Sunday Session: September 20, 2020

Tomeka Reid

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

* Hawaii Passes the ‘Truth in Music Advertising Act’ to Prevent ‘Imposter Performers’ That Claim to Be Classic Bands (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Book Review: Crime and Espionage — to the Sounds of Jazz (ArtsFuse.org)
* Discovering—and Preserving—the Earliest Known Stereo Recordings (Pro Sound News)
* Chick Corea bonus Q&A: What he learned playing with Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz and others (San Diego Union Tribune)
* New Billie Holiday Documentary to Open in November (VIDEO) (Jazz Times)
* Why the struggle of small venues will affect the entire music industry (MidiaResearch.com)
* LJ Talks to Ricky Riccardi, Author of "Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong" (Library Journal)
* 55 Years Ago: Otis Redding Sets a New Standard With ‘Otis Blue’ (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Visa fees for foreign artists touring the US to increase by over 50% (NME.com)
* The Thrills and Frustrations of a Rediscovered Thelonious Monk Recording (The New Yorker)
* Remembering Bassist Gary Peacock, with a Recent Conversation on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Fridays at Five: A Look Behind the Scenes (SFJAZZ.org)
* Stanley Crouch, Towering Jazz Critic, Dead At 74 (NPR)
* Bootsy Collins Collaborates With George Benson, Branford Marsalis And More On ‘The Power Of The One’ (DownBeat)
* Is Richard Wagner Simultaneously the Most Controversial and Influential Composer Ever? (Pitchfork.com)
* How South Africa’s Blue Notes Helped Invent European Free Jazz (Bandcamp.com)
* Stanley Crouch 1945–2020 (Jazz Times)
* Musicians Are Surviving the Pandemic by Giving (and Receiving) Virtual Lessons (Pitchfork.com)
* Vinyl frontier: The story behind one of the rarest records in the universe (TheVinylFactory.com)
* I saw a different side of Stanley Crouch (TheUndefeated.com)
* Late Night TV Show Musicians Sign Open Letter to Networks Asking for "Economic Parity" (Hollywood Reporter)
* Jazz cellist Tomeka Reid to make debut as Mills professor with virtual show (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Toto, ELO, Queen ... why hits from happier times top Covid lockdown playlists (The Guardian)
* The Sheer Force Of Artemis (DownBeat)
* The Greenwich Village jazz scene is scrambling to stay alive (Time Out New York)
* Beyond High Concept, Beyond Algorithms: Classical Recording Artists Go “Off the Leash” (WQXR)
* Retired Victoria broadcaster finds long-lost tapes of Joni Mitchell recording session (Victoria Times Colonist)
* Meet the NEA Jazz Masters, Class of 2020 (NPR)

Sunday Session: November 17, 2019

Artemis

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

* Christopher Hollyday’s Vanishing Act (Jazz Times)
* Artemis, the All-Female Jazz Supergroup, Joins the Roster of Blue Note Records (WBGO)
* Earshot Serves as Platform for Thriving Seattle Scene (DownBeat)
* Why Hundreds of Music Stars Are Giving Fans Their Phone Numbers (Billboard)
* The Internet Archive Is Digitizing & Preserving Over 100,000 Vinyl Records: Hear 750 Full Albums Now (OpenCulture.com)
* Jaimie Branch :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* 'When you're black, being alive is a success': Angel Bat Dawid, 2019's brightest new jazz star (The Guardian)
* Sun Ra: Our 1989 Interview (SPIN)
* A Jazz Musician’s guide to the EFG London Jazz Festival 2019 (Medium.com)
* Ralph Peterson takes all his musical lessons to heart (Philadelphia Tribune)
* Any tips? A body language expert puts the spotlight on orchestra conductors (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
* Sun Ra & the Classical Undertones of Afrofuturism (CastleSkins.org)
* Blue Note Documentary a Jazz Film with a Hip-Hop Heart (DownBeat)
* Check out the first playable record made from recycled ocean plastic (DJMag.com)
* Chops: Jamison Ross on Singing Behind the Kit (Jazz Times)
* Audio Files: Darn That Stream (Jazz Times)
* The Wild Story of How Mary Steenburgen Wrote the Best Original Movie Song of the Year (IndieWire.com)
* Mapping Music's Evolution: 23 Breakthroughs That Changed How We Listen (Billboard)
* How Musicians Are Evolving the Legacy of Resistance (DownBeat)
* Live Review: ECM 50 in New York (Jazz Times)
* Turning Over - Why Page Turners Matter (Atavist.com)
* London Calling at 40: How The Clash shattered punk orthodoxy and created a masterpiece (The Independent)
* Joe Henry's Next Second Chance (NPR)
* Mary Ann Topper, Manager of Noted Jazz Artists, Dies at 79 (Jazz Times)

