Notes from the Net: Analyzing Miles Davis' "So What" solo, Clark Terry on Riverwalk Jazz, David Sanborn on DVD, CD reviews, and more

Here's this week's compilation of St. Louis-related short news bits and other items of potential interest from the jazz world...

* Let's start, as is our custom, with two Miles Davis-related items, neither one brand new, but both interesting - specifically, a transcription and analysis of Miles' famous solo on "So What" by guitarist Steve Khan, and an essay offering an overview of Davis' electric music of the 1960s and 70s, with some short audio clips.

* Another famous trumpeter from St. Louis, Clark Terry (pictured), will be appearing on the episode of the weekly public radio program Riverwalk Jazz that begins airing across the nation on February 26. The program can be heard locally at noon Saturdays on WSIE (88.7 FM).

* Saxophonist David Sanborn has a new DVD, Live at Montreux 1984, about to be released. The disc features live versions of material from Sanborn's Straight To The Heart album, plus other songs from his career up until that point, as played by Sanborn and a band featuring Larry Willis (keyboards), Hiram Bullock (guitar), Tom Barney (bass) and Buddy Williams (drums), plus special guest Rickie Lee Jones on vocals.

* This Thursday, February 12 at the Berklee College of Music Performance Center in Boston, two more St. Louis natives, Grammy Award-winning journalist Bob Blumenthal and saxophonist Greg Osby will team up for a night of interviews and musical performance dubbed "Saying Sounds: The Bob Blumenthal Show."

* Turning to the "coming attractions" file, you can prepare for pianist Marc Copland's concert on Friday at the 560 Music Center by reading reviews of two recent CDs, Another Place and Night Whispers, written by Francis Lo Kee for AllAboutJazz.com

* The Blue Note 70th Anniversary Tour comes to the Sheldon Concert Hall on Sunday, February 22, and this week, the New York Times' Nate Chinen wrote about the label's anniversary and its future in a piece titled "At 70, Blue Note asks 'Now What?'"

* If you'd like to check out the new Boney James CD Send One Your Love, you can hear an audio stream for free via this "online listening party." James will perform at The Pageant on Wednesday, March 25.

* Organist Dr. Lonnie Smith also has a new CD, entitled Rise Up and reviewed here for AAJ.com by John Barron. Smith will be in St. Louis March 18-21 to perform with guitarist Russell Malone and drummer Herlin Riley at Jazz at the Bistro.

* By way of catching up with a couple of recent visitors to the Bistro, there are lots more reviews coming out of For All I Care, the new CD from The Bad Plus. The album features singer Wendy Lewis on several tracks, and includes versions of songs by Wilco, Roger Miller, Yes, Pink Floyd, and Heart as well as re-imaginings of classical pieces from Ligeti, Babbitt and Stravinsky. Here's an extended analysis from AAJ.com; a review from Boston Globe; a JD Considine review from Toronto Globe & Mail; and a review from AllMusic.com

* Also, saxophonist Benny Golson, who just turned 80, just did a sextet gig at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in NYC, reviewed here by the New York Times. And here's a review of two recent Golson CDs, New Times, New 'Tet and The Best Of Benny Golson, written by George Kanzler for AAJ.com

* Finally, a few items that have no specific St. Louis connection, but were interesting for one reason or another, starting with An Indiosyncratic Introduction to Indian Music, a guest post at Destination: Out from saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa. As usual, there are some nice MP3s accompanying the post, but you'd better hustle, since D:O only keeps tracks available online for a very limited time.

* Advice from Thelonious Monk, as transcribed by Steve Lacy.

* The always interesting online jazz magazine Point of Departure has a new issue online now.

* And this blog post detailing one musician's experiences running an improvised music club in Cork, Ireland makes some thought-provoking points about the difficulties of promoting free improv music, the nature of local improv scenes, and DIY gigging in general.