NOVEMBER 2020 U.K. £4.99 DOWNBEAT.COM november 2020 VOLUME 87 / NUMBER 11 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Reviews Editor Dave Cantor Contributing Editor Ed Enright Creative Director ŽanetaÎuntová Design Assistant Will Dutton Assistant to the Publisher Sue Mahal Bookkeeper Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile Vice President of Sales 630-359-9345 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney Vice President of Sales 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Grace Blackford 630-359-9358 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: DownBeat, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale October 27, 2020) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2020 NOVEMBER 2020 20 Veronica Swift LAUREN DESBERG 39 Overnight Veteran BY SUZANNE LORGE Singer-songwriter Veronica Swift has been touring since age 9. Now, at 26, she’s a music biz veteran in pursuit of a variety of artistic disciplines. DownBeat catches up with the bandleader to discuss her career and her forthcoming album, This Bitter Earth. Our feature on Swift is followed by two dozen artist profiles that are part of our cover package, “25 For The Future.” Vibraphonist Joel Ross, who’s among the “25 For The Future,” is set to release his sophomore leader date Oct. 23. 26 Shabaka Hutchings Cover photo of Veronica Swift shot by Bill Westmoreland. Jazzmeia Horn Christian Sands Camila Meza Nubya Garcia Nduduzo Makhathini Makaya McCraven Lakecia Benjamin Junius Paul Morgan Guerin Yazz Ahmed 44 Dafnis Prieto 45 Junk Magic 47 Tom Guarna 49 Steph Richards James Francies Kuba Wiecek DEPARTMENTS Fabian Almazan RECORDING SCHOOL Theo Croker 8 First Take 52 Asynchronous Recording Jimmy Macbride Platforms BY KEITH BAUMANN Camille Thurman 10 Chords & Discords Alfredo Rodríguez 13 The Beat 54 Home Studio Gear Basics Hedvig Mollestad BY ED ENRIGHT Adam O’Farrill 41 Reviews 56 Toolshed Tomeka Reid 58 Jazz On Campus Luke Stewart Yussef Dayes 62 Blindfold Test Joel Ross Noah Preminger 6 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2020 First Take BY BOBBY REED CLARA PEREIRA Fabian Almazan, one of DownBeat’s “25 For The Future,” is profiled on page 32. Revisiting a Futuristic Vision A GREAT IDEA SOMETIMES BEARS don’t make much of a difference to your career repeating. Longtime readers will recall that arc (or your bank account) unless fans are moti- the June 1999 issue of DownBeat had a cover vated to spend money to listen to your music package titled “25 For The Future,” focusing on and see you perform. young artists who seemed to have the potential Prior to the pandemic, the DownBeat staff to build significant careers in jazz. More than already had planned to present the third install- two decades later, we recognize the wisdom of ment of “25 For The Future” as the cover pack- the decision to shine a spotlight on musicians age of this issue. When the coronavirus hit the such as pianist Brad Mehldau, violinist Regina United States in the spring, we considered, very Carter, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, vibraphon- briefly, the idea of pushing this article to 2021, a ist Stefon Harris, bassist Larry Grenadier and time when we hope that jazz musicians will be drummer Matt Wilson. back on the road in full force. But we decided to In our July 2016 issue, we had another cover forge ahead with this feature. Part of the reason package titled “25 For The Future.” As was the is because we know how difficult it is for young case in 1999, the goal was not so much to pre- musicians to maintain career momentum at a dict who would become a chart-topper, but to time when they cannot tour or conduct in-per- metaphorically declare, “Here are 25 musicians son workshops. whose artistry has provided evidence that they Avid jazz fans certainly will be able to con- have original voices—and just as significantly, nect the dots between the artists in our July they have something important to say.” 2016 issue and the ones in this issue. Stefon That 2016 batch included saxophonists Harris, for example, has been a mentor to vibra- Kamasi Washington and Melissa Aldana, pia- phone phenom Joel Ross (see page 39). When nists Gerald Clayton and Kris Davis, guitar- he recorded his 2019 album Love Tape, Marquis ist Julian Lage, vocalist Cyrille Aimée, trum- Hill recruited bassist Junius Paul (page 30). peter Marquis Hill and trumpeter/vocalist Regina Carter is a guest on the forthcoming Bria Skonberg. Over the past four years, jazz album by Camille Thurman (page 34). Those fans have seen these musicians release excel- are just a few of the dozens of examples. lent albums and become artists with the type of As you read our cover package, we hope stature that allows them to tour the globe. that you’ll be inspired to check out some music Well, they were able to tour the globe— by an artist you may not have heard of, or per- before the coronavirus pandemic hit. haps one whose name you recognize but whose For young jazz artists whose careers are on music is not on any of your playlists. the ascent, the opportunity to play at clubs, And we fervently hope that one day soon concert halls and festivals is essential. Live per- we’ll have the chance to see these young play- formance is the lifeblood of a jazz musician. ers perform on a stage right in front of us, sur- Thousands of Facebook “likes” and video views rounded by other happy, healthy jazz fans. DB 8 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2020 Chords Discords Watson’s Blues Power Congratulations to Bobby Watson on the success of his new album, Keepin’ It Real, JIMMY KATZ which hit the No. 1 spot on the JazzWeek radio airplay chart. Bobby and I were saxo- phone students at the University of Miami in the early 1970s—he an undergrad, myself a master’s candidate. The article in The Beat section of your September issue really struck a chord with me (pardon the pun) because Bobby Watson of what Bobby told journalist J.D. Considine grow into,” and he was talking about the about playing the blues. Somehow, with difference between knowing the music and each passing decade, the blues in jazz has feeling it. I played with Doc on a regular ba- become the “redheaded stepchild,” not real- sis throughout the 1990s and came to love ly appreciated—or simply ignored. playing the blues. As a full-time jazz performer for close to Long live the blues in jazz! And thank 40 years, I played the blues plenty. But it was you to Bobby and Doc for always “Keepin’ It only when I started working with Dr. Lonnie Real.” Smith that I started to truly understand the blues. In the article, Bobby described the ERIC ALLISON SYLVAN LAKE, ALBERTA blues as “something I think you have to CANADA Applause for DownBeat to come to my home to see it. I knew he want- Your October cover story by Ayana Contreras ed to talk me into it. He showed up, played it is an example of fantastic journalism, cover- a bit, and my tongue hit the floor. He again ing the musical side of the current political asked me to sell it, whereupon I suggested and social environment. he take it because I wasn’t playing any bass The cover itself, depicting Jon Batiste, is in those days.