So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's weekly wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony, the seven-CD set drawn from the archives of saxophonist and Black Artists Group co-founder Julius Hemphill and released earlier this year, is the subject of a short feature/review for Jazz Times by Ted Panken.

* Trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, now based in Atlanta, has released the second recording from his band The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra. Titled The Sirius Mystery opus 4 no. 1, the album is out today via Ropeadope Records on all digital platforms, plus limited editions on CD and vinyl LP.

* Bassist Damon Smith, a recent transplant to St. Louis, also has a new recording, Houston 2012, out this week on digital and as a double CD. The album teams Smith with guitarists Keith Rowe and Sandy Ewen and the ensemble Gooseberry Marmalade.

* And speaking of new releases, a Miles Davis performance recorded in 1991 at La Villette in Paris, France will be released as The Lost Concert on digital services and as a two-CD set on Wednesday, September 29, the 30th anniversary of his death. The album (pictured) is the third in a series from Sleepy Night Records that started with Miles Davis: The Lost Quintet and continued with The Lost Septet, both released last year.

The Lost Concert is particularly noteworthy because Davis' then-current band was augmented for the date by numerous guest stars and former sidemen, including Chick Corea, Al Foster, Steve Grossman, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Darryl Jones, John McLaughlin, Jackie McLean, John Scofield, and Joe Zawinul.

* Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis was interviewed about the organization's upcoming 2021-22 season by the St. Louis American's Danielle Brown.

* One of St. Louis' most acclaimed young talents is leaving town, as singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo this week announced in a Facebook post, "I have accepted a job as an audio engineer at a media group in Los Angeles. I’ll be driving from STL to LA this weekend." Saputo will play what she's calling her final show as a St. Louis resident tonight at Tower Grove Park (though she also is on the bill for the Music at the Intersection festival in September).

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's weekly wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor (pictured) and his wife, singer Jean Baylor, are among the musicians featured last week in an NPR story, "Alone Together: Jazz Couples (Stuck) at Home"

* Actor Ruth Negga will star as St. Louis native Josephine Baker in an upcoming limited series for television being produced by ABC Signature that will offer "a raw and unflinching look at the force of nature that was Josephine Baker, the biggest Black female artist of her time."

* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts will present "Anatomy of a Contract," another in their ongoing series of business seminars for artists, at 6:30 p.m. next Monday, February 22. The online event will feature attorney David Kim of Stinson LLP and will "provide negotiation tips and cover contract basics." Get more info or sign up at STLVLAA's website.

* Jazz Times is showcasing on their website a track from drummer Dave Weckl's forthcoming album. "Big B, Little B" was recorded as part of the Weckl band's reunion gig in June 2019 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, and the album, titled Live In St. Louis, will be released on Friday, April 9 by the Autumn Hill label.

* Students at Webster University affiliated with the Audio Engineering Society will present the university's annual Central Region Audio Student Summit from Friday, March 19 through Sunday, March 21. The online event will include guest speakers, panels, and demonstrations covering topics such as recording, mixing, and mastering; audio for film and visual; live sound; and more. It's open to industry professionals, high school and college students and teachers, and "others interested in the subject of Sound."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Keyboardist and Metro East native David Garfield (pictured) was the featured guest on a recent episode of Jazziz magazine's "Jazziz Live" podcast.

* The Red and Black Brass Band were the subjects of a story on last week's episode of Nine Network's Living St Louis program.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed on last night's episode of the "Speakin' My Piece!" podcast from Jazz Times magazine.

* Chris Hansen of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation was interviewed about the foundation's response to COVID-19 for a story on HEC-TV.

* Jazz St. Louis' 25th anniversary celebration was the subject of a feature story from Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and former U Citian Marty Ehrlich (pictured) was the subject of an "Overdue Ovation" profile in Jazz Times.

* The world premiere production of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis continues to generate press coverage, including preview stories from Bob Duffy in St. Louis magazine and St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin, and reviews from Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Paul Friswold of the Riverfront Times, Mark Bretz of Ladue News, and John von Rhein on the website Chicago Classical Review. The production continues in "rolling rep" at OTSL until the end of the month.

* Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True appeared Tuesday on the morning newscast from KTVI (Fox 2).

* The new Miles Davis set Complete Birth of the Cool was reviewed by Nate Chinen for Pitchfork.

* Jazz Journal reviewed the new reissue of Davis' Cup, a 1956 compilation of some of Davis' early recordings for the Prestige label, originally issued only in Europe.

* Twenty local arts organizations have won operating support grants for the next year from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, including Jazz St. Louis, the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Radio Arts Foundation.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Two new releases of previously unheard live recordings helped guitarist and St. Louis native Grant Green make the cover (pictured) of the July/August 2018 issue of Jazz Times nearly 40 years after his death.

Though the article about Green isn't online (yet), the magazine is on sale now, and they're also conducting an online poll asking readers to name their favorite Grant Green album.

* St. Louis native Mark Colenburg is profiled in the August 2018 issue of Modern Drummer magazine.

* Colenburg also will be one of the featured clinicians at the Australia Ultimate Drummer's Weekend, held August 25 & 26 in Victoria, Australia.

* Singer Denise Thimes, who recently moved from St. Louis to Chicago, is the subject of a brief profile by the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich. 

* Here's a review of trumpeter Keyon Harrold's performance at last weekend's Love Supreme festival in England.

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has posted to YouTube a video of a performance by violinist Regina Carter and pianist Peter Martin at the 2018 St. Louis Arts Awards.

* Bassist Darin Gray has collaborated with Japanese singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eiko Ishibashi on a new album, Ichida, which will be released on Friday, July 20 by the Black Truffle label.

* St. Louis photographer Tiffany Sutton last week launched a crowd-funding campaign for "Black, Brown and Beige," a series of portraits inspired by the Duke Ellington suite of the same name. Her plans also include an exhibition of the photos with a choir performing Ellington's music for the exhibit's opening. Find out more and, if you wish, donate at the project's GoFundMe page.

Sunday Session: June 19, 2016

Henry Grimes

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

* Sound in the City (Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique)
* Stax Records and the Making of Blaxploitation Soundtracks (Ebony)
* Music distributor lays off 'dozens' of employees, keeps CDs from labels (Portland Oregonian)
* Publishers: can we work together? (KateRomano.co.uk)
* The Devil's Horn asks: is the saxophone cursed? (Georgia Straight)
* Grimes Celebrates Lifetime of Achievement at Vision Festival 21 (DownBeat)
* Digital Music Era Ushers In New Rights for Veteran Studio Musicians (BusinessWire.com)
* From YouTube to the blockchain: how music and tech are colliding in 2016 (The Guardian UK)
* The Last Word: Donald Fagen on Right-Wing Paranoia, Steely Dan's Future (Rolling Stone)
* Music titan ‘Chips’ Moman is dead at 79 (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
* Musician ‘kicked off’ United Airlines flight for attempting to stow her violin safely (TheStrad.com)
* 2017 NEA Jazz Masters Announced (Jazz Times)
* Music in the age of the algorithm (FT.com)
* Thirty years later, Green Mill owner Dave Jemilo thrives at his jazz club (Chicago Tribune)
* How to remake a Blue Note jazz album – in pictures (The Guardian UK)
* Behind the Scenes Photos of NYC's Steinway Piano Factory (AtlasObscura.com)
* Boomer Rock Icons Are Back, and Their Albums Aren’t Bad (Vulture.com)
* The Soulful Crossover of Kamasi Washington (Jazz Times)
* Recording Academy Embraces Streaming with Changes to Grammy Rules (Billboard)
* Apple's Brain Trust -- Iovine, Reznor, Cue and Kondrk -- on Streaming's New World Order and Why 'We All Should Be' Worried (Billboard)
* Why it matters that AFI's Lifetime Achievement Award is going to 'Star Wars' composer John Williams (Los Angeles Times)
* Morris 'Moe' Jennings, studio drummer at Chess Records, dies at 77 (Chicago Tribune)
* Jazz Icon Charles Lloyd on Memphis, The Elixirs Of Gotham, and Bob Dylan (WBGO)
* Bernie Worrell’s Wife Shares Update On Legendary Keyboardist’s Health (JamBase.com)
* Kamasi Washington's Father Helped Mold Him into a Jazz Master (Vice.com)
* Two unreleased Frank Zappa albums will emerge from the vaults this July (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Jazz Drummer Matt Wilson's 'Big Happy Family' Is Heartfelt And Harmonious (NPR)
* You Don’t Know the Real Beatles Until You’ve Heard Sgt. Pepper’s in Mono (New York Observer)
* Catching Up With Ken Vandermark (Jazz Times)
* Upgrading a Traditional Javanese Instrument to Run on an Algorithm (Hyperallergic.com)
* The Secret Life of Foley (Vimeo.com)
* Appreciative Hart Spotlighted at Healdsburg Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* A Twist in the Zappa vs. Zappa Spat (New York Times)

