JULY 2015 2015 JULY U.K. £4.00 DOWNBEAT.COM DOWNBEAT ANTONIO SANCHEZ • KIRK WHALUM • JOHN PATITUCCI • HAROLD MABERN JULY 2015 JULY 2015 VOLUME 82 / NUMBER 7 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 Stephen Hall 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 Pete Fenech 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. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please allow six weeks for your change to become effective. When notifying us of your new address, include current DOWN- BEAT label showing old address. DOWNBEAT (issn 0012-5768) Volume 82, Number 7 is published monthly by Maher Publications, 102 N. Haven, Elmhurst, IL 60126-2970. Copyright 2015 Maher Publica- tions. All rights reserved. Trademark registered U.S. Patent Office. Great Britain regis- tered trademark No. 719.407. Periodicals postage paid at Elmhurst, IL and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates: $34.95 for one year, $59.95 for two years. Foreign subscriptions rates: $56.95 for one year, $103.95 for two years. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from publisher. MAHER PUBLICATIONS: DOWNBEAT magazine, MUSIC INC. maga- zine, UpBeat Daily. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: DownBeat, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale June 16, 2015) Magazine Publishers Association. Á JULY 2015 Kenneth Whalum III (left), Kirk Whalum and Rick Braun at a show ON THE COVER filmed for release as the DVD The Gospel According To Jazz, Chapter IV 24 Antonio Sanchez Flying High BY KEN MICALLEF Sanchez’s original drum score for the film Birdman has been praised around the world, and it inspired two new albums that have elevated him as a composer and bandleader. 36 FEATURES COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN CULTURAL CENTER, BROOKLYN, NY Cover photo of Antonio Sanchez shot by Jimmy and Dena Katz at the Blue Note Jazz Club 30 Harold Mabern in New York City on April 2. Info for this venue is at bluenotejazz.com. ‘A Million Dollars’ Worth of Experience’ BY TED PANKEN 36 Kirk Whalum Higher Goal BY BOB DOERSCHUK 40 John Patitucci Home Turf 48 Robert Glasper 51 Oded Lev-Ari 55 Kirk Knuffke 63 Van Morrison BY PHILLIP LUTZ DEPARTMENTS SPECIAL SECTION 67 Guitar School 8 First Take 20 Players 68 The Nylon Crossover Guitar 10 Chords & Kamasi Washington 76 Master Class Discords Petros Klampanis BY MARK WADE Charenee Wade 13 The Beat John Raymond 78 Pro Session BY ISAAC DARCHE 45 Reviews 80 Transcription 86 Jazz On Tony Levin Campus Electric Cello Solo 90 Blindfold Test Ben Wolfe 82 Toolshed 6 DOWNBEAT JULY 2015 First Take BY FRANK ALKYER B.B. King plays the blues in Rosemont, Illinois, on June 21, 1980 PAUL NATKIN/PHOTO RESERVE, INC. Memories of the King MY LIFE WAS SAVED BY MUSIC. MY FATHER DIED JUST BEFORE I HIT MY teenage years, and my body was filled with anger, angst, rebellion and a bunch of other feelings that I couldn’t begin to explain. I could have turned very destructive, and sometimes did. But the Christmas after he passed, my mother gave me an old General Electric AM/FM radio. And that device, as primitive as it sounds today, took me away from that personal teenage wasteland. I lived to listen to that radio, specifically to WMMS out of Cleveland, Ohio, because there were people singing and playing what I was feeling. It was a rock station, for sure. But it also played jazz and blues and soul. That station and that music introduced me to people and places I could only dream about from my family’s little farm out in the sticks. That station and that radio introduced me to the music of B.B. King. Late one night, I was looking at the ceiling when all of a sudden violins sang from the three-inch speaker. A Gibson guitar told a story that needed no words. But when the words came in, they came from a voice so true, so pure, that it seemed to bleed about heartache and loss: “The thrill is gone, the thrill is gone away/ The thrill is gone, baby, the thrill is gone away/ You know you’ve done me wrong, baby, and you’ll be sorry some day.” Like it did for so many of us, that song began a lifelong love for the music of B.B. King. Or maybe, for you, it was “Three O’Clock Blues,” if you caught onto B.B. very early. Or maybe it was the classic album B.B. King: Live In Cook County Jail, or the tune “Riding With The King” with Eric Clapton, or “When Love Comes To Town” with U2—or any other stop along his long musical journey. His was an amazing life that included induction into the DownBeat Hall of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. On the morning of May 15, 2015, I woke up to a clock radio and a DJ saying Mr. King had gone away. He had passed the night before in Las Vegas at the age of 89. On the one hand, we all knew it was coming. His health had been failing and media outlets had reported that he was in home hospice care. On the other hand, it seemed surreal. B.B. King is bigger than life. This is a moment that brings a smile and a tear. Riley B. King lived like few others ever have. He toured the world. He owned a chain of blues clubs. There’s a museum in Indianoloa, Mississippi, that bears his name. He entertained kings and inmates for more than seven decades. People wrote books about him and made films about him. Even so, he remained a humble bluesman from Mississippi who loved life and his guitar, affectionately known as Lucille. With that guitar, he created a sound you could identify in three notes or less. And if you want to know where he got it, here’s what he said in an interview in DownBeat in the July 27, 1967, issue: “Well, my favorite guitarists would be three or four guys. Djan- go Reinhardt, for instance, was one. Charlie Christian, Elmore James and T-Bone Walker. These are the four guys, I guess, [who] combined to make B.B. King.” Goodbye, Mr. King. And thank you. DownBeat will present a tribute to King in the August issue. DB Chords Discords Monheit’s Intelligent Critique This letter concerns the Blind- fold Test with vocalist Jane Jane Monheit Monheit in your May issue. How refreshing it was to read a Blindfold Test where the person being blindfold- ed actually talked about the music and what she liked or didn’t like about it, instead of trying to guess who was playing. The reader of the Blind- fold Test knows who the artist for each track is. There- fore, when most of the com- ments consist of the person guessing who is playing, DownBeat is wasting every- MATTHEW HOLLER one’s time. I want to know what one professional thinks about another performance without knowing who the other profes- sional is. This is a professional discourse—not a quiz. Thank you, Jane, for realizing that. JOHN BENSON EVANSTON, ILLINOIS Keep Jazz in Jazz Fests Jazz in Austria I’m a jazz fan, and it seems to me that when I’m from Austria and I was just browsing it comes to jazz festivals, there are fewer and through the International Jazz Venue Guide in fewer actual jazz performances. Other genres your February issue.