Sunday Session: May 17, 2020

Roy Ayers

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

* The Legend of the Moog, the Synth That Changed Music (TheManual.com)
* Initiative to ‘Reopen Every Venue Safely’ Launches in Eight Cities Including Los Angeles, Austin and Portland (Variety)
* The Day the Live Concert Returns (The Atlantic)
* Remembering the Original Knitting Factory (Jazz Times)
* Betty Wright Packed A Career's Worth Of Music Into Her Youthful First Act (NPR)
* "A wasteland": UK's festival scene on verge of permanent collapse (MusicRadar.com)
* We Asked 13 Artists How Spotify's 'Tip Jar' Is Working Out for Them (Vice.com)
* 'I found the roots of electronic music in a cupboard!': the tale of India's lost techno pioneers (The Guardian)
* Lost Roy Ayers Song "Reaching The Highest Pleasure" Surfaces 43 Years Later [Premiere] (OkayPlayer.com)
* How 5 Musicians Over 70 Are Dealing with Life, Loss, and Touring in the Age of Coronavirus (Pitchfork.com)
* Trickster Treat: Bob Dylan's New Song Sounds Awfully Old ... And Familiar (NPR)
* Listen: The Residents and Black Francis Drop Searing Indictment of Trump’s Handling of COVID-19 (Rolling Stone)
 * A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Tracks (TrebleZine.com)
* Those Slick Quarantine Band Performances Are Harder to Pull Off Than You Think (Billboard)
* Antonio Sánchez, Thana Alexa Grow Their Partnership (DownBeat)
* Nourishing New Music with Liquid Music’s Kate Nordstrum (21cm.org)
* Jazz singer Melody Gardot seeks digital orchestra to beat coronavirus blues (Reuters)
* Charlie Parker Takes Flight In Upcoming Graphic Novel, ‘Chasin’ The Bird’ (DownBeat)

Sunday Session: July 28, 2019

Antonio Sánchez

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

* Cannonball: A Man of the People (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Curator’s Roundtable (OpenSkyJazz.com)
* The Bohemian Caverns building has a new tenant: restaurant and jazz venue Mama ‘San (CapitalBop.com)
* The ARP 2600 is still one of the most prized synthesizers today, here’s why (MusicTech.net)
* Antonio Sánchez on Touring Political Music and the Latitude ‘Bad Hombre’ has Provided (DownBeat)
* The Spirituality of Jazz at American Baptist College (Tennessee Tribune)
* Kit Downes Strikes a Balance (DownBeat)
* Art Neville, founding member of The Meters and Neville Brothers, has died (Offbeat)
* Experimentation and a Mastery of Music at Funchal Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* New Orleans legend Art Neville, founder of the Meters and Neville Brothers, dies at 81 (NOLA.com)
* Jessye Norman Reflects on Her Jazz Influences, in Conversation with Rhonda Hamilton (WBGO)
* New York City’s Piano Bar Players Spill Their Secrets (InsideHook.com)
* The future of music notation in a digital world (Monash.edu)
* Felix Pastorius Pursues Multiple Paths (DownBeat)
* John Simon's Musical Life: Cheap Thrills, Big Pink & Other Hearsay (PleaseKillMe.com)
* Guitarist Bill Frisell goes solo at the Regattabar in Cambridge (WickedLocal.com)
* Yes, 85 Year Old Bluesman Bobby Rush Still Has It On New LP ‘Sitting On Top Of The Blues’ (INTERVIEW)(GlideMagazine.com)
* WOKE JAZZ: The Fast-Forward Evolution of British Jazz (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Rainbows, Frogs, Dogs, And 'The Muppet Movie' Soundtrack At 40 (NPR)
* The Language I Learned From Cassettes (NPR)
* The Green New Deal: Where Spotify Stands, And Where Artists Wish It Would (NPR)
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band Pilgramage to Cuba (SFJAZZ.org)
* How Long Does It Take to Make a Classic Album? (Pitchfork.com)
* More Complex Than Fame and Fortune: Bob Moog and the Modular Synth Boom (PopMatters.com)
* The Empathy and Interplay of Sullivan Fortner (DownBeat)
* Theo Bleckmann, Joseph Branciforte Investigate the Art of Ambient Improvisation (DownBeat)
* A Conversation with Jazz Legend Ron Carter (WhatsUpNewp.com)
* The Many Threads And Generations Of Chicano Soul, All In One Place (NPR)

Sunday Session: May 26, 2019

Aretha Franklin

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest, drawn from StLJN's inboxes, newsfeeds, and assorted other sources:

