Sunday Session: September 27, 2020

John McLaughlin

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

* CTI Records: Ten Tasty Albums With No Added Sugar (Almost) (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Alexis Cole: Teaching & Learning (Jazz Times)
* Funk Legend Steve Arrington Celebrates a Long Career with “Down to The Lowest Terms” (Bandcamp.com)
* Albert Murray Talking Modernism, Race, and Jazz (Hyperallergic.com)
* Third of British musicians may quit industry amid pandemic (The Guardian)
* Rediscovering The Enormous Social And Spiritual Legacy Of Black Jazz Records (NPR)
* When Front Page Challenge met Ella Fitzgerald (CBC)
* Regina Carter’s Extraordinary Career Continues to Evolve (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* 12 synths that could have been classics, but weren’t (MusicRadar.com)
* Punch the 'Clockface': Elvis Costello On Making Albums In a Streaming World (Billboard)
* Paul Desmond and the Canadians (JazzHistoryOnline.com)
* Asynchronous Ensembles Come Out Swinging (DownBeat)
* Five Decades On, An Eclectic Church Preaches The Message Of John Coltrane (NPR)
* The Beat of Her Own Drum (TheLAndMag.com)
* John McLaughlin: Where The Muse Leads (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The Band’s Robbie Robertson: “If there was anything wrong with ‘The Last Waltz’ it was that the cocaine wasn’t very good” (NME.com)
* We’ve Got A File On You: Thurston Moore (Stereogum.com)
* Sound Territory: The Genius of Ornette Coleman (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* Congress Is Killing Independent Music Venues (Vice.com)
* Spike Lee Brings David Byrne’s American Utopia to the Big Screen (American Songwriter)
* Rishi Sunak's winter economy plan will silence the UK music scene (The Guardian)
* Documentary Tracks Charters ‘Searching for Secret Heroes’ of Blues Music (UConn.edu)

Sunday Session: March 1, 2020

Terri Lyne Carrington

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

* Winner Takes All: Igor Levit in the Attention Economy (Atavist.com)
* Innovation is Kris Davis’ Motivation (DownBeat)
* ‘You’re one of the more normal composers’: Simon Rattle and Thomas Adès swap notes (The Guardian)
* In Solo Works and Soundtracks, Colin Stetson Follows a Narrative (DownBeat)
* Scientists study blind piano prodigy (CBS News)
* How Long Will Spotify Allow Bootleg “Podcasts” to Top the Charts? (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* American Routes Shortcuts: Michael Cuscuna (WWNO)
* Fela Kuti’s “Coffin for Head of State” was genuine life-and-death protest music (TrebleZine.com)
* It was banned by the Nazis, Stalin and the Vatican. This is the surprising history of the saxophone (ABC.net.au)
* 'Say Amen, Somebody' Restoration Unveils The Wonder Of The Gospel Pioneers (NPR)
* Musicians Algorithmically Generate Every Possible Melody, Release Them to Public Domain (Vice.com)
* On “I Am A Man,” Jazz Bassist Ben Williams Redefines Protest Music On His Own Terms (Bandcamp.com)
* The B-52s’ Kate Pierson on the Music That Made Her (Pitchfork.com)
* Melissa Aldana has burgeoning ‘Visions’ for her quartet (CapitalBop.com)
* There Was A Time: James Brown, The Chitlin’ Circuit, And Me: The First Days On The Bus (TheRecoup.com)
* Kurt Elling on Working with Danilo Pérez, Politics and Recording with an Indie Label (DownBeat)
* Social Science Becomes Social Art for Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Band (Jazz Times)
* Interview: Free Jazz Trumpeter Jaimie Branch on Music-Making as Time-Travel (Reverb.com)
* Watch the Trailer for Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things (Jazz Times)
* Bria Skonberg Digs Into Tension With ‘Nothing Never Happens’ (DownBeat)
* How Martin Luther King Jr. and Motown Saved the Sound of the Civil Rights Movement (TIME)
* Music Benefactors Wants to Solve the Crowdfunding Riddle for Musicians — Introducing the ‘Artist Public Offering’ (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Baltimore Rebirth: A New Bloom Of Jazz In Charm City (NPR)
* Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim reflects on life before and after apartheid, and how Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk helped shape his career (Chicago Tribune)
* Post-club: Why DJs and producers are leaving nightclubs behind (MixMag.net)
* Branford Marsalis: Jazzman For The Masses (Long Island Weekly)
* Dweezil, Son of Frank (Weekly Alibi)