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: January 17, 2016

Mose Allison

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

* Paul Bley • When Will The Blues Leave (Rant and Dawdle)
* Review: Weather Report - The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981 (Jazz Times)
* Why is modern music so loud? (BBC)
* David Bowie Dies at Age 69 After Battling Cancer (Billboard)
* The South Stole Americana (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* When Jazz Met Photography Met Design (The Online Photographer)
* 30 key blues musicians in pictures (The Telegraph UK)
* In Memoriam: David Bowie’s Diverse Career & Poetic Departure (DownBeat)
* An insider's look behind the making of David Bowie's secretive 'Blackstar' album (Los Angeles Times)
* Jazz Musicians Behind David Bowie's 'Blackstar' Remember the Late Legend (Billboard)
* David Bowie remembered by Blackstar musicians Donny McCaslin, Jason Lindner, Tim Lefebvre and Mark Guiliana (Ottawa Citizen)
* Q&A with Bill Frisell: Thriving on the Unexpected (DownBeat)
* Musical melodies obey same laws as foraging animals (Phys.org)
* How A Korean Jazz Festival Found A Huge Young Audience (NPR)
* A Meeting of the New Music Minds (Wall Street Journal)
* Millennials Are Making The Music Business Bite-Sized (HypeBot.com)
* How crowdfunded music festivals are offering an alternative to increasingly corporate ones (The Independent UK)
* Creativity, Emotions, and the Brain (Pacific Standard)
* The Kamasi Washington Phenomenon (PopMatters)
* How a 90-Year-Old Missing Person Became a Hit on Spotify (Priceonomics.com)
* Cy Walter’s Cocktail Piano, With a Twist (Wall Street Journal)
* Mose Allison Caps Touring Career with Heartfelt Live Album (DownBeat)

Sunday Session: January 3, 2016

Fletcher Henderson

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

* Ornette Coleman remembered by Neneh Cherry (The Guardian UK)
* Globally Acclaimed Composer Paola Prestini Is Turning National Sawdust into an Incubator for the Music World (Vanity Fair)
* Artist's Choice: Luciana Souza on Wordless Singing (Jazz Times)
* The Strange Acoustic Phenomenon Behind These Wacked-Out Versions of Pop Songs (Vice.com)
* 10 Important Things To Know About The Recent Copyright Royalty Board Decision (HypeBot.com)
* Sugarfoot Stomp (Oxford American)
* UK police busts karaoke “gang” for sharing songs that aren’t commercially available (ArsTechnica.com)
* How To Piece Together an Album From 10,000 Different Samples (Vice.com)
* Porter Spreads Jubilant Vibe (DownBeat)
* Joss Stone, racism and reggae (Jamaica Observer)
* Zappa Gets ‘Cosmik’ in Previously Unseen Concert Film (DownBeat)
* Jamie Cullum on how hip hop turned him into a jazz player (South China Morning Post)
* Michael Bates and His Power Trio: Bassist & composer finds profound context for improv (Jazz Times)
* In The Podcast World, Some Music Students Seek A Career Gateway (NPR)
* The Revenant Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto Explains His Process (Vanity Fair)
* Natalie Cole Dies at 65 (JazzTimes)