* "Over the Rainbow" Composer Seeks Pot of Gold from Apple (Forbes.com)
* ‘Fake Artists’ Have Billions of Streams on Spotify. Is Sony Now Playing the Service at Its Own Game? (Rolling Stone)
* Doris Day: Her Jazziest Moment (Jazz Times)
* Aretha in church (TheBlueMoment.com)
* Blue Note boss Don Was: 'Jazz can't become synonymous with pop again' (The Guardian)
* Burnt Sugar Applying Heat for 20 Years (DownBeat)
* Ray Charles - Confessin’ The Blues (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* Scientists create the loudest possible sound (NewAtlas.com)
* Wire Playlist: Free Jazz In Japan, Sounds From The First Decade (The Wire)
* Idagio—the Spotify for Classical Music—Has Changed My Life (Vogue)
* National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2020 NEA Jazz Masters (Arts.gov)
* Kamasi Washington: 'Right now it feels like people are really open to jazz, the freedoms, the abstract side of it' (List.co.uk)
* How Nashville plans to save Music Row, a threatened cultural treasure (Curbed.com)
* The Borderless Music of Antonio Sánchez (DownBeat)
* Pacific Ocean coup: how Ronald Reagan helped bury a Beach Boy at sea (The Guardian)
* How Panic! at the Disco Cornered the Market on Trumpet-Heavy Hits (Variety)
* Flashback: Ornette Coleman Sums Up Solitude on ‘Lonely Woman’ (Rolling Stone)
* Pianist gives concert from vertical piano hanging from construction crane (WPXI)
* 20 Questions for New Artists Sidebar: The Economic Reality of Streaming (MusicTechPolicy.com)
* Repair Of Iconic ’60s Era Synthesizer Turns Into Long, Strange Trip For Engineer (SanFrancisco.CBSLocal.com)
* Resonance Records’ Further Exploration of Wes Montgomery (DownBeat)
* The Shed Attempts to Inject Culture Into Hudson Yards (The New Yorker)
* Flying Lotus and His Grandmother Talk Being in a Family Bound by Music (Pitchfork.com)
* Sofar Sounds house concerts raises $25M, but bands get just $100 (TechCrunch.com)
* ECM At Big Ears: A Boundless Label Meets A Broadminded Festival (NPR)
* Frantic, Distorted, Defiant: When Punk Jazz Upended the Underground (Jazz Times)
* How synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog brought electronic music to the masses (Fast Company)

Sunday Session: February 3, 2019

Lionel Loueke

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* The most sampled drum loop in history (Boing Boing)
* New Sounds (London Review of Books)
* Spotify Is Hosting a High-Priced Executive Retreat In Cancun (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Antonio Sanchez's 'Lines In The Sand' Is Inspired By Migrants' Stories (NPR)
* Underrated Blue Note Musicians: 12 Artists Worth Rediscovering (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Not just a 'glass ceiling' but 'cement': Female film composers struggle to be heard (CBC)
* Think David Crosby Is Too Gruff? “Tough Shit” (Vanity Fair)* Photos: Roy Hargrove Musical Celebration (Jazz Times)
* For Betty Carter, 'The Music Never Stops' — Even 27 Years Later (NPR)
* Dave Liebman: Archives and Improvisations - The Past and the Now of a Life in Jazz (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The mystery tracks being 'forced' on Spotify users (BBC)
* David Gilmour on Why He’s Selling 120 Guitars: ‘Everything Has Got to Go’ (Rolling Stone)
* These might be the 5 most powerful people in the music business – despite none of them working in the music business (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Gonzalo Rubalcaba Discusses Chucho Valdés, creativity, and the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award (SFJAZZ.org)
* Peter Jackson to Direct New Beatles Documentary Film (Pitchfork.com)
* Brian Eno: ‘I’ve spent longer in Ireland than I have almost anywhere else’ (Irish Times)
* Big Ears Festival Will Pay Tribute to 50 Years of ECM Records (Jazz Times)
* Vintage piano turned into analog hybrid of 20 instruments controlled by piano keys (DesignBoom.com)
* New Collection Spans Gary Burton’s Boundless Career (DownBeat)
* Bob James Looks Back (Jazz Times)
* Young people are turning to classical music to escape ‘noise of modern life’ (The Guardian)
* John Coltrane 1958 Vinyl Box Set Announced (Pitchfork.com)
* 2019 Grammys: Breaking Down the Jazz Category Nominees (Billboard)
* Stewart Copeland on his Police career: "We fought like cat and dog over the f**king hi-hat" (MusicRadar.com)
* How gospel music gave birth to rock and soul (UPenn.edu)
* Lionel Loueke’s Journey of Empathy (DownBeat)
* Aretha’s Grace (New York Review of Books)