Sunday Session: September 8, 2019

Hamid Drake

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

* Linda Ronstadt Has Found Another Voice (The New Yorker)
* Charles Lloyd: 'Looking for the one note that can say it all' (Japan Times)
* White Supremacy Tried to Kill Jazz. The Music Triumphed (TruthOut.org)
* Vijay Iyer (Musicality, Wigmore Hall residency, 2019/20) (London Jazz News)
* Drummer Rudy Royston’s Always Listening (DownBeat)
* Michael Brecker Competition Continues Legacy of Generous Musician (Jazz Times)
* The Voice That Shattered Glass (NPR)
* Detroit Jazz Festival Offers a Mixed Bag (DownBeat)
* CBS SF Talks To King Crimson Bassist Tony Levin (CBSLocal.com)
* The Many Requirements Of Hold Music, A Genre For No One (NPR)
* Jimmy Johnson, Muscle Shoals Guitarist Who Backed Soul & Rock Giants, Dead at 76 (Rolling Stone)
* A Decade of Music Is Lost on Your iPod. These Are The Deleted Years. Now Let Us Praise Them (Esquire)
* Brian Blade & Life Cycles: Uncorking The Spirit of Bobby Hutcherson (SFJAZZ.org)
* How Ella Fitzgerald Turned Forgotten Lyrics Into One Of Her Best Performances Ever (NPR)
* Vinyl Is Poised to Outsell CDs For the First Time Since 1986 (Rolling Stone)
* Iggy Pop: 'I've finally got the voice I was supposed to have' (BBC)
* ‘We Always Swing’ To Launch 25th Anniversary Season (DownBeat)
* Music legend Taj Mahal talks music, race and the Rolling Stones (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Delving Into Consciousness: Hamid Drake's Favourite Music (TheQuietus.com)
* Abdullah Ibrahim: Grace Under Pressure (Jazz Times)
* “I Was Always Trying To Get Better”: Sonny Rollins On A Life In Jazz (UDiscoverMusic.com)

Sunday Session: April 22, 2018

Kamasi Washington

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:

* Why the Hell Can’t Hollywood Make a Decent Music Festival Movie? (Los Angeles)
* A record shop life (TheBlueMoment.com)
* Cape Town Festival Honors Hugh Masekela (DownBeat)
* The Unlikely Pairing of Louis Armstrong With Ella Fitzgerald Is (Still) Pure Bliss (Mother Jones)
* Laurindo Almeida: Forgotten Genius of Guitar Arrangement (Acoustic Guitar)
* Bill Charlap: “I’m Not a Composer” (Jazz Times)
* Beyond 'Blurred Lines': How Forensic Musicology Is Altering Pop's Future (Rolling Stone)
* The State of the Music Cities Union (Medium.com)
* This Must Be David Byrne (GQ)
* Kendrick Lamar's 'DAMN.' Wins Historic Pulitzer Prize In Music (NPR)
* Pulitzer Prize Administrator Explains How Kendrick Lamar Won (Billboard)
* This Year’s Other Two Pulitzer Finalists on Losing to Kendrick Lamar (Slate)
* What the classical-music world can learn from Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize (Washington Post)
* Should Artists Get a Cut When Their Songs Land On Branded Playlists on Spotify? (Billboard)
* Kamasi Washington on how South Central shaped his experiential new record (DazedDigital.com)
* My Amazing Day…and Night, with Jimi Hendrix (GovindaGallery.com)
* Los Tigres Del Norte Perform At Folsom Prison 50 Years After Johnny Cash (NPR)
* 10 of the Best Music Podcasts (Variety)
* Tiger Lily Records: The wild story of the tax scam label run by the notorious Morris Levy (Part II) (DangerousMinds.net)
* "Jazz & Social Justice": A Playlist by Angela Davis (SFJAZZ.org)
* Vinyl: Ornette Coleman’s Revolution (DownBeat)
* Global Recorded Music Revenues Grew By $1.4 Billion in 2017 (Music Industry Blog)
* Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD (KCRW)
* What Is HD Vinyl and Is It Legit? (Gizmodo)
* The great Record Store Day debate and why we like vinyl so much, anyway (Alternative Press)
* The Beatles: In Defense of Revolution 9 (Den of Geek)

