Sunday Session: September 6, 2020

Makaya McCraven

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

* Play what you see: how graphic scores can unleash your inner musical genius (The Guardian)
* At home with Paul McCartney: His most candid interview yet (GQ)
* Trent Reznor talks ‘Watchmen’ score, covering Bowie’s “Life on Mars” & more in new interview (BrooklynVegan.com)
* Chick Corea: Chelsea boy makes good (Bay State Banner)
* The Friendship Of Kahil El’Zabar And David Murray Grows Deeper (DownBeat)
* Stonehenge enhanced sounds like voices or music for people inside the monument (Science News)
* Dolly Jones, the First Recorded Female Jazz Trumpeter (Reverb.com)
* Endless Field Records in the Wild (Jazz Times)
* In Memoriam: Saxophonist Mark Colby (DownBeat)
* Kenny Washington’s Slow Rise to Vocal Stardom (Jazz Times)
* Who will own the virtual concert space? (Music Industry Blog)
* Makaya McCraven: Cross Border Traffic (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Personal Story: My failed music career (New Statesman)
* Live Music Is On Life Support (Offbeat)
* Wynton Marsalis: ‘Continue to fight for the world you envision’ (San Jose Mercury News)
* Meet the Man Who Used Kraftwerk, Fela Kuti, and Other Fascinating Music to Try to Lure Aliens to Earth (Pitchfork.com)
* Maria Schneider Split Between Natural, Digital Worlds (DownBeat)
* “It Takes a While to Perfect Your Soul”: A Conversation With Sonny Rollins (Tidal.com)
* The Jazz Collective Drowning Out Far-Right Rallies with Terrible Music (Vice.com)
* The John Cage work performed over 639 years (DW.com)

Sunday Session: August 25, 2019

Ahmad Jamal

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

* Tenor Sax Hero David Murray Opens Up About His Journey and His Legacy, on The Checkout (WBGO)
* How Was Woodstock Originally Reported 50 Years Ago? (Billboard)
* In his own words: New Leon Russell book shares remembrances from Tulsa music legend (Tulsa World)
* The History of Record Guides, 1934-79 (Part One) (DonaldEArmstrong.com)
* Duane Allman’s ‘Layla’ Guitar Sells for $1 Million at Auction (Rolling Stone)
* The 30 best films about music, chosen by musicians (The Guardian)
* Caretakers Help the Detroit Festival Hit the 40-Year Mark (DownBeat)
* Elvis Presley’s Bandleader Looks Back on His Wild Vegas Years: ‘Elvis Was Really Nervous’ (TheDailyBeast.com)
* This is the Album of the Future (New Music Box)
* Billie Full Of Grace (NPR)
* A Conversation with Ahmad Jamal (SFJAZZ.org)
* (Un)happy Partners: On Jazz and Independent Film (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* Nina Simone: Anthems, anguish and resistance (The Times Literary Supplement)
* Can music journalism transcend its access problem? (Columbia Journalism Review)
* Films for Big Eyes: Charlemagne Palestine’s Baker’s Dozen (TheQuietus.com)
* Does humour belong in music? (Jazz Journal)
* Why Wil Blades is the Latest Celebrated Jazz Musician to Leave the Bay Area (KQED)
* Forget Guitars. Buy a Rocker’s Childhood Home (Rolling Stone)
* A Serious Jazz Take on "Old Town Road"? Big Chief Donald Harrison, Jr. Has Got It Covered (WBGO)
* Sara Gazarek Charts a Path Through Loss, Heartache on ‘Thirsty Ghost’ (DownBeat)
* A Toy Company Now Owns Death Row Records (Rolling Stone)
* How Artist Imposters and Fake Songs Sneak Onto Streaming Services (Pitchfork)
* How a Québécois filmmaker got John Coltrane to record the only soundtrack of his career (CBC.ca)

Sunday Session: July 8, 2018

David Murray

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:

* Julian Lage Takes a ‘Page from the Rock ’n’ Roll Book’ (DownBeat)
* 50 Years On, The Band's 'Music From Big Pink' Haunts Us Still (NPR)
* Rain Can’t Wash Out Saratoga Jazz Fest (DownBeat)
* Ry Cooder ‘Spellbound’ by Gospel Music (DownBeat)
* Trump Tariffs Could Kill U.S. Synth Manufacturing, Says Moog (Synthtopia.com)
* Moog Says Chinese Tariffs May Force A Move Overseas (NPR)
* The Counterfeit Queen of Soul (Smithsonian)
* The Band's 'Music From Big Pink' Turns 50: How Upstate New York Informed the Americana Classic (Billboard)
* The End of Owning Music: How CDs and Downloads Died (Rolling Stone)
* Shabaka Hutchings: Britain’s Best Export (DownBeat)
* How Alan Braufman’s “Valley of Search” Brought Shine to New York’s Loft Jazz Scene (Bandcamp.com)
* Pianist Henry Butler Has Passed Away After Cancer Battle (Offbeat)
* In Chicago, the sound of the blues is fading (The Economist)
* Finding The Light with Bass Icon Dave Holland, on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Radical Transparency: A Review of Jason Moran’s The Last Jazz Fest (WalkerArt.org)
* Public Enemy Talks 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' on Its 30th Anniversary (Billboard)
* Before & After With Nicole Mitchell (Jazz Times)
* Bright Moments with David Murray (Jazz Times)
* Montreal Jazz Festival Cancels Slave Songs Show After Backlash (Hollywood Reporter)
* Trombonist Bill Watrous Dies at 79 (Jazz Times)
* This Artist Reimagined Pop Songs as Beautiful Infographics (Vice.com)
* Pianist Erroll Garner Lights Up Late Night In Amsterdam (WBGO)
* Lalah Hathaway, Questlove, Robert Glasper & More On the Impact of PBS’s ‘Soul!’ (OkayPlayer.com)
* Mickey Hart talks music, Grateful Dead, rhythm 'trancing' and giving Tipper Gore drum lessons (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Buster Williams Still is on the Upswing (DownBeat)
* Protest Voices Enrich Montreal Festival (DownBeat)
* How Innovative Jazz Pianist Vince Guaraldi Became the Composer of Beloved Charlie Brown Music (OpenCulture.com)
* What Is the Most Nostalgic Song of All Time? (Village Voice)
* How a Young Lower East Side Jazz Group Became Cult Favorites (Vulture.com)
* Billboard’s charts used to be our barometer for music success. Are they meaningless in the streaming age? (Washington Post)
* How George Clinton Made Funk a World View (The New Yorker)

Sunday Session: May 7, 2017

David Murray

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

* Jonathan Demme's 'Stop Making Sense' Is the Past, Present, and Future of Concert Films (Vice.com)
* The perfect score? How composers are taking pop festivals by storm (The Guardian)
* Henry Threadgill: Dirt, and More Dirt (WQXR)
* Jazz Flutist Nicole Mitchell’s New Concept Album Asks, “What is Progress?” (Bandcamp.com)
* The greatest music teacher who ever lived (BBC)
* R.I.P. Pono, Neil Young Kills Off His Digital Player (Noise11.com)
* ‘Unless you’re 100% sure your artist is wrong, go with their vision’ (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* The Unsettling Performance That Showed the World Through AI’s Eyes (Wired)
* The 2017 International Jazz Day Global Concert - Art, people before politics at this all-star show in Havana, Cuba (Jazz Times)
* A Confluence of Vibrant Rhythm and Hopeful Goodwill in Havana, For International Jazz Day (WGBO)
* Revisiting Alice Coltrane's Lost Spiritual Classics (Rolling Stone)
* Herb Alpert talks back (Offbeat)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala Celebrates Fitzgerald, Features Diverse Lineup (DownBeat)
* The Evolutionary Vocabulary of the Human Voice (PopMatters.com)
* Iggy Pop on Singing Jazz, Turning 70 (Rolling Stone)
* Millennials Are Buying Vinyl, But Not From Record Stores (MusicThinkTank.com)
* Butch Morris’s workbook for spontaneous composition published (Jazz Beyond Jazz/ArtsJournal.com)
* Interview Series: Michael Heller, Loft Jazz (IASPM-US.net)
* On the Record with Pianist Vijay Iyer (OberlinReview.org)
* A Huge Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music (1920-2007) Featuring John Cage, Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart & More (OpenCulture.com)
* Overdue Ovation: John Lindberg - A circle still in progress (Jazz Times)
* Guitarist John McLaughlin Talks Mahavishnu, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Yoga (Newsweek)
* Trevor Watts & Other Intakt Artists Go Exploring in Vortex (DownBeat)
* Marc Ribot: Barriers to Participation (Guernica)
* John Coltrane Documentary Chasing Trane Is a Flub Supreme (Miami New Times)
* Interview: Cooper-Moore on Lifetime Achievement Award From Vision Festival & More (Free Jazz Blog)
* This Record Label Releases Albums That Are Almost Impossible to Play (Vice.com)
* A Young Saxophonist Channels His Inner Jedi, With Music, For International Star Wars Day (WBGO)
* Patti LaBelle on Her First-Ever Jazz Album: ‘It Sounds More Beautiful Than I Ever Imagined’ (Variety)
* Napster, Spotify and the Fall of the 'Middle-Class Musician' (Rolling Stone)
* Chicago musicians speak up about the Affordable Care Act (Chicago Reader)
* Tenor Titans Unite to Honor Sonny Rollins (DownBeat)
* How The Music Industry Is Putting Itself Out Of Business (Forbes)
* David Murray Is Back in Town (Stereophile)
* Trumpeter Sean Jones Aims for ‘Raw’ Sound with Live Album (DownBeat)
* New Orleans Jazz Festival: 1st Weekend Photos (Jazz Times)
* How Star Wars Influenced Funk and Disco, in 7 Songs (Pitchfork.com)
* Remembering Jazz's Greatest Year With the Living Legends of 1959 (Billboard)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies:The World Saxophone Quartet plays the music of Jimi Hendrix

This week's videos feature the World Saxophone Quartet performing a couple of selections first heard on the 2004 CD Experience, the WSQ's tribute to the music of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The clips were recorded at a show in Seattle (Hendrix's home town) and feature founding members Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett and David Murray along with latter-day member Bruce Williams performing Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9" (above) and "Foxy Lady" (below).