Sunday Session: June 28, 2020

Sun Ra Arkestra

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

* On identifying ragas, and how the intoxicating and often frustrating challenge for a lay listener can become an obsession (FirstPost.com)
* B.B. King and Eric Clapton’s ‘Riding with the King’ album like working with ‘blues royalty’ for Nathan East (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Bettye LaVette on Why She’s Singing ‘Strange Fruit’ Now (Rolling Stone)
* ‘He Made the World Bigger’: Inside John Zorn’s Jazz-Metal Multiverse (Rolling Stone)
* Watch Paul McCartney Play Trumpet With Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Charles Lloyd: “The thing is I want to share the music. I’m still on a mission and it can’t happen – this is plague time…” (Jazzwise)
* Sun Ra Arkestra Announce First Album in 20 Years (Rolling Stone)
* Drummer Sherrie Maricle On The 3D Jazz Trio And Developing DIVA (DownBeat)
* How Jazz Is Coping with COVID-19 (Jazz Times)
* Henry Grimes and Giuseppi Logan: Parallel Lives (Jazz Times)
* Montreal unlikely to rename Metro station after Oscar Peterson, despite petition (CBC)
* The Jazz Gallery, Which Built a Vibrant Online Community, Opens the Door to a Livestream (WBGO)
* Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and 9th Wonder Form Supergroup Dinner Party, Share New Song “Freeze Tag”: Listen (Pitchfork.com)
* Music For the Movement on Jazz United (WBGO)
* Where did that love go? (Jazz Journal)
* Gregory Porter and Don Was: Before & After (Jazz Times)
* The Stranger-Than-Fiction Secret History of Prog-Rock Icon Rick Wakeman (Vanity Fair)
* Good vibrations: how Bandcamp became the heroes of streaming (The Guardian)
* Societal Reckoning Over Racism Encompasses The Jazz Community (DownBeat)
* Henry Kaiser, Mike Baggetta and the New “Live” (GuitarModerne.com)
* Whit Dickey :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence (NPR)
* The history of the West Coast Get Down, LA’s jazz giants (DazedDigital.com)
* The Story Behind the Greatest Bob Dylan Parody of All Time (GQ)
* The Turtles run with the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ concept on their brilliant 1968 LP, ‘Battle of the Bands’ (DangerousMinds.net)

Sunday Session: February 23, 2020

Mary Lou Williams

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

* Early Reflections On Life In The Information Age: John Zorn's Naked City Turns 30 (TheQuietus.com)
* Lost in the woods with James Brown’s ghost - The Circus Singer and the Godfather of Soul (CNN)
* Artificial Intelligence doing Wonders in Music Streaming Industry (AnalyticsInsight.net)
* Warner Music Group’s A&R Costs Say a Lot About How Much Labels Need to Spend on Artists in Today’s Music Industry (Rolling Stone)
* Remembering Ivan Kral, Patti Smith Group member and New Brunswick video store owner (Asbury Park Press)
* When Keyboard Worlds Collide: Steve Nieve & Benmont Tench in Conversation (Variety)
* Sergio Mendes Talks New Album & Documentary 'In the Key of Joy' (Billboard)
* In Memoriam: Jimmy Heath (DownBeat)
* Cécile McLorin Salvant - Ogresse (SFJAZZ.org)
* Jerry Lee Lewis Returns to Music: ‘I Thought I Would Never Play Again’ (Rolling Stone)
* Reconsidering the Piano Legacy of Dave Brubeck, in a Deep Dive Centennial Special (WBGO)
* The Day the Music Became Carbon-Neutral (The New Yorker)
* Paal Nilssen-Love is in Perpetual Motion (DownBeat)
* Dave Brubeck Centennial Honored with Hometown Exhibition (Jazz Times)
* Louis Armstrong, the King of Queens (New York Times)
* Looking back at the life of Mary Lou Williams, the Lady Who Swings the Band (KNKX)
* That not-so-old black magic: how African mysticism returned to pop (The Guardian)
* Jon Christensen 1943 – 2020 (Jazz Times)
* Lester Young Instruments and Hat to Be Donated to Smithsonian (Jazz Times)
* In Memoriam: Lyle Mays (DownBeat)
* Watch Kandace Springs’ Live Video Of Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’ (UDiscoverMusic.com)

Sunday Session: May 19, 2019

Kenny Burrell

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest, drawn from StLJN's inboxes, newsfeeds, and assorted other sources:

* Rhiannon Giddens and What Folk Music Means (The New Yorker)
* The Japanese reissue phenomenon: a view from the inside (ResidentAdvisor.com)
* Payola 2.0: The native ad model for streaming music? (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Why Aldi Doesn’t Play Music (Southern Living)
* Playlist Malfeasance Will Create a Streaming Crisis (Music Industry Blog)
* Preserving The House Of A Pioneering Musician — Who We Will Never Hear (NPR)
* Brian May: Queen haven’t earned a penny from Bohemian Rhapsody (LouderSound.com)
* As A Crowdfunding Platform Implodes, A Legendary Composer Rebounds (NPR)
* Whose Is Bigger? ASCAP and BMI Are Holding Their Film & TV Awards Dinners on the Exact Same Night (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* New Orleans Jazz Fest at 50: Keep on Rolling (Without the Stones) (Jazz Times)
* Facing Homelessness And Crushing Medical Debt, A Renowned Jazz Guitarist Reaches Out (NPR)
* Matthew Shipp and Simplicity Itself (Jazz Times)
* Mulligan memories (Jazz Journal)
* Feature Doc to Chronicle Legendary London Jazz Club Ronnie Scott’s (Variety)
* New film seeks funds to realise Marshall Allen's dream (The Wire)
* Cleveland's Joe Lovano Comes Home (NPR)
* JazzTimes 10: Landmark ECM Albums (Jazz Times)
* Google I/O showcases a cross-platform future for music-makers (MusicTech.net)
* A Beginner’s Guide to the interstellar music of Sun Ra (TrebleZine.com)
* Brecker Bonds with Big Bands Over Fusion (DownBeat)
* The Apostle of Now-ness (New York Review of Books)
* Horror buffs, meet music nerds (TheOutline.com)
* Patitucci Juggles ‘All the Elements of Music’ (DownBeat)
* End to End: An Interview with Barre Phillips (NoTreble.com)

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)

Sunday Session: July 22, 2018

Chucho Valdés

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:

* Major Labels Are Upset That They Aren’t Getting More Songs Onto Spotify Playlists, Deutsche Bank Says (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Classical Composers Have Been Inspired For Centuries By Insects (NPR)
* Montreal Jazz Fest Shapes Surrounding City—and Vice Versa (DownBeat)
* The Stone: An Oral History - Musicians and scenesters recount their experiences at John Zorn's storied NYC venue (Jazz Times)
* Guru’s ‘Jazzmatazz’ Uniquely Tied Together Jazz and Hip-Hop (DownBeat)
* In Tandem, the Morans Expand Notions of Art (DownBeat)
* Mary Halvorson: Reinventing the Identity of the Jazz Guitarist (Jazz Times)
* Joey DeFrancesco on Working With Van Morrison (Jazz Times)
* Vijay Iyer: 'We're all improvisers and we're all creative people making choices every step of the way.' (List.co.uk)
* Sound Matters: A History Of Legendary Recording Studios (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* The Perils Of A Cruise Ship Musician (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* Universal Music Group Is Making a Huge Move Into Nigeria (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Billie Holiday: A Complex Woman, A Jazz Legend (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Copenhagen Festival Spans Poetic Swing, Hard-Bop Themes (DownBeat)
* The Charles Lloyd Interview: Life of a Song (Jazz Times)
* George Wein: A Life and Legend in Jazz (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The scam industry: How the hip-hop boom sets hopefuls up for failure (AV Club)
* Asante Drum Language (Afropop.org)
* Chucho Valdés and Irakere: A Musical Revolution (SFJAZZ.org)
* Sun Ra in Sin City The origins of an outer-space empire (Lapham's Quarterly)
* The Music of Fred Rogers’ Neighborhood (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: May 6, 2018

Dave Holland

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:

* No, Streaming Services Are Not 'Saving The Music Industry' (TheQuietus.com)
* Electricity: Conversations With Captain Beefheart (KCRW)
* Photos: Fats Domino's legacy enshrined with jazz funeral, totem unveiling at 2018 Jazz Fest (New Orleans Advocate)
* 50 years ago, a piano was dropped from a helicopter near Seattle: Here's what happened (KIRO)
* John Zorn’s Done With His Masada Project. So, What’s Next? (The Forward)
* Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (Pitchfork.com)
* Has Kansas City given the American Jazz Museum a fair shot at success? (Kansas City Star)
* On Music and Activism (Atavist.com)
* Jazz improv and your brain: The key to creativity? (CNN)
* Chick Corea On World Cafe (NPR)
* Tropicália: 5 Essential Albums That Defined Tropicalismo (Discogs.com)
* School Days: Jazz All-Stars Remember CAPA (Jazz Times)
* More music is played on YouTube than on Spotify, Apple Music and every other audio streaming platform combined (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Gibson Guitar Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection (Billboard)
* Delmark Records founder sells label to Chicago musicians Julia A. Miller and Elbio Barilari (Chicago Tribune)
* A Map To The Line, And How Not To Cross It: A Code Of Conduct For The Performing Arts (NPR)
* Photos: 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Jazz Times)
* Before & After with Bill Laswell (Jazz Times)
* James Brown Drummer John 'Jabo' Starks Dead at 79 (Rolling Stone)
* When Critics Could Kill (Slate)
* In Russia, International Jazz Day Reaches Across Borders (DownBeat)
* Dave Holland: A Seasoned Explorer Sails into Uncharted Territories (NationalSawdust.org)
* A Word with Award-Winning Jazz Bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma (WRTI)
* When America's hottest jazz stars were sent to cool cold-war tensions (The Guardian)
* Folkways - 70 Years, 70 Stories 1948-2018 (Smithsonian Institution)
* New Orleans Jazz Fest 2018: The 7 Best Things We Saw (Rolling Stone)
* All 214 Artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ranked From Best to Worst (Vulture.com)
* The secret life of a music director (Washington Post)
* Thomas Morgan: The Universal Answer (Jazz Times)
* We asked musicians why guitar companies like Gibson are struggling and how to revive them (MarketWatch.com)
* Orchestral musicians 'living on breadline' (BBC)