Sunday Session: November 12, 2017

John McLaughlin

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

* Let's face the facts: Facebook controls classical music (OvergrownPath.com)
* Arts Critics Are Disappearing From Newspapers. Or, Wait, Is That The Good News? (ArtAndSeek.org)
* A Hard Day's Night: Solving a Beatles mystery with mathematics (ABC.net.au)
* Essential Solos: 40 Great Improvisations (Jazz Times)
* Van Morrison Announces New Album 'Versatile' (Rolling Stone)
* Field Notes: John McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring in NYC - Thinking about a jazz-guitar icon’s U.S. farewell tour (Jazz Times)
* Joni Mitchell Talks Exes, Addictions and Music in Candid, All-Access Biography (Rolling Stone)
* The demons and obsessions of jazz genius Thelonious Monk (The Guardian)
* Critic bashing - Defending the Music Media (Atavist.com)
* Blue Note Records Unveils a New Subscription Boxed Set Series, Blue Note Review (WBGO)
* The Strange World Of... Linda Sharrock (TheQuietus.com)
* The rise of ‘three-car garage rock’ (Curbed.com)
* Why the indie band never dies: fake breakups, permanent adolescence and cash comebacks (The Guardian)
* Bill Frisell Receives Honorary Degree and Is Subject of Film (Jazz Times)
* I went to see La Monte Young playing in his New York loft, and you should do the same (Medium.com)
* 'Only 17th-century industrial bluegrass will do': your favourite weird records (The Guardian)
* 'Their DNA is forever ingrained in the keys' - Roman Rabinovich on playing composers' own pianos (TheArtsDesk.com)
* After Six Decades in the Vault, 'Ella at Zardi's' Brings New Shine to Ella Fitzgerald's Centennial (WBGO)
* Malleable Structures: An Interview with Tyshawn Sorey (Atavist.com)
* How Concert Ticket Prices Vary Across the U.S. (Wanderu.com)
* The Many Faces of Jazz Today: The Big Picture (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Return of the Top 40 Troubadour: How Singer-Songwriters Reclaimed Pop Radio (Billboard)
* Pat Metheny: Driving Forces (AllAboutJazz.com)
* ‘In five seconds my life changed. I was worse than the worst jazz snob’ (Irish Times)
* A Jazz Centennial of a Seamier Sort: The End of Storyville, As Remembered Through the Ages (WBGO)
* Paul Buckmaster, Essential Arranger for David Bowie and Elton John, Dead at 71 (Rolling Stone)
* Meet Rufus Harley, the First Jazz Bagpiper (AtlasObscura.com)
* Herbie Hancock: ‘I like to discover new rules so I can break them’ (The Guardian)

