Sunday Session: May 30, 2021

Doug Carn

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

* Celebrating Gospel Music After the Civil Rights Era (AAIHS.org)
* My favourite Dylan song – by Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Judy Collins and more (The Guardian)
* Vanderbilt Heard Libraries are new home to Dizzy Gillespie Collection (Vanderbilt.edu)
* From the Deep South to Chicago, How Blues Music Shaped the Lives of 2 Japanese Men (NBCChicago.com)
* In his final months, Ralph Peterson pushed ‘onward and upward’ to complete ‘Raise Up Off Me’ (Boston Globe)
* You Just Can't Peg Pedrito Martinez And Rubén Blades (NPR)
* Live Music Is Back. America’s Indie Venues Are No Better Off (Rolling Stone)
* Strata-East Records: An Oral History (Jazz Times)
* The History of Reverb (Reverb.com)
* Unique Collection Of Classic 'Sweet Soul' Music From Chicago Finds New Home (WBUR)
* Branford Marsalis' 'Ma Rainey' Score Makes 100-Year-Old Blues Sound Relevant Today (NPR)
* In Conversation: Can’s Irmin Schmidt on the Band’s Legacy and Most Memorable Live Shows (FloodMagazine.com)
* Six Definitive Songs: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Sun Ra (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Best Archie Shepp Tracks: 20 Essentials From The Jazz Firebrand (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* ‘Black music is my superpower. It’s my way of showing love’: the art of Georgia Anne Muldrow (The Guardian)
* Let’s talk about sax, baby: How one of music’s most maligned instruments reconquered pop and indie (The Independent)
* John Coltrane House project in Strawberry Mansion gets state blight remediation funds (PhillyVoice.com)
* Doug Carn’s Big Moment (DownBeat)
* Lost in Space Music: Records That Explore the Outer Limits (Bandcamp.com)

Sunday Session: May 23, 2021

Quincy Jones

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

* Pioneering composer Terry Riley finds himself comfortably marooned in Japan (ToysMatrix.com)
* Curtis Fuller (1932-2021) – A Tribute by Nils Wogram (London Jazz News)
* "Part of the Tradition is Tipping Your Hat": An Interview with Miguel Zenón (Popmatters.com)
* Sam Leak – Findings of the ‘Livestreaming Music’ survey – and a personal perspective (London Jazz News)
* Moers Festival Interviews: Fred Frith (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Long Hair And Lowriders: Latin Rock In 1971 (NPR)
* Making an Album About George Washington Carver Taught James Brandon Lewis About Himself (Bandcamp.com)
* María Grand Moves Her Music Closer to Nature (Jazz Times)
* The golden ratio: an ancient Greek formula could be responsible for most hit musicals (TheConversation.com)
* Bob Koester leaves a colossal legacy in Chicago jazz and blues (Chicago Reader)
* “Stay Literally Forever Young”: A Conversation with Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans (DwellerForever.blog)
* Mars Williams: The Albums That Shaped My Career (SomethingElseReviews.com)
* How a Favela Orchestra Brilliantly Used Soccer to Get Brazil Excited for Classical Music (Adweek)
* THR Icon: Quincy Jones Reflects on Career, Michael Jackson and Why He Wouldn’t Work With Elvis (Hollywood Reporter)
* Marking Legendary Golden-Age Pianist Erroll Garner's Centennial (NPR)
* Joni Mitchell’s First Song Made Her Piano Teacher Angry (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Fifteen Questions Interview with Claire RousayFlawed, Unsure, and Deeply Human (15Questions)
* Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ Is as Relevant Today as It Was in 1971 (Smithsonian)
* Bob Dylan at 80: in praise of a mighty and unbowed singer-songwriter (The Guardian)
* Linda May Han Oh: the Perth muso immortalised by Pixar (Sydney Morning Herald) * Wadada Leo Smith :: Transmissions (AquariumDrunkard.com)

