Sunday Session: March 15, 2020

Roy Haynes

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

* Long-Overdue Love for Louie (Premier Guitar)
* Word crimes? 'Weird Al Seriously' takes academic look at beloved parody musician (Bakersfield Californian)
* “An Evening with Branford Marsalis” at the Patchogue Theatre (Long Island Advance)
* In Praise of Roy Haynes: A Take Five Tribute to the Peerless Jazz Drummer, As He Turns 95 (WBGO)
* Interview: South Africa's Nduduzo Makhathini On His Upcoming Blue Note Records Debut (OkayAfrica.com)
* Trad-Jazz Revivalist Bria Skonberg Explores New Territory (Jazz Times)
* Growth, Change Apparent at PDX Festival (DownBeat)
* Jon Hassell :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* How Explaining Copyright Broke the YouTube Copyright System (NYU.edu)
* Co-Producer Of PBS Chuck Berry Show Talks Star-Studded Guest List (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* For Jeff “Tain” Watts, it’s all about the purity in music (Jazz.fm)
* The confounding career of Pat Metheny (New Zealand Listener)
* Cold Fusion: The Search for the Jazz/Rock Unicorn, Part 1 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* McCoy Tyner: essential albums (Jazzwise)
* James Taylor & John Pizzarelli: Setting a Standard (Jazz Times)
* Kassa Overall Unpacks His “Backpack Jazz” Approach (Bandcamp.com)
* ‘Everything Is in Chaos’: The Concert Business Stands to Lose Billions From Coronavirus (Rolling Stone)
* Why Cancel Concerts? A Doctor Explains Coronavirus’ Spread (Rolling Stone)
* Bassist Linda May Han Oh Is A Musician Rooted In Curiosity (NPR)
* Musicians Were Depending On Those Jazz Nights And Senior Living Gigs (NPR)
* Pat Metheny Expands His Vision on ‘From This Place’ (DownBeat)
* Bird land: Jaimie Branch takes jazz to new heights (Columbia Daily Tribune)
* Sound Of Silence Banishes Music Across The Land (ClassicalVoiceAmerica.org)

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: November 17, 2019

Artemis

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

* Christopher Hollyday’s Vanishing Act (Jazz Times)
* Artemis, the All-Female Jazz Supergroup, Joins the Roster of Blue Note Records (WBGO)
* Earshot Serves as Platform for Thriving Seattle Scene (DownBeat)
* Why Hundreds of Music Stars Are Giving Fans Their Phone Numbers (Billboard)
* The Internet Archive Is Digitizing & Preserving Over 100,000 Vinyl Records: Hear 750 Full Albums Now (OpenCulture.com)
* Jaimie Branch :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* 'When you're black, being alive is a success': Angel Bat Dawid, 2019's brightest new jazz star (The Guardian)
* Sun Ra: Our 1989 Interview (SPIN)
* A Jazz Musician’s guide to the EFG London Jazz Festival 2019 (Medium.com)
* Ralph Peterson takes all his musical lessons to heart (Philadelphia Tribune)
* Any tips? A body language expert puts the spotlight on orchestra conductors (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
* Sun Ra & the Classical Undertones of Afrofuturism (CastleSkins.org)
* Blue Note Documentary a Jazz Film with a Hip-Hop Heart (DownBeat)
* Check out the first playable record made from recycled ocean plastic (DJMag.com)
* Chops: Jamison Ross on Singing Behind the Kit (Jazz Times)
* Audio Files: Darn That Stream (Jazz Times)
* The Wild Story of How Mary Steenburgen Wrote the Best Original Movie Song of the Year (IndieWire.com)
* Mapping Music's Evolution: 23 Breakthroughs That Changed How We Listen (Billboard)
* How Musicians Are Evolving the Legacy of Resistance (DownBeat)
* Live Review: ECM 50 in New York (Jazz Times)
* Turning Over - Why Page Turners Matter (Atavist.com)
* London Calling at 40: How The Clash shattered punk orthodoxy and created a masterpiece (The Independent)
* Joe Henry's Next Second Chance (NPR)
* Mary Ann Topper, Manager of Noted Jazz Artists, Dies at 79 (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: November 3, 2019