Sunday Session: September 10, 2017

Art Tatum

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

* Steely Dan Guitarist Walter Becker Dies at 67 (DownBeat)
* EWS: Walter Becker (1950-2017) R.I.P. (London Jazz News)
* Walter Becker Was A Master Of Musical Understatement (NPR)
* Vijay Iyer On Jazz's 'History Of Defiance,' His Influences And Playing In A Sextet (NPR)
* Gunter Hampel at 80: Still Ahead of Time (JazzDaGama.com)
* Every Night Perfect (Popular Mechanics)
* The Rise And Fall Of Tower Records (Flashbak.com)
* Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR) (WBGO)
* Roscoe Mitchell, Who Helped Invent New Chicago Jazz Sound, Comes Home (Chicago magazine)
* Chicago Jazz Fest Shines Spotlight on Hometown Talent (DownBeat)
* Holger Czukay, sampling pioneer and co-founder of Can, has died at age 79 (FactMag.com)
* Holger Czukay obituary (The Guardian)
* Tower Of Power Singer Rick Stevens Dies (Pollstar.com)
* BassDrumBone and the New Haven Jazz Renaissance (AllAboutJazz.com)
* In Praise of Art Tatum, Stealth Radical in the Jazz Piano Pantheon (WBGO)
* Looking back at 20 years of neglected promise at 18th and Vine — and forward to 2020 (Pitch Weekly)
* Ella Fitzgerald Sings With London Symphony Orchestra On New Album (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Berklee To Turn A Legendary Recording Studio Into Its New York City Home Base (WBUR)
* Jimmy’s Blues (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* A Nation of Tinkerers: How a Canadian University Shaped Electronic Music in North America (Vice.com)
* The World’s Largest Music Publishers Just Declared War on Spotify — In No Uncertain Terms (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* We Talked to People at the Largest Free Jazz Festival on the Planet (Vice.com)
* Iggy Pop: Croon & Destroy - From his Stooges days to a surprising recent collaboration, the punk pioneer discusses his jazz past (Jazz Times)
* World’s oldest jazz band in Shanghai a rare constant amid China’s breakneck modernisation (South China Morning Post)
* Should Spotify Try to Become the 'Netflix Of Music'? Not So Fast (Billboard)
* 'Germans Love Their CDs': Universal Music Exec on How Germany's Music Market Is Transforming 'Differently' (Billboard)
* Two Years Later, Is New Music Friday Doing Its Job? (Forbes)
* What if you used synthesizers to emulate nature and reality? (CDM.link)
* Why Esperanza Spalding Is the Most Audacious Innovator in Jazz (Time)
* How We Can Support the World’s Rich Musical Diversity (Smithsonian)
* Review: Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 - Artist-in-residence Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and others impress at this outstanding free fest in the Motor City (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: April 30, 2017

Hugh Masekela

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

* UK music industry braced for Brexit (BBC)
* Nudity, chimps, and Dolly Parton's disembodied head: are these the worst album covers of all time? (The Telegraph)
* Trombone Shorty Pushes Tradition Forward (NPR)
* Preservation Propagation: Preservation Hall Jazz Band has left the museum behind (Offbeat)
* Hancock, Spalding, McBride Celebrate Shorter in Hometown (DownBeat)
* Review 'Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary' serves the jazz legend well (Los Angeles Times)
* Jazz Giant Wadada Leo Smith on Four Recent Collaborations (Bandcamp.com)
* Afrobeat Legend Tony Allen Honors Jazz Great With 'Tribute to Art Blakey' EP (Rolling Stone)
* Interview: Hugh Masekela on No Borders, Satchmo and reuniting the Jazz Epistles (BestOfNewOrleans.com)
* From the Magazine: Sipiagin Soars on New Sextet Album (DownBeat)
* Q&A: Henry Threadgill - Master improviser speaks on sustaining creativity (Austin Chronicle)
* Ella Fitzgerald: Beyond Words (Merriam-Webster.com)
* Duke Ellington And Copyright: Five Things You Should Know (JDSupra.com)
* Record Store Day Is Boon for Vinyl Sales (DownBeat)
* Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater (NPR)
* Stax Records Plots Massive 60th Anniversary Campaign (Rolling Stone)
* The Hidden Legacy of The Jazz Epistles, South Africa's Short-Lived But Historic Band (WBGO)
* What Controversial Changes at Harvard Mean for Music in the University (TheLogJournal.com)
* Ashok and Vijay Squeeze Blood from a Drum Machine (AAWW.org)
* The Story of Science Faction, the Company That Brought Lasers to Rock and Roll (Vice.com)
* A Jazz Classic Becomes a Picture Book (TabletMag.com)
* Q&A: Miles Mosley - The fiery, soulful bassist, singer and composer launches his Uprising (Jazz Times)
* Blue Note Jazz Festival Announces Lineup - Concerts by Metheny, Glasper, Collier, Hiromi, Tyner, Ponty and many more (Jazz Times)