Sunday Session: December 13, 2020

Branford Marsalis

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

* Revisit a Vibrant San Francisco Music Scene in Harlem of the West (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* The Treasure in Frank Zappa’s Secret Subterranean Vault (The New Yorker)
* Bob Dylan sells his entire catalog of songs to Universal (CNN)
* Paul McCartney opens up about friendship with John Lennon in new interview (NME.com)
* Matthew Shipp at 60 (CliffordAllen.me)
* How John Coltrane Introduced the World to His Radical Sound in the Groundbreaking Recording of “My Favorite Things” (OpenCulture.com)
* Knocking Down Barriers: An Interview with Abdul Wadud, 1980 (PointOfDeparture.org)
* 'Sittin' In: Jazz Clubs of the 1940s and 1950s' Opens a Portal to the Past, and a Dialogue (WBGO)
* Wait, Bob Dylan Owned ‘The Weight’? An Explainer (Rolling Stone)
* There Goes the Neighborhood: What really caused the decline of 18th & Vine (ScalawagMagazine.org)
* Meet säje, the vocal supergroup thriving on female empowerment (Jazz.fm)
* ‘Mostly Hard Times’: How the City’s Few Jazz Clubs Are Hanging On, Barely (Curbed.com)
* Whit Dickey on the Path to Wisdom (Jazz Times)
* Jazz City: The Once — and Future — Sound of Memphis (Memphis Flyer)
* Ukulele Ike, a.k.a. Cliff Edwards, Sings Again (Jazz Times)
* Tough Times for Jazz Promotion (Interview No. 5 with Wendy Kirkland of Chesterfield Jazz Club) (London Jazz News)
* 82% of Musicians Earn Less Than $270 a Year From Spotify and Other Music Streaming Music Platforms, Study Finds (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* The New Vocabulary of Funkadelic (1970) (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* 'I'm a song catcher': 60 years of Arhoolie Records, the label for a lost America (The Guardian)
* Mary Lou Williams, Writ Large (DownBeat)
* Branford Marsalis on the Music of ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ and Chadwick Boseman’s Performance (Variety)
* George Benson Innovates, Crafts Pop Hits (DownBeat)
* Concert Industry Lost $30 Billion in 2020 (Variety)
* Our Revels Now Are Ended (The American Scholar)
* Joni Mitchell: “I know what I want and I’m not afraid to stand up for it” (New Statesman)
* He's the Leader: An Interview with Aretha's "Main Man" Fonzi Thornton (PopMatters.com)
* “Then there was the time I was buried in a hole”: Phil Minton at 80 (The Wire)
* Berkeley jazz clarinetist marks the days of pandemic in ‘Plague Diary’ (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Charley Pride, Pioneering Black Country Singer, Dead at 86 (Rolling Stone)

Sunday Session: November 1, 2020

Sun Ra Arkestra

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

* Artist Feature: Hasan Shahid and the Return of Al-Fatihah (JazzRightNow.com)
* Happy 80th Eddie Henderson! (London Jazz News)
* How the Shure SM57 became an industry standard microphone – from presidential duties to pop (MusicRadar.com)
* Joni Mitchell: 'I'm a fool for love. I make the same mistake over and over' (The Guardian)
* EXCLUSIVE: John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan Discuss Music, Legacy and Beyond (RollingStoneIndia.com)
* On Performing Fluxus in 2020 (New Music Box)
* Jeff Hamilton, Drummer’s Drummer (Jazz Times)
* This Year’s Model Elvis Costello is back with his 31st (or so) studio album. But don’t look for any consolation from him. (Vulture.com)
* Sun Ra Arkestra :: Swirling (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* A No. 1 Song Written by a Solitary Songwriter Is Becoming a Thing of the Past (Billboard)
* Lost interviews hold new Bob Dylan insights (Chicago Sun-Times)
* “We’re Just a House Band on the Titanic”: A Conversation With Devo’s Gerald Casale (Tidal.com)
* Shabaka Hutchings Lets The Tape Roll (DownBeat)
* Angel Bat Dawid, Musician and Myth Scientist, Shares Her Story and Takes a Righteous Stand (WBGO)
* The Sun Ra Arkestra Is Swirling Through Space (Jazz Times)
* A Conversation with Peter Guralnick About His Latest Book, ‘Looking To Get Lost’ (American Songwriter)
* B.B. King Estate Announces Official Biopic, Clears Up Wendell Pierce Confusion (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)
* The 30 greatest synth players of all time: keyboard wizards, programming gurus and sound design legends (MusicRadar.com)
* Makaya McCraven Refracts The World Around Him (DownBeat)
* What’s in a Name? (Jazz Times)
* New Charlie Parker Vinyl Box Set, ‘The Mercury & Clef 10-Inch LP Collection’ Set For Release (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* How do the best horror scores scare the crap out of us with just a few notes? (AV Club)
* 80 years ago today: the Benny Goodman-Count Basie Octet (Jazz on the Record)
* Historic Labels: An Enlightening Sonic Window to the Past (WQXR)