Matana Roberts

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

* Andy Bey At 80: A Love Letter To A Jazz Legend (NPR)
* Exploring St Petersburg’s cosy jazz dens (Jazz Journal)
* The Grammys organizer is giving artists a metadata gold mine to credit unrecognized music workers (TheVerge.com)
* Tighter and looser with Mary Halvorson (ToneMadison.com)
* The average guitarist will spend $10,000 on gear over their lifetime (Guitar)
* Three British Labels are Deep in Dialogue with the American Jazz Tradition (DownBeat)
* David Sánchez and the African Tinge (Jazz Times)
* Bill Bruford on His Ups and Downs With Yes and King Crimson, Life After Retirement (Rolling Stone)
* Fred Taylor, Boston’s Beloved Jazz Impresario, Dies at 90 (Jazz Times)
* Chicago Trumpeter Jaimie Branch Delivers A Political Message On 'FLY or DIE II' (NPR)
* One of New York City’s Oldest Jazz Clubs Re-Opens (Forbes.com)
* Pi Recordings: A Home For Musicians Pushing Jazz Forward (Bandcamp.com)
* A Brief History of Witchcraft in Music (FloodMagazine.com)
* Crosscurrents Trio Brings Together Singular Musical Personalities (DownBeat)
* Marquis Hill Celebrates the Enduring Rhythms of Love (DownBeat)
* James Taylor: Artist in Residence (American Songwriter)
* A duel with Van Morrison: 'Is this a psychiatric examination? It sounds like one' (The Guardian)
* Manfred Eicher: "You Can't Record Everybody" (Stereophile)
* Myra Melford: Freedom and Form (New Music Box)
* The First Angel of the Future: Sun Ra's Heliocentric Poetics for After the End of the World (PoetryFoundation.org)
* Marvin Gaye: Live in Amsterdam 1976 (Oxford American)
* Matana Roberts’ ‘Coin Coin’ Project is a Sonic Patchwork of American History (DownBeat)
* Gearbox Records to release final Buddy Rich recording (Jazz in Europe)
* John Scofield and Bobo Stenson Engage Big Bands at Umeå Fest (DownBeat)
* Always Creating: Pianist Vijay Iyer Reflects on a Key Directive From His Elders, on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Change Comes to Pitt with Nicole Mitchell as New Jazz Chair (Jazz Times)
* Ronnie Scott’s 60th Anniversary Gala at the Royal Albert Hall (London Jazz News)
* Your Brain Can Recognize a Song in Just 100 Milliseconds (Newsweek)

Sunday Session: October 13, 2019

Art Blakey

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

* Ain’t No Limitations: The Soul Rebels pave the roads and knock down the doors (Offbeat)
* Are Albums Dying? ⁠— 15% of Music Fans Under 25 Have Never Listened to a Full Album (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Harry Nilsson’s Animated Film ‘The Point!’ Gets 50th Anniversary Digital Release (Rolling Stone)
* Remembering Ginger Baker (DownBeat)
* Ginger Baker: A Jazz Drummer With a Rock Reputation (Billboard)
* Bill Frisell Remembers Ginger Baker: ‘Nobody Sounded Like That’ (Rolling Stone)
* Ginger Baker’s Best: A Deep Dive Into the Late Drummer’s Hidden Gems (Listen) (Variety)
* Cold Gettin’ Dub: Rap 12"s and the Forgotten Artform of Bonus Beats (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Sean Jones: A Challenging Life (Jazz Times)
* John Anderson, World's Greatest Soul Record Dealer, Is Dead (The Daily Beast)
* Live Review: 2019 Monterey Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* A new ‘Porgy and Bess’ raises old questions about race and opera (TheUndefeated.com)
* An AJMF Conversation with Jimmy Heath (AtlantaJMF.org)
* Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood: 'Instead of cocaine, hook me up with a recorder group!' (The Guardian)
* Cut Your Own Vinyl Records With This $1,100 Machine (Wired)
* On ‘Fly Or Die II,’ Jaimie Branch Lets the Music Breathe (DownBeat)
* Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt Celebrates 50 Years of Fruitful Collaborations (DownBeat)
* Art Blakey's Legacy: A Rallying Cry And A Gathering Place (NPR)

