Sunday Session: July 11, 2021

Susie Ibarra

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

* Gatemouth Brown memorialized on the road he traveled, in the town where he lived (Nola.com)
* The Urge to Destroy a Violin (The New Yorker)
* Little Walter’s Song That Changed Everything for the Blues (TheDailyBeast.com)
* The Story of Louis Armstrong’s Final Tape (LouisArmstrongHouse.org)
* More really is more with new Lee Morgan jazz release (Denver Post)
* PAMA calls for “outdated” audio terms such as ‘master/slave’ and ‘male/female’ to be replaced (MusicRadar.com)
* Grand Funk Railroad Feed Off Crowd's Energy At First Concert Back (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* In Memoriam: Rick Laird (NoTreble.com)
* John McLaughlin Discusses Mahavishnu Orchestra, Liberation Time, and More (Jazz Times)
* Norwegian Company Creating Doomsday Vault to Preserve Music Recordings (Consequence.net)
* The Sound of Early Sci-Fi: Samuel Hoffman’s Theremin (Reverb.com)
* Back on the Road! Live Sound Gears Up for Reopening (MixOnline.com)
* Five things to know about Hamid Drake (Vancouver Sun)
* Susie Ibarra: Hybrid Culture (New Music Box)
* John McLaughlin Discusses Mahavishnu Orchestra, Liberation Time, and More (Jazz Times)
* Mulgrew Miller Saw Us Through (AdmissionsProjects.com)
* What People Actually Listen To In 2021 (Music3Point0.com)
* Numbers Don’t Lie: Lilli Lewis Talks Black Presence in Americana (Offbeat)
* Frank Sinatra And Quincy Jones: When The Voice Met The Dude (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Jam & Lewis: “With Prince, we learned to use synthesizers in a very musical way” (MusicRadar.com)
* Tony Scott: How A BeBop Jazz Clarinetist Invented New Age Music (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Legendary Pete Escovedo ready to help jump-start Bay Area jazz scene (San Jose Mercury News)
* Call It Mourning: Mark Ruffin Remembers Gil Scott-Heron on the 10-Year Anniversary of the Poet’s Death (Jazziz)

Sunday Session: June 6, 2021

Anthony Braxton

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

* The Making of Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" (Reverb.com)
* Chops: Sam Gendel Creates a Distinctive Sax Sound (Jazz Times)
* With 'Zero Grasses,' Jen Shyu Forges Grief into Revelation (WBGO)
* What Music Is Making Movies Tick? Here Are the 12 Biggest Film Sync Licensing Trends of 2021 (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* 47 Years of Music Industry Change — In 47 Seconds or Less (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Interview with Jeff “Tain” Watts (EthanIverson.com)
* From Heliopolis to Saturn: Sun Ra and Egypt (DIYWorldwide.com)
* Man in Black at 50: Johnny Cash’s empathy is needed more than ever (The Guardian)
* Jazz Singer Nnenna Freelon Works Through Grief With New Album And Podcast (NPR)
* After Delays and Snafus, Music Venues Tenuously Seeing Next Steps Toward Relief (Rolling Stone)
* The ‘Big Bang’ in Jazz History (WNYC)
* How SoundScan Changed Everything We Knew About Popular Music (TheRinger.com)
* Riddle Me This: Jazz Artists Remember Arranger Nelson Riddle on His Centennial (Jazziz)
* The Source - Sun Ra and his Arkestra’s Egpytian adventure (The Nation)
* Alice Coltrane Turiya Sings Reissue Announced (Pitchfork.com)
* A Legendary Stand by the Lee Morgan Quintet Finally Sees Full Release, as 'The Complete Live at the Lighthouse' (WBGO)
* As Grants For Shuttered Venues Trickle Out, Many Owners Are Still Waiting (NPR)
* Producer Mitch Easter shares the inside story of R.E.M.’s early recording sessions: “It was glorious. They rehearsed a lot just because they liked to play together“ (MusicRadar.com)
* ‘Songs In A Minor’ at 20: How Alicia Keys' debut album set the tone for contemporary R&B (USA Today)
* Anthony Braxton On The Radiance Of Standards, His Search For Charlie Parker & The Forces That Divide America (Grammy.com)
* Hear Bach's Music Like You've Never Heard It Before: Upside Down (NPR)
* What Is Asian American Music, Really (Pitchfork.com)
* Gary Bartz & Jazz Is Dead (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: April 11, 2021