Sunday Session: October 25, 2020

Keith Jarrett

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

* Ronnie's review – fascinating story of the fabled Soho jazz club (TheArtsDesk.com)
* 5 Questions to Tyshawn Sorey (composer, multi-instrumentalist) (ICareIfYouListen.com)
* Met Opera’s musicians haven’t been paid since April. Now, a third have left New York (ClassicFM.com)
* Master Jazz Drummer Rodney Green on Jason Moran, Charlie Haden and Purgatory Perceptions (WhiteHotMagazine.com)
* With COVID-19 stimulus stalled, L.A. clubs face doomsday scenario: ‘We’re in the deep end, drowning’ (Los Angeles Times)
* Earl Freeman: Poems and Drawings (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* Louis Armstrong and Comedy Part 2: “Always a Showman!” 1922-1933 (LouisArmstrongHouse.org)
* Jazz Educators Step Up to Face COVID-19’s Challenges (Jazz Times)
* The Genius Of… Super Session by Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills (Guitar)
* Toshinori Kondo, Trailblazing Modern Trumpeter, Dies At 71 (NPR)
* Acid, nudity and sci-fi nightmares: why Hawkwind were the radicals of 1970s rock (The Guardian)
* Pianist Keith Jarrett unlikely to perform again after two strokes (The Guardian)
* National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2021 NEA Jazz Masters (Arts.gov)
* Nubya Garcia Injects Fresh Energy Into The UK Jazz Scene (DownBeat)
* A Cultural History of the Cranked Snare Drum (Full-Stop.net)
* Analog Africa: digging deeper into forgotten corners of global groove (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Inside Bob Dylan’s Lost Interviews and Unseen Letters (Rolling Stone)
* Slo-mo artistry of a sax genius (Sydney Morning Herald)
* Little Richard Made Millions. It All Went to His Label (Vice.com)
* Jazz singer Kurt Elling moves back home to Chicago: ‘It was always a question of when was going to be right’ (Chicago Tribune)
* “You Need Both Sides of the Coin to Feel Like There is Substance:” An Interview with Nubya Garcia (PassionWeiss.com)
* With The Specter Of Winter Looming, Venues Explore Paths Forward (DownBeat)
* A Guide to the Music of Archie Shepp, Who Kept Jazz Vitally Political (Bandcamp.com)
* Jazz Clubs Are in Crisis (Jazz Times)
* Cindy Blackman Santana Blends Music, Spiritual Approaches (DownBeat)
* As Keith Jarrett Closes a Chapter, Jazz United Reflects on His Monumental Solo Piano Career (WBGO)
* Five Songs That Exemplify the Musical Legacy of Pharoah Sanders (WDET)
* Canadian musician Angie C just used a brainwave-reader to play the monster analogue synth TONTO with her mind (MusicRadar.com)

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: April 12, 2020

Ron Carter

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

* Even in the Swinging Sixties, Ray Davies was feeling nostalgic (The Spectator)
* How Professor Bop Paid His Dues: Babs Gonzales (IndianaPublicMedia.org)
* John Edward Hasse Remembers U.S. Rep. John Conyers (Jazz Times)
* Guitarists Fareed Haque And Goran Ivanovic Reconvene After 15 Years (DownBeat)
* An Extraordinary Documentary About the Art of Sun Ra (The New Yorker)
* Chicago’s elder jazz musicians are playing not just for money but for time and yearn to return to the stage (Chicago Tribune)
* Jazz At Lincoln Center, Cultural Institutions Open Up Archives Amid Pandemic (DownBeat)
* Stayin’ alive! How music has fought pandemics for 2,700 years (The Guardian)
* Hal Willner, Music Producer and Longtime ‘SNL’ Music Supervisor, Dead at 64 (Rolling Stone)
* John Prine, Hero Of 'New' Nashville, Dies After Developing COVID-19 Symptoms (NPR)
* John Prine's Songs Saw The Whole Of Us (NPR)
* Onaje Allan Gumbs, Pianist Whose Reach Spanned the Soulful and the Smooth, Dies at 70 (WBGO)
* Kendrick Lamar Thinks Like A Jazz Musician (NPR)
* Ron Carter: A record-breaking jazz legend returns to Tokyo (Japan Times)
* Lakecia Benjamin Pursues a Spiritual Quest (DownBeat)
* Bob Dylan Scores First-Ever No. 1 Song on a Billboard Chart With 'Murder Most Foul' (Billboard)
* Blue Engine Chronicles Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Performances (DownBeat)
* Jazz Artists Raise Concerns Over Coronavirus Cancellations (Jazz Times)
* Best McCoy Tyner Albums: 20 Essentials From The Legendary Pianist (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* People Are Remembering What Music Is Really For (The Atlantic)
* Uri Caine Celebrates the Legacy of Octavius Catto (Jazz Times)
* Roscoe Mitchell reconciles improvisational sources and orchestral means (Chicago Reader)
* Unwinding the mystery of degraded reel-to-reel tapes (Phys.org)
* Nerding Out With Thundercat - On his new album, losing Mac Miller, and the Evangelion dubbing controversy (Vulture.com)
* Shine On Till Tomorrow: The Beatles’ Breakup at 50 (Rolling Stone)
* Bassist Andy González Dies At The Age Of 69 (DownBeat)
* Fenway Park's Organist Gives Fans That Ballpark Sound At Home — And He Takes Requests (NPR)
* Jazz Messengers’ Bassist Jymie Merritt Dies At 93 (DownBeat)
* Jymie Merritt, Bassist Who Brought a Rooted Yet Exploratory Spirit to Post-Bop, Dies at 93 (WBGO)
* The legal underbelly of livestreaming concerts (Water & Music)
* Coronavirus ravages storied New Orleans Mardi Gras group (Associated Press)