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: April 2, 2017

Regina Carter

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

* Streaming Music Services, From Most Screwed to Least Screwed (Gizmodo)
* Hardware Store With a Jazzy Past Prepares to End its 95-Year Run (WTTW)
* How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Music Making (Billboard)
* With a big benefactor, Detroit Jazz Festival aims to find other revenue sources (CrainsDetroit.com)
* Fragments of Louis Armstrong when he was on the cusp of greatness (New Orleans Times-Picayune/NOLA.com)
* How inner city apartment developments have killed Australian rock’n’roll (Domain.com.au)
* Here’s how technology is fueling the home-recording industry (DailyNews.com)
* Orrin Evans Among Headliners of Inaugural Philly Jazz Fest (DownBeat)
* Big Ears 2017: Where Jeff Tweedy Is Noise Star, Symphony Plays on Floor (Rolling Stone)
* Chick Corea Announces ‘The Musician’ Documentary Film & Live Album (Jambase.com)
* The Microscopic Septet - Pioneers Across Jazz Boundaries (PopMatters.com)
* Meet the encephalophone: An instrument you can play with your mind, just by thinking (Seattle Times)
* Carter Honors First Lady of Song with New Ella Tribute Album (DownBeat)
* Q&A with ‘I Called Him Morgan’ Filmmaker Kasper Collin (DownBeat)
* Jazz great Arthur Blythe, who grew up in San Diego, is dead at 76 (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Dizzy in the Daylight (New York Review of Books)
* Sculpting Sound: The Life of a Field Recordist (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Plots New Big Band Record (Rolling Stone)
* Where Have All The Bob Seger Albums Gone? (NPR)
* Once We Listened to the Beatles. Now We Eat Beetles. (Bloomberg.com)
* When a record label gets into making cool, weird instruments (Create Digital Music)
* Big Ears Festival Embraces Jazz Experimentalism (DownBeat)
* Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Talks Jazz as Protest Music, Trap Influence (Rolling Stone)
* The Poetry of Pop (The Paris Review)
* Monterey Jazz Festival Announces Lineup and Artists-in-Residence (Jazz Times)
* Q&A with Allan Holdsworth: “The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever” (DownBeat)
* Artificial Intelligence: Your New Best Friend? (ProSoundNetwork.com)
* Was Chuck Berry the lone genius he’s made out to be? (TheConversation.com)
* U.S. Music Industry Sees First Double Digit Growth in Almost 20 Years as Streaming Takes Over (Billboard)
* Never Mind Her Stellar Jazz Career, Young Ella Fitzgerald Just Wanted to Dance (Smithsonian)
* 7 Indie Labels On How Technology Has Changed Their World (Pitchfork)

April is Jazz Appreciation Month

It's time once again to get ready for Jazz Appreciation Month, the annual celebration of jazz music sponsored every April by the Smithsonian Institution.

Now in its 16th year, Jazz Appreciation Month (or JAM) was created "to draw greater public attention to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz and its importance as an American cultural heritage. In addition, JAM is intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz—to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and support institutional jazz programs."

This year, JAM is recognizing the centennial of the birth of singer Ella Fitzgerald, lauding her as "one of the greatest American singers in any genre of music" and noting that with "an unparalleled ability for mimicry and “scat” singing, Fitzgerald also produced melodic lines that put her in the category of great instrumental improvisers." You can learn more about Fitzgerald at the Smithsonian's website.

At the end of the month, jazz fans worldwide also will celebrate the sixth annual International Jazz Day on Sunday, April 30. Sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Jazz Day is designed to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.