Sunday Session: August 28, 2016

Wadada Leo Smith

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

* Reimagining Josephine Baker's Music in the Era of Black Lives Matter (New York Times)
* Is Sleep Music a Real Genre? (The Daily Beast)
* How Bad Urban Planning Led To The Birth Of A Billion-Dollar Genre (TheFader.com)
* Harmonica Virtuoso Toots Thielemans Dies at 94 (DownBeat)
* “Champeta is liberation”: The indestructible sound system culture of Afro-Colombia (FactMag.com)
* Zorn & Collaborators Hold Court in Engaging Vanguard Residency (DownBeat)
* Remembering Lou Pearlman: The Ponzi Schemer Who Spawned the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC & More (Billboard)
* A Visual History of Rock and Roll, Room by Empty Room (The New Yorker)
* How Sam Phillips Invented the Sound of Rock and Roll (Popular Mechanics)
* Grandmaster Flash on ‘The Get Down’ and how he used science to pioneer DJ techniques (Washington Post)
* ‘Sunday Night at the Vanguard’ by Fred Hersch Review - Looking at the special bond between a club and a composer (Wall Street Journal)
* Photography Book Documents Young Sinatra in New York (DownBeat)
* Divine disco: the beatific sub-genre that delivered sermons on the dancefloor (The Guardian UK)
* Why Japan has more old-fashioned music stores than anywhere else in the world (QZ.com)
* Sample Clearance Expert Pat “The Detective” Shannahan is The Avalanches’ Secret Weapon - The behind-the-scenes force for records by the Beastie Boys, Janet Jackson, Beck and more on 20 years of tracking down samples (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* See the Photographs That Captured the Icons of Jazz (TIME)
* Wadada Leo Smith Celebrates National Parks with Double Album (DownBeat)
* Legendary Jazz Recording Engineer Rudy Van Gelder Dies at 91 (DownBeat)
* Postscript: Rudy Van Gelder (1924-2016), Modern Jazz’s Listener of Genius (The New Yorker)
* Herb Alpert Foundation to donate $10.1 million to LACC — making studies for music majors tuition-free (Los Angeles Times)
* Watch Dr. John Praise James Booker's Piano Genius (Rolling Stone)
* Angelo Badalamenti Reveals How He and David Lynch Composed the Twin Peaks‘ “Love Theme” (OpenCulture.com)
* Keeping the Blues Alive (Smithsonian)
* The Ballad of Big Freedia: How the New Orleans Bounce Icon Was Betrayed By Her City’s Housing Crisis (Pitchfork.com)

