Sunday Session: January 27, 2019

Terri Lyne Carrington

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:

* Houzz Tour: Rock Musician’s Tiny House Wakes Up the Neighborhood (Houzz.com)
* FIRST LISTEN: Brand new Snarky Puppy unveiled (JazzFM.com)
* Festival of New Trumpet Music West to debut in San Diego at eight venues in one week in January (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Pharoah Sanders – The Creator's Master Plan (Q&A) (Pollstar.com)
* Mark Mothersbaugh on his journey from Devo to Hollywood (AV Club)
* Scenes From the Winter Jazzfest: A Slide Show (WBGO)
* Makaya McCraven’s ‘Distillation of Ideas’ (DownBeat)
* Myra Melford: Both Sides Now (Jazz Times)
* Bob Clearmountain: Living in the Mix (Tape Op)
* Why won’t City Hall fight for Chicago’s homegrown music scene? (Chicago Reader)
* Hugh Masekela’s legacy can still be heard throughout South Africa (QZ.com)
* Donny McCaslin: ‘Just Be Brave’ (DownBeat)
* 'Swingin' in Seattle' Finds Cannonball Adderley at a Crossroads, Reaching Out and Speaking Up (WBGO)
* Spotify data shows how music preferences change with latitude (ArsTechnica.com)
* Eric Dolphy: It’s All Out There Now (Jazz Times)
* Terri Lyne Carrington Looks to Transform the Culture (DownBeat)
* Blue Note Records Presents The Tone Poet Audiophile Reissue Series (BlueNote.com)
* Jaco Pastorius Shares How He Learned Bass and Composition in Unpublished Interview (Reverb.com)
* We Analyzed Every Dang Song That Cracked the Billboard Top 5 in 2018 (Soundfly.com)
* ‘Magic baton’ helps blind musicians feel conductor (BBC)
* This mouth-controlled synthesizer is the wildest instrument I’ve ever heard (TheVerge.com)
* Michel Legrand, Oscar-winning composer, dies aged 86 (The Guardian)
* How Eric Dolphy Sparked My Love of Jazz (The New Yorker)

Sunday Session: June 4, 2017

Diana Krall

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

* Rod Argent: A 50 Year Odyssey - The Zombies Odessey and Oracle (Tape Op)
* Trouble No More: Allman Brothers Biographer Alan Paul Reflects on 25 Years of Interviewing Gregg Allman (Billboard)
* Don't Worry, Your MP3s Are Safe: A Frank Discussion On The Future Of A Format (NPR)
* In A Lost Concert, Jaco Pastorius Sounded The Rhythm Of The City (WBGO)
* Philadelphia's music legacy is vast but hard to find (Charlotte Observer)
* For Video Soundtracks, Computers Are The New Composers (NPR)
* Thundercat: Drinking Songs (Jazz Times)
* Saxophonist Sonny Rollins On His Colossal Archive (NPR)
* The Checkout: The Irrepressible Ingenuity of Cooper-Moore (WBGO)
* Allman Brothers Manager Bert Holman Talks Band Archives in Wake of Gregg Allman's Death: 'There's a Great Deal of Material' (Billboard)
* Sax Sonics, Guitar Phonics at FIMAV (DownBeat)
* Frustrated by Trump, D.D. Jackson rekindles his passion for jazz (Ottawa Citizen)
* Four innovations in classical music (MusicXTechXFuture.com)
* Keeping the Flame Alive: The World of Deep Funk Archival Compilations (Bandcamp.com)
* Have We Reached the End of the FM Dial? (Billboard)
* 21st Century Bebop? (Ronan Guilfoyle)
* First Listen: DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski & Scofield, 'Hudson' (NPR)
* Kamasi Washington Leads a New Guard in Jazz  (SevenDaysVT.com)
* La La Means … What Exactly? (Jazz Times)
* Why Catchy Songs Get Stuck in Our Brains: New Study Explains the Science of Earworms (OpenCulture.com)
* Luxembourg’s ‘Like a Jazz Machine’ Fest Lives Up to Spirited Name (DownBeat)
* Bern Nix, Guitarist Steeped in Ornette Coleman's Harmolodic Language, Dies at 69 (WBGO)
* Prince’s death has given rise to a ghoulish new tourism business in Minnesota (Chicago Reader)
* Hear Diana Krall Play an Exclusive Session, and Talk About Her Sleek New Album (WBGO)
* Vanishing: Where Is The Music Of The Impending Apocalypse? (TheQuietus.com)
* Inside the quietest place on earth (BBC)
* Jazz Icons Lend Music and Vocals to Wilson’s Poetic Sandburg Tribute (DownBeat)

