25 CITIES Where Jazz THRIVES
>> Profiles of 25 CITIES Where Jazz THRIVES FEBRUARY 2019 DOWNBEAT 43 Jon Batiste performs at the 2017 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. (Photo: Erika Goldring) Houston native James Francies, seen here at the 2016 Winter Jazzfest in New York City, is signed to the label Blue Note, which released his debut, Flight, on Oct. 18. STEVEN SUSSMAN NYC: STILL THE CAPITAL During the past century, three cities— Cotton Club; the legendary Carnegie Hall con- Coltrane runs the ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, New Orleans, Chicago and New York— certs of Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington; said that living in the metropolis created open- played leading roles in the development Bird, Dizzy and Miles on 52nd Street in the ings for him that he just wouldn’t have had else- of jazz. In the 21st century, however, 1940s and 1950s; the legendary live recordings of where. “When I was younger, I would play any- New York reigns as the world’s undis- Thelonious Monk at the Five Spot. time, anyplace, whoever called. Each of those puted jazz capital, an essential place for The 52nd Street jazz scene is just a memory things, in almost every case, led to something jazz musicians to make their bones. As now, but today’s New York still boasts the leg- else; that led to something else; that led to the singer and Chicago native Kurt Elling endary Village Vanguard and a dozen other thing on the big stage that paid lots of money. recently told DownBeat, “If you’re a jazz clubs in Greenwich Village, including The Blue And they tend to emanate from these little musician, you
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