Sunday Session: June 5, 2016

Billy Hart

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

* Gary Numan Thinks The Music Industry's Collapse Is A Beautiful Thing (Fast Company)
* TV is the new radio: 'Empire,' 'Vinyl' and late night talk shows provide wall-to-wall music (Los Angeles Times)
* The British pop talent crash: where have all the new acts gone? (The Guardian UK)
* Lost in Time: The Forgotten Bill Evans Trio Album (Jazz Times)
* On Music and Torture (Van Magazine)
* Exclusive Interview: Cameron Graves talks new record ‘Planetary Prince’ (Revive-Music.com)
* Carla Bley: The Girl Who Cried Champagne (Keyboard)
* The Epic - Kamasi Washington’s brand of ecstatic jazz is bringing a whole new audience to the genre. How’d he do it? (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Interview with Houston Person (Do The Math)
* Kraftwerk Lose Copyright Case in German High Court (Rolling Stone)
* Prophets of Rage: Inside New RATM, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill Supergroup (Rolling Stone)
* Zorn Recruits Star Collaborators for Eclectic FIMAV Showcase (DownBeat)
* Controversy: A Recap of the copyright issues surrounding Prince’s estate (CreativeCommons.org)
* Rahsaan Roland Kirk Is the Blind Jazz Great You've Never Heard Of (Esquire)
* Billy Hart, Honored in Healdsburg, Picks His Five Most Important Recordings (KQED)
* The True Story Of The Fake Zombies, The Strangest Con In Rock History (Buzzfeed.com)
* Jeremy Steig, Jazz Flutist, Dies at 73 (New York Times)
* All Music Can Be Categorized by Just Three Attributes (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* It Sounds Like YouTube Is Changing the Way People Listen to Music (New York)
* Sell, Stream, Syndicate Or Sing: How The World’s Top Pop Stars Make Their Money (ValueWalk.com)
* Sara Gazarek and Josh Nelson open up for new duo album ‘Dream In The Blue’ (AXS.com)
* Stephon Alexander Explores Intersection of Jazz & Physics (DownBeat)
* Roger Daltrey: There's no music industry anymore, why would we make an album? (TeamRock.com)
* All You Need Is Love review: a glorious reminder of how pop docs used to be (The Guardian UK)
* Boomers, youngsters fuel surging vinyl record sales (USA Today)
* The Soulful Crossover of Kamasi Washington (Jazz Times)
* How Tyondai Braxton Subverts and Destroys His Own Music (The Atlantic)
* Women guitar makers scratched from Gibson history (MichiganRadio.org)
* The Ken Peplowski Interview (Jazz Times)
* Interview with Sonny Rollins, Musical and Spiritual Autodidact (Ethnomusicology Review)
* Whatever happened to Bobbie Gentry? In search of country music’s great vanished star (Washington Post)
* What is shop music doing to your brain? (BBC)
* Bergamo Jazz Fest Highlights Collective Artistry on a Global Scale (DownBeat)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Eric Person has released a new CD, DuoScope, which features duet performances with drummer Shinnosuke Takahashi. The album (pictured) is available now via CD Baby.

* St. Louis Public Radio has added a jazz channel to their online and HD offerings. Jazz KWMU-2 is streaming syndicated programming produced by Jazz Works, which offers a mix of mainstream modern jazz, Latin jazz, vocals, and more. You can see some sample playlists from the JazzWorks service here.

* In this week's St. Louis American, staff writer Kenya Vaughn reviews the latest album from singer Cecile McLorin Salvant.

* Saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett will celebrate his 75th birthday next week with a concert on Sunday, September 20 at the Chicago Academy of Music.

* A video excerpt showing saxophonist Willie Akins playing the blues at his own benefit concert last Friday at the Kranzberg Arts Center has been posted to YouTube.

* The band Soul Cafe won the fourth annual "Old Webster's Got Talent" contest last week, and will open the 2015 Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, September 19 on the Allen Avenue stage.

* Saxophonist, composer and onetime Webster University undergraduate John Zorn was the subject of a feature story in the Wall Street Journal.

* In what a cynic would say has the appearance of a classic holiday weekend newsdump, Grand Center announced last Friday evening that there will be no First Night celebration this year. There's no word yet as to whether venues in the district, which includes Jazz at the Bistro, the Sheldon, and the Kranzberg Arts Center, will be putting on any New Year's Eve programming of their own. Stay tuned...

Sunday Session: July 19, 2015

Horace Silver

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

* Red Bull, Awolnation And The Evaporating Division Between Bands And Brands (Forbes)
* Robert Glasper: 'When hip hop took over the world' (TheArtsDesk.com)
* New Coryell Box Set Features Unreleased Live Recordings (DownBeat)
* Jamming with the cosmos: CERN and the music of physics (CERN)
* The portable wilderness of John Luther Adams (Boston Globe)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center and Sony Music Team Up for Blue Engine Records (New York Times)
* Lost Jack Bruce Cream Tapes X: 'Albert King Asked Me, Where's The Money?' For Bad Sign (Forbes)
* Is The Music Industry Sleepwalking Into Disaster? (HypeBot.com)
* Multiple Generations Salute Horace Silver at Pittsburgh JazzLive Fest (DownBeat)
* Review: John Zorn Brings Avant-Garde Style to the Stone (New York Times)
* Jazz exhibit opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago with 'music you can see' (Art Daily)
* Rooting Around The Tonight Show's Sound (Pro Sound News)
* Talking Turntable: How Not To Launch A Music Tech Startup (HypeBot.com)
* Is Transparency The Music Industry's Next Battle? (NPR)
* How the Multi-Story Orchestra has transformed a car park in to a concert hall (Classical Muse)
* Why musicians need to get off Apple Music and Spotify immediately (DailyDot.com)
* Shipp, Malaby Embrace Revolutionary Spirit at New York’s Vision Fest (DownBeat)
* What Songs Look Like as 3-D Printed Sculptures (Wired)
* Sounds of the solar system: probing Pluto's predicted score (The Guardian UK)
* 20-50% of Royalties Never Reach the Artist, Study Finds (DigitalMusicNews.com)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Wanda Kennedy Kuntz, author of Kennedy Music, will read from her book and sign copies at an event from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. this Saturday, February 21 at City Music, 9299 Watson Rd. in Crestwood.