Sunday Session: March 4, 2018

Muhal Richard Abrams

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Why the hottest films are now music documentaries (The Guardian)
* Brenda Navarrete Brings A Spiritual Drumbeat To The Female Vanguard Of Cuba (NPR)
* Guitarist Bill Frisell Shares Memories of Working With Rock Greats: Exclusive Interview (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Where Did 'Jazz,' the Word, Come From? Follow a Trail of Clues, in Deep Dive with Lewis Porter (WBGO)
* Gibson Boss Blames Guitar Stores for Financial Woes (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Jason Moran Remembers Muhal Richard Abrams (Jazz Times)
* Dave Douglas on Monk and Dizzy (GreenleafMusic.com)
* Antonio Sánchez Performs ‘Birdman’ Score at UCLA (DownBeat)
* The Van Gelder Studio: Peek inside the room where classic jazz happened (NorthJersey.com)
* David Bowie's Last Secret Weapon (Forbes)
* Legendary Songwriter Carl Sigman’s Son on the Loss of his Father’s Archives (American Songwriter)
* At the Guthman Competition, innovative instruments just might predict the future of music (Atlanta)
* What Muhal Meant: The Liberating Credo of Muhal Richard Abrams (Village Voice)
* Charlie Watts: it wouldn't bother me if Rolling Stones split (The Guardian)
* Live Review: Dave Douglas Presents “Dizzy Atmosphere” at JALC (Jazz Times)
* The CD Business Isn’t Dying—It’s Just Evolving (Fast Company)
* Pianists Recall Geri Allen’s Legacy at PDX Festival (DownBeat)
* Terence Blanchard talks back (Offbeat)
* The first black-owned record label in the U.S. wanted to “uplift” black people through music (Timeline.com)
* A Guide to Anthony Braxton’s Robust Jazz Discography on Bandcamp (Bandcamp.com)
* Spotify Was a Terrible Business. Then the Record Labels Stepped In (Bloomberg.com)
* Reid Miles, The Guy Who Designed Blue Note (Jazz in Europe)
* Mapping the places that made Central Avenue swing (Curbed.com)
* Jazz's New British Invasion (Rolling Stone)
* Dave Burrell Remembers Sunny Murray (Jazz Times)
* On “Black Times,” Afrobeat Artist Seun Kuti Extends His Father’s Legacy (Bandcamp.com)
* Chasing The American Dream with Cuban Pianist Alfredo Rodríguez (WBGO)

Sunday Session: October 8, 2017

Antonio Sanchez

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Trane of No-Thought: How Meditation Inspired Jazz Great John Coltrane (LionsRoar.com)
* Jazz and Communism? The Perfect Oxymoron - Paquito D’Rivera considers the implications of International Jazz Day 2017 (Jazz Times)
* Tom Petty, Rock Iconoclast Who Led the Heartbreakers, Dead at 66 (Rolling Stone)
* An Appreciation of Tom Petty: Rock’s Superstar Everyman (Variety)
* Free Falling with Tom Petty (The New Yorker)
* Tom Petty's final interview: There was supposed to have been so much more (Los Angeles Times)
* Judd Apatow Revives Mainstream, Bob Shad's Independent Record Label (WBGO)
* Nextbop Interviews Kendrick Scott (NextBop.com)
* The Meaning of Soul Music According to Raphael Saadiq (Pitchfork.com)
* Interview: Ashley Kahn on Thelonious Monk's Legacy (Keyboard)
* Antonio Sánchez Brings Electronics and Politics To 'Bad Hombre' (NPR)
* Herbie Hancock: Why he thinks the audience is a member of his band (Philly.com)* A New Model for Paying Musicians a Living Wage? (East Bay Express)
* Esperanza Spalding Talks Recording an Album in 77 Hours, Sexism in Music & Nicki Minaj (Billboard)
* Kamasi Washington on the Music That Made Him a Jazz Colossus (Pitchfork.com)
* Why British DJs From the ’60s and ’70s Kept Their Best Records Secret (AtlasObscura.com)
* The Philosophy & Music of Devo, the Avant-Garde Art Project Dedicated to Revealing the Truth About De-Evolution (Open Culture.com)
* Puerto Rico's 'Singing Newspapers' (NPR)
* The Unknowable Joni Mitchell (The Atlantic)
* Live Sound Processing and Improvisation (New Music Box)
* Mike Stern: Playing Through the Pain (Jazz Times)
* Photos: New York Hot Jazz Festival at the McKittrick Hotel - Cyrille Aimée, Bria Skonberg, Anat Cohen and more swing the fest's fifth edition (Jazz Times)
* European Jazz Conference 2017 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Speed of sound – how Spotify killed the long intro (The Guardian)
* After year of silence, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra ready to move on without founder Irvin Mayfield (New Orleans Advocate)
* I Wrote a Hit Song With Justin Bieber. Want to See My Royalties? (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Beats? How Blade Runner impacted electronic music (FactMag.com)
* Kate Bush, Radiohead, Sister Rosetta Tharpe Nominated For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (NPR)
* The Art Ensemble of Chicago Celebrates 50 Years Of Channeling And Challenging History (NPR)
* Jazz Drummer Alvin Queen Denied Entry to U.S. Due to Dropped Charges From 50 Years Ago (Billboard)
* On the Cultural Specificity of Symphony Orchestras (CreateEquity.com)

