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)

Sunday Session: December 22, 2019

Gerald Cleaver

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

* Mars Williams brings his Albert Ayler Xmas across Europe and back home to Chicago (Chicago Reader)
* Gershon Kingsley, Moog Synthesizer Pioneer, Dies at 97 (Billboard)
* Wayne Shorter Continues to Forge Ahead (DownBeat)
* 'We loved each other': America’s first racially integrated all-girl swing band (The Guardian)
* A small Wisconsin company stored thousands of people’s CDs, then suddenly vanished (TheVerge.com)
* Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Finally Recognizes Woman Who Practically Invented Rock and Roll (Jezebel.com)
* Dave Brubeck’s Legacy Enters a New Era (DownBeat)
* The Siren Sound of the Clash’s ‘London Calling,’ 40 Years Later (TheRinger.com)
* How Many Spotify Streams Do You Need To Live Above The Poverty Line? (HaulixDaily.com)
* Terence Blanchard, American jazz trumpeter weaving opera history (Prothomalo.com)
* Don Was On The Past, Present, And Future Of Blue Note Records (ClashMusic.com)
* On The Scene: Tony Bennett—The Visual Artist (The Aquarian)
* Why Are There No New Christmas Songs? (NPR)
* George Benson: the album that changed my life (Jazzwise)
* Gerald Cleaver Bridges the Divide Between Structure and Freedom (DownBeat)
* Chamber Music America Grants $180,000 to Female-Led Jazz Ensembles (Jazz Times)
* The South African Songbook: Jazz Musicians Who Stayed During Apartheid (NPR)
* Tony Bennett Brings the Holiday Spirit With His Animated Yule Log (Parade)
* A Major Music Distributor Has Stifled Vinyl Sales for Record Stores and Indie Labels, Sources Say (Pitchfork.com)
* 'It's a Total Nightmare': Problems at Direct Shot Distributing Have Made New Vinyl and CDs Scarce (Billboard)
* No Other Love Is the B-Side of the Chicago Gospel Story (Chicago)
* How headphones are changing the sound of music (QZ.com)
* A Bessie Smith Christmas (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: August 11, 2019

Sam Rivers

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

* Joni Mitchell's 'Mingus' At 40: A Look Back At A Seminal Jazz Collab (Grammy.com)
* The Night Charlie Parker Soared in South Central L.A. (AltaOnline.com)
* Why Stevie Ray Vaughan Turned Down a David Bowie Tour (Rolling Stone)
* Woodstock Had Some of the Most Legendary Performances in History. But Many Attendees Never Heard a Single Note (Time)
* Herbie Hancock & Cecile McLorin Salvant Among 9 Best Moments at 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (Billboard)
* How SFJAZZ Center Established Itself As A Cultural Force In San Francisco (Grammy.com)
* Roger McGuinn Shoots Down David Crosby’s Byrds Reunion Idea (Again) (Rolling Stone)
* Mike Stern: Different Orbits (AllAboutJazz.com)
* From The Tent Show To The Parlor: Bessie Smith's Travels In Her Time (NPR)
* Laurie Spiegel’s expanding universe (CrackMagazine.net)
* The sounds of Woodstock reborn (CBS News)
* Copyrighting the 'Building Blocks' of Music? Why the Katy Perry Case Alarms Producers (KQED)
* Art Neville spent a lifetime 'throwin' bricks' with the Meters and Neville Brothers (NOLA.com)
* How "Free Exploration" Can Inspire New Compositional Creation (Guitar World)
* Tools for the Personal Studio (Pro Sound News)
* JAZZIZ Backstage Pass: Pianist Monty Alexander Plays Monk with a Reggae Twist (Jazziz)
* Bob Wilber, Saxophonist and Clarinetist Who Carried a Torch for Classic Jazz, Has Died at 91 (WBGO)
* Noncommercial Sounds Draw Crowds to Berlin’s A’larme! Festival (DownBeat)
* Want to Get on the Radio? Have $50,000? (Rolling Stone)
* The Unheard ‘Abbey Road’: An Exclusive Preview of Beatles’ Expanded Final Masterpiece (Rolling Stone)
* How Decca Records Brought Jazz Music To The World (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* First-Time Leaders Preserve and Evolve Newport Legacy (DownBeat)
* How a Collaboration Between Roky Erickson and Doug Sahm Became Part of the Blueprint for Punk Rock (Austin Chronicle)
* John Fogerty celebrates 1960s rock with ‘My 50-Year Trip’ tour (Boston Globe)
* Cultivating the Legacy of Sam Rivers (DownBeat)
* How composer Matthew Burtner is putting climate change into song (PBS)
* Listen With Me (Columbia Journalism Review)