Kennedy Kuntz, a pianist and music teacher, is the sister of jazz bassist Tom Kennedy and pianist Ray Kennedy. Her book (pictured), described as "an historical novel based on the Kennedy family," tells a fictionalized version of how her mother and father met and started the family's music store and school in Maplewood.

UPDATE - 4:25 p.m. Friday, 2/20: Just received an email from City Music saying that Wanda Kennedy Kuntz's book signing event has been postponed until Saturday, March 14.

* Euclid Records' head honcho Joe Schwab was featured on this week's episode of the A&E network's program Shipping Wars.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby sat down with trumpeter Jason Palmer for a "bootleg blindfold test," listening to and commenting on unreleased recordings (hence the "bootleg" part), and Palmer blogged about it here.

* Saxophonist (and former Webster University student) John Zorn's recent run of shows at NYC's Village Vanguard was reviewed by Ben Ratliff of the New York Times.

* The National Center for Arts Research at Southern Methodist University in Dallas has ranked St. Louis as #17 among cities evaluated for their first-ever "Arts Vibrancy Index."

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else” will feature the music of songwriter Jule Styne as interpreted by Joshua Redman, Abbey Lincoln, Wallace Roney, and others.

Then on The Jazz Collective, host Jason Church's playlist will include music from Down To The Bone, U-Nam, Nathan East, Melissa Manchester, Lack of Afro, Wes Montgomery, Grover Washington, Jr., Young-Holt Unlimited, Bobby Womack, Tim Cunningham, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more.

Wilson's program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Quartette Humaine, the new album from St. Louis' own David Sanborn and keyboardist Bob James, was officially released this week. Sanborn and James start their tour in support of the album (pictured) in a couple of weeks at NYC's Town Hall, but first, James did manage to make it back home to Marshall, Missouri this month for the annual jazz festival bearing his name.

* Also officially released this week is saxophonist Oliver Lake's new big band album Wheels. You can hear a sample track, a big band version of Outkast's "The Whole World," here, and purchase the album as either a CD or digital download here.

* Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis has a brand new website for his program "Somethin' Else."  Wilson can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* This Sunday's "Jazz Unlimited" program on KWMU (90.7) will feature the eighth part of Dennis Owsley's documentary on the jazz history of St. Louis. This segment covers the 1990s, and will include music from Joe Charles, Herb Drury, Carolbeth True, the Kim Portnoy Big Band, Reggie and Mardra Thomas, Jean Kittrell and the Dixie Stompers, Christine Hitt, Asa Harris, and Denise Thimes, plus an interview with drummer Gary Sykes.

* Jefferson Barracks Park will be the site of a musicians swap meet to be held from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9 at Jefferson Barracks Visitors Center. Tables are $10 and must be reserved by May 31. Admission is $1, which lets you enter the show and bring any instrument or music-related item to sell or trade. For more information or to reserve a space, call 314-544-5714 or email mkladky@stlouisco.com.

* While singer Bobby McFerrin was in town to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall earlier this month, he was interviewed by the PBS program Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. You can see both McFerrin and the Sheldon in the episode which airs at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday, May 26 on local PBS affiliate KETC (Channel 9) and also can be seen online.

* A new music store, Dead Wax Records, has opened on Cherokee St.

* Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, whose opera Champion will get its world premiere next month here at Opera Theatre St. Louis, also has a new jazz album, Magnetic, coming out next week. You can hear a preview of the album here. Blanchard also appeared this week on PBS' Tavis Smiley Show to talk about the album and the opera, and you can see that interview online here.

* And speaking of TV interviews, here's one that HEC-TV did recently with St. Louis Tap Festival founder Robert Reed. The annual festival, which each year features performances from some of the world's most accomplished tap dancers accompanied by live jazz music, takes place in July, with the grand finale on July 27 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Alto saxophonist Kendrick Smith was profiled by the St. Louis American's Bridjes O’Neil in a story spotlighting Smith's weekly Saturday matinees at Premiere Lounge.

* This week in Facebook photo albums, you can check out pix of Lionel Loueke at Jazz at the Bistro, Steizuello at Lindbergh High School and New Music Circle's presentation of Trinity Piano Trio at the William Kerr Foundation.