Esperenza Spalding

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

* The life and tragic death of Lee Morgan: “He was a young man, already older than his years, thrilled with his talent and the wonders of the world around him” (Jazzwise)
* Islands in the Stream (American Prospect)
* 10 tracks by Herbie Hancock I can’t do without… by Jon Opstad (London Jazz News)
* Brian Bromberg Continues his Journey into the Eclectic (Jazz Times)
* Quincy Jones On Bebop, Jazz And His Streaming Venture, Qwest TV (Forbes)
* 2021 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert to Take Place Virtually April 22, 2021 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Marion Brown's Musical Portrait of Georgia (The Bitter Southerner)
* 'Our music was born in hard times': How Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra keeps playing (Asbury Park Press)
* On "Let Me Tell You 'Bout It," JD Allen Discusses His New Creative Zeal, and a Solo Sax Album on the Horizon (WBGO)
* Morris 'B.B.' Dickerson, Founding Member of War, Dies at 71 (Billboard)
* From History to Biographies, Here Are the Best Books About Jazz (Billboard)
* Listening for baselines beyond anthropophony: An interview with Bernie Krause by D. Ferrett (AllAroundSound-Bloomsbury.com)
* Healing, grace and enlightenment: How Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points made a spiritual album for the dark ages (The Independent)
* Exit/In: Inside the Last-Ditch Effort to Save Nashville’s Legendary Music Club (Rolling Stone)
* How Tangerine Dream conquered the UK charts in the 70s (LouderSound.com)
* Warren Wolf: A Before & After Listening Session (Jazz Times)
* World-Class Trombonist Andre Hayward's Spiritual Journey (Austin Chronicle)
* Play It Forward: Angel Bat Dawid Knows How To Deliver Emotion Through Song (NPR)
* 2021 NEA JAZZ MASTERS: A Q&A with music director Miguel ZenÓn (SFJAZZ.org)
* Pino Palladino, pop's greatest bassist: 'I felt like a performing monkey!' (The Guardian)
* Meet the Man Recreating Ancient Musical Instruments Lost to Time (AtlasObscura.com)
* Inside the Dirty Business of Hit Songwriting (Variety)
* Flipping Alone: An Oral History of Record Stores During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Consequence of Sound)
* Esperanza Spalding’s New Songwrights Apothecary Lab Is the Music Therapy We Need Now (Vogue)
* The Treatment - Terence Blanchard: ‘Da 5 Bloods’
* ‘It has never been more pertinent’ – Margaret Atwood on the chilling genius of Laurie Anderson’s Big Science (The Guardian)
* Merry Clayton Bares Her 'Beautiful Scars' (NPR)
* The Film That Jazz Deserves (The New Yorker)
* 36 of America’s Best Independent Music Venues on Surviving and What’s Next (Pitchfork.com)
* Trevor Dunn: “It’s in my personality to sit back and groove with the drummer – I took to bass immediately“ (Guitar World)
* Live Music Should Be More Accessible For Disabled Fans (Vice.com)

Sunday Session: May 28, 2017

Terrace Martin

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

* How the record industry crisis of 1925 shaped our musical world (The Guardian)
* Composer Angelo Badalamenti, Master Of Mood, Returns To 'Twin Peaks' (NPR)
* The Keys to Snarky Puppy's Success (Keyboard)
* Inside the Offices Where the Music Never Stops and Everyone Is DJ (Bloomberg.com)
* By Any Name, Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda Was A Force (NPR)
* 7 pieces of gear that helped shape Radiohead’s timeless OK Computer (FactMag.com)
* How Did Toby Keith Get To Do A Concert In Saudi Arabia? (NPR)
* Donny McCaslin: The David Bowie Connection (SFJAZZ.org)
* Watch: Alvin Lucier Talks Brain Waves, Marching Bands and John Cage (WQXR)
* Fela Kuti built his music around a distrust of Nigeria's elites. Now they're the audience for the musical about his life (Los Angeles Times)
* Cultural commissioner Mark Kelly moves to reshape Chicago Jazz Festival (Chicago Tribune)
* Yes, L.A. Has Lost Many of Its Jazz Clubs — but Other Venues Are Stepping In (LA Weekly)
* Q&A with Ronald Bruner Jr.: Squad Goals (DownBeat)
* At The Dawn Of Recorded Sound, No One Cared (NPR)
* How data is transforming the music industry (TheConversation.com)
* Night Time, My Time: The Pervasive Musical Influence Of Twin Peaks (ClashMusic.com)
* Confessions Of An MP3 Blogger (TheFader.com)
* Mickey Roker, Dynamic Hard-Bop Drummer and Philly Jazz Institution, Dies at 84 (WBGO)
* Why Remix 'Sgt. Pepper's'? Giles Martin, The Man Behind The Project, Explains (NPR)
* Reviving Alice Coltrane’s Ecstatic Music in New York City (DownBeat)
* Frankie & Johnny, Helen & Morgan (Jazz Times)
* Electronic pioneer Morton Subotnick subject of new documentary Subotnick (FactMag.com)
* Terrace Martin Talks New Jazz Supergroup, Producing for Herbie Hancock (Rolling Stone)
* We no longer know who the biggest pop star in the world is (QZ.com)
* Quincy Jones Reflects on Artists He Loves, Wished He'd Worked With During Intimate Launch of New Headphones (Billboard)
* Social Music: ‘Jam of the Week’ Builds Online Jazz Community (DownBeat)
* Everybody Digs Ralph Towner - The veteran guitarist on solo performance, Bill Evans and Oregon (Jazz Times)
* Kansas City's Oldest Jazz Institution Isn't Afraid Of New Beats — Or Other Challenges (KCUR)
* Joan La Barbara: Finding the Right Words to Inspire Sound (TheLogJournal.com)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* I Called Him Morgan, the new documentary film about the life and death of trumpeter Lee Morgan (pictured), opens its St. Louis run today at the Tivoli Theatre in University City. You can see a list of show times here.

