JULY 2014 VOLUME 81 / NUMBER 7 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Associate Editor Davis Inman Contributing Editors Ed Enright Kathleen Costanza Art Director LoriAnne Nelson Contributing Designer Ara Tirado Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Assistant Evelyn Oakes 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] Advertising Sales Associate 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, 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 June 17, 2014) Magazine Publishers Association. Á JULY 2014 On the Cover 28 The 80 Coolest Things in 28 Jazz Today To celebrate DownBeat’s 80th anniversary, we want to look at the present and future, not the past. So we proudly present “The 80 Coolest Things in Jazz Today.” It’s a glorious list of 80 people, places and things that illustrate why jazz is such a vibrant art form in 2014. Jason Adasiewicz MARK SHELDON Features 95 GUITAR SCHOOL 96 Axes of Innovation Creative New Guitar Concepts for the Modern Age BY KEITH BAUMANN 102 Master Class BY ERIC DIVITO 66 JD Allen 71 John McLaughlin 75 Elias Haslanger 81 Johnny O’Neal 104 Transcription Departments Derek Trucks Guitar Solo 106 Toolshed 8 First Take 63 Reviews 10 Chords & Discords 110 Jazz On Campus 13 The Beat 114 Blindfold Test 22 Players Paquito D’Rivera Pat Senatore Matt Slocum Roy Nathanson Ross Hammond 6 DOWNBEAT JULY 2014 First Take BY BOBBY REED The Robust State of Jazz Today JAZZ IS THRIVING IN 2014. Nowadays, the world of jazz includes—first and foremost—a huge pool of incredibly gifted artists. Plus, there are wildly creative music labels, intelligent industry innovators, unique festi- vals, great record stores, engaging radio stations and smartly managed organizations. They all help this art form to evolve, as it continues to be an integral aspect of global culture. This month’s cover story shines a spotlight on all that and more. Several months ago, the DownBeat staff met to discuss the various ways we could celebrate the magazine’s 80th anniversary. Longtime readers will recall that our July 2009 issue was a 75th anniversary edition that highlighted the magazine’s remarkable past, compiling archival gems from various decades in Esperanza Spalding our history. Five years later, we wanted to do something differ- ent. We didn’t want to look back at the past. We want to focus on the present and the future. Beginning on page 28, you’ll find our detailed list of “The 80 Coolest Things in Jazz Today.” Please keep in mind that although we numbered those 80 items, we did not rank them. So, for example, we don’t think that Gerald Clayton (No. 18) is any more or less cool than Hiromi (No. 59) or Omar Sosa (No. 62). We hold them all in equally high esteem. Our intent was to share with our readers 80 amazing JACK VARTOOGIAN/FRONTROWPHOTOS people, places and things that make jazz the greatest art form in the world. As we were compiling ideas for the list (and enjoying the debates about which items should be included), we asked artists, journalists, in- dustry leaders and our Facebook friends to tell us what they thought was the coolest thing in jazz. The input from all those parties was extremely helpful, often enlightening, and occasionally profane. It was difficult to narrow the list down to 80 items. After all, this office receives hundreds of jazz CDs every month. Selecting only a few dozen artists to include was a challenge. We definitely wanted to tip our hat to exciting young artists like bass- ist-vocalist Esperanza Spalding and singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, but we also wanted to give a big thanks to the living masters of this art form— titans who have paved the way for generations of jazz artists. Therefore, we started the list with 10 veterans who are among the most important practitioners in this art form’s history. We concluded the list with a look toward the future. We hope that our “80 Coolest” list will serve as a shopping guide, a keepsake and a conversation-starter. Dig in. (Let us know what you think about the list by sending an email to [email protected] or posting a message on our Facebook page.) We could not have reached this 80-year milestone without you, our devoted readers. Thanks for your support. DownBeat is thriving today because jazz is thriving today. And jazz is thriving because of its active, expanding, passionate fan base. On page 31, Sonny Rollins offers a brilliant, philosophical, eloquent assessment of the jazz scene today. His conclusion is pithy: “You can’t kill jazz. It will always exist.” Who’s going to disagree with Sonny Rollins? DB 8 DOWNBEAT JULY 2014 Chords Discords Altruistic José Diaz Educator What a wonderful decision to induct José Diaz into the DownBeat Jazz Education Hall of Fame (Student Music Awards, June). His reputation as a world-class educator is well known in the profession of jazz education. Despite never having had the pleasure of his acquaintance, I would only hope my own goals in education remain as altruis- tic as his. TOM SMITH NINGBO, CHINA Emotional Generator A DownBeat critic strikes again. This time, it’s a gentleman named Alain Drouot. With élan and great generosity, he gave 2½ stars to the splendid George Mraz/David Hazeltine Trio’s new album Your Story. That rating pushed me to buy the record immediately from the iTunes store, and I was right because that record is great. What leaves me incredulous is Drouot stating that the music “fails to generate emotions.” To him, probably! This is pretentious and wrong. My emotions were plentiful and all genuine, I can assure Monsieur Drouot. ADRIANO PATERI MILAN, ITALY Deauville, Stuart Foster, Ella Logan and June Overabundance of Excellence? Christy should be added to round out a nev- Can you please ask your critics to be more er-to-be-forgotten pastime. Thanks to DownBeat selective when judging a record? I am an avid for a most interesting and important story. reader of album reviews, and in your June issue I counted 22 reviews of four stars or HERB STARK MOORESVILLE, N.C higher. At a certain point, the rating doesn’t make any sense. I don’t believe that in one month we could have 22 excellent recordings. I really don’t. Hope for the Future What a pleasure it is (and so rare) to read a I have loved jazz for so many years. Back in 1½-star review. It makes me so curious that I the ’50s my dad had albums that I still cherish. look all over for that CD! Lately, mainly because many of my favorite artists have passed away, I am turning to ENZO CAPUA artists of today. Branford Marsalis and Joshua [email protected] Redman are blowing my socks off. There is hope after all—even though the masters are Documenting Big Bands passing. I found the article on the Glenn Miller Archive LARRY GILLIAM acquiring the Tommy Dorsey collection quite [email protected] fascinating (The Beat, June).