Notes from the Net: Miles on video, Lake reviewed, Wilkins remembered, and more

As we kick off this edition of Notes from the Net, my hope is that in the future I'll be able to do these news roundups a bit more frequently, so that the resulting posts will be shorter and less time-consuming for all concerned.

However, one thing that won't change is our little tradition of starting, whever possible, with an item or two about Miles Davis. Today's offering is the video clip above, which was recorded in 1969 in Rome and features Miles with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette.

Meanwhile, back in the present day, saxophonist (and Kirkwood native) David Sanborn continues to work the summer jazz festival circuit, appearing last weekend in Mt. Hood, Oregon...Oliver Lake's new trio CD with Andrew Cyrille and Reggie Workman is reviewed here...The late Ernie Wilkins, a St. Louis-born saxophonist and arranger best known for his work with Count Basie, received a nice birthday tribute from the jazz blog Straight No Chaser...Pianist Michael Gerber, also originally from St. Louis, has performed with Jaco Pastorius, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and others, continues to play jazz in Miami despite being blind and having a 50% hearing loss, and was recently profiled by the Miami Herald...Bringing it back to Miles for a minute, saxophonist Joe Lovano's new CD Streams of Expression features Gunther Schuller's "Birth of the Cool Suite," a rearrangement of movements from the Miles Davis classic for an expanded version of Lovano's Grammy-winning Nonet.

Singer Phil Perry, yet another St. Louis native, will be one of the headliners at the Long Beach Jazz Festival in California, along with George Duke and Stanley Clarke, who performed here in the Gateway Citys in June. Duke fans may also enjoy checking out this interview he did with the Jerusalem Post before a recent gig with Clarke in Tel Aviv, Israel...Vocalist Diane Schuur, due to perform at Finale next month, just did a free outdoor concert on the waterfront in New Jersey...And the aforementioned Dave Holland, who will bring his quintet to Jazz at the Bistro next March, is busy as usual, with gigs in Woodstock, NY and at the London Jazz Festival. Holland is also one of a number of creative musicians interviewed for Music and the Creative Spirit: Innovators in Jazz, Improvisation, and the Avant Garde, a new book written by Lloyd Peterson and published by Scarecrow Press that "aims to give today's brightest music innovators due recognition and respect, celebrating their work and creativity."

In potentially significant news from the jazz world, EMI, the parent company of the Blue Note label, is reorganizing and will make the legendary jazz imprint the home for all its so-called "adult" music, i.e. non-pop music aimed at those age 25 and up. And in another sign of the times, you can now get excerpts from classic Blue Note recordings like "Song for My Father," "Straight No Chaser" and "Blues Walk" as ringtones for your cell phone....

Finally, regular readers know that for the last year, we've tried to pass along news about the reconstruction and recovery of New Orleans as it relates to that city's jazz scene, and this week there are a couple of relevant items on that subject. First, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, a frequent visitor to St. Louis in recent years, is once again collaborating with director Spike Lee, writing the score for Lee's new documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Blanchard is interviewed about the project here...And for a detailed look at what's it's like right now for musicians and music lovers dealing with post-Katrina conditions in New Orleans, be sure to read this excellent feature story written by Keith Spera of the Times-Picayune.

(Edited 8/9/06 to correct the information on Dave Holland's next show in St. Louis.)