Jazz this week: Artemis, Keyon Harrold & Quincy Troupe, "Jazz Heaven" and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the local debut of a buzzworthy new band, a homecoming for a couple of native sons, the latest chapter in a series of tributes to famous figures in jazz, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...


Wednesday, October 9
The all-star band Artemis (pictured, top left) will make their St. Louis debut with the first of five nights of performances at Jazz St. Louis.

Formed a couple of years ago at the instigation of pianist Renee Rosnes, Artemis features a lineup of musicians who all are bandleaders in their own right, including tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller.

Given the difficulties of juggling six busy schedules, Artemis has had only occasional chances to work together a unit, but their five-night run here should give them ample opportunities to dig into their catalog, which includes original compositions from the various members as well as familiar material ranging from Thelonious Monk to the Beatles. In the meantime, you can get idea of what to expect by checking out the videos in this post from last Saturday.

Thursday, October 10
Singer Robert Nelson performs at the Chase Club, and drummer Stephen Haake leads a trio at The Dark Room.

Friday, October 11
Trumpeter Keyon Harrold and writer Quincy Troupe (pictured, center left) will team up for a program called "The Shape of Abstraction: Trumpet and Voice, Call and Response" at the St. Louis Art Museum.

Both St. Louis natives, Troupe and Harrold also are connected through Miles Davis. Troupe co-authored the trumpeter's autobiography and later wrote his own memoir about their relationship, while Harrold supplied music for the soundtrack of Don Cheadle's 2016 film Miles Ahead, a semi-fictionalized account of Davis in the 1970s, and also has been involved in several tributes to Davis.

Along with poetry by Troupe and music by Harrold, the event will feature images of works of art by black artists currently on view at the museum as part of the exhibition "The Shape of Abstraction: Selections from the Ollie Collection."

Also on Friday, the Jazz Troubadours will perform at Evangeline's, and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 12
On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon (pictured, bottom left) presents the latest production in her "Jazz Heaven" series, "Gone But Not Forgotten," at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre, with a cast of singers including Kim Fuller-Barnes, Joe Mancuso, Robert Nelson, Roland Johnson, Michael Chatman, and the Legend Singers Chorale Ensemble.

Saturday night, singer and bassist Janet Evra performs in concert at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; local and regional electronic musicians and bands will gather for Synthfest IV at The Heavy Anchor; and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Sunday, October 13
Singer Chuck Flowers returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and saxophonist Chad Evans and singer Felica Ezell-Gillespie will perform in a matinee concert at the Ozark Theatre.

Also on Sunday, percussionist Joe Pastor leads a trio at Evangeline's, and Orchestrated 9th will reprise their "Tribute to Herbie Hancock" at Troy's Listening Room.

Monday, October 14
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, October 15
Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club, and Arvell Keithley, Jim Manley and the Wild Cool & Swingin' Horns return for an encore performance at the Gaslight Theater.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Artemis

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring members of Artemis, the all-star, all-woman band who are coming to St. Louis to perform starting next Wednesday, October 9 through Sunday, October 13 at Jazz St. Louis.