Jazz this week: Chucho Valdes; Aldana, Cohen & Hill; Dianne Reeves; Branch, Lonberg-Holm & Solberg; and more

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with two very different shows featuring special combinations of multiple headliners on one stage, plus headlining performances from a couple of other major jazz stars, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 6
The estimable pianist Chucho Valdés continues with his "Jazz Bata" show, featuring a mix of jazz and Cuban folkloric elements, through Thursday at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Wednesday, this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features multi-instrumentalist TJ Muller and Friends at The Stage at KDHX, the weekly jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, February 7
Guitarist Dan Rubright of The Wire Pilots leads a quartet in a free concert of original music for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo performs at Joe's Cafe, and St. Charles County's own 636 Big Band, directed by trumpeter Keith Moyer, will be playing at Red Fish, Blue Fish, located just south of I-70 in Hawks Nest Plaza.

Friday, February 8
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana, pianist Emmet Cohen and trumpeter Marquis Hill (pictured, top left) will wrap up a week-long educational residency by joining forces for the first of two nights of performances at Jazz St. Louis.

At ages 30, 28, and 32 respectively, Aldana, Cohen and Hill all could be considered among the top young players on their respective instruments now working mostly in the mainstream tradition, and all three are bandleaders in their own right.

As is usually the case with one-off ensembles, it's hard to know how sympatico their individual styles may be until they actually hit the stage together, but on paper, these three seem like a good match. And if things are bit looser than they might be with a regular working band, listeners still will be getting three headliners for the price of one.

Also on Friday, the Arcadia Dance Orchestra will be joined by special guest multi-instrumentalist  Andy Schumm of the Chicago Cellar Boys for a show at The Stage at KDHX.

Saturday, 
February 9
New Music Circle presents trumpeter Jaimie Branch, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and percussionist Stäle Liavik Solberg (pictured, center left) at The Stage at KDHX

Though they're not a regular working band, the three have performed together before, which should provide just enough familiarity to ease them into an evening of freely improvised music.

The concert also marks the St. Louis debut of Branch, a Chicagoan-turned-New Yorker who is one of the more noteworthy young trumpeters to emerge on the improvised music scene in recent years. You can find out more about her and see some performance videos, including one with Lonberg-Holm and Solberg, in this post from last month.

Also on Saturday, singer Dianne Reeves (pictured, bottom left) performs at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Generally acknowledged as one of the most accomplished female jazz vocalists working today, Reeves last year was named an NEA Jazz Master, a significant milestone in a four-decade-long career that fortunately shows no signs of slowing down yet.

Reeves also has some musical connections to the St. Louis area, and you can find more about those and see some videos of recent performances in this post from last Saturday.

Sunday, February 10
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for brunch at Evangeline's, while bassist/singer Janet Evra performs at The Dark Room.

Then on Sunday evening, singer Will Downing will be in town for a "Valentine's Weekend Kick-Off" performance at Harris-Stowe State University, with St. Louis' Lamont Hadley opening.

Monday, February 11
Dizzy Atmosphere returns to The Shaved Duck, and keyboardists Kim Portnoy and Nick Schlueter will team up for a duo concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Introducing Jaimie Branch

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring trumpeter Jaimie Branch, who will be making her St. Louis debut in a concert with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Ståle Liavik Solberg to be presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, February 9 at The Stage at KDHX.

Branch, who's 34 years old, grew up in Brooklyn, NY and Chicago and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and Towson University. She has gained significant national attention since moving to NYC in 2015, quickly becoming a prolific participant in the city's improvised music community by leading several groups with different instrumental lineups, and also working frequently as a collaborator and side musician.