Sunday Session: December 27, 2015

Terence Blanchard

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

* Did the CIA’s Experiments With Psychedelic Drugs Unwittingly Create the Grateful Dead? (Medium.com/Collector's Weekly)
* A New Music Journey From The U.S. To Havana (NPR)
* 'Chi-Raq' Composer on Longtime Collaboration With Spike Lee: "It's a Mind-Meld Kind of Thing" (Hollywood Reporter)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center Opens Redesigned Atrium (Jazz Times)
* Music in 2030 (DavidEmeryOnline.com)
* Forget 1966, because 1981 was pop's year of revolution (The Guardian UK)
* The Data Behind A Hit Single (Hypebot.com)
* Fusion Reaction - Young artists are drawing new energy from forgotten electric jazz (Jazz Times)
* Dr. John promises a 'different curvature' for each night -- Dec. 27, 28 -- at Tipitina's (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* Columbia House To Relaunch With Vinyl (Stereogum)
* The Most-Covered Christmas Songs Ever (FiveThirtyEight.com)
* Thanks to Brainfeeder, West Coast Jazz Is Cool Again (LA Weekly)
* Jamie Cullum and José James on Billie Holiday (Jazz Times)
* Interview With Blues Legend And “Last Man Standing,” Bobby Rush (Elmore)
* The strange story of Sun Ra’s lost doo-wop Christmas hit (The Vinyl Factory)
* Bill Evans - The Secret Sessions (Jazz Profiles)
* Pictures Of Infinity: Stewart Smith on the Cosmic Jazz Connection (The Wire)
* Crackle goes pop: how Stockhausen seduced the Beatles (The Guardian UK)
* John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' at 50: Saxophonists Ravi Coltrane & Archie Shepp Look Back (Billboard)

Sunday Session: December 13, 2015

George Duke

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

* Oscar Peterson To Be Honored with New Box Set, Concert, Reproducing Piano (Down Beat)
* Need Music For A Video? Jukedeck’s AI Composer Makes Cheap, Custom Soundtracks (TechCrunch.com)
* Bagels And Bongos: The Jewish-Latin Music Connection (Houston Public Media)
* A Photojournalist’s Most Prolific Period, Set to Jazz (Newsweek)
* Four Women: The Enduring Influence of Nina Simone (Jazz Times)
* Ringo Starr's Personal 'White Album' Sells for World Record $790,000 (Rolling Stone)
* Ten things I learned as a tour manager (London Jazz News)
* What Data Tells us about the 2015-16 Orchestra Season (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
* Turmoil in the Weird Karaoke Market (Priceonomics.com)
* How Casio accidentally started reggae's digital revolution (Engadget.com)
* The Velvet Underground in California (The New Yorker)
* The man behind the “Hamilton” sound: Hidden Beatles references, the “hip-hop horse” sample and why if “it’s all computerized, there’s no heart to it” (Salon.com)
* Scofield, Schneider, Alexander Nominated for Grammy Awards (Down Beat)
* It’s Jazz, Charlie Brown: The Vince Guaraldi Story (WFIU)
* 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' at 50: The Making of a Classic Soundtrack (Rolling Stone)
* Box Set Review: George Duke — The Era Will Prevail (Part One) (Musoscribe.com)
* The business of the blues isn't what it once was (Marketplace.org)
* Fourplay Celebrates Twenty-Five Years Together (DownBeat)
* 10 ways that Frank Sinatra changed the world (USA Today)
* Walk-Up Revolution: Royce Clayton's Pitch to Change MLB At-Bat Music (Rolling Stone)
* When Are People Going To Stop Proclaiming The Death of the CD? (FutureOfMusic.org)