* The NYC brownstone at 312 West 77th St that formerly belonged to Miles Davis was named an official cultural landmark this week by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr., his former saxophonist George Coleman, and trumpeter Wallace Roney were among those present at a ceremony on Thursday unveiling a medallion placed on the building to commemorate the honor. Davis (pictured) bought the townhouse in 1958 and lived and worked there for the next 25 years.

* Saxophonist and composer John Zorn, who once upon a time studied at our town's Webster University, is celebrating his 60th birthday with "a series of concerts on four continents, including a marathon Sunday, May 19 at the Festival international de musique actuelle in Victoriaville."

* On the jazz radio beat, this Saturday on RAF-STL's "Somethin' Else," host Calvin Wilson will offer up a selection of jazz guitarists "from Montgomery to Metheny." Meanwhile, over at KWMU, Dennis Owsley continues his documentary history of St. Louis jazz on Sunday's "Jazz Unlimited" program with part seven of the series, which covers the 1970s and '80s and will include music from Exiles, David Parker, Asa Harris, Jasmine, Willie Akins and Kelvyn Bell.

* Farshid Soltanshahi of Farshid Etniko is doing the music for Upstream Theater's upcoming production of An Iliad, which will run from May 24 through June 9 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson offers his impression of one of actress/singer Molly Ringwald's sets on Tuesday at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Last but not least, woodwind retailer and repair shop Saxquest has given their website a brand new look, which you can see online now at the familiar URL of saxquest.com.

Notes from the Net: The Miles Davis Radio Project reissued; Sanborn plays through pain; plus news, reviews, interviews & more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Let's start, as we usually do, with news of Miles Davis. Via Miles Davis Online comes word that Davis, who in the 1970s recorded an album called On The Corner, soon may have an actual NYC street corner named after him. Also: the Miles Davis Radio Project, an eight-part, 16-hour audio documentary about the trumpeter first recorded nearly 20 years ago, is now available for purchase as a series of digital downloads; Toronto trumpeter Brownman Ali just completed a five-week series of concerts paying tribute to Davis; and images of Davis and other members of the band that recorded Kind of Blue apparently are sufficiently cool to be featured on some new skateboards and sneakers.

* In news of other former St. Louisans, saxophonist and clarinetist Marty Ehrlich (pictured) has teamed with trombonist Ray Anderson to co-lead a quartet on a new CD called Hear You Say, out now on Challenge Records. Here's a review of the disc from AllAboutJazz.com's Bruce Lindsay, and another perspective from the UK Guardian's John Fordham.

* Singer, actor, comic and Belleville native Lea DeLaria also has a new CD, Be A Santa, out on the Warner Classics & Jazz label. AAJ's Bruce Lindsay reviewed DeLaria's disc, calling it "an album full of festive standards that swings like a sleigh bell on a Christmas tree and entertains in stylish fashion."

* Via Avant Music News: Saxophonist, composer and onetime Webster University student John Zorn will present a performance of his classical works later this month at Bard College in upstate New York.

* Another saxophonist and former St. Louisan, David Sanborn, played the Blue Note in NYC last month with his trio, and got a nice review from the Times' Nate Chinen. Sanborn's performance seems even more remarkable in retrospect, given the recent news that he's been performing for months now while suffering acute pain from a kidney stone.

* In other medical-related news, pianist Dave Brubeck, who had to cancel his October performance here at the Sheldon Concert Hall for health reasons, recently underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed. There's good news, too, though - after the operation, Brubeck's doctors said he should be able to resume practicing and performing soon. Brubeck also is the subject of a new documentary film, directed by Clint Eastwood and set to premier next month on the BBC.

* Meanwhile, drummer Max Weinberg, who did make it here with his new Big Band to perform last month at the Argosy Alton Casino, recently talked to the website Popeater about his own recent heart surgery, his decision not to join Conan O'Brien's new show on TBS, and more.

* Pianist Kenny Barron, seen in St. Louis last month in duet with fellow pianist Mulgrew Miller at Jazz at the Bistro, talked with NPR's A Blog Supreme about his recent listening habits here.

* Also recently at the Bistro was guitarist Russell Malone, who did a four-night stand to celebrate the release of his latest CD Triple Play on the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label. Now, reviews of the disc are coming in, including favorable mentions from the New York Times, DownBeat and DustyGroove.com.

* Violinist Regina Carter, who was here last week at the Bistro, played the previous week at Regatta Bar in Boston; here's an article about the gig, from the Harvard Crimson.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, pianist Vijay Iyer, who will be in St. Louis this Saturday to perform with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet at 560 Music Center, recently was a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air".

* Speaking of Wadada Leo Smith, he's got a new disc out, recorded as a duo with drummer Ed Blackwell, called The Blue Mountain’s Sun Drummer. Read a review here, courtesy of Burning Ambulance blogger Phil Freeman.