Sunday Session: March 29, 2015

Wayne Shorter

For your Sunday reading, some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Critic's notebook: Bebop hallucination from Wayne Shorter (Detroit Free Press)
* Lithofayne Pridgon: Jimi Hendrix’s original ‘foxy lady’ (The Guardian UK)
* Buena Vista Social Club: the legends look back (The Guardian UK)
* Audio For Virtual Reality Takes Off (Pro Sound News)
* What Makes an Electric Guitar Sound Like an Electric Guitar (The Atlantic)
* Phil Manzanera on Jay Z, Kanye West and the riff that changed his life (The Independent UK)
* The Electronic Composer in the Modern Age (Hyperallergic.com)
* Have We Reached the End of Jazz Itself? (The Nation)
* The five eras of listening - How music went from art form to ambient noise in the last 150 years (and five ways to listen better today) (Medium.com)
* The Sweet Memphis Sound Of 'Beale Street' (WBUR)
* Antonio Sánchez to Release Two New Albums This Spring; Drummer/composer will also tour (Jazz Times)
* Did these guys ruin music as we knew it? (Medium.com)
* Alan Lomax's Massive Archive Goes Online (NPR)
* Astral Sojourn - The untold story of how Van Morrison fled record-industry thugs, hid out in Boston, and wrote one of rock’s greatest albums. (Boston magazine)
* ‘Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats,’ an Unlikely Alliance of Rock and Country (New York Times)
* Three Jazz Pianists, A Generation After Apartheid (NPR)
* Photos: Celebration of Strata-East at Barbican Theatre in London (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: March 1, 2015

William Hooker

For your Sunday reading, some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* In Oscar Nominations For Best Score, Some Hear Sour Notes (NPR)
* “Birdman” Score Snubbed: Why Oscar Hates Drummers (Medium)
* Apple Hiring More Music Journalists and A Sea of Freelancers (HypeBot.com)
* Tears and fears as two stars are forced to give up their violins (Slipped Disc)
* From dirt to the divine: 50 years of 'A Love Supreme' (Creative Loafing Atlanta)
* Reminder: Fair Use Is A Right -- And Not 'An Exception' Or 'A Defense' (TechDirt)
* Friday is the New Official Release Day for Albums (Paste)
* International Jazz Day Names Paris as This Year’s Host City (Jazz Times)
* The dangers of digital: Brian Eno on technology and modern music (The Vinyl Factory)
* Ramsey Lewis: Perpetually Reaching Out Through Music (DownBeat)
* The Musical Brain: Novel Study of Jazz Players Shows Common Brain Circuitry Processes Both Music and Language (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
* William Hooker and Oscar Micheaux, visionaries across eras and art forms (Washington Post)
* Copyright Mixtape: How The "Blurred Lines" Lawsuit Could Change Music Forever (Ratter.com)
* Composing for Hollywood (The New Yorker)
* Ravi Coltrane takes his own giant steps in the jazz world (Sunday Herald)

Music Education Monday: Behind the score of Birdman with drummer Antonio Sanchez

The Academy Award nominated film Birdman, now playing in theaters across the US, has won acclaim for its script, cinematography, lead performance by Michael Keaton, and the musical score created by drummer Antonio Sanchez.

Perhaps best known to jazz fans for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny, Sanchez (pictured) unfortunately was eliminated from consideration in this year's Oscars due to a technicality, as the film's soundtrack also included some pre-existing material.

But that snub hasn't stopped viewers and critics from raving about Sanchez' contribution to Birdman, and this article about Sanchez and the Birdman score at IndieWire.com includes a video in which the drummer talks about how he put the music together.

Down below here on this page, there's a video of a complete master class that Sanchez did in 2013 when he was a guest artist-in-residence at Berklee College of Music. Though the class is focused on jazz drumming, not film scoring, it offers more insight into Sanchez' techniques and his approach to music.

For more about Antonio Sanchez' score for Birdman, read this article from Vanity Fair; this interview the drummer did with HitFix.com, which includes some audio samples from the score; his interview with the blog The Film Experience; and this article from TheCredits.org. You can hear audio of all 28 minutes of Sanchez' music for Birdman here.