Sunday Session: October 25, 2015

Hugh Masekela

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

* Tubby Hayes: British jazz’s forgotten genius is being rediscovered, thanks to fans including Martin Freeman (The Independent UK)
* Review - Echoes of a master fill a tribute to Charlie Haden at CalArts (Los Angeles Times)
* The New Explosion of Bootleg Vinyl (Pitchfork)
* Classical music isn't a secret society unless we allow it to be (The Guardian UK)
* How to get a gig as a game music composer (SoundOnSound.com)
* These Portraits of Southern Blues Musicians Prove That Blues Is Not Dead (Time)
* What’s wrong with the classical concert experience in the 21st century? (Gramophone)
* The Vision Festival: From Upstart to Institution (Jazz Times)
* What’s That Sound? It’s Tough to Tell (New York Times)
* 3 Cohens, Masekela Celebrate Heritage at South Africa’s Joy of Jazz Fest (DownBeat)
* Meet Composer Caroline Shaw, Kanye West’s New Pulitzer Prize-Winning Collaborator (Pitchfork)
* Videogames are helping to keep the symphony orchestra afloat (KillScreenDaily.com)
* “We did it, Mom!”: Frank Zappa’s Roxy The Movie Premieres in LA (Relix.com)
* When Iggy Pop can’t live off his art, what chance do the rest have? (Toronto Globe and Mail)
* NEA Announces Recipients of Jazz Masters Award (DownBeat)
* Vocalist Mark Murphy Dies at 83 (Jazz Times)
* Independent Musicians Find Unexpected Rewards in Streaming (New York Times)
* Why Everyone Wants To Record 'Live At The Village Vanguard' (NPR)
* Rudresh Mahanthappa’s tribute to Charlie Parker soars (Washington Post)
* Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”: The Full Story (Vanity Fair)
* Giving United Sound, Detroit's other landmark music studio, its due (ModelDMedia.com)
* Incredibly Strange Music: The Untold Story of Asphodel Records (FactMag.com)
* The Life And Death Of Tower Records, Revisited (NPR)
* Midnight In The Drum Machine Of Good And Evil (NPR)
* Music Download Site eMusic Gets Acquired Again, This Time By Israeli Media Startup TriPlay (TechCrunch.com)
* The Outrageous Auction Prices of Vintage Blue Note Vinyl Records (Collecting Blue Note Records)

Sunday Session: October 18, 2015

Jack DeJohnette

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

* RCA Records' Peter Edge and Tom Corson on Why the Label Downsized and its Place in Sony's Big Picture (Q&A) (Hollywood Reporter)
* Rob Mazurek: Sound Affects (Jazz Times)
* The Inside Story Behind the Making of Frank Sinatra's Ambitious and Wacky 1980 Three-Disc Album, 'Trilogy' (Billboard)
* Russia’s wedding playlist: 7 must-have hits (Russia Beyond The Headlines)
* Is ‘Artisanal’ Music the Next New Thing? (The Daily Beast)
* Monk Institute Vocal Competition Semi-Finalists Announced - Finals set for Nov 14-15 in L.A. (Jazz Times)
* The Devaluation of Music: It’s Worse Than You Think (Medium.com)
* Two-Thirds of U.S. Homes Stream Audio Over Broadband, With Amazon in a Surprising Lead (Billboard)
* Review: Sun Ra And His Arkestra - To Those Of Earth... And Other Worlds (The Quietus)
* Legacy to Release 4-CD Live Weather Report Box (Jazz Times)
* Elling To Salute Sinatra in NYC (DownBeat)
* Harry Connick Jr. Syndicated Daytime Show Set for Fall 2016 (Billboard)
* An Ancient Indonesian Music Tradition Gets an Electronic Update (Hyperallergic.com)
* Digital Orphans: The Massive Cultural Black Hole On Our Horizon (TechDirt.com)
* DeJohnette, Coltrane, Garrison Forge Deep Bond in Brooklyn (DownBeat)
* Postage Stamps from Bhutan That Double as Playable Vinyl Records (OpenCulture.com)
* Jazz-playing robot will provide insight into how computers communicate with humans (University of Illinois)
* Documenting the women of LA's 70s rock scene (Vice.com)
* What Does Minecraft for Music Look Like? (Medium.com)
* The unrest is silence: why ‘classical’ music traditions are under threat (The Guardian UK)