Unlike in years past, there apparently will be no all-star International Jazz Day concert televised or webcast in 2017, but there will be hundreds of related events taking place in cities all over the world (though none, alas, here in St. Louis).

Meanwhile, if you can't wait to get started, the Smithsonian offers a list of "ways to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month," and has produced a poster (pictured) honoring Fitzgerald and fellow singer Billie Holiday.

The first in a special three-year series featuring LeRoy Neiman’s painting "Big Band," the posters were distributed for free to schools, libraries, music and jazz educators, music merchants and manufacturers, radio stations, arts presenters, and U.S. embassies worldwide, and anyone can download a copy in .pdf format here. You also can see and download commemorative posters from the previous 15 years of JAM here.

Sunday Session: November 13, 2016

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

* When Bob Dylan Practiced Downstairs (Village Voice)
* Searching for Albert Ayler (Jazz Times)
* What Sun Ra's Poetry Can Teach Us About Afrofuturism (Vice.com)
* Marshall Allen: Son of Ra (Jazz Times)
* The Story of ‘Ella and Louis,’ 60 Years Later A century-defining album’s improbable genesis. (LongReads.com)
* Adobe’s “Photoshop for audio” mimics human voices to add words someone never said (FactMag.com)
* Saint John Coltrane Church Finds A New Groove In NoPa (Hoodline.com)
* Vijay Iyer on Musical and Ethnic Identity (SPIN)
* How Abbey Road got game: the invasion of the video-game soundtrack (The Guardian UK)
* A new injection-moulded vinyl technology promises to slash costs and improve sound quality (FactMag.com)
* Injection Moulded Records – Vinyl Of The Future? (Discogs.com)
* The Man Who'll Make a Gorgeous Guitar Out of Anything (Popular Mechanics)
* My Job At A Record Label Makes Me Cry — But I Won't Quit (Refinery29.com)
* Music technology needs internationalism, safe expression (CDM.link)
* Why The Rebirth Of Liner Notes Matters For Music (HypeBot.com)
* Musical Cannibalism With Cyro Baptista (NPR)
* The Future 50: The Rising Stars To Look Out For (The Guardian UK)
* Bassist Victor Bailey Dies at 56 (Jazz Times)
* How Newark became one of the greatest jazz cities in the world (The Guardian UK)

Sunday Session: March 27, 2016

Arturo O'Farrill

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

* Malcolm McLaren's son to burn £5m of punk memorabilia (The Guardian UK)
* Vijay Iyer/Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (The Quietus)
* What Happens When Pop/Alternative Radio Runs Out of Alternatives? (Billboard)
* Coltrane Church to vacate Western Addition at end of April (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Ray Davies: The Lonely Kink (Rolling Stone)
* Historic days for US and Cuba, accompanied by jazz (Jazz Beyond Jazz)
* How we made Motown (The Guardian UK)
* Paul McCartney strikes out to gain control of his share of the Beatles catalogue (The Guardian UK)
* Concord to Release Lee Ritenour Vinyl Box Set (Jazz Times)
* 10 Records You Might Have Owned That Are Now Worth a Fortune (MentalFloss.com)
* Vinyl sales in 2015 worth more than Spotify Free and YouTube combined (FactMag.com)
* Verve to Release “Jazz at the Philharmonic: The Ella Fitzgerald Set” (Jazz Times)
* Cosmic Slop: Pedro Bell’s fantastic, far-out and funky Funkadelic album art (DangerousMinds.net)
* Jazz Record Mart collection is now in distinguished company (Medill Reports Chicago)
* For jazz pianist, Obama's trip to Cuba 'beyond what I'd ever thought I'd see' (PRI)
* Born To Be Blue: Chet Baker In 5 Songs (NPR)
* Uri Caine: In dialogue with music history (Stuff.co.nz)
* Blue Note Becomes Apple Music Curator, Reissues Gems on Vinyl (DownBeat)
* Award-winning Composer David Baker Dies At 84 (Indiana Public Media)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Summer 2014 jazz film festival

It's summertime, when the livin' is allegedly easy, and yr. humble editor needs a brief respite from the usual blogging routine. So today, in keeping with a venerable tradition that we just made up a couple of years ago, we're bringing back StLJN's online summer festival of jazz-related films, featuring a whole day's worth of documentaries about some all-time greats of jazz. .

