As partial penance for the delay, allow me to start off with a special video: a full-length performance featuring Miles' classic 1960s quintet with pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone and Tony Williams on drums. The clip in question was filmed in 1967 in Berlin, and catches the band at a point of transition, doing versions of forward-looking, then-new compositions "Agitation," "Footprints," and "Gingerbread Boy" as well as the old standbys "Stella by Starlight" and "Walkin".
As for this installment of Miles news, Sony has issued yet another compilation CD, Cool and Collected, reviewed here, and Davis recently was inducted as a member of Hollywood's RockWalk. Meanwhile, some are still pondering if Kind of Blue is indeed the greatest jazz album of all time, and the New York Times reported over the weekend that there are now two competing Miles-related movie projects in the pre-production stage - a biopic authorized by the Davis estate, possibly starring Don Cheadle as the trumpeter, and another project using a script that Davis' biographer Quincy Troupe has written based on his book Miles and Me.
While 2006 marks the 80th anniversary of Davis' birth, it's also the 100th anniversary year of the birth of another iconic St. Louisan, Josephine Baker, and the celebration is continuing in various places through the end of the year. The exhbit about Baker that made its debut here in St. Louis at the Sheldon Art Galleries has just been installed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery; the Baker tribute concert featuring singer Rene Marie and Imani Winds continues to tour; and the National Film Theatre in London just sponsored a retrospective of Baker's movies.
Moving on to some other well-known St. Louisans in jazz, the World Saxophone Quartet's new CD Political Blues is reviewed here, and WSQ co-founder/alto saxophonist Oliver Lake was recently profiled here...Saxophonist Eric Person's recent date in Denver got some coverage from the Rocky Mountain News, while East St. Louis' Terreon Gully has been drumming on tour with vibist Stefon Harris... Multi-reedman Marty Ehrlich and trumpeter Baikida Carroll were among the participants in a recent retrospective of the music of Julius Hemphill (pictured at left), presented as part of the Composer's Portraits series at the Miller Theater in NYC. You can read the review from the Times here, and another perspective from NYC composer/blogger Darcy James Argue, including a number of photos, here...John Zorn, another saxophonist with a St. Louis connection (he attended Webster University in the 1970s) was the subject of another concert in the same series, reviewed here, and, as usual, has been busy with a variety of activities, including performing with his acoustic Masada ensemble; touring in California; doing an NYC performance of his improvisational game "Cobra"; and issuing new recordings.
Two performers signed to hometown label MAXJAZZ are in the news, too. Singer Cassandre McKinley is getting some good press for her new Marvin Gaye tribute CD and supporting tour, while pianist Eric Reed is curating a series of concerts at the Jazz Museum in Harlem, with one show set to feature ESL native Russell Gunn...And another former East St. Louisan, music educator Ronald Carter, was recently profiled by the campus paper at Northern Illinois University, where he currently teaches and leads the jazz ensemble.
Turning to musicians who either have visited St. Louis recently or will soon, father-and-son guitarists Bucky and John Pizzarelli were tapped to open this fall's "Highlights In Jazz" concert series in NYC, and were guests on the NPR interview show "Fresh Air."...The burgeoning Concord Records group has signed singers Kurt Elling and Jane Monheit...Fans of trumpeter Dave Douglas, who will perform here in March at Jazz at the Bistro with the SF Jazz Collective, may enjoy reading this interview, as well as this review of a recent live performance in Belgium, and perhaps even downloading some of the shows from Douglas' upcoming six-night stand in NYC, which will be made available online by the trumpeter's company Greenleaf Music the day after each performance...Bassist Dave Holland (pictured at right) is also scheduled to visit the Bistro this Spring. Read an interview with him here, a review of his new CD here, and listen to the BBC's live stream of Holland's 60th birthday concert from London this Friday, November 24, here...The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, coming to the Sheldon in March, have a new CD just out...And you can read a review of the new John Scofield/Medeski, Martin and Wood CD here. Their collaborative tour stops at Mississippi Nights on December 6.
Lastly, if you've ever spent time hanging around musicians, you may get a few chuckles out of "The Elements of Jazz," a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the personality types that gravitate toward various instruments. While it undoubtedly contains some stereotypes, based on my experiences, there's quite a bit of truth there, too.
(Edited after posting to fix typos and add links.)
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