Sunday Session: October 4. 2015

Phil Woods

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

* Frank Sinatra's Radio Broadcasts Unearthed for Reissue (Rolling Stone)
* Saxophonist Phil Woods Dies at 83 (DownBeat)
* Shhh! New Orleans Takes Steps to Turn Down the Music (Reuters)
* Interview: Harry Gregson-Williams talks his score for The Martian (FlickeringMyth.com)
* The Hit Charade - An algorithm might create a playlist you enjoy, but don’t mistake that for creativity (Technology Review)
* For Jukebox Salesman, Collecting Records Isn't Just A Job: It's A Hobby, Too (NPR)
* Life on Mars: The Surviving Members of the Earliest No Wave Band Talk Muggings, Warhol, and 1977 (Vice.com)
* The New Payola: Chart-Rigging and Scams in the EDM Bubble (Vice.com)
* A look back at the 58th Monterey Jazz Fest (SFGate.com)
* Gary Clark Jr on being the 'chosen one' and getting phone calls from Beyoncé (The Guardian UK)
* The Night That John Coltrane Played Seattle and Launched a Movement (Seattle Weekly)
* Muhal Richard Abrams interview (DialogueTalk.org)
* Crusaders Saxophonist Wilton Felder Dies at 75 (Jazz Times)
* Akinmusire Debuts Poignant Multimedia Project at Chicago’s Hyde Park Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* Chucho Valdés Brings Irakere Revival Tour to U.S. (Billboard)
* Terry Riley: 'I haven’t felt nailed down to anything' (The Guardian UK)
* How Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ Kicked Off the Streaming Revolution (Grantland)

Sunday Session: September 20, 2015

Dave Douglas

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

* Sun Ra Plays a Music Therapy Gig at a Mental Hospital; Inspires Patient to Talk for the First Time in Years (OpenCulture.com)
* Breathing While Saxophone Playing Should Be An Olympic Sport (Atlas Obscura)
* Concert programmes cheat the public (The Independent UK)
* Important Win for Fair Use in ‘Dancing Baby’ Lawsuit - Appeals Court Affirms That Copyright Owners Must Consider Fair Use in Online Takedowns (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
* Dave Douglas’ Tireless Pursuit of Variety & Change (DownBeat)
* The 26 best jazz films (The Telegraph UK)
* Physicists Achieve Perfect Acoustic Absorption (Vice.com)
* Zappa and Jazz: Did it Really Smell Funny, Frank? (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Hit Charade - Meet the bald Norwegians and other unknowns who actually create the songs that top the charts. (The Atlantic)
* The LA Philharmonic Is Trying to Perfectly Recreate Concerts in Virtual Reality (Vice.com)
* Whitney Houston, Billie Holiday and the hologram craze – but is it worth a tour? (The Guardian UK)
* Flipping the playola debate for streaming music playlists (MusicAlly.com)
* Photo Gallery: The Royal Bopsters and Very Special Guests at Birdland - Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks, Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough & Andy Bey share a stage (Jazz Times)
* Gary Burton: On ECM & Playing With Pat Metheny (AllAboutJazz.com)
* theartsdesk at The Chicago Jazz Festival - Enthusiastic audiences celebrate a programme spanning be-bop to free extremity (TheArtsDesk.com)

Sunday Session: September 13, 2015

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

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

* Key Igor Stravinsky work found after 100 years (The Guardian UK)
* Bassist Gary Peacock Is At The Soloist's Service (NPR)
* Concert review: Saxophonist Phil Woods ends playing career on a high note (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
* Why Niche Is The Next Streaming Frontier (Music Industry Blog)
* Crossing The Bridge: The Return Of Sonny Rollins (WFIU)
* How Signing A Major Record Deal Nearly Destroyed My Music Career (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Review: The 2015 Chicago Jazz Festival - AACM's 50th anniversary dominates the 37th edition (Jazz Times)
* How Steely Dan Created ‘Deacon Blues’ (Wall Street Journal)
* Sounds like a hit: the numbers game behind Spotify cover songs (TheVerge.com)
* Shack Up: A Loop History - Nate Patrin traces the path of this influential break (Red Bull Music Academy)
* In praise of cheap box sets (The Spectator UK)
* Celebrating Rahsaan Roland Kirk (NPR)
* Long-Delayed Nina Simone Biopic Sets December Release (Rolling Stone)
* The Hi-Fi DIY of Colombia's Bass Lords (Vice.com)
* Frank Zappa’s Long-Awaited ‘Roxy’ Movie Coming: Watch the Trailer — Video (Guitar World)
* New Book Illuminates Playboy Magazine’s Impact on Jazz History (DownBeat)