* Zappa Plays Zappa, set to play The Pageant on December 8, recently celebrated what would have been Frank Zappa's 70th birthday with a concert in London. In related news, keyboardist George Duke, who worked with FZ for several years in the 1970s, will join ZPZ onstage for the first time ever in an upcoming show in Los Angeles.

* Last but not least, Lisette Dennis of Regional Arts Commission kindly emailed with the news that the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City wants to hire a Grants Development Officer. Interested individuals can find out more about the position and how to apply here.

Notes from the Net: Al Jarreau recovering; JazzReach gets funding; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Starting with some recent linkage related to the St. Louis area's most famous jazz musician, the Miles Davis exhibit in Montreal was reviewed by J.D. Considine of the Toronto Globe and Mail here. Meanwhile, JazzOnline's Miles Davis Podcast series, which features interviews with famous folk talking about Davis, in recent weeks has added segments featuring singer, actor and spoken word performer Henry Rollins, trumpeter Mike Metheny, bassist/producer Bill Laswell, trumpeter Randy Brecker, pianist Steve Kuhn and guitarist Nels Cline. You can access the whole series here. Finally, Riffs on Jazz blogger John Anderson muses on Davis' score for Louis Malle’s 1958 film Ascenseur pour l’échafraud (Elevator to the Gallows) here.

* In news of another St. Louis native, multi-instrumentalist J.D Parran was part of two "Jazz Meets Classical" concerts presented last weekend by the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at Columbia University's Miller Theater. The performances - reviewed here by Steve Smith of the New York Times, with a photo of Parran accompanying the online version of the story - were the culmination of a weeklong series of seminars bringing together musicians from the jazz and classical worlds.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, bassist Christian McBride is doing a trio tour this summer with pianist Chick Corea and drummer Brian Blade. McBride will be back in St. Louis in September for a duo concert at the Sheldon with pianist Peter Martin, and then again in March for a Ray Brown tribute at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Singer Al Jarreau (pictured) is recovering after being admitted to a hospital in France late last Thursday, July 22. Jarreau, 70, collapsed on stage with respiratory problems during a performance, and was taken to the intensive care unit of a clinic in the southern Alpine town of Gap, where he initially was listed in critical condition. Jarreau's condition subsequently improved enough for him to be moved by helicopter on Sunday to a hospital in Marseilles, where he is expected to continue to rest and undergo tests for several more days. His management is posting updates about Jarreau's condition on the singer's website. Jarreau is scheduled to come to St. Louis in February for a concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

* Everything Is Everything, saxophonist Kirk Whalum's CD of the music of singer/songwriter/pianist and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway, is set for release next month. Whalum will be back in St. Louis on August 13 for the Guitars and Saxes concert at the Pageant.

* The Preservation Hall Jazz Band also has a new CD, Preservation, a compilation featuring an eclectic selection of more than 20 guest artists, including Angelique Kidjo, Tom Waits, Del McCoury, Terence Blanchard, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Bobby McFerrin and more. The disc was recorded at Preservation Hall, with proceeds to benefit the historic New Orleans venue and its Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program. The PHJB and McCoury will perform in October at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

* JazzReach, Inc. is one of 79 NYC-based arts organizations to receive "a significant infusion of funding" from the Open Society Foundations, which last week announced $11 million in grants to support community and educational arts initiatives. The two-year operating-support grants ranging from $65,000 to $250,000. Founded in 1994 by drummer Hans Schuman, JazzReach is a nationally recognized not-for-profit organization that promotes a greater appreciation, awareness and understanding of jazz music through multi-media educational programs for young audiences. JazzReach's resident ensemble Metta Quintet will return to St. Louis in November to play at the Touhill under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis.

* Guitarist John McLaughlin will be one the headliners at The New Universe Music Festival, an event to be presented by his current record company Abstract Logix on November 20 and 21 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Guitarist Jimmy Herring and drummer Lenny White also will play the fusion-filled fest. McLaughlin will be in St. Louis earlier that same month to play at the Sheldon.

* Here's a review of drummer Stanton Moore's latest CD Groove Alchemy, written by Phillip Booth for his blog Between The Lines (via AllAboutJazz.com). Moore will be in St. Louis with Garage a Trois in September to play at the Old Rock House.

* Finally, a couple of online resources for your further edification and/or amusement during these steamy dog days: The venerable jazz mag Cadence recently beefed up its online presence considerably, and the BBC's Radio 3 has just put online much of their extensive archive of "world music" programming.

Notes from the Net: John Zorn's Montreal controversy, Kevin Eubanks unbound, plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* In the latest Miles Davis-related news, Michael Bourne reviewed the "We Want Miles" exhibit in Montreal for DownBeat magazine. Coincidentally enough, there's a new live DVD just out of a 1985 Davis concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Elsewhere in North America, Austin, Texas trumpeter Jeff Lofton's Electric Thang recently mounted a tribute to Davis' album Bitches Brew; and bassist Michael Henderson, who anchored Davis' funk-oriented early 1970s bands, is suing rapper Snoop Dogg over music samples.

