Jazz Articles about Billy Childs

About Billy Childs

Album Review

Billy Childs earned a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album for his 2023 release The Winds Of Change (Mack Avenue Records). Triumvirate arrives as the follow-up. Accolades are not unusual for Childs. He holds six Grammys in total, along with numerous nominations, reflecting his exceptionally high standards both as a jazz pianist and classical composer.This release marks his first trio recording since the mid-'90s. He enlists his longtime collaborators from live performances: bassist Matt Penman and drummer ...

Radio & Podcasts

Billy Childs Trio, Inara George, Faye Carol, and Resonance Records presents newly unearthed Mal Waldron cut featuring Sonny Stitt

by Hobart Taylor
April 2, 2026

This week, we have a mix of standards re-imagined and emerging artists. Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Faye Carol “Jitterbug Waltz" from Forever Dynamic (Getdown) 00:12 Julian Davis Reid “Textures" from Vocation (Self-Produced) 07:24 Bria Skonberg “ Of Liberty" from Brass (Cellar) 14:08 Host Speaks 24:05 Marcello Carelli/Bob Mintzer/Russell Ferrante/Mike Gurrola “Noodles and Potatoes" from First Imprerssions (Cellar) 26:38 Jody Redhage Ferber"Mourning Dove" from Air Songs (Scarlett Tree) 31:40 Setting “Time to Wake Up" from (Setting) (Thrill Jockey) 39:00 ...

Live Review

Billy Childs Quartet at the Newman Center

by Geoff Anderson
February 7, 2025

Billy Childs Quartet Newman Center Denver, CO February 1, 2025 Billy Childs is equally at home in both the jazz and classical worlds. He has worked with prestigious ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and served as president of Chamber Music America, among other prominent classical music affiliations. Bridging his passions for both classical and jazz, he recorded two albums of jazz/chamber music--Lyric, Vol. 1 (Lunacy Music, ...

Album Review

Freddie Hubbard: One Of A Kind

Read "One Of A Kind" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
August 26, 2023

It is something of a challenge to review Freddie Hubbard's work from the early 1980s. He had changed direction in the early 1970s with Red Clay (CTI, 1970) moving toward soul-jazz and jazz-rock, although anyone listening to Hubbard's playing would hear his standard vocabulary of licks. Some listeners approved; some listeners did not; and some simply labelled him a sell-out. This certainly was not the Hubbard of Blue Note, and while he returned to playing straight ahead in the mid-1980s ...

Live Review

Billy Childs at Dazzle

by Geoff Anderson
May 18, 2023

Billy Childs Dazzle Denver, Colorado May 6, 2023 Sometimes when a musician has so many activities and accolades in different areas, it's easy to overlook the basic thing, like: the guy can really play! Pianist Billy Childs drove that point home with a sledgehammer Saturday night at Dazzle when he brought his quartet to Denver for a two-set, one-night stand. Stripped down to the essentials of a rhythm section and trumpet player, Childs ...

Live Review

Billy Childs Quartet at Jazz Alley

by Paul Rauch
May 13, 2023

Billy Childs Quartet Jazz Alley Seattle WA May 2, 2023 The crowd was not large upon arriving at Seattle's landmark club, Jazz Alley. At first, one would surmise that this was surprising, considering the career of pianist/composer Billy Childs. After all, he has been the recipient of five Grammy awards, from thirteen nominations. He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009 and a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013. As an active composer/arranger, ...

Album Review

Billy Childs: The Winds of Change

Read "The Winds of Change" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
May 13, 2023

Billy Childs, one of the most critically acclaimed pianists in modern jazz, is in high demand as a modern classical composer. He has played and composed music ranging from orchestral to chamber works to contemporary small ensemble jazz. This has brought him five Grammy awards to date. Starting as a pianist in his native Los Angeles, he then spent six years with Freddie Hubbard's band before becoming a leader in his own right. He has performed with a ...