Sunday Session: March 22, 2020

John McLaughlin

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

* The Secret History of Motown’s Greatest Hits (Rolling Stone)
* Kurt Elling on Working with Danilo Pérez, Politics and Recording with an Indie Label (DownBeat)
* Charles Lloyd, a tireless jazz sax legend at 82, talks music and hanging with Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead (San Diego Union Tribune)
* The Jazz Label: Marc Free of Posi-Tone (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The Inner Critic of Irving Berlin (DownBeat)
* Beating Her Own Drum, Terri Lyne Carrington Continues To Push Jazz Forward (WBUR)
* “Every musician I know is now facing bankruptcy” – the impact of coronavirus cancellations on classical artists (ClassicFM.com)
* How Mapping Relationships Between Jazz Musicians Elevates Unsung Histories (Pratt.edu)
* Jeff Parker Is "Just Trying to Make Weird Shit" (Premier Guitar)
* Duchess Looks for Joy Amid Perilous Times (DownBeat)
* With Clubs Gone Dark and Festivals Postponed, the Musical Action Migrates to the Livestream (WBGO)
* Gerald Veasley: Everybody Has Something to Say (Jazz Times)
* John McLaughlin offers fans free download of new album (LouderSound.com)
* Ornette Coleman Biography Explores The Free Jazz Saxophonist’s Genius (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* The lost art of deep listening: Choose an album. Lose the phone. Close your eyes. (Los Angeles Times)
* Recording Academy and MusiCares Commit $2M For Coronavirus Relief Fund (Billboard)
* Music streaming may actually be falling because of coronavirus (QZ.com)
* How The Coronavirus Fallout Could Be Devastating To The Practice Of Jazz (NPR)
* Carlos and Cindy Santana on the Power of ‘Playing from Your Heart’ (Q&A) (RockCellarMagazine.com)
* The Intakt Label is Providing a Supportive Home for the Avant-Garde (Bandcamp.com)
* Electronic Intimacy: The Surreal Experience of Playing in a Quarantined Hall (Atavist.com)
* A Shelved Album By Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Will Finally See the Light of Day (WBGO)
* Origin Records Puts Superlative Musicianship on Display (DownBeat)
* 'Solace' Amidst The 'Deeply Odd': Pianist Aaron Parks On Releasing A Record Right Now (NPR)

Sunday Session: March 8, 2020

McCoy Tyner

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

* How The Brain Teases Apart A Song's Words And Music (NPR)
* The jazz icon Sonny Rollins knows life is a solo trip (New York Times)
* Public Enemy Fires Flavor Flav After Bernie Sanders Rally Spat (Rolling Stone)
* Haden Triplets Find Songs’ Simplicity (DownBeat)
* Spotify’s Newest Pitch to Labels and Musicians: Now You Pay Us (Bloomberg.com)
* 'The road will kill you': why older musicians are cancelling tours (The Guardian)
* What the US record industry should fear about its future – and what it deserves to celebrate (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* After 60 Years, Sergio Mendes Is Still Writing Songs 'In The Key Of Joy' (NPR)
* Oscar Peterson’s Africa Suite Comes to Life in Toronto (Jazz Times)
* Nona Hendryx on Paying Tribute to Sun Ra at the Met: 'Afrofuturism Has Always Been' (Billboard)
* The Archive Of Contemporary Music — And Its 3 Million Recordings — Is Leaving NY (NPR)
* The Port-au-Prince Jazz Festival: A Small Triumph in Haiti (DownBeat)
* Soundtrack City: How Nashville is awash in film, game scores (ABC News)
* 'It's hopeful and generous': Thurston Moore's experimental record shop (The Guardian)
* Art Blakey, the Mightiest Mentor (DownBeat)
* Q&A with Rudresh Mahanthappa: A Jazz Festival Grows in Princeton (JAZZIZ)
* Read Universal Music Group Chief Archivist’s Update on Damage From 2008 Fire (Variety)
* Brecker and Rovatti Examine Their ‘Sacred Bond’ (DownBeat)
* In Memoriam: McCoy Tyner (DownBeat)
* McCoy Tyner, Jazz Pianist Who Anchored John Coltrane’s Legendary Quartet, Dead at 81 (Rolling Stone)
* Austin officials cancel South by Southwest festival (Associated Press)
* McCoy Tyner, Groundbreaking Pianist Of 20th Century Jazz, Dies At 81 (NPR)
* Arts & Culture: A Blast from the Past (APS.org)
* ‘Hot Rats’ at 50: How Frank Zappa busted up his band, moved to L.A. and helped invent jazz-rock (Los Angeles Times)
* The 10 most groundbreaking free jazz albums of all time (HappyMag.tv)