Sunday Session: April 5, 2020

Wallace Roney

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

* Out of the Blues: Reflections on the 1960s Revival (Acoustic Guitar)
* What Bob Dylan Is Doing in “Murder Most Foul” (The New Yorker)
* The making of King Crimson's Starless And Bible Black (LouderSound.com)
* Mahler versus Slowthai! - what happened when our pop and classical critics traded jobs? (The Guardian)
* What happens to musicians when all the gigs stop? (The Undefeated.com)
* Robert Glasper On Nu Deco Collab, Crossing Over, Blue Note NYC, Surprise Sets With Dave Chappelle & More [Interview] (LiveForLiveMusic.com)
* Stefon Harris — Vibraphonist, Educator, Thinker — Teaches Empathy From The Bandstand (NPR)
* Van Morrison in lockdown: ‘I am trying to get back into writing songs’ (The Independent)
* Why Astrud Gilberto Is So Much More Than ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Wallace Roney, Intrepid Jazz Trumpeter, Dies From COVID-19 Complications At 59 (NPR)
* The blistering cosmic music of The Black Unity Trio (The Wire)
* Reinventing the Sound of Protest (The Nation)
* Jazz and the Vinyl Renaissance (Jazz Times)
* Here’s Every Painstaking Step That Goes Into Making a Steinway & Sons Grand Piano (RobbReport.com)
* More Jazz Added to National Recording Registry (Jazz Times)
* In Memoriam: Ellis Marsalis (1934–2020) (DownBeat)
* Ellis Marsalis, New Orleans Jazz Patriarch, Dies at 85 (Billboard)
* Pianist and Educator Ellis Marsalis Dies at 85 (Keyboard)
* Branford Marsalis Pays Tribute to His Late Father, Ellis Marsalis Jr. (Billboard)
* Legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli dies at 94 (NJArts.net)
* Bucky Pizzarelli, Jazz Guitarist And Prolific Session Musician, Dead At 94 (NPR)
* Remembering Bucky Pizzarelli (DownBeat)
* From Big Pink to Whitney’s Dream House: Here’s What It’s Like to Live in a Pop Star’s Former Home (Rolling Stone)
* Lakecia Benjamin Pursues a Spiritual Quest (DownBeat)
* Downsizing Is Good at Winter NAMM 2020 (Jazz Times)
* The Revolutionary Free Jazz of Irreversible Entanglements (Bandcamp.com)
* ‘Lean On Me,’ ‘Lovely Day’ singer Bill Withers dies at 81 (Associated Press)
* A Moment to Rethink How We Support Music (The New Yorker)

Sunday Session: November 25, 2018

Ambrose Akinmusire

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:

* Billy Harper charges up Church Of Sound (Jazzwise)
* REVIEW: Ethan and the British Composers at Kings Place (2018 EFG LJF) (London Jazz News)
* Alice Coltrane’s Ashram Lost in California Wildfires (Pitchfork.com)
* Why the Hideout is vital to Chicago’s music scene (Chicago Tribune)
* Blood on the Tracks: Canonizing Bob Dylan’s Human Opus (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Joshua Redman keeps Old and New Dreams alive (Vancouver Sun)
* Spinal Tap to reunite, will presumably be billed above puppet show this time (AV Club)
* Jazz great 'Sweet Papa’ Lou Donaldson’s has sports memories to treasure (New York Daily News)
* This Tiny Record Player Plays Oreo Cookies…Kinda (Food and Wine)
* More Evidence That Trained Musicians Are Superior Thinkers (Pacific Standard)
* This is the story of how Africa and slavery have influenced Brazilian music (RedBull.com)
* How Brainfeeder Leads The Charge For Esoteric Funk, Hip-Hop, Pop, & Jazz (Bandcamp.com)
* How a small Philadelphia record company gave an Oscar contender its sound (Philadelphia Inquirer)
* Live Review: 2018 JazzMi Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* Laurin Talese Wins Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition (Jazz Times)
* Ambrose Akinmusire’s Jazz of Pure Possibility (The Nation)
* The Largest Sun Ra Retrospective Yet is Hidden on the Top Floor of the Portland Art Musuem (Willamette Week)
* What is All the Fuss About? Kenny Barron Takes Years of Experience and Plays in the Moment (VoiceOfOC.org)
* Robert Glasper On How To Get More Young People Into Jazz (NPR)
* Legendary Jazz Guitarist Explains Why ‘The Beatles’ Are Better Than ‘Rolling Stones’ (MetalheadZone.com)
* The Invisible Hit Parade: How Unofficial Recordings Have Flowered in the 21st Century (Wired)
* The History of Play-A-Long (and More) (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: November 18, 2018

Marshall Allen

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:

* I Thought CDs Were Supposed To Be Dying, But Maybe I Got It All Wrong (Forbes)
* Entangled in Berlin (TheBlueMoment.com)
* How a Lost Charles Mingus Recording Finally Saw the Light of Day (Bandcamp.com)
* The Accidental Perfection of the Beatles’ White Album (The New Yorker)
* The Album Is in Deep Trouble – and the Music Business Probably Can’t Save it (Rolling Stone)
* Nate Smith: Taking Jazz Ahead (Jazz Times)
* ‘Black Fire’: The Andrew Hill Classic That Still Burns Bright (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* How Legendary Composer W.C. Handy Became The 'Father Of The Blues' (WBUR)
* Baku Jazz Festival 2018 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* A Legendary Van Morrison Recording Just Hit the Internet and Quickly Disappeared Again (SPIN)
* TONTO: The 50-Year Saga of the Synth Heard on Stevie Wonder Classics (Rolling Stone)
* Bob Dylan’s Masterpiece Is Still Hard to Find (The New Yorker)
* ‘Green Book’ Renders Don Shirley in Film (DownBeat)
* Aretha Franklin Touches The Infinite In The Long-Delayed Film 'Amazing Grace' (NPR)
* JazzFest Berlin Challenges Attendees with Audacious Programming (DownBeat)
* Stars Celebrate Joni Mitchell at 75 (DownBeat)
* Roy Clark, country guitar virtuoso, ‘Hee Haw’ star, has died (Associated Press)
* James Booker’s “The Lost Paramount Tapes” to be released on vinyl (Offbeat)
* ’63 Monk Tapes Released (DownBeat)
* Latin Music Is Reaching More Listeners Than Ever — But Who Is Represented? (Rolling Stone)
* Working to Preserve Traditional Gospel Music (LongReads.com)
* Marshall Allen Sticks To The Music (AntiGravityMagazine.com)
* Louis Armstrong’s Life in Letters, Music and Art (New York Times)
* Jazz After College (Jazz Times)
* Hitting the Right Notes: Five Actors Who Played Real-Life Jazz Artists (Jazziz)
* Q&A: Ann Hampton Callaway: Creating Landscapes of Human Emotion (Jazziz)
* Strength & Power: In Praise of Roswell Rudd (Jazz Times)
* Crosley Is Now Releasing Retro Cassette Players Starting at $60 (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Setting the Record Straight: Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’ (Guitarist Kevin Odegard Revisits the Sessions) (RockCellarMagazine.com)
* Iconic Guitar Builder Loses His Home and Workshop to Flames in Paradise (Popular Mechanics)
* Tony Allen: Jack of All Parades (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: September 2, 2018

Wadada Leo Smith

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:

* Meet the Company Preparing to Be the Last CD Distributor Standing (Billboard)
* The 100 Best Selling Albums of All Time (Updated for 2018) (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* The World’s Greatest Living Jazz Composer Celebrates His Eighty-fifth Birthday (The New Yorker)
* ‘Go’: How Dexter Gordon Raced Into The Jazz History Books (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Esperanza Spalding Is The 21st Century's Jazz Genius (NPR)
* Walking to New Orleans: Davell Crawford's Tribute to Fats Domino (WNYC)
* Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360° VR) (NPR)
* Aretha Franklin Finally Gets Credit for the Term She Popularized (The Atlantic)
* Bob Dylan’s 2018 Setlists Are Starting to Get Interesting (Rolling Stone)
* 10 Afro-Latino Bands You Need to Check Out (OkayAfrica.com)
* Setting the Tempo (Slate)
* Alice Coltrane Concluded Trilogy with ‘Lord Of Lords’ (DownBeat)
* Flutist Nicole Mitchell uses music to map a possible paradise (Chicago Reader)
* 24-Carat Black Were Sampled by Pusha-T, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, JAY-Z—And They’re Still Broke (Pitchfork.com)
* New Orleans at 300: In Search of Jazz (Something Else)
* Hacking and 3D printing the future of violins, in a growing community (CDM.link)
* 'We're Not Just Bebop': Birdland Searches For Fresh Audiences With New 100-Seat Theater (Billboard)
* From musician to physician: Why medical schools are recruiting for musical ability (CBC)
* Bland on Blonde: why the old rock music canon is finished (The Guardian)
* “It Was Us Against Those Guys”: The Women Who Transformed Rolling Stone in the Mid-70s (Vanity Fair)
* Jazz's 'musical value is nil' (1918): An editorial we regret (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* Show Tunes - Instead of selling albums, the music industry today sells fandom (RealLifeMag.com)
* Mondo Jazz Ep. 38: Aretha in Jazz & New Releases (AllAboutJazz.com)
* History of American Protest Music: Which Side Are You On? (LongReads.com)
* Pianist Randy Weston, An Eloquent Spokesman For Jazz's Bond with African Culture, Dies at 92 (WBGO)