* The website St. Louis Musicians Unite has a new post this week about St. Louis jazz, combining a mention of Jazz Appreciation Month, a (much-appreciated!) acknowledgement of StLJN's recent 12th anniversary, and a video annotation of our current "Jazz this week" post.

Edited by Christopher Davis, STLMU has content covering a variety of musical genres and interests, and also has a very active Twitter account, with daily updates on live music shows happening around town.

* Guitarist Bill Frisell is the subject of a feature story by the Riverfront Times' Roy Kasten. Frisell performs with his trio tonight at The Ready Room.

* Saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake has a new release on his Passin' Thru label. Offered on CD and as a digital download,  Right Up On features Lake collaborating on a program of original compositions with the Flux Quartet, a string quartet specializing in contemporary music.

* @Nesbys, the Sunset Hills restaurant and bar with a musical menu including occasional live jazz on weekends and a weekly jam session on Wednesday nights, will close after service this Saturday, April 29.

In a message on Facebook, the proprietors said, "The Econolodge stigma, and what will happen to the hotel in the future, as well as its patrons, was impacting our business. We are looking for another place where we can be successful for years to come!" According to the message, the owners will continue their catering business while looking for a new restaurant location, a process they hope to facilitate with help from a GoFundMe campaign.

* Two students in Jazz St. Louis' JazzU program have been selected for the 2017 edition of the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Trombonist Wyatt Forhan, a student at St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, MO, and drummer Christian McGhee, who attends Westminster Christian Academy in Town and Country, will tour with the band this summer.

* The upcoming Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis will include a production of Bertha in Paradise running from Wednesday, May 3 through Sunday, May 14 at the Curtain Call Lounge.

Imagining an alternate fate for the title character from Williams' play Hello from Bertha, the musical features singer Anita Jackson and pianist Charles Creath delivering "a saucy stew of bawdy songs" including "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl", "If It Don't Fit Don't Force It," and "I've Got You Under My Skin."

Lee Morgan documentary opening Friday, April 28 at the Tivoli Theatre

I Called Him Morgan, the well-reviewed new documentary about the life and death of trumpeter Lee Morgan, is getting a St. Louis engagement, opening on Friday, April 28 at the Tivoli Theatre.

Morgan, a major trumpet star of the 1960s, first gained fame as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and later had a big pop hit with "The Sidewinder." He was shot dead when he was just 34 years old by his common-law wife, Helen, in February 1972 during a gig at Slugs', a club in New York City.

Described as "part true-crime tale, part love story, and an all-out musical treat," I Called Him Morgan recounts the story of their volatile relationship and the killing, using an audio interview conducted with Helen more than 20 years later as the basis for the tale. 

The film, which was directed by Swedish filmmaker Kasper Collin and shot by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young, who worked on the recent hits  Arrival and Selma, also includes archival photographs and footage, interviews with Morgan's friends and fellow musicians, and recordings of his music.

You can watch the trailer for I Called Him Morgan in the embedded window below, and see a Q&A with the director, recorded at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, here.

