Sunday Session: December 27, 2020

George Coleman

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Three Reissues That Illuminate South African Jazz During Apartheid (Discogs.com)
* How Branford Marsalis Found Ma Rainey’s Sound (Vanity Fair)
* Har Mar Superstar's Latest Gig: Mail Carrier (MSPMag.com)
* Tenor Sax George Coleman Shines On Newly Released Live Record, 'In Baltimore' (NPR)
* New Releases from Sonny Rollins and Charles Mingus Reveal Crucial Conceptions of Political Art (The New Yorker)
* The Best Shot We Have To Play Live Music Again: News From The COVID Frontline (Offbeat)
* ‘The New Thing’: The Subversive Bridge From Bop To Free Jazz (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Congress Passes Covid-19 Relief Bill With Funding for Live Music Venues (Rolling Stone)
* Kids Became A&R's 'Secret Weapon' In a Work From Home Year (Billboard)
* Listening to the Joy in James Baldwin’s Record Collection (Hyperallergic.com)
* The Importance Of Mary Halvorson’s Recordings During The Pandemic Year (DownBeat)
* The Royal Bopsters Keep Their Group Identity Alive (Jazz Times)
* When Will Live Music Return? (Rolling Stone)
* Thelonious Monk: An Alternative Top Ten Albums Of Deep And Staggering Genius (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Can a trippy VR film bring classical music to a new generation? (The Guardian)
* Dayna Stephens Fulfills Long-Held Dreams (DownBeat)
* 'Jazz is just a reflection of life': The musical genius of Jerry Granelli (CBC)
* Sonny Rollins: Bright Moments (Jazz Times)
* Ma Rainey’s Moment: The Mother Of The Blues Gets Her Due (Slate.com)
* R.I.P. Leslie West, Legendary Mountain Frontman Dies at 75 (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* “Music is my way of being in the world”: remembering “Blue” Gene Tyranny (The Wire)
* Frank Zappa’s 10 greatest albums of all time (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Holiday Shopping Sends Vinyl Album Sales Soaring to Another Record Week (Billboard)
* Modern Hollywood Discovers Its Jazz ‘Soul’ (The Nation)
* When Sonny Rollins Went Dutch (DownBeat)
* A Bessie Smith Christmas (Jazz Times)
* Paul McCartney: read the exclusive track-by-track story of ‘McCartney III’ (NME.com)
* Music made 2020 better, but we failed to make 2020 better for musicians (TechCrunch.com)