Miles on Monday: Performances set around statue unveiling, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project last week announced several live performances that will take place in conjunction with the unveiling of the statue of Davis on Saturday, September 12 in downtown Alton, IL.

Along with trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's previously announced set outdoors near the statue site on Third St., several Alton nightspots will feature jazz music that evening after the ceremony.

Veteran big-band trumpeter Bobby Shew (pictured), who's played with Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, and other top bands, will visit Alton to perform with drummer Montez Coleman's quintet in a post-unveiling gig at Elijah P's, 401 Piasa St.. Also that evening, trumpeter Jim Manley will lead a trio at Bossanova Restaurant and Lounge, and trumpeter Dan Smith will be playing at Catdaddy’s Tavern.

* The 2015 Newport Jazz Festival may be in the history books, but the fest's celebration of Davis' historic performances there is still reverberating, as fans attending this year's event shared their memories of Davis for a short video posted on the Miles Davis Facebook page.

* Meanwhile, writer Ashley Kahn, who among other things penned the definitive account of the recording of Davis' historic album Kind of Blue, was interviewed about the trumpeter's history at Newport on Boston radio station WBGO.

* On another related note, reviews of the box set of Davis' performances at Newport released last month are still coming in. Writing for Jazz Times, Colin Fleming calls the box "enough to get you pacing in excitement," while dual reviews in The Guardian (UK) found it to be "a real prize" and "coolly swinging".

* Want a free copy of the Davis/Newport box set? Vote in Jazz Times' "Anniversary Edition" Readers' Poll before Tuesday, September 1, and you can enter a drawing to win one.

Sunday Session: August 9, 2015

Brian Blade

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

* Robert Glasper Will Make You Listen to More Jazz (Vice)
* NYC’s famous Music Row is about to be a ghost town (New York Post)
* At 78 and with myriad health issues, surf-rock legend Dick Dale plays through the pain (Pittsburgh City Paper)
* Open the Music Industry’s Black Box (New York Times)
* Buddy Guy: 'I Worry About The Future Of Blues Music' (NPR)
* With His "65-92" Concert, Kamasi Washington Looked Back on the Music of the Watts and Rodney King Riots (LA Weekly)
* Live Review: Kamasi Washington at Seattle’s Neumos (7/30) (Consequence of Sound)
* These mics capture sounds from the edge of human hearing – and beyond (CreateDigitalMusic.com)
* Newport Jazz Festival 2015 Day 1 Highlights: Snarky Puppy, Chris Potter, Ambrose Akinmusire & More (Billboard)
* Newport Jazz Festival 2015 Day 2 Highlights: Jonathan Batiste, Jose James, Jack DeJohnette & More (Billboard)
* Have We Reached Peak Vinyl? (Stereogum)
* DARPA hired a jazz musician to jam with their artificially intelligent software (Tech Insider)
* Newport Jazz lineup left no gaps unbridged (Boston Globe)
* Review: The 2015 Newport Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* Hemingway Showcases Amazing Versatility During Stone Residency (DownBeat)
* Jazz iconoclast Steve Coleman on the ancient bedrock of human creativity (Chicago Reader)
* An Interview With the Most in Demand Drummer - Brian Blade (Cash Box Canada)
* Is streaming a threat to music? Not if musicians have anything to do with it (Los Angeles Times)
* The Band, The Capitol Albums 1968-1977 - album review: Pioneering rockers who changed the course of popular music (The Independent UK)
* Strong Bookings Illustrate Why Newport Retains Vaunted Stature (DownBeat)
* Blind Willie Johnson: The Soul of a Man (Arts & Labor)