Sunday Session: January 24, 2016

Ron Carter

For your Sunday reading, some interesting music-related items that have turned up recently in StLJN's inbox:

* Ten Pianists reflect on the enduring influence of Paul Bley (Notes on Jazz)
* Prototype Festival shows opera houses one path to new work (Washington Post)
* NYC Winter Jazzfest 2016 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The New Thing: 5 Artists to Watch From Winter Jazzfest 2016 (Billboard)
* What We Loved At Winter Jazzfest 2016 (NPR)
* Revolutionary Recording Techniques Are Bringing Bach Back (Vice.com)
* New Orleans Jazz Fest Lineup Announced (Jazz Times)
* What Will the Sound of Jazz Be in 2016? (The Atlantic)
* Free Improvisation as Experience & Self-Disclosure (Artidolia.com)
* Washington, Porter, Kneebody To Headline Newport Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* Canadian pianist Paul Bley played pivotal role in birth of free jazz (Toronto Globe and Mail)
* Spooner Oldham: Lord Loves A Session Man (American Songwriter)
* Stanley Jordan: “My Spirit Transcends Gender” - The guitarist speaks out about freedom and authenticity (Jazz Times)
* Chano Pozo: Legacy of the Ultimate Rumbero (SFJAZZ.org)
* Ron Carter earns world record as the most recorded jazz bassist in history (GuinnessWorldRecords.com)
* An Interview With Cécile McLorin Salvant - From Monk Competition winner to Grammy nominee (Jazz Times)
* The Grateful Dead Literary-Industrial Complex Is A Long, Strange Trip All Its Own (Deadspin.com)
* Old music is outselling new music for the first time in history (ChartAttack.com)
* Kamasi Washington’s Giant Step (New York Times)
* Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Orchestra Reneges on Promise to Pay Back Library Foundation (Offbeat)
* Jaco! The Story Behind Robert Trujillo's Intense New Documentary (Bass Player)
* Q&A: John Cale On Memorializing Lou Reed & Re-Making Music For A New Society (Stereogum)
* NYC Winter Jazzfest 2016: Comprehensive Coverage - "Jazz is not dead, but back with a vengeance" (Jazz Times)
* David Bowie: 7 Wild Quotes From the 'Station to Station' Era (Rolling Stone)
* Dan Wilson Talks John Seabrook’s The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory (TheTalkhouse.com)

Sunday Session: November 22, 2015

Quincy Jones

From the farthest reaches of the Internet, via RSS, email, social media, and more, here's this week's grab-bag of links to various music-related items of potential interest:

* How Teens Consume Media: Music Still Trumps Social [CHART] (Hypebot.com)
* Live Nation to increase venue security after Paris attacks (FactMag.com)
* House music: The performers who are now staging gigs in living-rooms (The Independent UK)
* The Sounds of Memphis (ProHoopsHistory.net)
* Why is there no room for jazz in Dublin? (Irish Times)
* Report: Monk Institute Jazz Vocals Competition Finals 2015 (Jazz Times)
* Review: Quincy Jones loves jazz and jazz loves Quincy Jones at Monk Institute gala (Los Angeles Times)
* Apple’s iTunes Is Alienating Its Most Music-Obsessed Users (Wired)
* Seeing Through “A Love Supreme” to Find John Coltrane (The New Yorker)
* 'We tell Spotify no, YouTube does it anyway': The music industry's love-hate relationship with YouTube (CNet.com)
* Three Views of Jaco: Weather Report: The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981 / JACO: The Film & Original Soundtrack (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Bix Beiderbecke fans target a 2017 opening for museum (Quad City Times)
* What Sam Phillips Heard (Oxford American)
* Punk Legend Cheetah Chrome Fights Facebook For His Name (LA Weekly)
* Photo Gallery: Johnny O'Neal in Paris (Jazz Times)
* Review: Celebrating Cecil Taylor, a Pianist of Endless Influence (New York Times)
* Bowie hires jazz artists for new album (BBC)
* Ice-T swaps rap for poetry and jazz (BBC)
* This Is the Only Photo of Charlie Parker Playing His Sax in His Hometown (Atlas Obscura)
* From Bastard Assignment to Kammer Klang: the UK’s new music scene (The Guardian UK)
* We Found Some Of The Weirdest Releases On Discogs (ElectronicBeats.net)