Sunday Session: November 5, 2017

Muhal Richard Abrams

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

* John McLaughlin on His Final U.S. Tour, Revisiting Mahavishnu Orchestra (Rolling Stone)
* Jack DeJohnette is a Deluxe Drummer (Montreal Gazette)
* Donald Fagen: ‘With Steely Dan there was no career plan’ (The Times)
* 'I never envisaged what lay ahead’: the first issue of Rolling Stone (The Guardian)
* Music and space (Varsity.co.uk)
* Steely Dan reviewed, London O2 Arena, October 29, 2017 (Uncut.co.uk)
* Playlist: The Roots, And The Reach, Of Fats Domino (NPR)
* Russian Espionage and Electromagnetic Fields: The Story of the Theremin (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Orrin Keepnews: Thelonious Monk—A Remembrance (Keyboard)
* Want to 'train your brain'? Forget apps, learn a musical instrument (The Guardian)
* When Bob Dylan Saw God (Esquire)
* Introducing: Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV (Jazzwise)
* Breaking: Florida Supreme Court Rules That Oldies Recordings are Public Domain (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Thelonious Monk: Tributes from Colleagues (Keyboard)
* Jazz Community Unites To Support Puerto Rico Relief Efforts (NPR)
* I can go for that: how soft rock finally got cool (The Guardian)
* Muhal Richard Abrams Dies at 87 - Hugely influential pianist-composer co-founded the AACM (Jazz Times)
* Muhal Richard Abrams, A Sweepingly Influential Jazz Artist, Has Died At Age 87 (NPR)
* Muhal Richard Abrams, jazz champion and innovator, dies at 87 (Chicago Tribune)
* Muhal Richard Abrams, An Artist Always Looking Forward, Leaves Us Behind (WBGO)
* The Musical Revolution of Muhal Richard Abrams (The New Yorker)
* Billie Holiday to perform live in Los Angeles 58 years after her death (The Independent)
* Chuck D of Public Enemy and Prophets of Rage opens up about the history of rap and hip-hop (Orange County Register)
* This Kennedy Center director is making performance art out of jazz. Can he bring fans along? (Washington Post)
* Sonny Rollins Spent A Mythical 'Night at the Village Vanguard' 60 Years Ago Today (NPR)
* Bad Plus thrills fans at SFJazz Center on last tour of original lineup (SFGate.com)
* Will Spotify Kill the Local Music Scene? (ElectricLiterature.com)
* How Advertisers Get Away With Using Fake Versions of Your Favorite Songs (Pitchfork)

Sunday Session: June 11, 2017

Roscoe Mitchell

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

* Jazz Pioneer Roscoe Mitchell Marked for Dismissal at Mills College (KQED)
* Aretha Franklin Says Detroit Music Weekend May Mark Last Concert (Patch.com)
* Rodney Bingenheimer says farewell to 'Rodney on the ROQ' after 40 years — but he certainly isn't retiring (Los Angeles Times)
* In $43 Million Settlement, Spotify Forced To Confront A Persistent Problem (NPR)
* The Beatles 'A Day In The Life' Is A Landmark In Sound Engineering 50 Years After It Was Recorded (Forbes)
* How Gregg Allman and Cher stunned Canisius High 'assembly' in 1976 (Buffalo News)
* Edison vs. Scott (LaphamsQuarterly.org)
* How to Destroy YouTube & Save the Music Industry (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Jimmy Webb on Auto-Tune, lying to keep John Lennon from being deported and how cocaine changed music (Los Angeles Times)
* The Bird in my hand: my journey to Charlie Parker (The Guardian)
* Sony Merges RED Into The Orchard: What the Music Giant's Latest Consolidation Means for Indie Labels (Billboard)
* Chops: The Art of the Slap - Poncho Sanchez and Adam Rudolph on transitioning from the drum kit to the conga (Jazz Times)
* Ambrose Akinmusire: Upholding Tradition & Breaking Decorum (Jazz Times)
* NYPL’s Schomburg Center Acquires Sonny Rollins Archive (Jazz Times)
* The Beatles’ iconic Sgt Pepper album returns to the top on its 50th birthday (OfficialCharts.com)
* New Album Narrates Charlie Parker’s Life in Song - Peyroux, Porter, Elling and others create vocal versions of Bird classics to tell his story (Jazz Times)
* The Earth Harp turns an L.A. skyscraper into world's longest stringed instrument (Los Angeles Times)
* Hear Bob Dylan Recite His Nobel Prize in Literature Lecture (Rolling Stone)
* ‘The value of creative assets is systematically being taken away from artists and music companies’ (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Ken Vandermark’s Indefatigable Drive and Avant-Garde Vision (Bandcamp.com)
* FMP Records’ Free Jazz Legacy is Alive and Well at Destination: OUT (Bandcamp.com)
* Why Are Frenchmen Street Musicians Undervalued? (Offbeat)
* “In Search of the Lost Chord”: Danny Goldberg’s new book on 1967 and the “Hippie Idea” (NightFlight.com)
* Vision Festival Promotes Message of Freedom through Creative Music (DownBeat)
* Woodstock Festival Location Becomes Official Historic Site (Rolling Stone)
* Gary Burton: Retiring The Mallets (NPR)
* This Is What Extinction Sounds Like (Vice.com)
* Inside the Making of 'Sgt. Pepper' (Rolling Stone)

