bennett has done much to keep the flame burning. His most important tribute was founding the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a public high school in Queens. Sinatra and Bennett are also intertwined because they recorded some of the same tunes. Sinatra cut a classic, swingin’ version of the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields song “The Way You Look Tonight” on Jan. 27, 1964, working with arrang- er Nelson Riddle. If you want to hear an example of how Bennett’s artistry has deepened but remained fully intact, check out the version of “The Way You Look Tonight” that appears on The Silver Lining. Accompanied only by Charlap, Ben- nett offers a slow, nuanced, intimate rendition for the ages. When he gets to the line about “that laugh that wrinkles your nose,” he inserts a subtle chuckle in his delivery. Classic. Bennett has given us another jewel to add to the huge pile of treasures he has given us for more than 60 years. Bennett perpetually returns to the Great American Songbook because he believes those are the best songs ever composed. In the interview with Bourne, Bennett explains how his mother’s work ethnic has influenced his choice of ma- terial: “I decided I would never do an unintelligent song just to get a hit record. I would always do quality. That’s what my mother taught me.” As Bennett enters the DownBeat Hall of Fame, his mother is smiling down from above, beaming with pride. She's happy. She's probably sharing a joke or two with Sinatra. DB Chords Discords Glorious Enrichment Bravo for John Ephland’s heartfelt, bursting-with-Bobness piece on the late Bob Belden (“A Jazz Raconteur’s Parting Words,” October). “I wanna know what it really feels like when you get possessed with this music,” says this beautiful man, who should have lived and created until he was 108. After the first paragraph, I stopped to put on Mr. Belden’s ex- travagantly creative album Black Dahlia (Blue Note, 2001). Do yourselves a favor: Get a copy of this or any (or all!) of Mr. Belden’s albums today. Enrich your lives the way this good man enriched our music for so many years. MICK CARLON Bob Belden JAMES HASTINGS/DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES CENTERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS Swaying Schneider Less Free-Jazz, Please I enjoyed the recent article on Maria Schneider I’ve been a DownBeat subscriber since the very much (“Natural Wonder,” August). She 1970s. I have to say that I notice a distinct bias gets high ratings every year in the DownBeat with your reviewers toward free-jazz. If a review polls for the categories Composer and Arrang- gets 4½ or 5 stars it’s almost certain to be some er. I would like to add another aspect of her kind of free-jazz release. Wind instruments “natural wonders”: The way she communicates that squeak, squawk, shriek and bark or piano with the members of her orchestra is fantastic. playing that sounds like the removalists have A few years ago, I had the privilege of sit- dropped the instrument down a long flight of ting up close during her concert at the North stairs is not my idea of music.