Notes from the Net: Miles profiled, Lake interviewed, Childers remembered

(Editor's note: With this post, StLJN reintroduces our occasional compendium of short news items related to St. Louis jazz and/or St. Louis jazz musicians, now in a new & improved bullet-point format.)

* Miles Davis was recently the subject of one of NPR's "Jazz Profiles". Also, four Davis tracks are getting a contemporary remix treatment for Evolution of the Groove, an EP scheduled for release next month. And AllAboutJazz.com offers reviews of three new Miles-related projects from bassist Ron Carter, saxophonist Dave Liebman and trombonist Conrad Herwig here.

* Radio personality Leroy "The Jazzcat" Downs recently interviewed saxophonist Oliver Lake (pictured); you can listen to the conversation here.

- The late trumpeter and St. Louis native Marion "Buddy" Childers, who passed away in May, is remembered by AAJ big band columnist Jack Bowers here.

Marion "Buddy" Childers, 1926 - 2007

Marion "Buddy" Childers, a St. Louis native who first gained fame as a 16-year-old lead trumpeter for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, died last Thursday, May 24 in Los Angeles. He was 81 years old and, according to this obituary from the UK newspaper The Independent, had been battling cancer for nearly a decade but continued to play music almost up until his death.

In addition to working with Kenton, Childers also performed with the bands of Benny Carter, André Previn, Les Brown, Vido Musso, Tommy Dorsey, Georgie Auld and Charlie Barnet. He lived and worked in Las Vegas from 1959 to 1965, then became a studio musician and freelancer in Los Angeles, also performing with the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin big band, serving as musical director for Frank Sinatra Jr., and leading his own groups. For more about Childers, see this All About Jazz.com profile, his Wikipedia entry, and these message board threads.

UPDATE - 1:10 a.m., 5/31/07: The LA Times obituary for Childers can be found here. (Note: The link may require registration, or use bugmenot.com.)