Sunday Session: November 8, 2015

Ambrose Akinmusire

For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* The secret math behind feel-good music (Washington Post)
* Arto Lindsay: Space, Parades, and Confrontational Aesthetics (New Music Box)
* Welcome home, Jaco (SouthFlorida.com)
* ‘Linus and Lucy’ Forever: 5 Behind-the-Scenes Stories of Vince Guaraldi’s ‘Peanuts’ Music (Wall Street Journal)
* The 'Complete Bee Hive Recordings' Buzz With The Energy Of '70s Mainstream Jazz (NPR)
* Esperanza Spalding review – thrilling, virtuosic, baffling and fitfully exasperating (The Guardian UK)
* 'Carol' Composer Carter Burwell Talks The Coen Brothers, 'Twilight' and His Unconventional Musical Roots (IndieWire)
* Frank Zappa's terrific 'mess': L.A. Phil's live recording of '200 Motels' out Nov. 20 (Los Angeles Times)
* A Degree in Record Collecting? Could you pass the qualifying paper? (Every Record Tells A Story)
* How Long Can the Beatles Remain Digital Holdouts? The Curious Case of the Fake Beatles Cover (Forbes)
* What It Takes to Build a Successful Music City (CityLab.com)
* Ambrose Akinmusire and Jazz in the Smoldering City: A Dispatch From Kyiv (TheMillions.com)
* Gender in the Music Industry (Music Business Journal)
* How Composing for TV Is Paying Rents and Hurting Bands (Pitchfork)
* Remembering Bob Dylan and Velvet Underground's Pioneering Producer (Rolling Stone)
* The Neuroscience of Bass: New Study Explains Why Bass Instruments Are Fundamental to Music (OpenCulture.com)
* New Blue Note release to honor Detroit's jazz legacy (Detroit Free Press)
* I Went Door to Door to Find Out If Music is Harder to Sell Than Religion (Vice.com)
* The Invention of the Wah-Wah Pedal (Priceonomics)

Sunday Session: September 27, 2015

Mary Lou Williams

For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (Oxford American)
* Coltrane “A Love Supreme Complete Masters” to Be Released - Impulse!/Verve to issue 2- and 3-CD editions (Jazz Times)
* A Hidden Hero of Jazz (The New Yorker)
* Play It Again (for the First Time) (The New Yorker)
* Is Stevie Wonder Cheating a Dead Man? (Daily Beast)
* To the barricades! Why rhythm is the heartbeat of revolution (The Guardian UK)
* Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley dies (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
* Panoramical will change the way you conceive of sound (Boing Boing)
* From the Club to the Cathedral: Revisiting Duke Ellington’s Controversial ‘Sacred Concert’ (KQED)
* Why looking at music from a tech and business perspective makes no sense (FactMag.com)
* Kamasi Washington On World Cafe (NPR)
* The EDM Ennio Morricone - How Junkie XL went from making junior varsity electronica to blowing cinematic minds with his scores for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and ‘Black Mass’ (Grantland)
* London, Meader, Pramuk & Ross Showcase Vocalese at Historic Birdland Summit (DownBeat)
* Jaco Pastorius Documentary Set to Premiere Nov. 27 (Jazz Times)
* Inside Bob Dylan's Massive New Sixties Bootleg Series Trove (Rolling Stone)
* What Critics Want (21cm.org)
* Music Coverage Endangered as Writers From USA Today, Times-Picayune, New York Daily News Exit (Billboard)
* 9 Behind-the-Scenes Stories From Darlene Love, the Greatest Backup Singer Ever (Vulture.com)
* Gigantic wooden megaphones amplify the sounds of the forest in Estonia (Inhabitat.com)
* Snarky Puppy: the latest supergroup ripping up the genre rulebook (Irish Times)
* The Secret Jewish History of Joni Mitchell (Forward.com)
* Soul Set Free: The Lost Legacy Of David Ruffin (Trunkworthy.com)
* Louie Pérez and Los Lobos: Still howlin' after all these years (KPCC)
* First Fusion: Jazz-Rock Before Bitches Brew (WFIU)
* Music Heals: MedRhythms Uses Music To Treat Traumatic Brain Injury (Forbes)
* A Brief History of Scratching (FactMag.com)
* The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills (The Paris Review)