Sunday Session: March 26, 2017

Lee Morgan

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

* How Spotify is finally gaining leverage over record labels (TechCrunch.com)
* Chuck Berry's Family Move Forward With Planned 'Chuck' LP (Rolling Stone)
* That Time Chuck Berry Punched Keith Richards in the Face (Guitar World)
* Chuck Berry's Guitarist Billy Peek Looks Back on 50 Years of Music and Friendship (Billboard)
* How Chuck Berry's Hometown St. Louis Inspired -- and Embittered -- Him (Billboard)
* Business-Savvy Chuck Berry Left Behind An Estimated $50 Million Estate (Billboard)
* Q&A with Dan Brubeck: Exploring Dad’s Songbook (DownBeat)
* Splitting Adams: John Adams' Chamber Symphonies (WQXR)
* Vision Festival 22 Lineup Announced (Jazz Times)
* Detroit Jazz Fest Names Wayne Shorter Artist-in-Residence (DownBeat)
* Rob Mazurek: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* Back when pop music was literary (The-TLS.co.uk)
* Is Texas, not Mississippi, the true home of the blues? (ABC.net.au)
* Cracking the Columbia Records Code (AnalogPlanet.com)
* Q&A with Gary Burton: A Fond Farewell (DownBeat)
* Inside Kamasi Washington's New Ode to Unity (Rolling Stone)
* Bob Dylan Talks Amy Winehouse, Leonard Cohen, Much More in Rare, Extensive Interview (Pitchfork)
* The Most Expensive Record Never Sold (NPR)
* From 'Hamilton' to Jazz at Lincoln Center: 10 Music Projects You Have the NEA to Thank For (Billboard)
* How Weather Report Rewrote the Rules of Jazz on ‘Heavy Weather’ (Observer.com)
* Muldrow Meets Mingus (NPR)
* Perspectives on music-making in a hyper-connected world (Ableton.com)
* Duke Ellington’s Faith (FirstThings.com)
* Q&A: Making sense of music through math (CBC)
* 'I Called Him Morgan' Is A Tale Of Marriage, Murder And Jazz, Told From Two Sides (WBGO)
* Stop Everything and Behold this Mini Art Deco Telephone Jukebox circa 1935 (MessyNessyChic.com)
* The Unofficial History of Home Recording: Big Hits from Bedroom Studios (SonicScoop.com)

Sunday Session: September 18, 2016

George Coleman

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

* Jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden and the Louisiana mental asylum band (NOLA.com)
* Record Bin: How Muddy Waters fused folk music and the blues on "Folk Singer" (Nooga.com)
* TIFF Review: ‘I Called Him Morgan’ is a Moody, Melancholic Study of the Late Trumpeter, Lee Morgan (ShadowAndAct.com)
* From 'Stairway to Heaven' to 'Damn Girl': 'Raging Bull' Remains Center Stage in Copyright Fights (Billboard)
* Metheny Quartet Plays SFJAZZ, Extends Guitarist’s Reach (DownBeat)
* Defeating The Jazz Zombies: America’s Music Is Alive & Well — These 7 Artists Are Proof (Stereogum.com)
* Interview: Sun Ra Commander Marshall Allen (Austin Chronicle)
* How Afrobeats Became Pop Music’s Next Big Thing (Buzzfeed)
* Artifact / Diagramming: An Interview with Mark Fell (Avant.org)
* Music with a Capital "M" - An Interview with Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus (PopMatters.com)
* Donny McCaslin Takes 'Blackstar' Collaborators Beyond Bowie on New Album 'Beyond Now' (Billboard)
* Steve Buscemi and Elliott Sharp Talk William S. Burroughs, the 80s New York Scene, and the Creative Influence of Exhaustion (BlouinArtInfo.com)
* Fresh Pairings, Familiar Faces Delight at Chicago Jazz Fest (DownBeat)
* The Link Between Whitney Houston and the Rise of Auto-Tune in North Africa (Pitchfork.com)
* Why Apple is anything but the future of music (EricGarland.co)
* Heath, Weston, DeJohnette Shine in NYC Salute to Keepnews (DownBeat)
* The Summer in Jazz Releases (Bandcamp.com)
* Harmolodics: the truth at last (TheBlueMoment.com)
* ‘Play something they can enjoy,’ says jazz saxophone great George Coleman (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
* Q&A: Nels Cline - The guitarist and sonic provocateur invents a new brand of mood music on his Blue Note Records debut (Jazz Times)
* Hidden in plain sight: a global underground dance music scene with millions of fans (Medium.com)
* How Blockchain Startups Are Disrupting The $15 Billion Music Industry (Forbes)
* 8 Artists Exploding the Concept of Native American Music (Paste)
* Don Buchla, modular synthesizer pioneer, dies aged 79 (The Guardian UK)