Named for the Greek goddess of wilderness and the hunt, Artemis was convened by pianist Renee Rosnes and features musicians originally from the US, Canada, Israel, Chile, and Japan, including trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller. (Vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, who's performing tonight at The Sheldon, also has been featured on some Artemis gigs, but she won't be with them in St. Louis.)

Although they first came together a couple of years ago, Artemis has yet to record, and has done only a limited number of performances, presumably because finding a time when all six members - all bandleaders in their own right - are available to gig presents a significant challenge. In those shows, they've offered up new arrangements of familiar songs from Thelonious Monk, the Beatles, the Great American Songbook, and more, as well as original music composed by various band members.

Unfortunately, since they haven't done a lot of touring, there's not much video online of them as a band, either. Specifically, there seems to be three shows that have been documented (using that term very loosely here) at least in part on video and posted online, and in two of those, they're not even using the name Artemis yet, but instead are billed as "Woman to Woman."

Nomenclature notwithstanding, those clips still provide something of an idea of what audiences might expect to hear next week, and so you can see the first one, which captures an entire set from July 2017 at the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain, up above.

After the jump, there are two extended excerpts from a show a couple of weeks earlier at New Morning in Paris, featuring five members of what is now Artemis, plus Salvant on vocals and Sylvia Cuenca substituting for Allison Miller on drums.

Finally, the last video actually is a playlist, compiling 16 short excerpts ranging in length from under a minute to two minutes plus, from Artemis' show at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival, a performance which many observers considered to be one of the festival's highlights. The quality of these short clips ranges from "OK but short" to "bad," but as there seems to be no other video documentation of the show, they seemed to be worth including.

For more about Artemis, listen to the episode of NPR's "Jazz Night In America" from last November that features them.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2019 jazz preview, part two

Today, it's time for part two of StLJN's Fall 2019 jazz preview, presenting videos of the jazz and creative music artists who will be coming here to perform for the next four months. (You can see part one here.)

The chronology of upcoming shows resumes with Paa Kow and his Afro-Fusion Orchestra, who will be in St. Louis on Friday, September 6 for a performance at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups. The group, including St. Louis' own Weedie Braimah on percussion, can be seen in the first video up above, which is an excerpt from their performance in 2018 at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Festival.

After the jump, you can see a video of singer Cyrille Aimee, who will perform on Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19 at Jazz St. Louis. The clip shows Aimee singing "Down" in February of this year at the studios of WBGO radio in Newark, NJ.

Next up, it's saxophonist Joshua Redman, who's bringing his quartet for shows starting Wednesday, September 25 and continuing through Sunday, September 29 at Jazz St. Louis.The video shows a full set of music from Redman, bassist Reuben Rogers, drummer Greg Hutchinson, and pianist Aaron Goldberg recorded in 2013 at the Jazz sous les Pommiers festival in France.

The following week, St. Louis will get a return visit from singer Cécile McLorin Salvant with pianist Aaron Diehl's trio, as they perform on Saturday, October 5 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. They can be seen in the next video, a full set recorded in 2016 at the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain.

Today's penultimate video features Chicago-based cornetist, composer, and vocalist Ben Lamar Gay, who will open New Music Circle's 61st season with a performance on Saturday, October 5 at Off Broadway. He's seen here with his quartet performing "More" at DJ Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards ceremony this past January in London.

The final clip features members of Artemis, the all-star, all-woman ensemble who will perform Wednesday, October 9 through Sunday, October 13 at Jazz St. Louis.

Since literally all the members of the group are busy bandleaders in their own right, Artemis hasn't done much extended touring. The only live videos of them online so far seem to be some shaky footage shot at last year's Newport Jazz Festival and posted online in two-minute chunks, which don't serve the music or musicians particularly well.

Fortunately, there is some good-quality video of a gig in July 2017 at New Morning in Paris, nominally billed as "Woman To Woman," but featuring all the members of Artemis except for drummer Allison Miller, and so, it's an extended excerpt from that show that is posted here for your viewing and listening enjoyment.

Look for part three of StLJN's Fall 2019 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...