Sunday Session: August 2, 2015

Wayne Shorter

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

* Maria Schneider, nature poet of jazz (Boston Globe)
* Air Canada Refuses Cello as They Were ‘Not Told in Advance’ (The Violin Channel)
* What you need to show to carry an instrument on an aircraft (Slipped Disc)
* From vrrrramp to snikt: exploring sci-fi's most iconic sound effects (HopesAndFears.com)
* The next Web standard could be music notation (CreateDigitalMusic.com)
* The Tragedy of iTunes and Classical Music (The Atlantic)
* Frank Zappa's Family Plans Massive New Release Schedule (Rolling Stone)
* Curiously-shaped die cut records from Grace Jones, The Cramps, Bowie and more (Dangerous Minds)
* Remembering Vic Firth, An Orchestral — And Entrepreneurial — Legend (NPR)
* Way Out West: How Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, and Brainfeeder Are Bringing Jazz Back to the People (Vice.com)
* Sundays at Slugs’ (New York Review of Books)
* Wayne Shorter: Framing Genius (Jazz Times)
* Mikme, GoPro of microphones, is also serious about sound (CreateDigitalMusic.com)
* The Freedom Principle review – an astounding fusion of jazz and art (The Guardian UK)
* The 432Hz 'God' Note: Why Fringe Audiophiles Want to Topple Standard Tuning (Vice.com)
* Record Created for Extraterrestrials Now Available for Everyone (New Music Box)
* Four Composers, One (Nearly) Impossible Mission To Reinvent A Classic Theme (NPR)
* Is Cuban Music About To Blow Up In America? (TheFader.com)
* Music Artists Take On the Business, Calling for Change (New York Times)

Sunday Session: July 5, 2015

Charles Mingus

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

* Matthew Shipp unveils new trio with upcoming release The Conduct of Jazz (Something Else)
* Ornette Coleman and a Joyful Funeral (The New Yorker)
* Until the Real Thing Comes Along - Sorting out the Billie Holiday centennial onslaught (Jazz Times)
* The Next Generation of 3D-Printed Musical Instruments Are Worthy of a Star Trek Movie (Classical Lite)
* The Great Columbia Jazz Purge: Coleman, Evans, Jarrett, And Mingus (WFIU)
* The Singer and the Song (Ronan Guilfoyle)
* BMG Acquires Catalog of Verse Music, Includes Songs of Nina Simone, J. Lo (Billboard)
* How Jazzman Robert Glasper Won Over the Hip-Hop Heads (Mother Jones)
* The Exit Interview: I Spent 12 Years in the Blue Man Group (Atlas Obscura)
* If SoundCloud Goes Under, Music Will Change for the Worse (Mic.com)
* Apple Music first impressions: something borrowed, something new (The Verge)
* Meet Brian Wilson's Secret Weapon: Darian Sahanaja (Rolling Stone)
* The Care and Feeding of Songwriters: Why “Art for Art’s Sake” Could Have An Unfortunate Future (Pro Sound News)
* How Do You Teach A Robot Feelings? Make It Sing Opera (Vice.com)
* Terry Riley, a Founder of Minimalism, Turns 80 (Studio 360)
* The Con Man Who Invented American Popular Music (Radio Silence)
* Digital Watch: Apple Music Conflict Highlights the Problem of Free Music (Radio Survivor)
* Did Nielsen Kill The Radio Star? (FiveThirtyEight.com)
* Minimalist Composer La Monte Young on His Life and Immeasurable Influence (Vulture)
* Quincy Jones: Honey, we have no music industry (Fortune)
* Does The Death Of Album Revenue Spell The End For Rock Stars As We Know Them? (SeatSmart.com)
* Deep Soul - How Muscle Shoals became music's most unlikely hit factory (The Telegraph UK)
* John Luther Adams: a force of nature (The Guardian UK)
* Cassette Revolution: Why 1980s Tape Tech Is Still Making Noise in Our Digital World (Collector's Weekly)
* Ringo's no joke. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him (The Spectator UK)
* NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums Of 2015 (So Far) (NPR)
* Fife and drum: Keeping the Mississippi rhythm alive (BBC)