Sunday Session: January 6, 2019

Ron Carter

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:

* A Jazz Conversation with Ted Gioia (Jazz Profiles)
* Ron Carter: Still Searching for the Right Notes (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Paul McCartney opens up about Abbey Road, the Beatles' breakup in wide-ranging interview (CBS News)
* The West Coast Jazz Revival (City Journal)
* Jeff Goldblum: Not a Hollywood Square (Jazz Times)
* Helen Sung: Words and Music (Jazz Times)
* These early Louis Armstrong recordings are among the flood of works now in the public domain (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* New Orleans Is Not Coachella: Guest Editorial (Offbeat)
* Herbie Nichols’ Third World (WFIU)
* Jazz Musician Plays Acoustic Guitar While Undergoing Brain Surgery, Helping Doctors Monitor Their Progress (OpenCulture.com)
* The Price, Cost and Value of Digital Music (DownBeat)
* Is this the end of owning music? (BBC)
* Bill Charlap: Life, Love, Songs, and Pianos (Stereophile)
* DJ Art Laboe, 93, spins oldies to link inmates and family (Associated Press)
* Dickey Betts returns to performing following brain surgery (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
* Album Sales Are Dying as Fast as Streaming Services Are Rising (Rolling Stone)
* How Soul Train became the most radical show on American television (DazedDigital.com)
* Blue Note “As Important As The Beatles Or Dylan” Says Don Was (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Bootsy Collins Announces Retirement from Live Bass Playing (NoTreble.com)
* Carlos Santana Announces New EP, Signs to Concord Records (Jambands.com)
* 12 New Jazz Artists to Watch in 2019 (Paste)
* The Jazz Glories of 1959, One Day at a Time: A Conversation with Critic Natalie Weiner (WBGO)
* Green Book Director Peter Farrelly Defends Film Amid Criticism by Don Shirley’s Family (Vanity Fair)
* Spike Lee’s Secret Weapon For 30 Years: ‘BlacKkKlansman’ Composer Terence Blanchard (IndieWire.com)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Helen Sung, Marcus Strickland and the Metta Quintet

This week, we've got a grab-bag of videos related to the Metta Quintet, who will be in St. Louis next week to do an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis, culminating in performances at Jazz at the Bistro on Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1.

As the the official resident ensemble of JazzReach Performing Arts & Education Association in NYC, the Metta Quintet spends a good deal of time in educational settings, but the group's members - pianist Helen Sung, saxophonists Marcus Strickland and Mark Gross, bassist Joshua Ginsburg and drummer/JazzReach founder H. Benjamin Schumann - are all accomplished working players with substantial musical resumes outside the group as well. (Past members of the Metta Quintet include saxophonist Mark Turner and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, both of whom have led their own groups at the Bistro in recent years, and pianist George Colligan.)

Unfortunately, there seem to be no readily available videos online that feature the entire quintet in action, so instead, let's take at look at some clips featuring two of the group's better-known members. First up is a video featuring pianist Helen Sung performing "Blues Connotation" at the Perugia jazz festival in Italy earlier this year, backed by bassist Giuseppe Bassi, drummer Sangoma Everett and saxophonist Roberto Ottoviano.

The next video embed features an excerpt from a performance by saxophonist Marcus Strickland's group Twi-Life in April 2008 at Small's in NYC. The video quality is not great, as the clip was shot using only ambient light in a dark club, but the sound certainly is good enough to hear what Strickland is playing, ably abetted by guitarist Lage Lund, bassist Carlos Henderson and drummer E.J. Strickland.

Finally, since the Metta Quintet will be giving school performances and working with music students during their visit to St. Louis, today's final clip is an excerpt from a workshop in which they coach student musicians at the Garde Arts Center in New London, CT through some basic improvisations on the standard "C Jam Blues." Although the objective musical value of this clip is slight (assuming you're not one of the students involved, or a proud parent of same), it does provide a glimpse of how the Metta Quintet helps young musicians get acquainted with jazz concepts, as well as the enthusiasm they bring to the task.