Sunday Session: April 16, 2017

Ella Fitzgerald

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

* The Bad Plus Has Big News: Some Subtraction, Some Addition, For a Whole New Sum (WBGO)
* 14 Artists Proving Black Americana Is Real (Paste)
* A History of Puerto Rican Salsa (Afropop.org)
* The Paradigm Shifts of Album Artwork (NYUNews.com)
* A Gathering of Orchestras in D.C. (The New Yorker)
* Why Music Services Are Wasting Time Recommending New Music (Forbes)
* Brent Assink Maneuvered the S.F Symphony Through the Early 21st Century. Here is What He Learned (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* Chuck Berry Laid to Rest at All-Star St. Louis Memorial (Rolling Stone)
* Marshall Chess on Chuck Berry's Funeral: The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton Should Have Been There (Billboard)
* How Bang On A Can Rejuvenated New York’s Improvisational Spirit (Bandcamp.com)
* John Coltrane Draws a Picture Illustrating the Mathematics of Music (OpenCulture.com)
* Three Jazz Artists Harmoniously and Creatively Blending Arabic and Western Music (Soundfly.com)
* Guitarist J. Geils found dead in Groton home (Boston Globe)
* Skilled But Shy Musician Jay Geils Remembered As Setting The Bar For Rock 'N' Roll (WBUR)
* Sax linked to Martin Luther King Jr.'s last words hidden in Memphis closet (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
* Five Things You Probably Didn't Know About Les Paul (MusicAficionado.com)
* Frank Kimbrough: A Dark, Rainy Sunday in May (Jazz Times)
* Reassessing Ella: 'The First Lady of Song' at 100 (Chicago Tribune)
* America’s “Secret Sonic Weapon” Against Communism (MessyNessyChic.com)
* I couldn’t tell that this was a robot singing Duke Ellington’s signature song (QZ.com)
* The Big Man with the Big Sound–Remembering Arthur Blythe (1940-2017) (New Music Box)
* Barry ‘Frosty’ Smith, renowned Austin drummer, dies after long illness (Austin360.com)
* Hear Jazz Supergroup Hudson Cover Bob Dylan's 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' (Rolling Stone)
* Q&A: Shabaka Hutchings - The rising sax star on Pharoah Sanders, jazz’s African roots, the London scene and more (Jazz Times)
* Art Talk with Guitarist Mary Halvorson (arts.gov)

Sunday Session: March 26, 2017

Lee Morgan

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

* How Spotify is finally gaining leverage over record labels (TechCrunch.com)
* Chuck Berry's Family Move Forward With Planned 'Chuck' LP (Rolling Stone)
* That Time Chuck Berry Punched Keith Richards in the Face (Guitar World)
* Chuck Berry's Guitarist Billy Peek Looks Back on 50 Years of Music and Friendship (Billboard)
* How Chuck Berry's Hometown St. Louis Inspired -- and Embittered -- Him (Billboard)
* Business-Savvy Chuck Berry Left Behind An Estimated $50 Million Estate (Billboard)
* Q&A with Dan Brubeck: Exploring Dad’s Songbook (DownBeat)
* Splitting Adams: John Adams' Chamber Symphonies (WQXR)
* Vision Festival 22 Lineup Announced (Jazz Times)
* Detroit Jazz Fest Names Wayne Shorter Artist-in-Residence (DownBeat)
* Rob Mazurek: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* Back when pop music was literary (The-TLS.co.uk)
* Is Texas, not Mississippi, the true home of the blues? (ABC.net.au)
* Cracking the Columbia Records Code (AnalogPlanet.com)
* Q&A with Gary Burton: A Fond Farewell (DownBeat)
* Inside Kamasi Washington's New Ode to Unity (Rolling Stone)
* Bob Dylan Talks Amy Winehouse, Leonard Cohen, Much More in Rare, Extensive Interview (Pitchfork)
* The Most Expensive Record Never Sold (NPR)
* From 'Hamilton' to Jazz at Lincoln Center: 10 Music Projects You Have the NEA to Thank For (Billboard)
* How Weather Report Rewrote the Rules of Jazz on ‘Heavy Weather’ (Observer.com)
* Muldrow Meets Mingus (NPR)
* Perspectives on music-making in a hyper-connected world (Ableton.com)
* Duke Ellington’s Faith (FirstThings.com)
* Q&A: Making sense of music through math (CBC)
* 'I Called Him Morgan' Is A Tale Of Marriage, Murder And Jazz, Told From Two Sides (WBGO)
* Stop Everything and Behold this Mini Art Deco Telephone Jukebox circa 1935 (MessyNessyChic.com)
* The Unofficial History of Home Recording: Big Hits from Bedroom Studios (SonicScoop.com)