Sunday Session: October 20, 2019

Nat "King" Cole

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

* Remembering the Weirdest Album Launch Stunts of the 2010s (Pitchfork.com)
* Frank Zappa Marks 50th Anniversary of ‘Hot Rats’ With Massive Reissue (Rolling Stone)
* Jazz legend John Surman on a well-travelled career and why he's angry about Brexit (Irish Examiner)
* “It Was Beyond My Wildest Dreams” Pianist Ahmad Jamal Recalls ‘At The Pershing’ (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Percussionist Adam Rudolph Crafts a Tapestry of Sounds (DownBeat)
* Diverse Curation Sustains Belgrade Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* Art Blakey: Praise the Messenger (Jazz Times)
* Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Reveals 2020 Nominees: Soundgarden, Whitney Houston & More (Billboard)
* Steve Miller cracked the code of 1970s radio. But he’s still raging against the music industry (Washington Post)
* Why Everything Is Getting Louder (The Atlantic)
* What will a music company look like in 2025? (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* INTERVIEW: Morton Subotnick And Lillevan (TheQuietus.com)
* Finalists Announced in 8th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition (DownBeat)
* Why MLK Believed Jazz Was the Perfect Soundtrack for Civil Rights (JStor.org)
* Before & After: Leon Parker (Jazz Times)
* Oscar nom, opera at the Met, a move to L.A.: New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard's big year (NOLA.com)
* What lost photos of Blue Notes say about South Africa’s jazz history (TheConversation.com)
* How ‘Almost Famous’ Foretold the Future of Music Journalism (TheRinger.com)
* The Transformative Power of Nat ‘King’ Cole (DownBeat)
* An actual bear broke into a woman’s house and started playing piano (ClassicFM.com)
* Matana Roberts’s Memphis (ThisIsEarhart.com)
* The Tragic Story of America’s First Black Music Star (Smithsonian)
* ECM Records: Curating A New World Of Music (SFJAZZ.org)
* Ronnie Scott’s at 60 (TheBlueMoment.com)
* Humanity is Not an Algorithm: What We Lose with WNYC’s Cancellation of New Sounds (ICareIfYouListen.com)
* How Liverpool’s first girl band dubbed ‘the female Beatles’ had run-in with John Lennon (Express.co.uk)

Sunday Session: October 13, 2019

Art Blakey

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

* Ain’t No Limitations: The Soul Rebels pave the roads and knock down the doors (Offbeat)
* Are Albums Dying? ⁠— 15% of Music Fans Under 25 Have Never Listened to a Full Album (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Harry Nilsson’s Animated Film ‘The Point!’ Gets 50th Anniversary Digital Release (Rolling Stone)
* Remembering Ginger Baker (DownBeat)
* Ginger Baker: A Jazz Drummer With a Rock Reputation (Billboard)
* Bill Frisell Remembers Ginger Baker: ‘Nobody Sounded Like That’ (Rolling Stone)
* Ginger Baker’s Best: A Deep Dive Into the Late Drummer’s Hidden Gems (Listen) (Variety)
* Cold Gettin’ Dub: Rap 12"s and the Forgotten Artform of Bonus Beats (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Sean Jones: A Challenging Life (Jazz Times)
* John Anderson, World's Greatest Soul Record Dealer, Is Dead (The Daily Beast)
* Live Review: 2019 Monterey Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* A new ‘Porgy and Bess’ raises old questions about race and opera (TheUndefeated.com)
* An AJMF Conversation with Jimmy Heath (AtlantaJMF.org)
* Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood: 'Instead of cocaine, hook me up with a recorder group!' (The Guardian)
* Cut Your Own Vinyl Records With This $1,100 Machine (Wired)
* On ‘Fly Or Die II,’ Jaimie Branch Lets the Music Breathe (DownBeat)
* Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt Celebrates 50 Years of Fruitful Collaborations (DownBeat)
* Art Blakey's Legacy: A Rallying Cry And A Gathering Place (NPR)

Jazz this week: A tribute to Art Blakey, TAP Dynamics, Route 66 Jazz Orchestra, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music events in St. Louis features a little cabaret, a little tap-dancing, a tribute to one of the most influential drummers and bandleaders in jazz, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 27
Singer and actor Kyle Dean Massey, a Missouri State University graduate who's appeared on Broadway and in ABC-TV's show Nashville, performs a cabaret-style show for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Wednesday, violinist Alex Cunningham performs music from his latest release atop a bill of experimental and improvisational musicians at Foam.

Thursday, September 28
Drummer Montez Coleman and guitarist Eric Slaughter will co-lead a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; bassist Willem von Hombracht heads up a trio with guest saxophonist Freddie Washington at The Pat Connolly Tavern; and trumpeter Keith Moyer's quintet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 29
Montez Coleman, saxophonist Ben Reece,  trumpeter Danny Campbell, bassist Bob DeBoo and pianist Adam Maness will join forces at Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights of "The Art of Blakey,"  paying tribute to the hard bop sound of the legendary drummer/bandleader and his Jazz Messengers.