Sunday Session: August 16, 2015

Jaco Pastorius

For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Composing Music With Recurrent Neural Networks (Hexhedria.com)
* The recording of the music for Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (London Jazz News)
* Music Therapy Might One Day Help People With Epilepsy (HealthDay.com)
* Secret Life of a Rock and Roll Trucker (Narrative.ly)
* Jerry Lee Lewis: ‘I worry about whether I'm going to heaven or hell’(The Guardian UK)
* R. Crumb’s Vibrant, Over-the-Top Album Covers (1968-2004) (OpenCulture.com)
* Prince Compares Record Contracts To Slavery In Rare Meeting With Media (NPR)
* The sensational world of band riders (and the not so glamorous reality) (Minnesota Public Radio)
* Columbia House, once a mail-order giant, files for bankruptcy (Los Angeles Times)
* Astronomer Uses Stars as Musical Instruments (Technology Review)
* Rain is sizzling bacon, cars are lions roaring: the art of sound in movies (The Guardian UK)
* Chess Records and the ten 7"s that helped shape modern music (The Vinyl Factory)
* Rare Photographs of Jazz Icons From the Archives of Metronome Magazine (Slate)
* Finally, A Non-Embarrassing Classical-Music Scene in a Blockbuster Movie (The New Yorker)
* We analyzed a month of Beats 1 tracks to figure out Apple’s taste in music (Quartz.com)
* The Word is Beat: Jazz, Poetry & the Beat Generation (AllAboutJazz.com)
* SoundExchange Launches PLAYS Search Engine: Who's Claiming Your Recordings? (HypeBot.com)
* As Newspapers Cut Music Critics, a Dark Time for the Arts or Dawn of a New Age? (WQXR)
* Tech and Artificial Intelligence Are Changing Music as We Know It. Here Are the 6 Big Ways (Mic.com)
* These Three Museums are Dedicated to Preserving the History of American Jazz (Atlanta Black Star)
* Could an Old-School Tube Amp Make the Music You Love Sound Better? (Collectors Weekly)
* Maiden Voyage: Herbie Hancock In The 1960s (WFIU)
* What's So Smooth About the New Smooth Jazz? (PopMatters)
* Back on song: New Orleans 10 years after Katrina (The Guardian UK)
* Anita Pointer: Civil-Rights Activist, Pop Star, and Serious Collector of Black Memorabilia (Collectors Weekly)
* Shorter Leads All-Star Tribute to Pastorius at Hollywood Bowl (DownBeat)

Music Education Monday: Electric bass lessons from Jaco Pastorius and Bob Babbitt

Our previous two "Music Education Monday" installments about bass dealt mostly with the acoustic variety, so today, here's a post specifically for the plugged-in bassists out there, featuring video lessons from two electric bass players who helped shape modern music. 

Bassist Bob Babbitt, who died in 2012 at age 74, performed on many of Motown's greatest hits of its golden era - essentially, all the records that James Jamerson didn't play on - and in the first embedded video window below, you can see a master class that Babbitt presented in 2006 at a jazz festival in Syracuse, NY.

Jaco Pastorius, of course, is familiar to jazz fans as the bassist for the fusion band Weather Report who in the 1970s and 80s helped revolutionize how the instrument was played. If you're a fan, you also know Pastorius' career was cut short in 1987, when he died at age 35 after being beaten in a confrontation with a nightclub bouncer.

Fortunately for musicians who wish to emulate some of his innovations, in 1985 Pastorius made an instructional film, Modern Electric Bass, to give insight into some of his techniques and concepts. You can see that video in the second embedded window below.

Check out both videos after the jump...