Sunday Session: February 5, 2017

Maria Schneider

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

* How Chic’s ‘Good Times’ Launched Rap (Wall Street Journal)
* What would it take to make audio 'cool' again? (CNet.com)
* The story of Ash Koosha, now banned from the USA (DazedDigital.com)
* Volnovod is a robot sculpture that uses wire to make sound visually (CreateDigitalMusic.link)
* David Byrne's New Doc 'Contemporary Color' Shows Off 'Art Sport' And Indie Stars (NPR)
* From The Critic's Desk: A Preview Of 2017 In Jazz (NPR)
* Newport Jazz Festival Announces First Wave of Artists for 2017 (Jazz Times)
* Bob Dylan's New Triple Album Reimagines The Classics (NPR)
* ‘Dog Breath in the Year of the Plague’: A fanboy’s appreciation of Frank Zappa’s ‘Uncle Meat’ (DangerousMinds.net)
* Unreleased Bill Evans Trio Album To Be Released March 24 (DownBeat)
* How a pair of former Detroit Lions helped inspire one of Marvin Gaye’s most defining records (TheUndefeated.com)
* First Listen: Miguel Zenón, 'Típico' (NPR)
* Trombone Shorty Signs with Blue Note, To Release Label Debut in April (DownBeat)
* Colleagues, Collaborators Remember Michael Brecker in NYC Concert (DownBeat)
* How Embattled LA DIY Venue The Smell Is Using VR to Preserve Its Legacy (Vice.com)
* For The Last Time: Rock Is Not Dead, You’re Just Not Paying Attention (Uproxx.com)
* Is the era of weird instruments over? (Perfect Sound Forever)
* From Joni Mitchell to Laura Marling: how female troubadours changed music (The Guardian)
* Maria Schneider ‘Attacking the Data Lords’ (DownBeat)
* Is Spotify Going Bankrupt In 2017? Wall Street Delivers Another Red Flag (DigitalMusicNews.com)

Sunday Session: October 30, 2016

Willie Bobo

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

* A Robot Is Collecting Sound Samples and Turning Them into Collages (Vice.com)
* Questlove Recounts The Blackest White House Party Ever With President Obama (OkayPlayer.com)
* Villafranca Elegantly Links Cultures & Grooves in Mother Africa Suite (DownBeat)
* Lyrical send-off for jazz master Bobby Hutcherson (SFGate)
* Schneider & Washington Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners (DownBeat)
* A Classic Jazz Documentary That Honors and Insults the Art Form (The New Yorker)
* Celebrating Bill Graham’s legacy on death’s anniversary (San Francisco Chronicle)
* How Cypress Hill's Eric Bobo Discovered Lost Tapes by His Legendary Dad, Percussionist Willie Bobo (KCET)
* Jimmy Heath Celebrates 90 Years with ‘Legendary’ Concert in NYC (DownBeat)
* Five of the best young female jazz musicians (The Guardian UK)
* Why Streaming Is Taking Over the Music Industry In One Handy Chart (Fortune)
* Earliest The Doors Live Recording To Be Officially Released (JamBase.com)
* The lost albums loved by the stars – from ecstatic gospel to Italian prog (The Guardian UK)
* Hutcherson Tribute Celebrates Vibraphonist’s Brilliance, Warmth (DownBeat)
* Pick N’ Pull: 18 Best Record Stores In America (HiConsumption.com)
* The 20 CDs Curated by Steve Jobs and Placed on Prototype iPods (2001) (OpenCulture.com)
* World exclusive: Bob Dylan - I'll be at the Nobel Prize ceremony... if I can (The Telegraph UK)
* Another View: Monterey ’16 (OpenSkyJazz.com)

Sunday Session: October 16, 2016

Charlie Parker

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

* Music of the Presses: How an L.A. Printer Kept the Art of the Album Cover Alive (Collector's Weekly)
* Dual Identities: A Conversation With Jazz Soulmates Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa (Pitchfork)
* Computer Scientist Publishes Manifesto for Expressive Algorithmic Music (Vice.com)
* Norah Jones: "2016 Is a Weird Place to Be" (Paste)
* Is the Album a Dead Format for Music? (Inc)
* Friday essay: the sound of fear (TheConversation.com)
* Music of the mind: a stunning string quartet created through brainwaves (Aeon.co)
* Surviving Oldchella: Scenes From the Ultimate Classic Rock Rager (Pitchfork)
* The Making of The Last Waltz, the Band’s Concert-Film Masterpiece (Vanity Fair)
* How Rock and Roll Became White (Slate.com)
* Mind-blowing psychedelic 60s posters of Hendrix, Dylan, Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono & The Who (DangerousMinds.net)
* Bob Dylan, the Musician: America’s Great One-Man Songbook (New York Times)
* After Dylan's Nobel, how about Springsteen, Mitchell, Cohen? (CNN)
* How the Most Important Promoter in NY Ensures the Music Never Stops (Observer.com)
* The Night When Charlie Parker Played for Igor Stravinsky (1951) (OpenCulture.com)
* Jazz great Steve Coleman putting down roots in Detroit (Detroit Free Press)
* Is New Orleans A Music City? (Offbeat)
* Avishai Cohen: A Beautiful Melancholy (Jazz Times)
* How improving US-Cuba relations has helped this jazz musician (PRI)