* Speaking of Montreal, saxophonist (and one-time Webster University student) John Zorn recently led a retrospective of his various Masada ensembles at the Montreal Jazz Festival, then found himself at the center of a controversy after audience members walked out of his subsequent festival concert with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. One local journalist even compared the audience response to the premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, a famously contentious event back in 1913.

Coming up for Zorn in August: A three-night stand at Yoshi's in Oakland, featuring a duo concert with Terry Riley, a performance of the improv game "Cobra" with Bay Area improvisors, and more.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, guitarist Kevin Eubanks recently talked with NPR's "Tell Me More" about life after The Tonight Show, while a recent Eubanks gig at LA's Baked Potato is reviewed here by Tony Gieske of the International Review of Music. Eubanks will play at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis on Thursday. July 29.

* Bassist Stanley Clarke's latest CD, featuring the single-named keyboardist Hiromi as part of the band, is reviewed here by AllAboutJazz.com's Jeff Winbush, while AAJ's Ernest Barteldes has a review of a double bill last month at NYC's Carefusion Jazz Fest featuring Clarke's band and the McCoy Tyner Quartet. Clarke and Hiromi will be in St. Louis in February to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Meanwhile, the reunited Jazz Crusaders and Al Jarreau, both set to perform next season at the Touhill under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis, are among the headliners of this year's Long Beach Jazz Festival

* Guitarist John McLaughlin is the subject of Jazz Times' cover story for the July/August issue. You can read an excerpt of the article by Geoffrey Himes here. McLaughlin will be in St. Louis in November to play at Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The Bad Plus' upcoming album Never Stop is set for release on September 14, and will be their first disc to feature all original material (and their eighth release overall). TBP will be the first touring act to play the Bistro in 2011, which will be the fifth consecutive year they've opened at the club.

* Lastly, let's wrap up this installment with links to two pairs of articles of more general interest to jazz fans. First up, PopMatters.com's Will Layman has yet another take on the long-forecast "death" of jazz, while Fred Kaplan, writing for Stereophile magazine, asks "Is Jazz a Young Person's Music After All?" And in another pair of synchronicitous items, the website The Root looks at the economics of being a working jazz musician, while the New York Times' Nate Chinen blogs about jazz and music publishing rights.

Notes from the Net: More on Metheny's Orchestrion; Zorn in Cleveland: plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* It's been kind of a slow news week, but we can fulfill our Miles Davis news requirement for this installment with a link to a Nate Chinen essay for At Length magazine about about the night the trumpeter shared a bill at the Fillmore East with singer/songwriter Neil Young. (Via Miles Davis Online).

Also, we're sorry to have to note the passing of writer and musician Michael Zwerin, who played trombone on Davis' Birth of the Cool and wrote about, rubbed elbows or played with many of the most significant jazz musicians of the past half-century. Zwerin died last week in Paris at age 79.

* For some reason, saxophonist, composer and one-time Webster University student John Zorn had never played Cleveland before last week, when he finally made his debut there at the city's art museum with his Masada Sextet. Here's a review of the proceedings from Cleveland Scene.

* Here's a review of The Wee Trio's new CD Capitol Diner #2, written for AllAboutJazz.com by "Pico." Former St. Louisan Dan Loomis is the Wee Trio's bassist.

* Opening the "coming attractions" file, here's a review from AllAboutJazz.com's Woodrow Wilkins of guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli's latest CD, the Duke Ellington tribute Rockin' in Rhythm. Pizzarelli will be back in St. Louis next week to play Wednesday through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

*Ranging far from his Kansas City home, Plastic Sax's Bill Brownlee has a review of guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion concert in Rome, Italy. In related news, Metheny and the Orchestrion (pictured) are the subject of a Wall Street Journal article by the noted jazz writer Ashley Kahn, and also will be featured on the April 25 edition of the CBS television program Sunday Morning. The Orchestrion tour comes on St. Louis on May 8 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

* Also, just because: Michael Buble Being Stalked By A Velociraptor. Assuming he escapes the savage jaws of the prehistoric predator, Buble will be in St. Louis on Friday, June 25 to play the Scottrade Center.

* Lastly, for the musicians and music students out there, Berklee College of Music is offering a free downloadable Music Business Handbook that "collects some of the essential knowledge from our instructors in one easy-to-navigate guide." Topics covered include include "Past, Present, and Future of Music, Direct-to-Fan Marketing, Music Publishing, Music Licensing, Challenges of the Music Industry, and Music Royalties."