One of those many collaborations is with Lonberg-Holm and Solberg, as seen on video earlier this month as part of StLJN's winter/spring 2019 jazz preview. While that clip looks to be the best currently available documentation of them playing together, there's lots more interesting video of Branch online, starting with the clip up above, a short documentary produced in 2017 in conjunction with the release of her album Fly of Die on the International Anthem label.

After the jump, you can see a full set of Fly or Die, Branch's ensemble that shares a name with the album, as recorded in May 2018 during the 23rd annual Vision Festival at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn. Along with the leader, the band includes bassist Anton Hatwich, cellist Lester St. Louis, and drummer Chad Taylor.

Next, you can see two sets of Branch's trio, recorded almost a year apart in December and January of 2017 in NYC as part of the ongoing concert series presented by Arts for Art, which also produces Vision Festival. The December show features Branch, drummer Mike Pride, and bassist
Luke Stewart, while the January performance includes Branch, Pride, and Brandon Lopez on bass.

The fifth video features Branch playing synthesizer as well as trumpet as part of the duo Anteloper, with Jason Nazary on drums and electronics. It was recorded in August 2017 at a venue called Halyards in Brooklyn.

Last but not least, there's a short set of solo trumpet by Branch, recorded in February 2018 at Muchmore's, which also is in Brooklyn.

For more about Jaimie Branch, read her 2016 interview with Jazz Right Now, the feature story about her published in 2017 by Jazz Times, and another feature from 2018 in DownBeat.

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

Sunday Session: October 21, 2018

Maria Schneider

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:

* Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell and John Scofield, guitar greats all, discuss their mutual admiration society (San Diego Union-Tribune)
* Review: Dave Holland and Chris Potter (Jazz Journal)
* Paul Simon: Fathers, Sons, Troubled Water (New York Review of Books)
* Jaimie Branch on “Brass Chillers” (Jazz Times)
* Zorn to Secrecy (ArtAndMusicMagazine.com)
* Experts aim to finally solve plane war mystery of famed big band leader Glenn Miller (South China Morning Post)
* Maria Schneider: The star of the show (Irish Examiner)
* Alan Broadbent: Intimate Reflections on a Passion for Jazz (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Jazznojazz Fest Celebrates 20 Years (DownBeat)
* A Mingus discovery (TheBlueMoment.com)
* New Music by Five Composers Behind the Drums, From Tyshawn Sorey to Allison Miller (WBGO)
* Four Electronic Artists Reflect on the Influence of Composer Laurie Spiegel (Bandcamp.com)
* Ben Wendel Takes ‘The Seasons’ from Video Project to Album (DownBeat)
* Loss of small music venues is handing control of culture to robots, MPs told (ArtsProfessional.co.uk)
* Big Bands Reign Supreme at Angrajazz (DownBeat)
* Esperanza Spalding announces ’12 Little Spells’ tour, shares 10th track (Brooklyn Vegan)
* Copyright and the Jazz Musician (Jazz Times)
* New Stax Box Set Details a Fraught 1968 (DownBeat)
* To Hat and To Hold (ArtForum.com)
* The Horace Silver Quintet drummer Roger Humphries reflects on his storied life in jazz (WaxPoetics.com)
* Rubén Blades Swings Big Band Jazz And Rumba On New Album (NPR)
* Naxos Joins eMusic Exodus Over Non-Payment (Hypebot.com)
* Joshua Abrams Discusses Solo Bass and the Spirit of Music (DownBeat)
* What Small, Diverse Music Venues Mean to New York City (CityLab.com)
* Ambassadors for Motown sound seek more of it in hometown (Associated Press)
* Tiny Desk Concert: Alfredo Rodríguez (NPR)
* Is the Cover Making a Recovery? (Slate.com)
* The New American Songbook (Slate.com)
* Lou Reed's Archive Holds Six Hundred Hours Of Mostly Unreleased Audio, And Other Revelations From His Archivist (PleaseKillMe.com)
* Q&A with Ingrid Jensen: Leading from Within (Jazziz)