Also on Friday, singer Tony Viviano and guitarist Dave Black will perform at Magpie's in St. Charles; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to Evangeline's in the Central West End; and guitarist Tom Byrne leads a trio at Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Saturday, September 30
Dance St. Louis kicks off its 2017-18 season with the first of two performances of "TAP Dynamics" at the Grandel Theatre.  The show features dancers Jason Samuels Smith, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, and Derick K. Grant performing with a live jazz trio - music director and drummer Allison Miller (pictured, top left), pianist Carmen Staaf and bassist Noah Garabedian - playing original music and "favorite selections from Miles Davis." The program repeats on Sunday afternoon.

Also on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to the Parkside Grill, and Tropical Mood plays salsa, Latin jazz, and more at the Webster Groves Concert Hall

Sunday, October 1
Trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Dave Venn play their monthly brunch gig at Scarlett's Wine Bar; saxophonist Tim Cunningham is back for one more matinee at Mount Pleasant Winery; and the Friends of Scott Joplin will present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Monday, October 2 
Singer Debby Lennon performs with the Jeremy Pfeffer Trio in a concert at Webster University's  Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Tuesday, October 3
The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (pictured, bottom left) plays a show for the "Notes From Home" series at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz St. Louis adds shows to Bistro schedule

Jazz St. Louis has announced nine more events for the 2017-18 season at Jazz at the Bistro, filling in some gaps in the previously-announced schedule for the fall and adding one more headliner in the spring.

Three of the shows are co-productions with Cabaret Project of St. Louis, as the two organizations will team up to present singer and actor Kyle Dean Massey on Wednesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 28; actor, singer and Bellevile native Lea DeLaria (pictured), who will make her debut at the Bistro with shows on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28; and Marilyn Maye, the 89-year-old known as the "grand dame of cabaret," on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8.

Three other newly-scheduled events will pay tribute to jazz greats.

Drummer Montez Coleman will helm "The Art of Blakey," a celebration of the iconic drummer and his Jazz Messengers, on Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10, joined by saxophonist Ben Reece, trumpeter Danny Campbell, bassist Bob DeBoo, and pianist Adam Maness.

Coleman, DeBoo and Maness then will return the following month for a "Thelonious Monk Centennial" tribute on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26.

Then on Wednesday, November 5, a free event titled "Duke Ellington and Film" will examine Ellington's music for film and his onscreen appearances via a talk by John Edward Hasse, curator of American music at the Smithsonian Institute, and a performance from the Jazz St. Louis Big Band.

Also added to the fall schedule are a performance by the JazzU Big Band student ensemble on Sunday, October 29, and return dates for the 1970s jazz-fusion tribute Weather Forever on Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11, and trumpeter Jim Manley's holiday show "A Very Manley Christmas" on Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23 .

Tickets for all these shows are available now via the Jazz St. Louis website.

Sunday Session: April 30, 2017

Hugh Masekela

Here are some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* UK music industry braced for Brexit (BBC)
* Nudity, chimps, and Dolly Parton's disembodied head: are these the worst album covers of all time? (The Telegraph)
* Trombone Shorty Pushes Tradition Forward (NPR)
* Preservation Propagation: Preservation Hall Jazz Band has left the museum behind (Offbeat)
* Hancock, Spalding, McBride Celebrate Shorter in Hometown (DownBeat)
* Review 'Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary' serves the jazz legend well (Los Angeles Times)
* Jazz Giant Wadada Leo Smith on Four Recent Collaborations (Bandcamp.com)
* Afrobeat Legend Tony Allen Honors Jazz Great With 'Tribute to Art Blakey' EP (Rolling Stone)
* Interview: Hugh Masekela on No Borders, Satchmo and reuniting the Jazz Epistles (BestOfNewOrleans.com)
* From the Magazine: Sipiagin Soars on New Sextet Album (DownBeat)
* Q&A: Henry Threadgill - Master improviser speaks on sustaining creativity (Austin Chronicle)
* Ella Fitzgerald: Beyond Words (Merriam-Webster.com)
* Duke Ellington And Copyright: Five Things You Should Know (JDSupra.com)
* Record Store Day Is Boon for Vinyl Sales (DownBeat)
* Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater (NPR)
* Stax Records Plots Massive 60th Anniversary Campaign (Rolling Stone)
* The Hidden Legacy of The Jazz Epistles, South Africa's Short-Lived But Historic Band (WBGO)
* What Controversial Changes at Harvard Mean for Music in the University (TheLogJournal.com)
* Ashok and Vijay Squeeze Blood from a Drum Machine (AAWW.org)
* The Story of Science Faction, the Company That Brought Lasers to Rock and Roll (Vice.com)
* A Jazz Classic Becomes a Picture Book (TabletMag.com)
* Q&A: Miles Mosley - The fiery, soulful bassist, singer and composer launches his Uprising (Jazz Times)
* Blue Note Jazz Festival Announces Lineup - Concerts by Metheny, Glasper, Collier, Hiromi, Tyner, Ponty and many more (Jazz Times)