First up is On The Road with Duke Ellington, filmed in 1967 by documentarian Robert Drew and updated in 1974 after Ellington's death, which offers an inside look at the Duke traveling and working with his orchestra.

After the jump, you'll find Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way, a 2010 BBC documentary about Brubeck's life and work.

The life of another famous jazz pianist, Oscar Peterson, is the subject of the next film, Music in the Key of Oscar, which was made in 2004.

The fourth movie, The World According to John Coltrane, is a 1990 documentary about the groundbreaking saxophonist, bandleader and composer, directed by Robert Palmer and Toby Byron.

In the fifth slot, it's Triumph of the Underdog, a 1998 documentary about bassist Charles Mingus, produced in cooperation with his widow Sue Mingus and bearing the same name as Mingus' well-known autobiographical book.

The festivities conclude with Queens of Jazz: The Joy and Pain of the Jazz Divas, produced in 2013 by the BBC as "a celebration of some of the greatest female jazz singers of the 20th century," including Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and more.

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

Critics weigh in on the Rep's Ella

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis opened its production of Ella last weekend, and local critics are offering what seem to be glowing assessments of the musical look at the life story of legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.

Post-Dispatch theater critic Judith Newmark's review praised actress Tina Fabrique, who plays Ella, saying she "was born for this role. At Friday's opening-night performance at the Rep, you could feel the house falling for her. Maybe that's because she — evidently like Fitzgerald — uninhibitedly loves her audience."

Reviewing the show for radio station KDHX (88.1 FM), Chris Gibson said that Fabrique "delivers a performance worthy of the first lady of song herself. Filled with memorable standards, this is a must-see event for any fan of the Great American Songbook."

Also, here's a brief review from a local blogger named "scoodog" who caught the show during opening weekend, and down at the bottom of this post you'll find a couple of minutes of video from Ella. And readers, if you've seen Ella yourself, or have run across any other reviews of the show, please feel free to use the comments to post your opinions, links, etc.

Ella runs through April 13 on the Mainstage of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. For tickets or information, call 314-968-4925 or visit www.repstl.org.

UPDATE - 11:00 a.m., 3/27/08: Here's the review of Ella from Riverfront Times theater critic Dennis Brown.



(Edited after posting to fix a couple of mangled sentences.)

Ella Fitzgerald musical to open March 21 at the Repertory Theatre

For the final mainstage show of its 2007-08 season, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis will present Ella, a musical play about jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (pictured). The show will have preview performances on Wednesday, March 19 and Thursday, March 20 before the official opening on Friday, March 21, and will run through April 13 at the Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves.

The play Ella is described as "A theatrical event that weaves myth, memory and music! On a stage on the French Riviera, America’s “First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald rehearses for a 1966 concert. When her producer asks her to add more “patter” to the act, she begins to reminisce, taking the audience inside the heart and soul of one of the world’s greatest jazz singers. Featuring 24 of her timeless hits, including “That Old Black Magic”, “How High the Moon” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”."

The play was conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison, with a book by Jeffrey Hatcher. Ruggiero is directing the St. Louis production, which stars Tina Fabrique (Ella Fitzgerald), George Caldwell (Jimmy/Piano, Conductor), Thad Wilson (Donny/Trumpet), Rodney Harper ("Sticks" Fletcher/Drums), Clifton Kellem (Sam/Bass), Harold Dixon (Norman Granz) and Joilet Harris (Ella Fitzgerald understudy).

Tickets are $19.50 - $45.00 and can be purchased from the Rep's box office. A free, half-hour post-performance discussion with the cast and staff will follow the matinee performances on March 26 and April 2, and the evening performances on March 27 and April 3. A "Talk Theatre" program, with members of the artistic and production staff, will be held from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, March 24.