Notes from the Net: Miles from India reviewed; Ehrlich nominated for JJA award; St. Louisans at The Stone; Waits interviews himself; and more

From far and wide across the vastness of the Internets, here's the latest compilation of news bits about musicians with a St. Louis connection, recent visitors and coming attractions, plus a few other items of interest:

* Let's start, as we usually do, with some Miles Davis-related news. First up, AllAboutJazz.com has another review of the book Miles Davis, Miles Smiles and the Invention of Post Bop. Next up are three reviews of the new two-CD set Miles from India, from Blogcritics' Richard Marcus, Nick Coleman of the UK Independent, and from an Indian blogger who uses the handle Amitdas. And finally, a fine art and memorabilia exhibition entitled "A Tribute to Miles Davis and Carlos Santana" opened May 15 at Lush Life Gallery in San Francisco.

* The nominees for the 2008 Jazz Journalists Association awards include St. Louis native Marty Ehrlich (pictured) for clarinetist of the year.

* The July schedule at John Zorn's NYC performance space The Stone will have a distinct St. Louis flavor, courtesy of multi-reedman J.D. Parran, who's co-curating the shows for the month. St. Louisans past and present who will be performing include Parran, Ehrlich, trumpeter Bruce Purse, guitarist Kelvyn Bell, multi-instrumentalist Mark Deutsch, trombonist Joe Bowie, saxophonist Oliver Lake, and poet Michael Castro.

* Turning to news of some recent visitors to St. Louis, the Los Angeles Times has a review of bassist Christian McBride's recent concert at LA's Disney Hall featuring 'The Movement Revisited" a four-section suite inspired by the civil rights movement. McBride was in St. Louis this spring with the Ray Brown Tribute band to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Bassist, singer and composer Esperanza Spalding, who played the Bistro last October, has a new CD Esperanza, reviewed here.

* Singer/pianist Freddie Cole and pianist Dave Brubeck recently performed on the same bill at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and AllAboutJazz.com has a review of the show here. Both Cole and Brubeck performed at the Sheldon Concert Hall this past season, and Brubeck has a return engagement at the Sheldon this fall.

* Saxophonists Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman are reviving their Saxophone Summit project, with Ravi Coltrane joining in as a replacement for the late Michael Brecker. Coltrane played the Bistro in February.

* Pop/jazz singer Michael Buble, who performed at the Scottrade Center in March, continues his North American tour; a recent stop in San Jose, CA is reviewed here.

* Pianist Helen Sung recently was part of a "Women in Jazz" concert in Washington DC, reviewed here. Sung was a special guest at singer Denise Thimes' Mother's Day show at the Sheldon and will return to St. Louis in the fall to play Jazz at the Bistro with the Metta Quintet.

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard and film director Spike Lee presented a program called "Jazz Goes to the Movies" at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, featuring excerpts from Blanchard's scores for Lee's movies Bamboozled, Inside Man, Clockers, Malcolm X, Jungle Fever, 25th Hour, Mo' Better Blues,and When the Levees Broke. Blanchard returns to St. Louis next February for a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro

* Lifecycle, the new collaborative album from the Yellowjackets and guitarist Mike Stern, is reviewed here. Stern was here to play the Bistro in March, and the Yellowjackets just wrapped up a four-night gig at the club. They'll return here to play the Bistro together next April 29 to May 2..

* Eccentric singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Tom Waits, who will be in St. Louis to play the Fox Theatre on June 26, recently did a rather amusing interview with himself about this summer's tour.

* And finally, a few miscellaneous items of interest, starting with the news that the city of Baltimore has accepted a bust of guitarist/composer Frank Zappa from FZ's Lithuanian fan club. Zappa was born in Baltimore, and his son Dweezil's project Zappa Plays Zappa will perform at The Pageant on Monday, June 9

* Here's another review of trombonist/composer George Lewis' new history of Chicago's Assocation for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

* From freejazz.org comes an interesting discussion about why music goes out of print in the age of digital downloads. As it turns out, Amazon.com may have at least a partial solution to the problem with their new CreateSpace service, which duplicates out-of-print CDs and books on demand.

(Edited 6/3/08 to correct the date of the Zappa Plays Zappa show.)